THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE Japanese promo-stamped LP with a biography

Besides the white label promotional (WLP) LP with a typographical error on the Obi, there is another collectible for the first pressing vinyl copy of the Japanese issue of THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE (SOPL-239). In Springsteen's world discography featured in Blinded By The Light (P. Humphries and C. Hunt, 1985, Plexus Publishing), if you check the Records and promotion only items of interest section of Japanese releases, you'll find the description for the second album, "Promotion copies came with a 5 page biography." I own two copies of the WLP (one with the Obi and the other missing it); however, neither of which came with the biography. So, I've been wondering if the biography was lost from these copies as they are second-handed. Or did it really come originally with the WLP copies?

A copy of WLP with a typo-Obi (left) and a promo-stamped regular copy with a 4-page fold-out booklet (center & right)

Then, I came across a used vinyl copy of the album with a booklet that includes the biography. It is not a 5-page but a 4-page, A4-sized fold-out booklet and the record label is not WLP but a regular one with a "SAMPLE - NOT FOR SALE" stamp on Side A only (as pictured above). I am not confidently sure if this particular copy with the booklet indeed corresponds to what is mentioned in the Blinded By The Light book, but I guess it is likely. In addition to the biography, the booklet is full of information including the introduction to the man and his music, the second album reviews taken from Billboard, Cash Box and Real World (in both original English description and its Japanese translation), and a concert review from Cash Box on a performance at Max’s Kansas City, NYC (again, both in English and Japanese).

Album discography on the bottom of the last page

The album discography is also featured in the booklet although back then there were only two official releases; at that point, the first album was not released yet in Japan. So, neither "Japanese" title nor domestic catalog number (CBS/Sony SOPL-248) is given and the US catalog number (Columbia KC 31903) is cited instead.

Advanced WLP LPs released in Japan were often accompanied with advertised flyers and xeroxed copies of fact sheets that were stapled together. Promo booklets, however, rarely occurred especially in the vinyl era (On the other hand, various booklets have been published coincidentally with the CD releases for the albums such as THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD, GREATEST HITS, THE RISING and a series of the paper sleeve reissues). As far as I know, there is only one other example of a promo booklet that has been issued for the vinyl release. Extremely limited numbers of the WLP copies of DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (25AP1000; first pressing with a colorful vertical Obi) seem to have come with a gorgeous 20-page booklet, which will be featured on this blog sometime in a future.