Sep 20, 2014

THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP


Undoubtedly, one of the major collectibles of THE RIVER 2LP is the release of the gate-fold sleeve, not only because of its rarity, but also because of its delux package that is far more suitable than a single pocket sleeve for housing a double LP. This special format has been issued in 1980 only in such countries as Israel (CBS 88510), Mexico (CBS LP2S-103), Venezuela (CBS CS-10378), South Africa (CBS AGP 87/88) and Hong Kong (CBS/SONY 40AP 1960-1), according to several informative sources that include the most comprehensive Lost In The Flood website. It remains unknown, though, why only these countries have chosen to manufacture the album in such a unique format.

Inside the gate-fold sleeves of THE RIVER manufactured in
Hong Kong (top), Israel (middle) and South Africa (bottom)
Among these double jacket releases, the Israeli pressing is relatively easy to find as the copies often turn up on eBay. On the other hand, the Mexican and Venezuelan vinyls are scarcely seen on auction or market. When compared to these Middle American LPs, Hong Kong and South African releases are more readily located, although still they appear only occasionally. It is of note that the gate-fold package may have also been issued in Zimbabwe (I saw it on eBay once but not sure if it was a genuine copy). The single sleeve reissue was pressed in Mexico in 1986 under the different catalog number (CBS LP2S-125).

For most collectors, what is the interesting part is the inner side of these gate-fold sleeves. In fact, for the interior design, all but the Mexican release have just borrowed from images of the inner disc sleeves of the common single jacket album (not bad, though). Shown in picture are a copy each of the Hong Kong, Israeli and South African releases from my possession. They look like as if the two inner disc sleeves (for Discs 1 and 2 of the single jacket release) are put side by side. Although these sleeve images are familiar to anyone who has this album, each gate-fold issue shows unique color tones or sleeve design, notably on the right-hand side of the sleeve.


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3 comments :

  1. Eddy Wehbe7/16/18, 6:02 AM

    Today I discovered that there are two versions of the labels for the Israeli issue of The River differing in the text on the outer ring.

    Version 1:
    "ALL RIGHTS OF THE MANUFACTURER AND THE OWNER OF THE RECORD WORK RESERVED"
    "UNAUTHORIZED PUBLIC PERFORMANCE BROADCASTING AND COPYING OF THIS RECORD PROHIBITED"

    Version 2:
    "ALL RIGHTS OF THE PRODUCER AND THE OWNER OF THE RECORD WORK RESERVED"
    "UNAUTHORIZED COPYING, HIRING, LENDING, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE AND BROADCASTING OF THIS RECORD PROHIBITED"

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    1. manattop7/16/18, 9:29 PM

      Hi Eddy, your comments prompted me to examine my two Israeli copies. Truly, I found different descriptions on the labels as you pointed out.

      These copies exhibit the differences not only in the label descriptions, but also in printing quality of the gate-fold sleeves. This might reflect the difference in the timing of releasing two issues (although the matrix numbers on the discs are the same between the two issues).

      If this were likely to be the case, which one came earlier? I guess the version with the label description "ALL RIGHTS OF THE MANUFACTURER ..." (Version 1 as you said) would be earlier, as the printing quality is slightly better and the foldout lyric sheet is included (I've seen many copies of the Israeli pressing circulate without the lyric sheet, including my second copy).

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    2. Eddy Wehbe7/19/18, 5:53 AM

      I also think that what I called version 1 came earlier because the text on version 2 (which seems to be more elaborate and precise) is found on later labels: Born In The USA or red label reissues of later albums.

      For reference, see high quality scans of my Israeli pressings: http://www.springsteenlyrics.com/collection.php?cmd=list&category=album&f_vi=1&pg=1&f_c=Israel

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