Songs where you can "hear the join"

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I can't actually think of any examples of this, but I feel sure there must be some. I'm looking for songs where two or more takes have been spliced together and you can hear the moment where one take changes to the other in the final version, although the edits were supposed to be seamless. Anyone?

my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:13 (7 months ago) Permalink

Beatles to thread.

where is el airoporto? (dog latin), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:15 (7 months ago) Permalink

Strawberry Fields is the gold standard for this, innit? Edits are really obvious when you hear them but it wouldn't sound as otherworldly as it does without them.

bizarro gazzara, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:16 (7 months ago) Permalink

The startover on the first track on Bitches Brew

michael bolton's reckless daughter (Hurting 2), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:16 (7 months ago) Permalink

Can - "Mother Sky"

gesange der yuengling (crüt), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:18 (7 months ago) Permalink

Yeah, Can's catalogue is full of edits, some more glaring than others. "Halleluwah" is another which springs to mind.

bizarro gazzara, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:23 (7 months ago) Permalink

Edits are really obvious with eyes closed.

borscht and bikinis (how's life), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:25 (7 months ago) Permalink

lotsa rap songs to thread

TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:26 (7 months ago) Permalink

The edit in 'This Boy' (when it goes from 'cryyyyyyyyyyyyyy' straight back to the verse) by the beatles is horribly awkward.

Blue Collar Retail Assistant (Dwight Yorke), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:27 (7 months ago) Permalink

Public Image's "Memories"? It jumps back and forth in a jarring way, like moving between two different air pressures.

jim, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:29 (7 months ago) Permalink

"Memories" is a great call. It jumps straight to a totally different mix and it's like the song is suddenly pulled into focus. Made a massive impression on me when I was 15 and I've still never heard anything with quite the same sublimely jarring effect.

bizarro gazzara, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:32 (7 months ago) Permalink

The start of the chorus in 'Bad Romance' feels ridiculously cut-and-pasted.

Matt DC, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:34 (7 months ago) Permalink

elvis costello, man out of time (not like he tried to hide it tho)

mookieproof, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:39 (7 months ago) Permalink

"aja"- stelly dan

Michael B Higgins (Michael B), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:40 (7 months ago) Permalink

"European Son", the but just after the crash. When I heard the "Scepter" version, it confirmed what I KNEW!!

Mark G, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:41 (7 months ago) Permalink

Oh, and just after the word "alibis" on "Hotel California"..

Mark G, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:42 (7 months ago) Permalink

This Heat's "Makeshift Swahili." The Deceit version uses two different live recordings and a studio recording.

jim, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:42 (7 months ago) Permalink

The start of the chorus in 'Bad Romance' feels ridiculously cut-and-pasted.

― Matt DC, Monday, 15 October 2012 16:34 (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes! This is what's always stopped me liking this song. It sounds like a really clumsy DJ edit or something. That initial hit just ends up dying on its feet and it takes at least a bar for the chorus to recover from it.

where is el airoporto? (dog latin), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:43 (7 months ago) Permalink

feels strange for such a big hit song that the producer could have made such a glaringly hideous cut when surely a minute or two tweaking it would've made it go unnoticed.

where is el airoporto? (dog latin), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:45 (7 months ago) Permalink

Aerosmith "Dream On"

billstevejim, Monday, 15 October 2012 15:50 (7 months ago) Permalink

start right before the 4 minute mark and wait for the guitar to come in. where'd that rascally guitar come from!!?? love that part actually. kinda the perfect splice. but it is one of my fave songs ever so i would like it.

scott seward, Monday, 15 October 2012 16:10 (7 months ago) Permalink

When I was 8 or so, my brother blasted the radio version of Steve Miller's "Jet Airliner" to show the little editing pop where "funky shit" has been replaced with "funky kicks." Bet this is true with other radio versions of songs.

pretty even gender split (Eazy), Monday, 15 October 2012 18:54 (7 months ago) Permalink

bell biv devo (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 15 October 2012 19:04 (7 months ago) Permalink

songs where you can "see the join"

bell biv devo (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 15 October 2012 19:05 (7 months ago) Permalink

there are some sloppy vocal edits in the last several bruce springsteen edits where you can clearly hear that two vocal performances have been stitched together.

flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 15 October 2012 19:06 (7 months ago) Permalink

last several bruce springsteen LPs i mean.

flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 15 October 2012 19:06 (7 months ago) Permalink

a few in recent dylan albums too.

flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 15 October 2012 19:07 (7 months ago) Permalink

lol no one's said Good Vibrations yet?

stop swearing and start windmilling (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 October 2012 19:15 (7 months ago) Permalink

Is this accidental or deliberate? The Fall's Paintwork where a David Attenborough commentary is recorded over part of the song is sort of accidental on purpose.

