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THE RIVER vinyl LP copies from various
countries. Non-blue spine sleeves are of
South African and Zimbabwean pressings. |
Let me start this blog with
THE RIVER vinyl collectibles. For a long, I have collected copies of this double LP from various countries because it is one of the most favorite albums in his entire catalog and because I can't say I like the sound of currently available CD counterparts (hopefully, the forthcoming remastered box set will significantly upgrade the sound quality). Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, aside from award discs and acetates, there are no great collectibles for this title (I'm talking about LP but not 12" or 7" singles) in comparison to other classic releases such as
BORN TO RUN (
e.
g., so-called "
Script Cover" package) and
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (
e.
g., promo-only picture disc LP). Nevertheless, the rarities do exist, and those include double jacket releases from several countries, white label promo (WLP) (I think WLPs for
THE RIVER are quite rare except for the US pressing that is fairly common; I own only the Australian WLP copy besides the US promo), and typo/misspelling on credit or track listing, with the most famous example being "
Held Up Without A Gun" erroneously printed as the 2nd track of Side Three on the inner sleeve of some European pressings.
What I intend to introduce here is uncommon copies of recently floating US pressing that are distinct in several respects compared to the regular pressing. First, the label on each wax has a unique design, with the large
"CBS Special Products" printing without a yellow "Columbia" rim on a red background. Second, the single-pocket sleeve is appreciably thinner than the regular pressing (that is box-like), as reflected in the width of the spine. Third, the matrix numbers and inscription on the dead wax areas are substantially different from those of the common vinyls, without a "
MASTERED BY CAPITOL" machine stamp and the mastering engineer Ken Perry's inscription "
KP." Finally,
the vinyls are translucent, which, as shown here, is apparent when these discs are held against a strong light. I own two copies of this particular pressing, and both are so, whereas
regular and WLP US vinyl discs are solid black (opaque). So far, I have
been unaware of the existence of any other translucent disc from
Springsteen's official LPs, excluding this version of
THE RIVER and the colored copy of
BORN IN THE USA from Colombia.
Most likely first appearing on eBay in February 2013, almost all the copies are highly priced at auctions (for example, check
Popsike). I obtained two copies much cheaper without competitors since the sellers did not recognize the particularity of the pressings and put them on auction as commonly circulated used copies. It remains unknown, however, whether these special copies are genuine (I assume so), and if so, why they are made in limited quantities and how they came up and circulated only recently. Any lead or thought is welcome.
Left: Transparency of three different vinyl pressings of THE RIVER LP from the US with unique labels (top, regular; middle, white label promo; bottom, CBS Special Products)
Right: Spine comparison of the single pocket sleeves
— To be continued.
→ Check here for the updated information.
Do you think the CBS Special Products issues is styrene-molded? Are translucent records (when held a against strong light source) ALWAYS made out of styrene?
ReplyDeleteI don’t think so. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is naturally colorless and transparent. Black vinyl records are black just because black carbon is added to the PVC mix in the production process. So are colored vinyls, as dyes are used instead. Also, the CBS Special Products discs do not show features that are characteristic of polystyrene, such as the rather fragile and matt-surfaced nature. The fragileness is apparently not suitable for LP disc.
DeleteI don’t know why the CBS Special Products pressings look black vinyls at the normal view but are in fact semi-translucent when exposed to high-intensity light. Maybe the concentrations of black carbon in the PVC mix are not high enough to look black, or the manufacturers might use dyes that are not really coal-black (dark brown?). Just my guess.
You're right. There's a stamper ring (though much smaller than other pressings) and the edge of the disc is not flat. It must be a low concentration of black pigments.
Delete