Editing
Some selections on the original At Fillmore East were edited by producer Tom Dowd for conciseness or other reasons. While In Memory of Elizabeth Reed was not edited on that album it was on the 1992 expanded release The Fillmore Concerts, later restored on the 2003 revised At Fillmore East ,.
In the 1992 Fillmore Concerts liner notes, an interview with Dowd was enthusiastic about his editing of the 1992 version:
The clearest example of Tom Dowd's approach to the project comes in the 13 minute version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" that is pieced together from multiple takes, one of them being the March 13th (first show) version that appeared on the original album. The band played the song three times during its Fillmore stand. "One of them I hated," Dowd says, "but two of them were fantastic!" Dowd and mixer Jay Mark mixed down those two versions and proceeded to, as Dowd puts it, "take this song apart. I came to the conclusion that in the first half of the song, up to Duane's solo, I had a better band performance and Dickey Betts solo on the version that we had not used before. Starting with Duane's solo, though, it's the original version. Twenty-one years later, I know 'Liz Reed' as well as I know any song, certainly more than I did in that time of instant decisions. Putting the two versions together showed off the song best. Listen to it! Listen to the togetherness of Dickey, Duane, and Gregg on the theme lines, and how Butch and Jaimoe adjust to the changes up front. There's much more exciting interplay now, more like the band sounded those nights."
Bruce Eder's Allmusic review of this album states: "It is also a slightly less honest release, where "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" is concerned — Dowd edited the version here together from two different performances, first and second shows, the dividing line being where Duane Allman's solo comes in." C. Michael Bailey of All About Jazz also states that the 1992 The Fillmore Concerts represented "digital editing" combining multiple takes of "Elizabeth Reed" onto one track.
Dave Lynch's Allmusic review of the 2003 At Fillmore East says of the 1992 volume that "Duane's 'Liz Reed' solo, although from the same take used on At Fillmore East, is mixed lower than on the version listeners first heard in 1971 — as a result, the power and beauty of the solo doesn't stand out quite as effectively." The 2003 edition restores the 1971 mix.
Read more about this topic: In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed
Famous quotes containing the word editing:
“In this century the writer has carried on a conversation with madness. We might almost say of the twentieth-century writer that he aspires to madness. Some have made it, of course, and they hold special places in our regard. To a writer, madness is a final distillation of self, a final editing down. It’s the drowning out of false voices.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)