[Link removed 20 November 2012] (37 MB)
"Ask"
Rough Trade RTT194
Produced by John Porter, mixed by Steve Lillywhite
* Produced by Morrissey and Marr, engineered by Stephen Street
October 1986
1-3 from "Ask" (RTT 194CD, fall 1988)
4 from The World Won't Listen (ROUGHCD101, February 1987)
Restoration:
Produced by John Porter, mixed by Steve Lillywhite
* Produced by Morrissey and Marr, engineered by Stephen Street
October 1986
Tracks:
1 Ask (single version)
2 Cemetry Gates *
3 Golden Lights
4 Ask ("album" version)
3 Golden Lights
4 Ask ("album" version)
Source:
4 from The World Won't Listen (ROUGHCD101, February 1987)
Restoration:
Gentle EQ as needed, a smidgen of tasteful noise reduction if required, and very cautious, gentle peak limiting.
Artwork for this, and every other release we'll be featuring, was sourced from the amazing Vulgar Picture treasure trove of sleeve artwork scans (with permission).
Notes:
The band's second single as a 5-piece, this breezy strummer is yet another clear fan favorite. I wonder what buck-toothed Luxembourgian lasses thought, however... Great guitar interplay between Johnny Marr and Craig Gannon, you hear all sorts of wicked guitar effects including fake seagulls done on guitar. Had John Porter had his way, it would have been even more amazingly tracked, though - Morrissey had Steve Lillywhite mix it without the map detailing the hundreds of guitars on the track.
"Cemetry Gates" as legend has it was written in about 3 minutes by Marr in his kitchen, and suddenly they had the song. Not much more needs to be said; it too is a classic and deserves all the exposure it can get.
Regarding "Golden Lights"... Err, is this the Smiths? Perhaps the most wretched track in the catalogue; Moz sounds ridiculous and this insipid Twinkle cover doesn't really rate at all. Porter says its initial incarnation was much better before Lillywhite got his hands on it.
As to the "album mix" of "Ask": There is no technical "album mix" because the song was never taken from an album. The single (and original) version drops in at 3:05, whereas that released on the various compilations stretches an additional 13 or so seconds to 3:18. As detailed as I am, I've not taken the chance to lay the two versions atop each other and find those spare 13 seconds. Anyone who can find them, let me know!
Great stuff! Just like buses...
ReplyDeleteOnce again thanks for all your efforts. You are on a roll, finishing line in sight.
The single mix features more audible Kirsty backing vox, plus some more prominent guitar fiddly bits here and there, in addition to the earlier fade-out.
ReplyDeleteBUT - even with the earlier fade-out, the single version's ending has 12 "da da da da da da da dum"s as opposed to the album mix's 8.
ReplyDeleteProbably has 13 seconds of silence added to it
ReplyDeleteThought you might include the Germany single edit of "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" in this package, as it was issued around the same time under the same artwork (tinted a different color, of course).
ReplyDeleteFantastic nonetheless, as always.
Controversy! The more I listen to Golden Lights, the more I like it. Thanks again - and agree with an earlier poster - I believe we're either on or rounding third!
ReplyDeleteI've always loved Golden Lights!
ReplyDeleteOK - is that a drum machine on Golden Lights, or is that live. Or Memorex? Or just perfect drumming?
ReplyDelete"Neither Andy Rourke or Mike Joyce contributed to the track, unable to muster up the requisite enthusiasm (John Porter provided bass , while the beat was maintained using a minimal Linn track)."
ReplyDeleteSimon Goddard - Songs That Saved Your Life.
Golden Lights is the only truly bad song The Smiths ever recorded. How on earth it was included on Louder Than Bombs while Jeanne and Wonderful Woman were left on the shelf is a mystery to me!
ReplyDeleteMany, many thanks for the last two posts.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying them a lot!
Roll on the next one!!
Thanks, Tim.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome :) Actually, I've always rated Work is A Four Letter Word and I Keep Mine Hidden below Golden Lights ...
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a few bars of the vocal part of the outro are looped in the single mix. There are definite "surges" and it sounds like a wonky overlap/edit at around 2:38.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea the single was different to the album versions until now! Thanks for sharing!
Hi, have you got this rare single:
ReplyDeletehttp://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=300628
Thanks!
There are a few similarities between "Cemetery Gates" and Nick Lowe's "Nutted by Reality", check 'em out!
ReplyDeleteHaving had sufficiently little better to do today I put the two versions of Ask side by side in Audacity, and so can answer a few questions about the differences between the two. Firstly, the extra length of the album version seems to be simply because the single version fades out earlier, while the album version continues for a further 8 bars of music. Whether it's been edited to make it longer or just left to run later before the fade out I'll leave you to decide.
ReplyDeleteHowever, while the track is longer, the vocals on the album version actually cut out sooner than on the single version - on the single version you can hear Moz and Kirsty harmonising away until the very last (3.04), whereas on the album version they stop at 2:51 and it's instrumental only from there on.
What's slightly more unexpected is that the two versions actually play at slightly different speeds, the single version being ever so slightly faster than the album version. It's not enough to hear it when you listen to them separately but at the time that it fades out the single version has got approximately half a second ahead of the album version. I didn't even notice it when I first laid the tracks side by side, but on playing them at the same time the difference began to create an odd Steve Reich-like effect, as they gradually drifted more noticeably out of sync!