Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: LIVE on Coral Records

LIVE on Coral Records: the first ever professionally looking Springsteen bootleg prompts CBS Records to file a suit against a record retailer in New York City to halt selling the copies in the summer of 1976.

Released in late 1975 or early 1976, LIVE on Coral Records (NR-909-2) was probably the most famous bootleg of Springsteen throughout the vinyl era. As already introduced in the last blog, this title captures one of the most important concerts in his career that is performed 41 years ago tonight and aired through radio broadcast on WNEW-FM in Manhattan, New York City. Unlike the contemporary Bruceleg releases back then, this double-disc release came out in an attractive gate-fold and full-color sleeve (outer sleeve only) with the custom black & silver labels. However, what makes its existence widely recognized to music fans and industry people is the fact that CBS Records, involving Springsteen and The Bottom Line club from where the bootlegged performance was aired, accused a City's record store of displaying and selling many copies of this underground artifact.

A repressed copy on the Black-Gold Concerts label has much simpler
appearance than the original Coral Records version. Lower left panel
shows the credits as found on the rear sleeve of each releases.

An overview of the lawsuit is summarized in two consecutive issues of the Billboard magazine in the summer of 1976. According to the first article reported in the August 14 issue, the defendant in the action launched in New York City Supreme Court, was The Record Breaker, located in Greenwich Village area of the City and offering this bootleg to customers at $7.99 (equivalent to $34.05 in 2016, using inflation calculator on the DollarTimes website). The plaintiffs including Springsteen filed a suit against this retailer shop on August 6th to halt the sale of the bootleg record. In the following issue (published on August 21, 1976), the magazine reports that the suit was amicably resolved on August 10th*, less than a week after the court action was initiated, for an undisclosed monetary settlement, and that The Record Breaker agreed to discontinue the sale of the alleged bootleg. The magazine continues that the record shop is said to have bought a quantity of the bootleg from a street vender who is not an established wholesaler.
*Hunt's bootleg section of Blinded By The Light (P. Humphries & C. Hunt, 1985, Plexus, London) describes the date as September 10th, but I think this being incorrect in light of Billboard's reports.

Hand-etched matrix numbers indicate that both the original Coral
Records (left, with custom label) and reissue Black-Gold Concerts
(right, with blank label) vinyl discs are pressed from the same
stampers (shown are those found on the dead wax space on Side 2)

It is of note that this case was filed against a retailer, thus leaving bootlegger(s) unconfirmed or unidentified. The rear sleeve states that the album is produced by Alberto Pittigliani and released by "Coral Records Ltda. Av. Borges de Medeiros 1121, Rio de Janeiro (which is, by the way, a real address according to Google Maps)". However, generally any credit statement or copyright notice on bootleg record is not to be trusted and this bootleg is purportedly of East Coast origin. As a result of the lawsuit settlement, many of the copies have reportedly been seized, which further restricted the availability and made it quite rare. Later, it was repressed on the Black-Gold Concerts label (BG-909-2) and reissued under a more specific title (LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE; Do not confuse with another similar bootleg title featured in the last blog) using the same stampers from which the original was pressed. The record labels are plain blank and the single pocket sleeve is black & white, with similar and different cover designs on front and rear, respectively, to the Coral Records version. Found on the bottom right corner on the rear sleeve is a small credit on the location of the label as "Toronto, Ontario M5A 2L1".

Copies of LIVE on Coral Records were an object of envy to Bruceleg collectors
even here in Japan back in the 1980's (from a domestic bootleg dealer's catalog)

Back in the mid-to-late 1980s when Springsteen's popularity peaked here, the original edition of LIVE on Coral Records was one of the most, if not the most, sought-after classic bootleg among Bruceleg collectors. Shown on the right is a part of the scanned image of a mail-order catalog I received circa 1986-1987 from a well-known Bruceleg dealer in Japan. As you can see, the two used copies were listed on the catalog and offered for sale to collectors at insane prices (in Japanese Yen) that would be incredibly profitable to the seller (Or the out-of-norm prices might reflect exceptionally high wholesale prices fixed by greedy export distributors of bootleg records abroad).

