A soul record made in four days, and the pressing that got it right
Esteban takes a 1972 soul album made in four days off the shelf, tracks down the bassist from the sessions and explains why the second pressing sounds better than the first.
The double album everyone says is too long
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Show notes
In defence of all four sides
Everyone says this double album should have been a single. Esteban disagrees and spends an hour explaining why, with help from the engineer who sat with the band through the sequencing argument.
- How the band ended up with 80 minutes of material
- The sequencing argument, told by the engineer who refereed it
- Side three, the one critics skip, and why it holds the album together
- The reissue that quietly trimmed two tracks
- Collector's note: the original gatefold and what makes it rare
A side-by-side tracklist of the original and the reissue is in the notes.
Transcript
This is Side A, Side B, I am Esteban Villarreal, and tonight we have four sides, not two, because this is a double album that nearly everyone says is too long. I think they are wrong, and I have an hour to prove it. I got the engineer who sat with the band during the sequencing argument, which apparently lasted three days and involved a lot of shouting about side three. We are going to play through all four sides in order, and I am going to make the case that the side everyone skips is the one holding the whole thing together. Then the collector's note, because the original gatefold has a detail that the reissue quietly removed, and that is why it costs what it costs. Let us begin. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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