Quad LP/Tape Poll Lightfoot, Gordon: Cold On The Shoulder [CD-4/Q8/QR]

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Rate "Cold On The Shoulder"

  • 6

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Bad Sound, Bad Mix, Bad Content

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    14

EMB

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Since 2002/2003
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The other Gordo quad, from '75, Reprise MS4 2206.

Side 1:

1. Bend In The Water
2. Rainy Day People
3. Cold On The Shoulder
4. The Soul Is The Rock
5. Bells of the Evening
6. Rainbow Trout

Side 2:

1. A Tree Too Weak To Stand
2. All The Lovely Ladies
3. Fine As Fine Can Be
4. Cherokee Bend
5. Now And Then
6. Slide On Over


ED :)
 
Okay, maybe SUNDOWN was a better album overall, but still...:D

Well, since no one else will review it, I will. An '8' here, and like SUNDOWN, a mix that would seem conservative except that it fits the music perfectly, and if you dig Lightfoot, hard to imagine anyone having a problem with the mix. "Rainy Day People" is so perfect Lightfoot, a long way from "For Lovin' Me" but the logical extension of "Early Morning Rain."

ED :)
 
This is a great Lightfoot album, the music is a 10 and the quad mix is a 9, overall i have to vote 10. The mix does fit the music very good. I really enjoy this one.
 
Music is definitely a 10. I gave it a 9 because my CD-4 LP has a lot of surface noise ;)

Seriously, the Lightfoot quad LP's are great listening. I've owned mine since the quad years and they're some of my favorite CD-4's. The only negative is the typical mediocre quality RCA CD-4 vinyl pressing.

ss9001
Steve
 
^^
You may be right....sorry. But they were still flimsy pressings, similar to RCA's ;)

But if you can get this & Sundown in good shape, well worth it.
 
The rumor has always been that WB's quad pressings used the same vinyl as the stereo editions, and the feel and look of the vinyl itself--and the noise, as noted--would tend to bear that out (and no, RCA didn't press them, more likely, IMO, Columbia did. That would explain some of the noise factor, anyway).

Not that I recall anyone praising the hell out of US quad vinyl in general. Shoulda, coulda been better, but it was also a format not just meant for audiophiles, so I guess many labels figured what worked for the usual stereo would work for quad, too. Ah well....

ED :)
 
I started writing an entry to this old thread here many months ago, and then didn't finish it and forgot about it. I just discovered my un-posted message was still there, "auto-saved", so I guess I'll include it.

My reason for coming back, is the recent, *ahem*, opportunity to get this one on a good reel-to-digital transfer, one that totally blows away my Q8. Comment: The mix, overall... very well done... maybe not quite as well as SUNDOWN but still a a very good 4.0. The music: well I really like Gord's songwriting, he gets a 9 here, and for the arrangements, about the only thing I really don't like about COTS is the way-too-long wah-wah guitar fadeout on Slide on Over. (and sometimes Pee-Wee Charles' pedal steel is a little strong)

So: I'd give the 4.0 mix an 8, the songwriting a 9, and the music/arrangements an 8.5.

OK, now my previous saved comment:

I know I'm coming to this thread really late... only just found this site recently and have been digging around in these old reviews- enjoying reading many of them.

This album, I have it on Q8, and despite my noisy player I do enjoy this one quite a bit. I've been a Lightfoot fan since the mid 80s so I'm very well acquainted with the stereo version. I always considered COTS to be an extension of the SUNDOWN album - similar songwriting, although no huge hits this time, almost all the same people involved in making it. I think the fact that Lightfoot had both his current and former touring lead guitarists and bass players on hand led to some fairly lush acoustic arrangements. I think the only difference in tone between the two records is the addition of the pedal steel guitar. These slightly larger than usual arrangements really helped when spreading them to four channels, and they did a good job with both albums. I know Lee Herschberg recorded and mixed the stereo version, and worked on many of Lightfoots records in the 70s, so I wonder if he had a hand in the quad mixes as well.

All in all, I'd say COTS is a 9. (SUNDOWN gets a 10 from me)

-Andy T.
"May this world find a resting place... where Peaceful Waters flow..."
 
9. The material isn't as strong as Sundown, both his best album and the best Quad album ever. Still, it's a great album. COTS, Soul is a Rock, Rainy Day People, Cherokee Bend and Bend in the Water are all strong. The mix is good, though nothing spectacular. I never owned a 2ch LP of this and got the CD-4 when it was released.

