 An earlier version of " Eight Miles High " was recorded at RCA Studios in Los Angeles on December 22 , 1965 , but Columbia Records refused to release that recording because it had not been produced at a Columbia @-@ owned studio . McGuinn has since stated that he believes this original version of the song to be more spontaneous sounding than the better known Columbia release . That opinion was echoed by Crosby , who commented " It was a stunner , it was better , it was stronger . It had more flow to it . It was the way we wanted it to be . " This original version of " Eight Miles High " initially saw release on the 1987 archival album Never Before and was also included as a bonus track on the 1996 Columbia / Legacy CD reissue of Fifth Dimension . 
