Off the beach

While browsing Tumblr recently, I sighted this somewhat curious variation of Neil’s once-elusive 1974 classic:

This cassette version reshuffles the running order considerably, for reasons I can only assume were about trying to make the running time of both sides nearer to each other (remember when that mattered with tapes?), otherwise I don’t see the point…

I actually just listened to it in this form to see how it works in practice, and, well, I’m not 100% sure. To be honest I’ve never been thrilled by the placement of “See the Sky About to Rain” as track 2, it feels a bit oddly situated there, but I don’t really know how else you’d redo it, cos side 2 is fine as it is on the original album. In this version, though, “Ambulance Blues” just doesn’t seem right to end side 1, and “Motion Pictures” similarly doesn’t seem like it should end the whole album… Maybe if you took this running order but flipped the two sides? Cos I read, too, that this was Neil’s original plan and so the cassette is actually nearer what he intended… but the version that ended up on the album feels (mostly) like the right one in a way that this cassette doesn’t. Or maybe it’s just familiarity that makes it feel that way. I don’t know. Must say I do like the cover font, though.