Dr X O'Skeleton, Monday, 15 October 2012 19:32 (7 months ago) Permalink

Jenny Ondioline lol

stop swearing and start windmilling (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 October 2012 19:36 (7 months ago) Permalink

Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains were my first thoughts.

Chewshabadoo, Monday, 15 October 2012 19:48 (7 months ago) Permalink

"Good Vibrations" is the most glaring one I could think of.

"With a Little Help From My Friends" - there's a really bad splice in the last line: "Ye-es I get by with a little help..."

cwkiii, Monday, 15 October 2012 19:52 (7 months ago) Permalink

Also, "Hardcore UFOs" by Guided by Voices, or is that just a really shitty punch-in?

cwkiii, Monday, 15 October 2012 19:53 (7 months ago) Permalink

there's a super-obvious punch-in on a Bob Dylan vocal take on "Blonde on Blonde", can't remember which one but it's very apparent

the tune was space, Monday, 15 October 2012 20:01 (7 months ago) Permalink

^^"Memphis Blues Again" (and there's a similar screw up on "I Want You", but I think he just flubbed a line).

50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 15 October 2012 21:35 (7 months ago) Permalink

Several Pretenders songs: "The Phone Call" and "Middle of the Road." I don't know if it's splicing or Chrissie Hynde's predilection for chord changes.

the ones that I'm near most: fellow outcasts and ilxors (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 October 2012 21:37 (7 months ago) Permalink

Genesis "Dusk"- pretty obvious splice right at the end.

rushomancy, Monday, 15 October 2012 21:44 (7 months ago) Permalink

Genesis' "Domino."

the ones that I'm near most: fellow outcasts and ilxors (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 October 2012 21:55 (7 months ago) Permalink

Also, "Hardcore UFOs" by Guided by Voices, or is that just a really shitty punch-in?

a gbv splice? i'm not sure they would even know how! if memory serves, that's a momentary tape dropout.

fact checking cuz, Monday, 15 October 2012 23:26 (7 months ago) Permalink

Aaliyah, "I Care 4 U" - every time it loops back

Cap'n Hug-a-Thug (The Reverend), Monday, 15 October 2012 23:41 (7 months ago) Permalink

GBV had their tape splice epic with "Back to Saturn X Radio Report."

jim, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 00:40 (7 months ago) Permalink

A few edits in "She Loves You," most obviously at 1:24.

5-Hour Enmity (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 02:42 (7 months ago) Permalink

Misread the thread title as "hear the john," thought it was about songs featuring flushing toilets. Thought the second post was a Beatles joke ("hear the John").

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 05:00 (7 months ago) Permalink

Early Chrome sometimes sounds like they spliced the tapes using gardening shears and stuck them back together with sellotape

Hello, Good Evening and Expenses (Tom D.), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 11:07 (7 months ago) Permalink

THIS! fully dope tho

thread lock holiday (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 12:35 (7 months ago) Permalink

I dont know if this the same thing but in jail guitar doors there is some dry percussion and then some reverbed fingersnaps with lot of hiss come in.

last week's meme (Hunt3r), Saturday, 27 October 2012 00:34 (6 months ago) Permalink

Clash, Beatles, Dylan are among those who can be pretty splicey with the songwriting too. Can seem revelatory, fun, and/or "this is all I got." Incl. "this is all I could get through committee", from when the Beatles basically couldn't stand working with each other anymore (or when it was McCartney vs. the others). When the writing and the join are pretty much the same thing: Miles Davis's "Rated X", think that's the title, consisting of back-and-forth sustained organ x hammering drums.

dow, Saturday, 27 October 2012 14:29 (6 months ago) Permalink

I always thought Memories by PIL was more of a processing thing. They don't have to be two different mixes, you can just throw on a bunch of compression/EQ or whatever.

Another famous one is the Beach Boys version of Do You Wanna Dance where the vocal gets cut between Kiss and Squeeze, 50 seconds in, it sounds like he says "Squiss me baby."

dan selzer, Saturday, 27 October 2012 15:22 (6 months ago) Permalink

toto coolio (clouds), Saturday, 27 October 2012 15:26 (6 months ago) Permalink

I mean, it was on purpose, but Tortoise's "Djed" was really fun at the time. I remember being told that it sounded like your CD player was malfunctioning, which is kind of true, but wouldn't make much sense to anyone today listening via mp3 or stream...

dlp9001, Saturday, 27 October 2012 17:04 (6 months ago) Permalink

around that time there was an interview David Grubbs and/or Jim O'Rourke did with Charles Hayward asking about the editing of Horizontal Hold on the first This Heat album and Hayward said something like "there wasn't any editing. We were just that tight."

