A recent mention of FANDANGO got me doing one of those "down the rabbit hole" research projects. Years ago, in my radio days, I'd heard the song "Route 101" and asked the program director if he could manage to get me a copy of the FANDANGO album. Apparently he couldn't, but he DID manage to find me a four-track EP on 12" vinyl. It had "Push And Pull", "Fandango", "Route 101" and "Quiereme Tal Como Soy", which was great. But after listening to those four tracks, I was intrigued for more and ended up buying a copy of the full FANDANGO at my local store. The four tracks on the EP are the same as the standard album mixes on all four tracks.
Later of course came the original A&M CD in a jewel case; still later the Shout! reissue in a digipak; and then came the latest remaster from Herb Alpert Presents. All of those are the standard mixes.
At some point, I searched for and found a bunch more 12" single for Herb Alpert. Many are promo issues, a few were stock issues to the public. One of those is a copy of "Fandango" and it's listed as a "Specially Remixed Version" and is indeed longer than the album version. It's listed at 4:59 and says stereo on both sides. It's SP-17210. When I first got it and played it, I noticed the big difference is a middle portion where the beat continues and some party-type hoots and hollers happen, before the track returns to its normal ending. My impression was that the extended middle was the difference from the album version.
Looking through my 45s, I couldn't find one for "Fandango", so I decided to investigate the possibilities on Discogs. There I saw that there were two 45s released, one stock, one promo. Both were also listed as a "Specially Remixed Version"; the promo version had a mono on one side. The length here was the shortest of all, coming in at 3:14. The original album version is 3:42, and the long 12" is 4:59.
So I thought about the 12" being 4:59 and the 45 single being 3:14 and both listed as "Specially Remixed". Clearly, the extended hoots and hollers part couldn't be on the 45, so I decided to order one.
I found a supposedly mint copy listed for not much money and it arrived yesterday. I got around to playing it today and doing some deeper comparisons with my other versions. What has come to light is that the "Specially Remixed Versions" both have a rather nice-sounding change in Herb's trumpet playing. There's a lot of trumpet doubling in the track giving it a good bit of that old Tijuana Brass feel. The big difference is that on the album version, Herb's trumpet tracks are both centered in the mix all the way through.
In the "Specially Remixed Version" Herb's main trumpet is centered in the mix, but his harmony part is found on the left side of the mix. This has the effect of making the mix sound bigger, wider, punchier in stereo. I believe the mono version is just a fold-down of this newer mix.
Someone has put the longer 12" version up on YouTube. Listen with headphones to get the full effect of the separated trumpet parts.
Later of course came the original A&M CD in a jewel case; still later the Shout! reissue in a digipak; and then came the latest remaster from Herb Alpert Presents. All of those are the standard mixes.
At some point, I searched for and found a bunch more 12" single for Herb Alpert. Many are promo issues, a few were stock issues to the public. One of those is a copy of "Fandango" and it's listed as a "Specially Remixed Version" and is indeed longer than the album version. It's listed at 4:59 and says stereo on both sides. It's SP-17210. When I first got it and played it, I noticed the big difference is a middle portion where the beat continues and some party-type hoots and hollers happen, before the track returns to its normal ending. My impression was that the extended middle was the difference from the album version.
Looking through my 45s, I couldn't find one for "Fandango", so I decided to investigate the possibilities on Discogs. There I saw that there were two 45s released, one stock, one promo. Both were also listed as a "Specially Remixed Version"; the promo version had a mono on one side. The length here was the shortest of all, coming in at 3:14. The original album version is 3:42, and the long 12" is 4:59.
So I thought about the 12" being 4:59 and the 45 single being 3:14 and both listed as "Specially Remixed". Clearly, the extended hoots and hollers part couldn't be on the 45, so I decided to order one.
I found a supposedly mint copy listed for not much money and it arrived yesterday. I got around to playing it today and doing some deeper comparisons with my other versions. What has come to light is that the "Specially Remixed Versions" both have a rather nice-sounding change in Herb's trumpet playing. There's a lot of trumpet doubling in the track giving it a good bit of that old Tijuana Brass feel. The big difference is that on the album version, Herb's trumpet tracks are both centered in the mix all the way through.
In the "Specially Remixed Version" Herb's main trumpet is centered in the mix, but his harmony part is found on the left side of the mix. This has the effect of making the mix sound bigger, wider, punchier in stereo. I believe the mono version is just a fold-down of this newer mix.
Someone has put the longer 12" version up on YouTube. Listen with headphones to get the full effect of the separated trumpet parts.
