Everyone here have heard indeed about the infamous Some Girls 8 track release.



Any idea of the best gear to play it and then record it ?
Thanks in advance

HMN

Some tracks are out on YouTube. Here's Beast Of Burden, with a different edit, other lyrics in places etc.





[www.youtube.com]

Don't have a player myself, unfortunately.

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DandelionPowderman
Some tracks are out on YouTube. Here's Beast Of Burden, with a different edit, other lyrics in places etc.

Don't have a player myself, unfortunately.

Yeah, some years ago a IORR member did a great job on it and has uploaded one of the cleanest version ever of this release, but as I'd never own a 8 track player as well, I want to know what kind of gear people have used during this era.

HMN

In 2019 I bought this 8-track tape of Some Girls (Rolling Stones Records/Atlantic TP 39108)(USA).

The one from whom i bought it replaced the switch strip and there is a new foam pad in it. It has been tested and the quality is still perfect. That's the most important: find a good 8 track tape and let someone repair it.

Unfortunately 8-track tapes are the worst for sound quality when comparing them to cassette tapes or vinyl.

See [en.wikipedia.org] for more information on 8-track tapes.

As some may know the 8-track version of Some Girls contains 3 alternative versions of: Shattered (shortened version, also available on a promo 7"), Miss You (extended album version)(5:46) and Beast Of Burden (extended version)(5:18). Miss You features extended guitar parts, extended vocals and the saxophono solo, Beast Of Burden has additional vocals on 3rd strophe and outtro.These versions of Miss You and Beast Of Burden are only available on this 8-track release of Some Girls. Each "program" on a 8-track tape (program 1,2,3,4) has to be the same lenght. That's why the running order of songs is different and that's the reason why they include longer of shorter versions of songs to reach the same length of each program.

All the digitized copies of these versions of Miss You and Beast Of Burden I've heard sound pretty lousy (muddy, tape hiss, etc.).

I have found a company that is specialized in digitizing audio and video in the Netherlands. They produced a good sounding WAV file from the repaired 8 track tape. I removed tape noise, etc. with Audicity. This resulted in a perfect sounding Beast of Burden and Miss You.

Thanks for the informations snarf2014

Meanwhile I succeed to get a hand on the text file which come from Audioarchivist who once kindly uploaded this stuff here on IORR.

here it is :

" The Rolling Stones – Some Girls
8-Track Tape Cartridge HiRes transfer Flac

Label: Rolling Stones Records – TP 39108
Format: 8-Track Cartridge, Album, Black Cart, Sponge Pads
Country: US Released: 1978
Genre: Rock Style: Classic Rock, Blues Rock

Lineage:
Pioneer H-R99 playback deck > Nakamichi BX-2 (level adjsutment) > Roland Edirol R-09HR @24 bits 96 khz >
iZotope RX Advanced 6, Adobe Audition CS5, Wavelab 5.01b, SoX Resampler (various stages of mastering and processing) >
mystery file transport mechanisms > YOU!

Tracklist:
(41:54 total time, 40:47 edited)

A0 (0:12) track one ka-chunk
A1 (5:52) Miss You - longer version than on LP, with one line of lyrics not found in the vinyl/CD versions, unavailable elsewhere
A2 (4:23) When The Whip Comes Down
B0 (0:09) track two ka-chunk
B1 (4:24) Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) – shorter edit
B2 (3:09) Respectable
B3 (2:47) Shattered - shorter version than on LP; same as promo edit
C0(0:06) track three ka-chunk
C1 (3:44) Far Away Eyes - shorter version than on LP; same as single-edit
C2 (3:12) Lies
C3 (3:22) Before They Make Me Run - promo version slightly shorter
D0 (0:10) track four ka-chunk
D1 (4:40) Some Girls
D2 (5:34) Beast Of Burden - longer version than on LP, more extra lyrics, unavailable elsewhere
E0 (0:10) end track ka-chunk

Credits:
Producer – Glimmer Twins, The
Recorded By, Mixed By – Chris Kimsey
Record Company – Warner Communications
Distributed By – Atlantic Recording Corporation
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Promotone B.V.
Copyright (c) – Promotone B.V.


