Unsurpassed! Vol. 1 - Band On The Run Rarities

From EMERICK LAGOS TAPE HMC VS MISTERCLAUDEL – beatlegdb.com:

BAND ON THE RUN- THE LAGOS TAPES:
What is clear by doing a “back to back” or A/B comparison of the same materials from the two different labels, is that both used a different source.
For the ones thinking that the Misterclaudel release will become obsolete, think twice as the most complete Lagos tape is not with HMC.
This quick review was made using the original releases by each label.

HMC uses a copy someone made of the tape, choosing where to start and where to end each track and editing two of the songs; plus re-arranging the order of two tracks.
Misterclaudel used a different dub of this tape, perhaps a direct copy of the Emerick tape (there are no fade ins or outs between songs, or abrupt or “cold ends” like with HMC, as this tape seems to continue track after track), and is the longest.
The total length shown below for the tracks is exactly as they were pressed on silver disk, however that doesn’t mean the whole seconds are filled with the actual Emerick Tape. HMC ends all of his tracks earlier and the original “tape noise” is missing, but sometimes they also cuts actual sounds from that particular take or Rough Mix)

MAMUNIA
HMC: 4:54 (actual length 4:52 and with a fake edit/insert)
MC: 4:56 (actual length 4:55)
Both showing different volume levels. HMC uplifted the volume and his source starts directly with Paul’s “Three, Four” count-in. Misterclaudel starts with two seconds of tape noise, then Paul’s voice and Linda’s clearer than the HMC tape.
At 4:52, HMC’s tape cuts abruptly after Paul says something like “ehhppp”, while on MC, the tape doesn’t cut and hiss noise continues 3 more seconds; however, if we alienage both tracks to start exactly at the same time (HMC first and MC below), both tapes mismatch at 01:09 seconds. At first, it seems that MC is missing two and a half seconds of the tape, however, in the HMC version, at 01:09 until 01:12, there is an Edit; you can clearly (please use headphones) hear a difference in the tape at 01:09, specially a bad edit with the other tape with more hiss that ends at 01:12 , using the version from Band on the Run 50th to make the patch (and that version comes from a further Mix Emerick did weeks later, not this one that went to auction). Maybe the source who gave HMC this tape did the edit and they didn’t noticed it, but why don’t keep the tape as it was? Partial or not.

BAND ON THE RUN
HMC: 5:16 (actual length including a missing part 5:14)
MC: 5:21 (actual length with full track 5:21)
HMC track has the volume slightly uplifted. MC more balanced.
HMC starts directly when the tape machine rolled again while on MC continues with tape noise coming from the previous track and then the tape machine rolling again. There’s a cut (at 02:16) with HMC exactly in between Parts 1 and 2, missing 5 seconds of the actual track during the middle break. MC has it complete.
HMC ends abruptly at 5:12 during Paul’s “ah”, while on MC we hear the complete “ahhh” and you can still hear two extra bass notes and then noise of the tape until the end .

HELEN WHEELS
HMC: 4:00 (actual length 3:56)
MC (they have this song separate in two tracks (Takes 2 and 3), we have combined them both): 3:59 (actual length 3:59)
Again, HMC has the audio uplifted and you can hear a “cold end” on the tape at 3:56, while on MC the track fades out completely without any cut.

MRS VANDEBILT
HMC: 4:30 (actual length 4:28)
MC: 4:34 (actual length 4:34)
HMC has the volume during the song slightly uplifted, but not during the chat at the intro, and MC has it slightly inverted and with clearer vocals especially during the whole intro before the take starts.
HMC cuts in a “cold way” at 4:28 after one “Ho”, and on the other side, the MC tape continues for two more seconds and we can still hear two extra laughs very far and the tape continues with the usual hiss for 3 more seconds (until 4:30); and at 4:31 the tape noise changes increasing the sound (so this seems to be part of the next track’s intro when Emerick made the copy to this tape).

NO WORDS
This is where you see that HMC got their version from a different and inferior source, a fan that maybe re-arrange the tracks or made a mistake not placing them at the right spot, as the original Emerick tape has “MRS VANDEBILT” followed by “NO WORDS”, however on HMC, the next song is “Let Me Roll it”.
HMC: 4:26 (actual length 4:24)
MC (they have this song separate in two tracks, we have combined them both): 4:30 (actual length 4:30)
HMC with slightly uplifted audio except for the intro (like the previous track), and MC is vice versa. HMC ends abruptly at 4:24 during a final guitar lick while on MC the guitar lick can be heard complete as the tape continues.

LET ME ROLL IT
HMC: 4:59 (actual length 4:57)
MC: 5:09 (actual length 5:05)
The same slight increase of volume on each label for both the actual track and the intros. MC tape starts earlier with tape noise coming from the previous track as it seems is the same tape running without any cut. HMC cuts abruptly at 4:58 missing FOUR seconds of the actual performance of the song. MC has it complete and the tape goes for more seconds until at 5:05 you can hear the sound of a cut on the tape but the hiss noise continues for more seconds.

DRINK TO ME
HMC: 6:23 (actual length 6:21)
MC: 6:26 (actual length 6:25)
HMC starts almost directly when the tape start recording while MC has two seconds of tape noise before. HMC cuts “in cold” at 6:21, however this time only cuts a very slight echo of the “rhythm box” doing the effects continuously throughout the song. MC has it complete until the tape ends.

The “extra” sound effects in the HMC release (that didn’t came from the recent Omega auction), except for track 20 related with “Drink To Me”; lacks of any interest and could be anything (same as the Marc Bolan recording that is linked with “Drink to Me”, both available on the same tape). Sound effects from EMI’s library (tracks 15-17 and 21), annoying laughs taken from a Theater play (tracks 18 and 19) whose source is a vinyl of sound effects by the way, and none linked directly with actual Wings recordings (but ok to have them for the collection).

This reminds me of a similar story with the Beatles Shea Stadium tape that both labels released many years ago. HMC’s version comes from a third generation copy (missing a few seconds too), while MC comes from a first gen tape sold directly by the owner/winner for that auction (check some old Beatleg magazines for reviews); although thanks to the usual ones, fans think that MC stole it from the HMC release.

For those creating reviews (without doing a real verification) in favor of one label and detracting the other, the real winner for the LAGOS TAPE is clearly not HMC.

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