I'm a big fan, have all his stuff, and have seen him several times live, including at the old Desert Inn (RIP) in Vegas. His voice has become very nasal in recent years and painful for me to listen to. Although he has been acknowledged as a good songwriter, I believe that he's always been underrated.
 
9. The material isn't as strong as Sundown, both his best album and the best Quad album ever. Still, it's a great album. COTS, Soul is a Rock, Rainy Day People, Cherokee Bend and Bend in the Water are all strong. The mix is good, though nothing spectacular. I never owned a 2ch LP of this and got the CD-4 when it was released.

I'm a big fan, have all his stuff, and have seen him several times live, including at the old Desert Inn (RIP) in Vegas. His voice has become very nasal in recent years and painful for me to listen to. Although he has been acknowledged as a good songwriter, I believe that he's always been underrated.

does anybody have a cd copy of the quad Gordon Lightfoot- "cold on the Shoulders" / I've been looking for one, I have Sundown quad on cd .

BTW- I knew Gordon years ago when my sister's boyfriend lived next door to him in Toronto. I've seen him play countless times but I have stopped going to his concerts since 2006 when it was obvious he has lost his voice. that is a shame. he needs to retire from touring.
 
Going with an "8". I prefer the music on Sundown, but there are a few great tunes on here. My favorite tracks would have to "Rainy Day People" and "Cold On The Shoulder". As others have said, the quad mix fits the material nicely - discrete, but often sparse and understated. In "Rainy Day People", all that's in the rears are some isolated bongo drums and steel guitar. Some songs have a low reflection of Gordon's vocal in the rears, giving them a nice 'open' sound, while others have no trace of it.

I don't know if there's any remote chance of this or Sundown being reissued by Warner/Rhino, but if they did I'd certainly buy them both. Until then, I'm lucky to have the Dolby QR in my collection which sounds fantastic.

"Rainy Day People":
02 Rainy Day People QR.jpg


Here's a 30-second sample of the aforementioned rear channels in "Rainy Day People". It almost sounds like you're listening to an entirely different song! Perhaps it's perverse--and obviously not what the engineer(s) intended--but I've always loved how quad mixes often give listeners the opportunity to hear stuff isolated like this.
 

Attachments

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Excellent QR conversion by @sjcorne, what he said above, but I love good acoustic music in surround and Gordon's vocals are very unique and instantly recognizable. I believe the music could have been mixed slightly more discrete to the rears also, but overall I'm very pleased with it and enjoying it tremendously! *Love Slide On Over with backing vocals and wah wah guitar in rears.
So for me this is a strong 9.
Only one more vote to get this into the main Poll rankings - how about you @fredblue ???
 
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Excellent QR conversion by @sjcorne, what he said above, but I love good acoustic music in surround and Gordon's vocals are very unique and instantly recognizable. I believe the music could have been mixed slightly more discrete to the rears also, but overall I'm very pleased with it and enjoying it tremendously! *Love Slide On Over with backing vocals and wah wah guitar in rears.
So for me this is a strong 9.
Only one more vote to get this into the main Poll rankings - how about you @fredblue ???

i have it on CD-4 but not sure i ever played it 😅 i'll check later 👍
 
Excellent QR conversion by @sjcorne, what he said above, but I love good acoustic music in surround and Gordon's vocals are very unique and instantly recognizable. I believe the music could have been mixed slightly more discrete to the rears also, but overall I'm very pleased with it and enjoying it tremendously! *Love Slide On Over with backing vocals and wah wah guitar in rears.
So for me this is a strong 9.
Only one more vote to get this into the main Poll rankings - how about you @fredblue ???
OK, I took the bait and just voted an 8. So now it should make the polls. (Again, why we never got GL quad reissues is a sore point with me.) Sundown remains my GL go to album, but this one is good.
 
I found the record poorly done and the music not up to par with what Gordon Lightfoot normally puts out
 
I pretty much agree with Linda of 2012. Maybe not quite as strong as "Sundown" but still very, very good. The same production values as the former.

There's actually plenty going on in the back channels - pretty much all strings, various guitars, especially the wah wah solo guitar, back left, in "Slide On Over" the "coconut shells". They even have Lightfoot's voice coming out of all four channels in "Bells of the Evening". A "9" but only because of the slightly weaker material compared to "Sundown". My copy is actually very quiet, especially for CD-4

And, I still kick myself, 46 years later when I see the ten "Loss Leaders" on the inner liner Warner had going then and I didn't send them a check for 20 bucks to buy all of them.

Schlagers, indeed! :D

Doug
 
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