Notes:
This variation is housed in a 'WEA' style cartridge with foam pads and two release tabs found on the underside. There is a (w) logo found molded into the underside of the cartridge.
Nearly identical to another variation that has 5 small round circular release tabs accessible from the underside of the cartridge that also utilizes a metal backing pad support..

Some notable differences to the program material:
A1 is the longer edit of the song that includes more of the second verse.
B3 is 2:45 with a shortened intro and guitar break.
D2 is quite longer than the vinyl version with more lyrics.

audioarchivist"

But back to the gear only , how was that one ? I ask, because if succeed to get one for cheap I will go for it.



HMN

I had one in the 80s that I took from my uncle's house.
Some Girls was one of my only tapes (I think). But I can't really remember anything about the player itself.
It was black, I think, and front loaded like a VCR player.

Black & Blue is the one we need! Nobody has ever done that one, that I'm aware of. I can't remember which track, maybe Cherry Oh Baby? One of the tracks has a different edit, maybe longer or shorter, I don't recall the details.

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DandelionPowderman
Some tracks are out on YouTube. Here's Beast Of Burden, with a different edit, other lyrics in places etc.





[www.youtube.com]

Don't have a player myself, unfortunately.

Your hard core !

i'm a big fan of 8 tracks and an avid collector and restorer of 8-track tapes and have some girls on 8 track

i bought 2 of them sealed several years ago opened one and had to replace the sense foil (plus add some splicing tape underneath the sense foil) and foam pads plus clean off the pinch roller with 91 percent alcohol then lubricate the reel and roller

this is the process i go thru with each new tape i get and this combined with cleaning the capstan, heads and sensor every ten hours of play has meant that i have never had a tape get eaten in 10 years

and i play tapes every day

now as for equipment that panasonic won't really do it's mono and not really hi fi

what you need is a standalone 8 track deck recorder/player that's made in japan ideally pioneer or jvc in my experience

and know that unless recently restored your gonna have to do some restoration of the deck but nothing you shouldn't be able to do yourself

firstly the mechanism that moves the head will need the lubricant that has undoubtedly solidified into glue cleaned off and replaced with fresh lithium grease

next but a drop of oil in the tape motor

then you need to replace the belts even if they still work trust me

searching online with the model number of the deck usually turns up some belts

also the heads will often go out of alignment so much so that the decks often designed with a easily accessible hole on the bottom that can be used to adjust the head height

not to go into to much detail here you can find lots of videos on YouTube about adjusting the head height and other things you'll need to know

and i know i make this sound really hard but it's not i have a very low skill set and i can do it

as far as sound quality goes it can variey widely depending on the tape condition and how well it was recorded to begin with

but i will say as someone who bought sealed copies of some girls on 8 track and the first cassette release from the 70's the 8 track hands down sounds better

this is generally the case with cassettes made in the 60's and 70's when compared with there 8 track counterpart until the 80's when cassette sound quality caught up to and surpassed 8 track

it should also be noted that some late era tapes and decks where capable of dolby

also something to note about recording on a 8 track in my experience with a good condition well aligned deck and good condition blanck tape the results are very satisfying

and finally here's a really cool look at what could have been the next step in design if 8 track continued to evolve and advance and remained popular

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LeonidP
Black & Blue is the one we need! Nobody has ever done that one, that I'm aware of. I can't remember which track, maybe Cherry Oh Baby? One of the tracks has a different edit, maybe longer or shorter, I don't recall the details.

i'll buy one this month and record and post it for everyone but know my equipment isn't the most high end but it should produce ok results

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ProfessorWolf

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LeonidP
Black & Blue is the one we need! Nobody has ever done that one, that I'm aware of. I can't remember which track, maybe Cherry Oh Baby? One of the tracks has a different edit, maybe longer or shorter, I don't recall the details.

i'll buy one this month and record and post it for everyone but know my equipment isn't the most high end but it should produce ok results

Sounds great, and fyi, I had info saved on it. Cherry Oh Baby is the edited track, supposedly 1 min shorter on 8-track than on the vinyl/cds.

It seems to me that an opportunity was missed when these extended versions of Miss You and Beast Of Burden weren't utilized for the Some Girls Deluxe edition a few years back.....

