iefje wrote:As I think all members on this forum will know, The Shadows' original studio recording of "Riders In The Sky" was released in two versions: the 1979 "String Of Hits" album version and the 1980 single version. The single version is in essence the same recording as the album version, but is speeded-up for the single and has added drum sounds and syndrum passages by Brian and an extra electric rhythm guitar part by Bruce. The Shadows already played the track live during the Autumn 1979 tour. Now I was wondering if during this tour they played the original album arrangement or the later single arrangement.
As far as I remember, the 'remixed' 1980 single version was an attempt at making it sound a bit more like it sounded when they played it live. I have a couple of live recordings on cassette from 1979 and I am pretty sure it was played faster, with Bruce playing his white Strat and with Brian playing the syndrums during the middle bit. I haven't listened to these cassettes for a while but I am about 90% certain that I'm correct. It makes sense, if you think about it; they asked the concert audience to vote on the tune that should be their next single and 'Riders in the Sky' came out as the favourite. Making the studio version sound a bit more like the live version (which had, after all, been voted on) seemed like the decent thing to do!
Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 2:18 pm