The Lady In My Life (Full Extended Version)

Fascinating story on the YouTube page about why this track and Billie Jean were edited down. Pasted below. Can anyone confirm the authenticity of this story?

1982 in a studio in LA. "Thriller" has been entirely recorded and mixed, and mastered. The master is sent off to create a test pressing. The test pressing comes back to Quincy Jones, Bruce Swedien (the engineer), and Michael. They listen to the album and something's wrong. Very wrong. So wrong, in fact, that Michael bursts into tears and runs out of the room.

The problem? Side 2 was too long and the album lacked "punch". Vinyl operates differently in many ways from other media but one of the chief ways is that you can only put so much music on each side. When you try to go further, one must compromise low end and high end so that all of the music will fit. Such was the problem with the original "Thriller".

The solution? They were forced to edit two tracks. The first edits were done to "Billie Jean". Some of the intro was edited and other parts were excised as well in order to create the version we are now most familiar with. Once they edited that track, more had to be done. They then decided to edit "Lady In My Life" - removing the first chorus and second verse. Once the edits were done, another "test pressing" was completed and it sounded amazing. The results were clearly excellent as they were purchased by over 50 million people and continues to this day to be the most successful album ever released by anyone at any time.

The full, unedited version of "Billie Jean" would later surface on the 12-inch singles used to promote the album and they can be found relatively easily on eBay, et al. The full, unedited version of the tune presented here has yet to surface anywhere. In 2002, a CD was released to industry types. It was produced by Chrysalis Music in Europe and was titled "The Songs of Rod Temperton". That 2-CD set featured songs written or co-written by Mr. Temperton. The CD is incredibly hard to come by. This clip features the song exactly as it appears on the CD. Sadly, the quality of what's on the CD isn't amazing. It appears to be a relatively poor cassette dub. Either way, it's certainly better than not having it at all.

Anyway, it's a lovely tune made far lovelier by the inclusion of the original first chorus and second verse. If you have one of the original pressings of the "Thriller" LP, take a look at the sleeve. You'll note it has lyrics for the full song. If you don't, I have you covered:

http://vinylalbumcovers.com/michael-jackson-thriller-half-speed-mastered/
 
Great thread.i always thought that billie jean live version was better because of the fact that it's extended. Although the actual extended version is far different from the one played on the concerts.


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Cool research indeed. I always think it’s a pity about any edits and takes away that bit of Magic that was created during the demo.

So I’m not really fond of the album version of the lady in my life cause I feel there was a nip and tuck to the magic of the song and so of of course I was delighted that when I heard the extended version.

#coolHistoryFacts
 
I love the full version of "The Lady in My Life". :yes:

It's such a shame it's never been included on any of the remastered/deluxe editions of the Thriller album. :no:
 
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