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LeonidP

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ProfessorWolf

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LeonidP
Black & Blue is the one we need! Nobody has ever done that one, that I'm aware of. I can't remember which track, maybe Cherry Oh Baby? One of the tracks has a different edit, maybe longer or shorter, I don't recall the details.

i'll buy one this month and record and post it for everyone but know my equipment isn't the most high end but it should produce ok results

Sounds great, and fyi, I had info saved on it. Cherry Oh Baby is the edited track, supposedly 1 min shorter on 8-track than on the vinyl/cds.

ok here's a sample of the sound quality from my deck with my much loved and played copy of some girls

i know there's some crackling in the left channel it only happens when i record 8 tracks digitally not during analog recording or normal playback

i've tried different receivers, cables, cards, and software and it always happens

so i've just learned to live with

another thing is my deck plays slightly fast now i know how to adjust this with a frequency counter and speed tape but finding 8 track speed tapes is really hard

but i'm. sure someone out there knowledgeable in this can correct the speed after i post black and blue

we

ok so i ordered a copy of black and blue on ebay but i also found this on ebay

thoughts?

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sf37
It seems to me that an opportunity was missed when these extended versions of Miss You and Beast Of Burden weren't utilized for the Some Girls Deluxe edition a few years back.....

+1

HMN

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ProfessorWolf

ok here's a sample of the sound quality from my deck with my much loved and played copy of some girls

i know there's some crackling in the left channel it only happens when i record 8 tracks digitally not during analog recording or normal playback

i've tried different receivers, cables, cards, and software and it always happens

so i've just learned to live with

another thing is my deck plays slightly fast now i know how to adjust this with a frequency counter and speed tape but finding 8 track speed tapes is really hard

but i'm. sure someone out there knowledgeable in this can correct the speed after i post black and blue

we

Thanks for the infos Prof

Here's the 3 infamous tracks WE

in the best ever sound I've heard taped by audioarchivist Enjoy !

HMN

I’ve never been terrific at deciphering the difference between these edits. Can somehow tell me: at what point does the 8-track Beast of Burden stop being the Some Girls edit? Is it merely a case of it having a far longer outro, or are there subtle differences elsewhere in the mix? Whatever the differentiators, the really like this 8-track mix. Beast of Burden has really grown on me in recent years. It took me a while to truly ‘get it’ It’s a wonderful ballad.

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Big Al
I’ve never been terrific at deciphering the difference between these edits. Can somehow tell me: at what point does the 8-track Beast of Burden stop being the Some Girls edit? Is it merely a case of it having a far longer outro, or are there subtle differences elsewhere in the mix? Whatever the differentiators, the really like this 8-track mix. Beast of Burden has really grown on me in recent years. It took me a while to truly ‘get it’ It’s a wonderful ballad.

Hi Big Al, the major difference on the 8-track version (besides the much longer outro) is the extra set of lyrics in the second stanza, "I'll never be your beast of burden, be your slave, take your cursing".

I too especially love this version, and thank you Honestman for providing the upload link above to these pristine 8-track versions. Much appreciated!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-04-02 12:25 by sf37.

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sf37

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Big Al
I’ve never been terrific at deciphering the difference between these edits. Can somehow tell me: at what point does the 8-track Beast of Burden stop being the Some Girls edit? Is it merely a case of it having a far longer outro, or are there subtle differences elsewhere in the mix? Whatever the differentiators, the really like this 8-track mix. Beast of Burden has really grown on me in recent years. It took me a while to truly ‘get it’ It’s a wonderful ballad.

Hi Big Al, the major difference on the 8-track version (besides the much longer outro) is the extra set of lyrics in the second stanza, "I'll never be your beast of burden, be your slave, take your curses".

I too especially love this version, and thank you Honestman for providing the upload link above to these pristine 8-track versions. Much appreciated!

Thanks, sf37! I’ll listen out for those extra lyrics!

