Longest 7" 45 rpm

[David Ayers]

I do have a candidate, which is the live version of Sebastian on the b-side of Cockney Rebel's 1975 Mr Raffles. It clocks in at about 10.50. That's going some. Any more?

[mikeweil]

The Beatles' Hey Jude was a bit shorter, 9 and some ...

[clifford_thornton]

Definitely have had 33 1/3 7"s at 15 minutes a side, but not any 45s longer than about 6.

[mjzee]

Hey Jude was about 7 minutes. MacArthur Park by Richard Harris was longer (7:23). I have a live version of Roadrunner by Jonathan Richman which was released on a British Beserkley b-side that's about 8 1/2 minutes.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

So glad you started this thread!

I thought that the 1967 or 8 (I think) Private Eye Christmas record - "Dear Sir, Is this a record?" was the longest, but there's no timing on my copy, so I thought I'd play it to see how long it is. Haven't listened to it for well over 40 years. Listening now; nice...

Well, it's six and a half minutes. Seems longer in retrospect. John Bird, Peter Cook and others featured.

MG

Just looked it up on Discogs - it was 1969.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

PS There were lots of Private Eye records. Here's a discography.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Eye_recordings

Looking at the discog, I see I also had, but don't any more:

'I saw Daddy kissing Santa Claus' (Xmas 1964);

'BBC Gnome Service' (1966); and

'Hullo sailor' (1972).

Stars included Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Barry Humphries, John Bird, John Wells, Eleanor Bron, William Rushton, Barry Fantoni and Richard Ingrams.

You had to pay double for Private Eye that week - but they were free!

MG

[Teasing the Korean]

Do 45 RPM EPs count?

[mjazzg]

Hey Jude was about 7 minutes. MacArthur Park by Richard Harris was longer (7:23). I have a live version of Roadrunner by Jonathan Richman which was released on a British Beserkley b-side that's about 8 1/2 minutes.

I've got that Jonathan Richman too. I haven't thought about it for years, "Roadrunner once...."

[mjzee]

Hey Jude was about 7 minutes. MacArthur Park by Richard Harris was longer (7:23). I have a live version of Roadrunner by Jonathan Richman which was released on a British Beserkley b-side that's about 8 1/2 minutes.

I've got that Jonathan Richman too. I haven't thought about it for years, "Roadrunner once...."

It was a great performance, the essence of Jonathan in those days.

[Hardbopjazz]

How about Don McClean's American Pie? That was over 8 minutes.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

How about Don McClean's American Pie? That was over 8 minutes.

Yes - 8:27 it sez on my wife's album. But was the 45 the same as the LP version?

Deodato's '2001' is 9:01 on my CD of 'Prelude', but was the single the same length? I just don't know.

James Brown's 'Ain't it funky now' was 9:28, but was that the 45 or just the LP version? Dunno. Also his 'Make it funky' was 12:45.

Ditto, Fred Wesley & the JB's 'Doin it to death' was 12:09 on LP, but what was the 45?

MG

[David Ayers]

Good question on what was really the track time. I never timed Sebastian but I know every note and the 10.54 version on Spotify is certainly what was on the 45. I've got it here but my deck is out of action. It states on the label 'Live version: Increase volume to compensate for reduced level'. No kidding!

Can't post a pic of mine but it is identical to this:

http://www.45cat.com/record/emi2299

PS I will play it when I can to be sure that familiarity with an mp3 I obtained a while back has not distorted my memory, but I don't think so.

Edited October 8, 2014 by David Ayers

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

OK, the 45 version of 'Doin' it to death' was only five minutes and a bit.

MG