THE RIVER "CBS Special Products" US 2LP (continued #3)

Here are additional notes on this particular LP with the unique label.

[1]  The thinner sleeve version does not necessarily carry this special label discs

The regular red label vinyl coming in the "thinner" sleeve. Underneath
is the common box-like single jacket just for comparison.

In the previous post on Sept. 8th, I wrote that this double LP is housed in a thinner single sleeve. However, not all the thinner sleeves carry this special pressing. I own a total of four copies that come in this slightly distinctive sleeve. Namely, one is a still-sealed copy whereas the other three are used ones, among which two come with the "CBS Special Products" label. But the remaining one, unexpectedly, has the regular red "Columbia" label. So, is this copy the same as the normal red label release or somewhat different?

Side 1 labels of Disc 1 from the "thinner" sleeve (left;   
Columbia label version) and the box-like sleeve (right).

   I found that the "red" label of this copy is slightly different from that of another one of the regular US pressing I have, in terms of spacing between track names and the order of catalog number listed on the left of the label (---> check here for the updated info). I do not know which label is more common as I do not own more red "Columbia" label copies to be compared. What is more interesting to me is the fact that, even though normally looking "red" label, there is no "MASTERED BY CAPITOL" or "KP" marking on the trail-off groove region of each side of the two discs, just like the "CBS Special Products" discs. Moreover, the prefix code of the matrix number seems to differ significantly from either the commonly circulated vinyls or the "Special Products" edition: the codes on Disc1 read "P <J-MP> PAL 36855 G1F" for Side 1 and "(HXAP) P BL-36855 – G1D2" for Side 2 (without quotation marks; no idea what "P <J-MP> and "(HXAP) mean; the first "P" on Side 1 could refer to Pitman Pressing Plant?). These inconsistencies may reflect different location of pressing plant, different generation of pressing, or both. Could there be two different masters for pressing this album, one cut by Ken Perry at Capitol Records that has been widely used, and another not by him, despite that he is credited as mastering engineer of this album. Just guessing.

[2]  Promotional issue
One of the two "Special" copies from my collection has a gold promo stamp on the upper-right corner of the rear sleeve. As far as I checked, there are no other differences between the "regular" and "promo" issues of this particular pressing. When compared to the "true" white label promo LP (that is usually stamped on the upper-left corner of the backcover), the promo stamp is noticeably smaller and above which, what seems to be a serial number(?) is also stamped in gold. Apart from my own copy, I've seen only once this "promo" version before, being auctioned on eBay.

CBS "FOR PROMOTION ONLY" gold stamps on the rear sleeves of
the CBS Special Product edition (left) and white label promo LP (right)

→ Check here for the updated information.