Source: Tr. 1: 67C-12516-2 AT LW
Tr. 2: 67C-12517-1 AT LW
Tr. 3: ST-C-732874 - DDD - 1 AT PR
Vinyl Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned
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Prof. sez:
Here at last some long promised Neil / Buffalo Springfield rarities. These tracks (and especially 2+3) have become famous for their absence on the Buffalo Springfield Box (and Tr.2 also for not being included on the Archives box).
Presumably, the mastertapes of the Bluebird single were lost in a fire of a tape library owned by Atlantic in 1973, but this has never been fully confirmed. It is likely that Neil Young simply doesn't want the original mono mix of Mr. Soul to be reissued. This version sounds more 'garage' because it has different (more rowdy) guitar parts that were later replaced with new overdubs, all the other elements are the same on the later version(s).
The long bluebird is another interesting glimpse behind the schemes. It starts with the familiar version but then at the point where normally the banjo part begins we get a 6 minute jam that goes .... nowhere. In fact, Stills' sounds like he had been drinking all day. Really not special from a musical point of view but essential for the obsessive freeks, of course! This track first appeared on the 1973 self titled compilation and has never been reissued since (apart from a Warner Bros. various artists compilation box set). It's not hard to see why Stephen Stills vetoed this.
Tr. 1+2 were transferred from an previously unplayed copy of the 'Bluebird' single. The pressing I used was issued in 1971 in the Oldies Series but it was cut from the same stampers as the original 1967 US single. If you wanna get yourself one of those, make sure that you get a copy with the same deadwax information as above. The later copies from this series have different matrix info and contain folddowns from the stereo mix. The problem with the original single is that it was cut so hot that you simply cannot play it back without hearing distortion at many points.
Tr. 03 was sourced from an original US copy of the self titled compilation in EX+ condition. Although this transfer came out much better, the quality of Atco vinyl of this era leaves something to be desired, you may hear this in the quiet parts where some slight rumble occures.