Album tracks that were later changed or omitted

[GoogaMooga]

Following up on my Fogerty thread just now, I remember his dig at Saul Zaentz on the album "Centerfield" - "Zanz Can't Danz". This was changed to "Vanz" on later pressings, after Fogerty was threatened with a lawsuit.

Then there was the Byrne-Eno collaborative album, "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", where later pressings omitted the song "Qu'ran".

How do you feel about such changes? Are there any other examples of revisionism or censorship?

[Jimbly]

Kate Bush replaced Rolf Harris on Ariel
Ozzy wiped two guys off one of his albums to avoid paying them future earnings
Paul Simon wiped Artie off of Hearts and Bones and made it a solo albums
Robert Fripp had multiple versions of Exposure.

[Charlie O.]

David Thomas of Pere Ubu is notorious for tinkering with his past work, both Ubu and solo.

Ubu's 1979 album New Picnic Time ended with a track called "Jehovah's Kingdom Comes!" (Thomas was a recently converted Jehovah's Witness at the time.) Religiosity aside, it was a brilliant, portentous, thrilling track - easily the best on the album, maybe one of their best ever (in my humble opinion). When the album was reissued on CD ten years later, the song remained the same but the title was changed to "A Hand A Face A Feeling" (a line from the lyric). I mentioned this to a co-worker, who - I then learned - was a lapsed Jehovah's Witness. "The church would never condone Jehovah's name being used in something so 'trivial' as a rock song," she explained - "that's almost certainly why he changed the title." The next time the album was reissued, that song was re-retitled "Kingdom Come" and the vocals were partially re-done (either re-recorded or re-edited) to remove all references to Jehovah. On the most recent batch of Ubu reissues, that version of that song was also edited time-wise (as were a number of other songs on those reissues), for no good musical or religious reason that I can see.

[Nervous Ned]

Roxy Music swapped the original versions of Dance Away and Angel Eyes for their single counterparts on Manifesto.

[Jimbly]

Mike Oldfield deleted a track from Platinum.

[GoogaMooga]

Not a deletion from an album, but the Beach Boys have deleted "Summer in Paradise" from their official album discography, pretending it never happened. They also never perform any of it live, except a few tracks at the time of release.

[pcqgod]

Wasn't "Mermaid Smiled" replaced by "Dear God" on 'Skylarking'?

[Nervous Ned]

Bowie removed ‘Too Dizzy’ from subsequent issues of ‘Never Let Me Down’.

[trans-chigley express]

Wasn't "Mermaid Smiled" replaced by "Dear God" on 'Skylarking'?

Yes but only on the US version. Both tracks are included on the numerous reissues.

[Geezee]

David Thomas of Pere Ubu is notorious for tinkering with his past work, both Ubu and solo.

Ubu's 1979 album New Picnic Time ended with a track called "Jehovah's Kingdom Comes!" (Thomas was a recently converted Jehovah's Witness at the time.) Religiosity aside, it was a brilliant, portentous, thrilling track - easily the best on the album, maybe one of their best ever (in my humble opinion). When the album was reissued on CD ten years later, the song remained the same but the title was changed to "A Hand A Face A Feeling" (a line from the lyric). I mentioned this to a co-worker, who - I then learned - was a lapsed Jehovah's Witness. "The church would never condone Jehovah's name being used in something so 'trivial' as a rock song," she explained - "that's almost certainly why he changed the title." The next time the album was reissued, that song was re-retitled "Kingdom Come" and the vocals were partially re-done (either re-recorded or re-edited) to remove all references to Jehovah. On the most recent batch of Ubu reissues, that version of that song was also edited time-wise (as were a number of other songs on those reissues), for no good musical or religious reason that I can see.

Interesting, I had no idea and don't have multiple copies of their albums so have never realised before that my copy might be different from others.

[Geezee]

One that has always dumbfounded me is Late Great Townes van Zandt where one of his best and most important songs, Snow Don't Fall, is a completely different version between the original album and the CD re-release 20 years later. Despite extensive searching I have no idea about the background to this - it's not discussed anywhere in any liner notes or biographies that I''m aware of (including various extensive liner notes that are part of various vinyl rereleases, and despite this being a notorious and much-discussed song in his catalogue). The "original" is a mournful, cold piano ballad. The other version is a more cinematic, acoustic-guitar and strings-driven piece. They are both beautiful, but in very different ways, and I wish I knew more.

[Charlie O.]

The version of "Old Pervert" on most pressings of The Soft Boys' Underwater Moonlight is a completely different take/arrangement from the one on the first pressing of the LP. I think there was an LP reissue not long ago that reverted to the original version, but I'm pretty sure all of the CDs have the second version.

[the 801]

B-52's "Whammy" LP: On initial pressings of the album, the seventh track was "Don't Worry", a cover version of the Yoko Ono song "Don't Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)". However, the song was removed during later pressings due to legal issues. On subsequent pressings, the song was replaced with "Moon 83", a remake of their earlier track "There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)".

[trans-chigley express]

Thomas Dolby's The Golden Age of Wireless seems to have multiple versions with different tracks and running orders. Very confusing. Wikipedia lists 4 variations.

[trans-chigley express]

The original release of Jon & Vangelis's The Friends of Mr Cairo with the white cover omitted I'll Find My Way Home later added to the version with the brown cover after it was a hit.

[fange]

'Crabsody in Blue' has been replaced by 'Problem Child' on AC/DC's Let There Be Rock ever since the album's initial release in the US, i think.