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Honestman

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ProfessorWolf

ok here's a sample of the sound quality from my deck with my much loved and played copy of some girls

i know there's some crackling in the left channel it only happens when i record 8 tracks digitally not during analog recording or normal playback

i've tried different receivers, cables, cards, and software and it always happens

so i've just learned to live with

another thing is my deck plays slightly fast now i know how to adjust this with a frequency counter and speed tape but finding 8 track speed tapes is really hard

but i'm. sure someone out there knowledgeable in this can correct the speed after i post black and blue

we

Thanks for the infos Prof

Here's the 3 infamous tracks WE

in the best ever sound I've heard taped by audioarchivist Enjoy !

thanks they sound great

I was thinking the same thing. What a missed opportunity. Maybe we'll get this in the Some Girls 50th anniversary release in a few years.

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sf37
It seems to me that an opportunity was missed when these extended versions of Miss You and Beast Of Burden weren't utilized for the Some Girls Deluxe edition a few years back.....

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ProfessorWolf
ok so i ordered a copy of black and blue on ebay but i also found this on ebay

thoughts?

That sounds excellent to me - keep in mind, I'm the farthest thing from an audio nazi, we have many on here that might think otherwise of that clip.

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ProfessorWolf

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LeonidP

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ProfessorWolf

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LeonidP
Black & Blue is the one we need! Nobody has ever done that one, that I'm aware of. I can't remember which track, maybe Cherry Oh Baby? One of the tracks has a different edit, maybe longer or shorter, I don't recall the details.

i'll buy one this month and record and post it for everyone but know my equipment isn't the most high end but it should produce ok results

Sounds great, and fyi, I had info saved on it. Cherry Oh Baby is the edited track, supposedly 1 min shorter on 8-track than on the vinyl/cds.

ok here's a sample of the sound quality from my deck with my much loved and played copy of some girls

i know there's some crackling in the left channel it only happens when i record 8 tracks digitally not during analog recording or normal playback

i've tried different receivers, cables, cards, and software and it always happens

so i've just learned to live with

another thing is my deck plays slightly fast now i know how to adjust this with a frequency counter and speed tape but finding 8 track speed tapes is really hard

but i'm. sure someone out there knowledgeable in this can correct the speed after i post black and blue

we

That is interesting, never seen that before.

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Big Al

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sf37

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Big Al
I’ve never been terrific at deciphering the difference between these edits. Can somehow tell me: at what point does the 8-track Beast of Burden stop being the Some Girls edit? Is it merely a case of it having a far longer outro, or are there subtle differences elsewhere in the mix? Whatever the differentiators, the really like this 8-track mix. Beast of Burden has really grown on me in recent years. It took me a while to truly ‘get it’ It’s a wonderful ballad.

Hi Big Al, the major difference on the 8-track version (besides the much longer outro) is the extra set of lyrics in the second stanza, "I'll never be your beast of burden, be your slave, take your curses".

I too especially love this version, and thank you Honestman for providing the upload link above to these pristine 8-track versions. Much appreciated!

Thanks, sf37! I’ll listen out for those extra lyrics!

There's a lot more differences. There's different guitar fills, there's different lead and backup vocals here and there, the mix is different.

I had an 8-track machine years ago, and what always struck me was how fantastic it sounded. Really big and full and warm. Much like vinyl, but with more oomph.

Mathijs

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Mathijs

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Big Al

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sf37

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Big Al
I’ve never been terrific at deciphering the difference between these edits. Can somehow tell me: at what point does the 8-track Beast of Burden stop being the Some Girls edit? Is it merely a case of it having a far longer outro, or are there subtle differences elsewhere in the mix? Whatever the differentiators, the really like this 8-track mix. Beast of Burden has really grown on me in recent years. It took me a while to truly ‘get it’ It’s a wonderful ballad.

Hi Big Al, the major difference on the 8-track version (besides the much longer outro) is the extra set of lyrics in the second stanza, "I'll never be your beast of burden, be your slave, take your curses".

I too especially love this version, and thank you Honestman for providing the upload link above to these pristine 8-track versions. Much appreciated!

Thanks, sf37! I’ll listen out for those extra lyrics!

There's a lot more differences. There's different guitar fills, there's different lead and backup vocals here and there, the mix is different.

I had an 8-track machine years ago, and what always struck me was how fantastic it sounded. Really big and full and warm. Much like vinyl, but with more oomph.

Mathijs

bingo!

that's exactly how i would describe how at there best 8 tracks sound