Collecting log: TOP 3 collectible acquisitions in 2014

Seeing the New Year soon, I have checked back the recent collecting log and selected what are considered as Top 3 collectibles from what I have obtained through this year. The (subjective, self-satisfied) results are listed below with a short note for each collectible.


Murder Incorporated / Because The Night (live) / Pink Cadillac / 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) 
(Holland Columbia 661313 6)

    This 4-track 12-inch vinyl is pressed in Holland for export to France in 1995. Housed in a black & white cover whose design is identical to that of the 7-inch vinyl (COL 661313 7; backed with Because The Night) or 5-inch CD-EP (COL 661313 2; the same configuration as the 12") under the same title. Like the CD-EP, it comes with a black sticker on the front sleeve saying in French "titre inédit avec le E Street Band" (new song with the E Street Band). According to the Lost In The Flood collector's page, for unknown reasons, this release was hastily withdrawn. Seldom seen on eBay indeed, and equally tough to find as the 7-inch counterpart.

Radioshow Disc: ROCK ON THE ROAD Part II: The American Bands 5LP w/ Prove It All Night - Berkeley live 1978 (concluded)

Front of the custom D.I.R. file folder specifically
designed for this radio program LP

ROCK ON THE ROAD Part II: The American Bands is a 3-hour concert program that is issued and distributed to radio stations by D.I.R. Broadcasting Corporation (New York City, NY). The radio shows released by D.I.R. were available only by subscription to radio stations for broadcast, initially in reel-to-reel tapes, and later vinyl and CD formats. This 5-LP set is pressed in 1980 and captures 21 bands in concert in various venues spread all across the United States, plus interviews with the artists. The bands and musicians featured therein are Aerosmith, The Band, The Beach Boys, Pat Benatar, Blondie, The Blues Brothers, Jackson Browne, The Charlie Daniels Band, The Doobie Brothers, Foreigner, Heart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jefferson Starship, Van Morrison, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, The Marshall Tucker Band, James Taylor, Jessie Colin Young and Bruce Springsteen. It is said that all of the bands included are captured at the top of their game performing extended versions of some of their best known, rarest or most-loved songs.

Radioshow Disc: ROCK ON THE ROAD Part II: The American Bands 5LP w/ Prove It All Night - Berkeley live 1978

Side three containing two live tracks,
Bishop Danced (NYC, 1973) and
Prove It All Night (Berkeley, 1978)

If you weigh official products over bootlegs for unreleased or live materials that are not available on regular releases, this set should be the one to get. This is because, to the best of my knowledge, the multi-disc radioshow set is the only official vinyl release where you can listen to the long-intro live recording of Prove It All Night (July 1st, 1978), that was originally planned to be released as a promo-only 12" vinyl in 1978, and later considered for inclusion in LIVE 1975/85 in 1986. So far not released in any CD format officially. A few copies of the acetate disc for the planned 12" vinyl are known to exist. One of such copies was put on auction in 1997 by Backstreets Records, with the minimum starting bid of $1,000. The auction catalog (issued in Spring 1997) introduces this item as follows:

Collecting log: Rosalita Dutch 12" vinyl (still sealed)

Including or not including the poster. That is the question.
Together with the hard-to-find 7" counterpart.

No, no, this is not a recent acquisition. I have long kept this 12" vinyl, pressed in Holland and released in 1979, under sealed condition.  There are several reasons that make this particular release special among the entire Springsteen's official records. This is the first-ever commercially available 12" vinyl under HIS name, the first-ever commercial release of the title track along with the 7" counterpart pressed in the same country (although it is already released in 1974 on the second album and on the 3-track US promo-only 7" EP), and by far the only maxi 12" single with Night from the third album. However, what makes this release so collectable is not the vinyl itself but the inclusion of the folded poster of a 1975 live stage shot. Reportedly, such copies are quite limited in number and only the early pressings come with it.

Incident On 57th Street (live): Which is the best sounding disc?

LIVE 1975/85 poster issued by CBS/Sony in Japan
with track listing on the right-hand side

About three decades ago, like many hardcore fans, I was also the one who was disappointed at the first glance of the track listing of LIVE 1975/85. I well remember that sometime in September or October 1986, at an import record shop frequently visited back then, I stood straight and stiff in front of the huge poster on the wall that announced the forthcoming release of the 5-LP box set, checking thrice, fourth, or even fifth, the complete 40-live tracks on the album. Despite repeated attempts, I was not able to find on the list, from my viewpoint, what should have been included in the extraordinarily anticipated live album.

Radioshow Disc: THE PRODUCERS Jimmy Iovine LP

Side 1 contains tracks from Lennon,
Springsteen and Patti Smith.

