“Down Here…” The True Story Behind the Title

“Down Here…” The True Story Behind the Title

This is the second album released on the familiar A&M label, titled “Down Here on the Ground” (A&M SP 3006). As noted above, I have deliberately specified the first and second covers. As you can see, there is a difference in color intensity, as well as differences in cutting or trimming.

I had always thought that such differences were simply due to the whims of the production company, or the typical American laid-back attitude. But why is the one on the left the first cover? The answer lies on the spine of the jacket.

The spine of the first cover has the following text written on the upper part:

1st cover….. A&M LP 3006 WES MONTGOMERY: GOIN’ ON TO DETROIT

Meanwhile, the second cover has the following text on the upper and lower parts:

2nd cover….. MONTGOMERY: ON THE GROUND______________STEREO A&M SP 3006

To be precise, there is also some text at the bottom of the first cover, but the surprising part is the phrase “GOIN’ ON TO DETROIT.” Once again, please bear with my speculation.

“Initially, ‘Down Here on the Ground’ was titled ‘Goin’ on to Detroit,’ and the jacket was printed accordingly. However, at that stage, ‘Down Here on the Ground’ was used as the theme song for the movie ‘Cool Hand Luke,’ in which Paul Newman gave a brilliant performance. Creed Taylor, ever the commercial strategist, quickly decided to change the album title to the song that was already charting and had the printing corrected, but forgot to update the text on the spine.”

Furthermore, the record number also caused confusion, with the monaural notation “LP 3006” appearing erroneously even on the upper right of the front jacket. As it is, the stereo version should be labeled “SP 3006,” which is accurately corrected on the second cover.

These details can only be confirmed with the original pressing. So, which version is in your collection?