BORN TO RUN US pressing LP variants: white label promo (3)

DJ time strip, commonly found in the US white label
promotional (and regular red label) LPs up to
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN.

This is a continuation of the previous posts on the US vinyl pressings of BORN TO RUN, starting off the first blog this year, and the final part on the WLP copies. As explained before, the five copies in my possession are grouped into (1) the "John" misspelt sleeve, (2) the error-fixed and corner-cut sleeve with some promo stuff, and (3) the error-fixed and corner-cut sleeve with a time strip pasted on the front. Here's the last one which seems to be the most common among the various forms of the WLP album.

 3. WLP in the error-fixed and corner-cut sleeve with a time strip pasted on the front

WLP Copy #4
Matrix: numbers: P AL-33795-1B MCR_II / P BL-33795-1B MCR;
Corner cut; Time strip on front; No promo stamp

    As shown right, I have two copies of the WLP with a time strip for radio station airplay. Their gate-fold sleeves are cut out at the top-right corner and no promotional-specific terms are stamped on the back. As far as I've ever seen, there are no "John" misspelt sleeve version with the time strip sticker, indicating that these WLP copies are released relatively late. 
   

WLP Copy #5
Matrix: numbers: P AL-33795-1C MCR_III / P BL-33795-1C MCR;
Corner cut; Time strip on front; No promo stamp

    As for the matrix information, my time-strip WLP copies are different from the other WLPs in at least two respects. One is the suffix codes that are "1B" and "1C" for the copies #4 and #5, respectively. Thus, they are apparently pressed from different stampers from those used for the script cover and "John"-error bearing early vinyls (both with the suffix "1A"). It is of note that the Columbia Records used to apply a suffix code for the reference to the pressing plant where a given vinyl is pressed. So, "1B" and "1C" do not necessarily mean that they are later pressings than "1A", and it is possible that these vinyls differing in suffix codes are pressed at the same time at different pressing plants, for instance, in Santa Maria, CA, Terra Haute, IN and Pitman, NJ. Back then, this was a typical strategy for highly demanded records released by big names such as Bob Dylan. Since Springsteen had never been such a distinguished artist before BORN TO RUN, I am not sure if this mass production strategy was indeed applied to the release of this album by the record company. Several different suffix codes suggest so, though.

MCR markings on Copies #4 (Left) and #5 (right).
Note that the subscripts are found on only Side 1 of each vinyl.

    The matrix marking "MCR" represents another difference. As mentioned on a previous post, this hand-etching carries a roman-numeral-like subscript (i.e. MCR_I, on only Side 1 of the script cover test pressing and the WLP copies #1 to #3). Interestingly, the vinyl copies #4 and #5 come with the different numerals from those of the script cover test pressing and "John" misspelt copies, which look like II and III, respectively. I do not exactly know what these numerals indicate, but at least they correlate with the suffix codes (i.e. MCR_I for 1A, MCR_II for 1B and MCR_III for 1C).
 → Check here for the updated information.

    Finally, although the WLP copies with a time strip sticker in my possession do not contain any promotional stuff, there have been such copies circulating. Shown on the left is an auction from eBay in 2008, with xerox-copies of the press articles but no promo photos. According to my records, this auction was won by someone who bid US $137.50 after a total of 13 bids.

    I think it's time to move to another subject, but ｗill feature the reissue (catalog number JC33795) variants here sometime in the future.