Dee Edwards’ “(I Can) Deal With That” is one of the best crossover ballads I’ve ever heard but for the longest time, I had no clue that there were two versions on De•To, from the same year1 It was Nydia Ines Davila (long-time Daptone PR chief), who schooled me to the fact that the two versions are based around the same master recording. What I assume to be the second mix (based on matrix numbering) is basically the original mix + strings + a tambourine and (to my ears), it’s mixed better 2.
I already owned V2 (w/ strings) and because I was impulsive and had some money to burn, I recently copped V1 and was able to do a side-by-side listening. So can you:
Dee Edwards: (I Can) Deal With That (v1, no strings)
From 7″ (De•To, 1977). This version is also on Searching For Soul.
Dee Edwards: (I Can) Deal With That (v2, with strings)
From 7″ (De•To, 1977)
The consensus I heard was that V1 was better because it lacked the strings but to my ears? I have to say: V2 sounds better if only because the mix sounds a lot cleaner. What say you?
- Just to confuse things even more, Edwards re-recorded the song in 1990 for the Morning Glory label. ↩
- The second version also has “1977” on the a-side label which the original version does not. Otherwise though, the two labels look identical and both have the same catalog #. Yeah, confusing. ↩
chatter