Around the same time O'Rourke had the Brise-Glace record, much of which was obviously tape edited, but as a compositional thing, and that's a whole other thread.

dan selzer, Saturday, 27 October 2012 18:34 (6 months ago) Permalink

I'm not hearing it in Petula Clark. It has a tempo/key change at the start of the chorus but it sounds continuously recorded to my ears.

Personally i think both "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Good Vibrations", even if their joins aren't inaudible, are both outstanding, even classicly great editing jobs. "Strawberry Fields" joins two takes of the song; the first minute of the song was from an earlier version recording in its entirety with just basic rock-band intrumentation. Lennon wasn't satified and had the song rerecorded with elaborate orchestral accompaniment. He still wasn't satisfied, and asked George Martin if the first part of the earlier recording could be combined with the second part of the later one. Couldn't be done he said, since the two recordings were at different speeds and in different keys. But John was persistent and insisted it must somehow be possible. This would be easy using modern digital recording, but with 1967 analog technology changing the key, besides altering the vocal effects, also changed the speed, and the two couldn't be adjusted independently. Fortunately, the higher-key recording was also taken at a faster tempo, so speeding up one tape up and slowing down the other luckily resulted in the two connected segments playing at the same speed in the finished product. The edit is about a minute into the song where the chorus is sung for the second time, between "let me take you down, 'cause I'm" and "going to Strawberry Fields". Even listening carefully on my headphones, it's easy to miss.

"Good Vibrations" also has some great edits, especially given that different parts of the song were recorded in three (maybe four) different studios. The first clip ends about 25 seconds in, the second starts at the beginning of the "i'm picking up good vibrations" chorus, but the triplets on the drums at the end of the first part being picked up by the cellos at the beginning of the second makes them fit together almost seamlessly. Later edits in the song are more obvious, and of course the slow section near the end deliberately starts with a clean break, but given the difficulty involved I think the tape engineer did a great job. Now, "Heroes and Villains" is another story altogether - it sounds very much like about 7 pieces of tape awkwardly stitched together, which of course it is.

I'll nominate Pink Floyd's "Matilda Mother" - wow does that last verse after the instrumental break chime in abruptly.

Also, Fairport Convention's cover of Joni Mitchell's "I Don't Know Where I Stand" from their debut album (with Judy Dyble on lead vocals, not the later version with Sandy Denny) is a mess - almost every transition is jarringly mistimed, with a half beat missing and ringing guitars abruptly cut off partway through. Starts at 3:07 in this youtube.

Lee626, Saturday, 27 October 2012 18:45 (6 months ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

Grateful Dead - "That's It For The Other One". It sounded weird and terrible to me when I was a child listening to my dad's records, and it sounds terrible now. I don't know what they were going for but it doesn't sound trippy or avant garde to me, just wrong.

3×5, Monday, 18 March 2013 02:29 (2 months ago) Permalink

cherchez la femme

cunnilingus ah um (The Reverend), Monday, 18 March 2013 08:12 (2 months ago) Permalink

manfred mann's version of "blinded by the light"

cunnilingus ah um (The Reverend), Monday, 18 March 2013 08:15 (2 months ago) Permalink

A Working Class Hero is something to be.

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Monday, 18 March 2013 09:17 (2 months ago) Permalink

REM "Man On The Moon":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tOzUZDL5ngs#t=254s

The climax of this song has always sounded a little odd to me, and I suspect it's because they just looped the chorus at the end to make the song longer.

Pheeel, Monday, 18 March 2013 10:45 (2 months ago) Permalink

pretty sure "fracture" by king crimson has 3 different parts spliced together

http://youtu.be/yobcwSYmdew

the mid section starting at 2:50 with the fripp solo and the rocking coda from 7:42 onwards

cock chirea, Monday, 18 March 2013 11:44 (2 months ago) Permalink

the police - king of pain

http://youtu.be/gOykEKP8u0o

you can clearly hear the edit at 3:53

cock chirea, Monday, 18 March 2013 11:45 (2 months ago) Permalink

The Who, "Rael." The previous day's multitrack session tape had been damaged by the studio custodian who mistakenly threw it in a dumpster. The engineer was able to salvage everything but the intro/first lines, for which the mono safety mixdown was used, and edited into the final mix.

Darth Magus (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 18 March 2013 14:44 (2 months ago) Permalink

"fracture" was recorded live in concert! you can hear the original concert on "the night watch"

rushomancy, Monday, 18 March 2013 21:56 (2 months ago) Permalink

Soft Machine - Facelift. I prefer the first section. Mike Ratledge does the best thing ever done on a keyboard in it.

c'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas le beurre (imago), Monday, 18 March 2013 22:17 (2 months ago) Permalink


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