Radioshow LPs (and CDs) are also my target of collecting although I am not so enthusiastic as in collecting official rare records. Certain particular radioshow discs carry rare songs that are otherwise unavailable through regular releases (one of the good examples is the KING BISCUIT FLOWER HOUR program releases). So, the main reason to collect these discs is to obtain such tracks as live versions of officially released studio tracks or unreleased songs. However, even if nothing special in terms of featured tracks, these radioshows are enjoyable to me because listening to these records often gives an opportunity to feel a familiar song in fresh and different ways.

Collecting log: GREETINGS Japanese 2nd pressing LP with a wrap-around Obi

Note the unnecessarily and rather punctiliously
folded wrap-around obi (pic from actual auction).

Quite busy these days and haven't had much time to write about rare records or old bootleg titles. So, here's a brief note from my collecting log that might interest some readers. I recently picked up, through a domestic online auction, a used copy of the second Japanese LP pressing of GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, N.J. (CBS/SONY SOPO-124) — the one famous for its wrap-around obi decoration. It cost me only 380 Yen (= 3 bucks and some pennies) with no other bidders, probably because, as shown in the picture (from the actual auction), the obi was folded and cut open along the bottom edge. Even so, both the postcard sleeve and vinyl are clean in excellent condition.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FIRE ON THE FINGERTIPS (concluded)

While I am convinced the UK heavy vinyl as the initial pressing by doing my own amateurish analysis, there has still been confusion about the relationship and timeline of early repressings and pirated copies of this bootleg. For example, I do not still figure out what makes clear distinction between Releases B and C (see the previous post on Oct. 24), assuming that both editions do really exist. Since the advent of the online auction, copies of FIRE ON THE FINGERTIPS has almost regularly turned up on eBay UK or USA markets in various forms, and occasionally auctioned off by seemingly knowledgeable sellers judged from their item description. So, when I found such sellers, I used to request them for the detailed information on the vinyl and sleeve, or about how they obtained their own copy, even if I had no intention to raise a bid.
 

Release D (HR-133): the genuine first American pressing?
Note the dead wax matrix area which appears to be much
wider than the other pressings. Images taken from the actual
auction in 2003 (which I didn't join).

Back in 2003, one seller in the US responded to my query message with some interesting information. His copy was obviously Release D (see the rightward photos from the actual auction), which is specifically characterized by the different matrix number (HR-133 A/B) and, when compared to the heavy UK vinyl or the red-colored US pressings, by the wider dead wax space on the vinyl disc (i.e., the space between the edge of the label and the edge of the grooves of the last track). The other features unique to this release are the vinyl color which is bloody red, and the sleeve picture which is more contrasted than that of the original UK release (a sign of rephotographed images). The modified image contrast seems to be common among copies of the "wider" dead wax edition (e.g., compare the sleeve of #8 with any other sleeve in the first picture shown in the last post on Nov. 9).

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FIRE ON THE FINGERTIPS (continued)

A total of eight copies are classified into three classes
based on the matrix info, vinyl color and sleeve images.

According to the published bootleg guides, what distinguishes the original (UK) pressing of this bootleg from various later (US) issues is the weight of vinyl: the original disc is said to be made of heavy vinyl (see the previous post on Oct. 24). The presumed UK pressings at hand are certainly heavier than the others indeed. Heavier or thicker LP records are often said to sound better than standard pressings although I do not take this myth seriously. Anyway, if so, the initial pressing of FIRE ON THE FINGERTIPS may be one of such a few audiophile-oriented vinyl bootlegs in existence. This aroused my interest in classifying a total of 8 copies sitting on my record shelf, on the basis of their weight. Note that, according to the matrix numbers, vinyl colors, and sleeve images as explained in the last post, these copies have been grouped into three classes [five (#1-5), two (#6, 7) and one (#8)], as shown in the picture above.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FIRE ON THE FINGERTIPS (continued)

Putting aside bootleg guides and references, my customary measure to distinguish, by appearance, the original pressing from a variety of later and pirated copies is simply to compare sleeve images between two given copies of the same title. In many instances, sleeve artwork reproduction results in down-grade modification of an original image, most notably on the image quality and size. What I check primarily is the size of cover images which is often enlarged slightly during reproduction. This simultaneously causes the loss of the marginal parts of an original image.

Close examination of the cover artwork shows the differences
between "red" (top) and "heavy" (beneath) vinyl releases

Shown in the left-hand picture is the front and rear sleeves of two different copies of FIRE ON THE FINGERTIPS, one carrying so-called a heavy vinyl UK pressing (Release A; see the last post on Oct. 24) and the other with a more common red vinyl US pressing (possibly Release B). Obviously, the one (US release) placed over the other (UK release) has the enlarged image, missing its marginal portion (see Bruce's hair in the rear sleeve, for example) and with little marginal space between the edge and text of album title, artist name or track listing. These are apparent signatures of cover art reproduction and therefore, the sleeve of the red vinyl US release can be a copy or a rephotograghing print from that of the heavy vinyl UK edition (an indication that the UK pressing is the very first pressing of this legendary bootleg).

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FIRE ON THE FINGERTIPS

“If they kept sales charts on bootlegs, FIRE ON THE FINGERTIPS and E TICKET [sic] would both easily be best sellers: They are the two records almost every collector will have.” [excerpted from a short article entitled “The essential bootleg album guide,” featured in the fanzine Backstreets no.6 (May 1983)].

How many different pressings are these 8 copies grouped into?
How many are red-colored, black or heavy vinyls?

As this quote exemplifies, these two vinyl LPs are a twin peak of Springsteen's early studio bootlegs: they are housed in well-done jackets using now-classic photos of the DARKNESS era and with excellent sound quality originated from low generation tapes of studio recording and a demo acetate disc. Content-wise, I prefer FIRE ON THE FINGERTIPS to “E” TICKET because the album was full of the materials that were unreleased back then, rather than consisting of mostly alternate takes of released songs. Piracy activity increases in proportion to the popularity and demand of a given title, whether it is official or bootleg, and this fantastic bootleg was no exception. Over the years, various forms of reproduction have appeared, from straightforward copies to completely different packages of the original LP.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: "E" TICKET (concluded)

A fake stamped cover release with a different text string and inappropriate record labels

There has been another version of the stamped cover that looks like an early or advanced pressing (also check a brief note from brucespringsteen.it). From my viewpoint, this white cover LP represents a typical example of pirating a famous/popular bootleg. Apparently, the bootleggers have reproduced it without exactly knowing what the original form of LP was like, which resulted in a completely different stamp on a white cover (that reads "ADVANCE PRESSING - E TICKET - COLLECTORS ITEM") and incorrect labels on the wax  (that should have been Ruthless Rhymes rather than hörweite stereophonie for the very early pressing).

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: "E" TICKET (continued)

From the front sleeves of the first
and second pressings

The first pressing of "E" TICKET, which was just stamped on a white cover with a hand-written serial number, was, of course, unheard of back then. I well remember that I could not resist the temptation of having the special edition of this famous/legendary LP in the long history of Springsteen's bootleg, not only for its scarcity but also for a possible background story behind its pressing. Currently in my possession are two copies each of the first stamped cover and second black & white picture sleeve versions.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: "E" TICKET

Two very first Bruceleg CD titles
released back in 1989

Since the advent of the first Springsteen bootleg CD in 1989, almost all of the sound sources of vinyl bootleg have been digitized in physical media like CD and CD-R and become widely available on-line as electronic files in mp3 and FLAC formats (by the way, I still keep the original copies of the two earliest Bruceleg CD releases, YOU MEAN SO MUCH TO ME by Great Dane Records and TUNNEL OF LUST by a fake Swingin' Pig label). The main focus here on revisiting classic bootleg vinyls does not concern the sound quality but rather attempts to clarify a frequently asked question of which is the first and which is the second (or which is earlier and which is later), because a vinyl bootleg had often been repressed or pirated over the years, regardless of whether it was great or mediocre.

THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP: South African and Zimbabwean records

A few additional notes on the South African pressing and its relation to the possible Zimbabwean release. 

Postulated company logo and name on the rear sleeves
that might identify country of manufacture
(right top, South African; right bottom, Zimbabwean)

On the South African LP: Neither label nor sleeve indicates as to where the record is pressed. However, there is a logo character on the sleeve that seems to identify the South African pressings of vinyl records. On the bottom right-hand corner of the back sleeve is a blue-colored logo "interpak", possibly referring to the name of a printing service company in that country (not confirmed, but Google search suggested so), although the meaning of the accompanied number ("110") is totally unknown. To support this, the logo is also found on the rear sleeves of the South African LP pressings of various Pink Floyd albums that are released from the CBS label (this info is taken from here).

THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP: the South African release

With respect to album artwork and design, the South African pressing (CBS AGP 87/88) of THE RIVER album shows some differences from the other double jacket version such as Hong Kong and Israeli issues, and ordinary single pocket releases like the US and UK albums. The following summarize what I have spotted that are unique to this release.

