Theme For Young Lovers - Question

by **donna plasky** » 09 May 2012, 22:23

Hi, everybody. I have a question about "Theme For Young Lovers" -- it's just a little obscure thing that I have just noticed. I have numerous copies of this song because it appears on probably every Shadows greatest hits/compilation album that has been released on CD. I would say that all the copies of the song are exactly the same, except for one -- the version which appears on the CD called, The Shadows At Their Very Best (cover art shown below). This song not only has a deeper tone (which could perhaps just be a remastered track, I suppose) but the opening notes of the Intro are different. On this album, TFYL opens up with one "D" note. In guitar tab lingo, that would be the 10th fret on String #1. All other versions of this song seem to open with two "D" notes in the Intro, and when you play the same phrase later in the song it would be just one "D" note.

I guess my questions are: What do you think? And what would you play...one D note or two D notes in the Intro?

My guitar playing is still pretty terrible, so I am asking purely out of curiosity. Whether I play one or two D notes won't make much difference.

Thanks for your help.

Kind regards,
Donna

[img]At%20Their%20Very%20Best.jpg[/img]

by **bgohara** » 09 May 2012, 23:11

Donna

The version on the 'At Their Very Best' album is actually a re-recorded version from 1989. It has strings on it (actually synthesised strings) while the original does not.

The double note that you refer to is, I think, a mastering error which occurred during the transfer from tape to CD - it appeared on one compilation accidentally - and then seems to have been used by EMI on almost all subsequent compilation releases. I guess this arose from the person who carried out the mastering not having been familiar with the tune and therefore not correcting the error before it went 'viral' - others will be able to tell you exactly what compilations this 'mis mastered' version escaped onto. There is only one 'D' note plucked at the beginning of the tune.

Interestingly, I dug out the 2004 mono/stereo release of 'More Hits' to put it into the car just today and I noticed that it has the properly mastered version. I think that both 'Greatest Hits' and 'More Hits' were remastered and reissued to co-incide with the 2004 final tour. Certainly to my ears both of these CD sound great and are worth looking out.

Bernie

by **neil2726** » 09 May 2012, 23:13

The original version opens with just one D note. It seems a different take was used for the album and it has since been released with string effects. Although Bruce wrote this tune he did not play on the original recording due to illness. Hank overdubbed the rhythm track.

neil

by **JimN** » 09 May 2012, 23:30

Just to add to what others have said, the "correct" intro to TFYL contains just five notes (D-C#-B-C#-B), played on lead guitar alone (the rest of the band come in on a B minor chord on the lead guitarist's second B note).

When the 1990 EMI compilation "The Original Chart Hits 1960-1980" was released, the CD version (and only the CD version) contained a digital glitch which caused a fast reiteration of the initial D note. The vinyl version (I have it) did not have that fault and neither did the cassette version. It was an odd mastering error, because the tune had already been re-mastered once previously, for release on the first CD version of the "More Hits!" LP. However, the 1990 CDx2 / LPx2 / MCx2 set did proudly bear the instription that it had been remastered on the Sonic Solutions "No-Noise" system, so a new re-master was a selling point.

Ever since, some other (but not all) EMI-based compilations have featured the same error, presumably having extracted the audio from a copy of the 1990 CD (and certain other companies have replicated other mastering curiosities and peculiarities by the same method).

My database shows the EMI version of Theme For Young Lovers thus:

THEME FOR YOUNG LOVERS (EMI version)
1964
Welch
EMI/Columbia (UK) Single A-side (c/w "This Hammer")
DB 7231 (mono)
1. Single B-side 45 EMI/Columbia (UK) DB 7231 (mono)
2. "More Hits!" LP EMI/Columbia (UK) 33SX 1791 (mono) (2 copies)
3. "Those Brilliant Shadows" EP EMI/Columbia (UK) SEG 8321 (mono)
4. "20 Golden Greats" LP EMI (UK) EMTV 3 (stereo)
5. "The Shadows At The Movies" LP EMI/MFP (UK) MFP 50347 (stereo)
6. "The Original Chart Hits 1960 - 1980" LPx2 EMI (UK) EM 1354 (stereo)
7. "The Early Years" CDx6 EMI (UK) CD SHAD 14 (stereo) [w.glitch]
8. "The Original Chart Hits 1960 - 1980" CDx2 EMI (UK) CD EM 1354 (stereo)
9. "Wonderful Life"/"Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp" CDx2 EMI (UK) 7 80426 2 (stereo)
10. "A Portrait Of The Shadows" CD Castle Comms (D) CHC 7096 CR (stereo) [w.glitch]
11. "Dance On !!!!" CD Laserlight (D) 16 090 (stereo)
12. "30 All Time Greatest Hits" CD EMI (Australia) 8 14898 2 (stereo) [w.glitch]
13. "More Hits!" CD EMI (UK) CDP 792424 2 (stereo)
14. "More Hits!" (mono/stereo) CD EMI (UK) 578199 2 (mono)
15. "More Hits!" (mono/stereo) CD EMI (UK) 578199 2 (stereo)
16. "Somethin' Else!" CD Magic (F) 3930609 (stereo) [w. glitch]

HTH

JN

by **donna plasky** » 10 May 2012, 00:13

Dear JimN and everyone else who replied: Thank you very much for the information. This is all so interesting. I seem to have a lot of the albums which Jim has in red, the ones with the mistakes. :oops:

But now I know...only play the D note once.

I just noticed something funny. I don't know if this has anything to do with my geographic location or whatever, but when I add CDs to my iTunes Library (which I use to burn the music onto my iPod mp3 player), I always try to remember to do a little visual spell-check on the titles, before I hook up the iPod to the computer and synchronise the music. Any way, I just opened up the "Something Else" album in my iTunes Library to listen to TFYL...and I see there is a typo that I did not catch until just now. I seem to have a tune called, "The Rice and Fall of Flingel Bunt." :lol: