Russ Conway - Side Saddle - 2 Versions Comparison

Russ Conway's classic Side Saddle - compare the two quite different sounding releases. The first is from the 1966 album Time To Play which to me sounds more polished, though not in a good way, with the result being more "easy listening" and the second is a 45rpm 7" release of the original 1959 version which for me has a real western saloon vibe occurring and generally sounds a lot more fun to my ears. Interestingly, both versions have accompaniment by Geoff Love and are exactly the same duration (1min 51secs) which made me wonder if they are both mixed and mastered from the same performance but, no - they sound too different for that. Release details - Russ Conway - Time To Play - Music For Pleasure - MFP 1096 - 1966 - vinyl LP record - Side 1 Track 1, Side Saddle. Russ Conway - Side Saddle - Columbia - 45-DB 4256 - vinyl 7" 45rpm single record.