The gate-fold sleeves of THE RIVER released in Hong
Kong (top), Israel (middle) and South Africa (bottom)

1. Aside from the outer front sleeve, all the other three sides of outer and inner gate-fold sleeve are noticeably blue-tinted (see the previous post on Sep. 20 for the inside gate-fold image). 
2. The spine is uniquely white whereas that of all the other releases is colored blue. 
3. The Gothic font used on the jacket is apparently different from that of the other releases. 
4. The outer rear sleeve, which normally features the track listing in almost all the other releases, instead displays the album credits that are otherwise found on the fold-out lyric insert. This coincides with the observation that the South African set probably does not include the lyric sheet originally. The album tracks are printed inside the gate-fold sleeve. So, the track information is not available unless the double jacket is opened. It is noted that there is a variant issue with the track information on the outer rear sleeve. This issue is pasted on the rear with a white sticker (10 x 14 cm) listing the song titles for the individual sides.  

THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP: the Hong Kong release (continued)

Machine-stamped matrix number on Side A of Disc 1 of Hong 
Kong (upper) and Japanese (lower) releases

As described in the last post, I had suspected for long the authenticity of THE RIVER Hong Kong release and even considered it as the piracy product cannibalizing the Japanese records. In fact, the Hong Kong vinyl discs are almost NOT distinguishable from the Japanese ones. For instance, shown right is the matrix number stamped on Side A of Disc 1 that looks identical between the two releases. The same is also true for the other three sides of double LP, which most likely signifies the Japanese origin of these Hong Kong vinyls.

THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP: the Hong Kong release

Upper: Incredible finding of a sealed copy, bought
from a French seller last year (Dec. 2013); Lower:
Full opened outer gate-fold sleeve of a used copy.

Housed in a double jacket that is made from thick cardboard, THE RIVER Hong Kong release is a sturdy vinyl record product. For its double jacket interior, this release adequately reproduces one side each of the two inner disc sleeves from the common single jacket record (check the last post on Sep. 20th and compare it to the Israeli release in black/white reproduction). 

As far as I checked, no misspelling, no typo, or misprint on the labels, sleeves or the fold-out lyric sheet. Overall, the best quality in terms of sound and packaging among the three different versions in my collection (i.e., Israeli and South African in addition to this).

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.

THE RIVER German promotional store display

In the last post, I mentioned the German copy of my favorite album. Speaking of a Germany-related collectible, back in 2002, I won the eBay auction for a die-cut logo display for store use that reproduces his name script found on the album cover of THE RIVER (I recorded that there were six competitors for this item). This blue/black, foldable cardboard display is measured roughly 32 x 10 inches, and according to the German seller, it was given by the CBS Records to selected record shops in the former West Germany in 1980 or 1981 (possibly coincidentally with the 1981 European Tour). Although I usually do not pay particular attention to anything but vinyl and CD collectibles, this is an exception from my collection.

THE RIVER 2LP: Another proof for Held Up Without A Gun on Side 3

Misprinted track line-up on Disc 2 inner sleeve of the ex-Yugoslavian pressing (left) and the UK counterpart with correct listing (right)

For the vinyl collectors, it is well known that THE RIVER album was originally composed of 21 songs when it was about to be released; however, at the final moment of its release, Held Up Without A Gun was left off for unknown reason(s). Dave Marsh wrote, in his book Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, that "Actually, twenty-one were included on the first master" (updated version, Dell, NY, 1981). In fact, some copies of the pre-release US acetate of THE RIVER contain this short rocker clocking in at only 1 min 19 sec. Held Up ... is eventually released as the flip side of Hungry Heart, the first 7" single from the album in 1980, and used as one of the three tracks on the US promotion-only 12" version of Fade Away (COL AS 928) in 1981 and on the commercial 12" releases of I'm Goin' Down (CBS A 12.6561) in Spain and Holland in 1985.

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?

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

Decoding matrix numbers and inscriptions on the run-off groove area may provide some clues about the origin of this mysterious pressing. So, I tried to make a quick analysis on matrix info although I am certainly NOT an expert on the subject.

"CAPITOL" stamp (left) and "KP" inscription (right) found
on many copies of both regular and white label promo LPs

[1]  As noted on the previous post, both "MASTERED BY CAPITOL" and "KP", which are commonly seen in most, if not all, of the regular and white label promo LPs, are not stamped or inscribed in any side of the two discs.

[2]  Instead, there are "Emw" hand-etching and "LS" or "SL" monogram* (two letters are superimposed) on each side, the former denoting Electrosound Group Midwest, Inc., now a defunct vinyl/cassette manufacturing plant located in Indiana (see this page on Discogs.com for reference) while the latter possibly referring to an yet identified engineer's initials (for known deadwax signatures of mastering/cutting engineers, check here).

THE RIVER "CBS Special Products" US 2LP

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.