Custom label on Disc 1 from the Coral Records release.
Putting three tracks on Side 2 results in severe editing
of the slow, long version of The E Street Shuffle
probably due to the disc capacity

As mentioned on the last blog, it is almost certain that LIVE on Coral Records is the second vinyl-bootleg release of this Bottom Line concert, following LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE 75/8/15 that is underrated in my opinion. So, aside from packaging, what are the notable differences, if any, between these two bootlegs of the same show? Track listing indicates that LIVE comprises the whole show (14 song) while THE BOTTOM LINE omits the lengthy Kitty's Back. On the former bootleg, however, DJ's talk is completely eliminated (see the last blog). Moreover, some of the performed songs are heavily edited on the Coral Records version. First, about the first two thirds of the rap part (about first 6 min of a total of 9 min) is cut on The E Street Shuffle, most probably due to space limitation (i.e. Side 2 contains two more tracks beside this slow long performance that is 20-min long if not edited out). Second, excluding the beginning and ending, the most part of Born To Run is replaced by the official studio recording. The reason for this is not clear. One possibility is that there were defects in the recorded live tape that might cause the live track to be patched seamlessly with the official source (as exemplified by THE JERSEY DEVIL, the first known vinyl Bruceleg, where the defective live recording on what is later known as Thunder Road is modified in the same way). In fact, careful listening suggests that the source tapes used for vinyl pressing are different between the two releases. Finally, the final encore song Quarter To Three, while incomplete on both bootleg releases, is chopped off much earlier on the Coral Records version (running only for 2.5 min and suddenly cut; THE BOTTOM LINE version is over 4 min long though still short; it must be about 6 min long if left unedited). In conclusion, LIVE on Coral Records is far more attractive in terms of packaging, but as for content-wise, I cannot rate it higher than the THE BOTTOM LINE set.

I remember back on the last day of 1999, I bought a mixed bag of promotional US 12" vinyls from an eBay seller in Arizona, Phoenix, that included a copy of Born In The U.S.A. Upon opening the box parcel when it arrived to me, to my surprise, the seller included a bit tatty copy of LIVE on Coral Records as a bonus record! A small exciting moment, even though I then already owned two copies of this particular bootleg. At the same time, I couldn't help thinking about how the situation had changed surrounding vinyl bootleg (i.e., one of the most highly valued titles in the 1980s was available for free at the end of the 1990s), although generally, vinyl records were already low-valued due to the rise of CD. Still, as shown at the top of this page, all three copies have been kept in my collection.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE 8/15/75 (black & white sleeve)

Various vinyl bootleg releases of the legendary FM-broadcasted Bottom Line show in New York City on August 15, 1975.
I think most of these came out in the mid to late 1970s except for THE BOSS IS BACK in color sleeve (and possibly the double-LP version of THE GREAT WHITE BOSS with the NO NUKES stage shot on front).

It was summer more than four decades ago that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, just prior to the release of his third album BORN TO RUN, played 10 shows during a 5-night stand at The Bottom Line club, New York City, between the 13th and 17th of August 1975. The early show of the third night was broadcasted on WNEW-FM, which represents the most historic and important performance early in his career. Since then, the live broadcast recording has appeared as various forms of bootleg LPs (and later CD releases). Among those, the most famous is the double album BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN LIVE or better known as LIVE on Coral Records (NR-909-2; shortly mentioned here on this blog previously). This is, first, because it has often been referred to as "the first ever Springsteen bootleg", second, because its package of the full-colored and gate-fold sleeve stood far above those of standard bootlegs back then (Springsteen's, at least), and finally, because many copies have been confiscated upon a lawsuit in 1976 filed against a local bootleg retailer by CBS Records in cooperation with Springsteen and the nightclub, which got into the news in the music industry (for example, Billboard magazine reports the occurrence and outcome of the lawsuit in the summer of 1976).

BACKSTREETS fanzines Numbers 20 and 21
(1987 Spring and Summer issues)

Purportedly, however, LIVE on Coral Records was neither the first underground release to bootleg Springsteen's recordings, nor was it the first to capture this legendary show. Although any sorts of official records or documents do not exist, nowadays you can learn the early history of Bruceleg through internet search or relevant books like Clinton Heylin's BOOTLEG: The Secret Story of the Other Recording Industry (1996; St. Martin's Griffin, New York). I got to know the early chronological order of Bruceleg releases for the first time in 1987 when I read an article in the Spring issue of the BACKSTREETS magazine (number 20). Back then, one of the main reasons to subscribe the magazine was that in almost every issue, latest bootlegs were usually reviewed in the column "On collecting". The column of the #20 issue features "A History of Bruce Boots" (by Danny Martins), introducing LIVE on Coral Records as "the very first Springsteen bootleg", and "LIVE was followed up by several releases on the Hoffman Avenue Records label" (i.e. THE JERSEY DEVIL and THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT). As you know, Hoffman Avenue Records were a California-based bootleg label founded by a Springsteen fan/collector who is also known as a publisher/editor of the first ever Springsteen fanzine THUNDER ROAD.

"Eagle Eye" credited on the slick covers for THE JERSEY DEVIL (upper)
and THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT (lower),
both released in 1975 on Hoffman Avenue Records labels

Then, in the next issue (number 21, Summer 1987), I found an interesting reader's response to this article in the Letter-to-Editor section (termed "In the mail"). It was a letter titled "Who's on first?" and posted by an anonymous called Eagle Eye from Trenton, New Jersey, who is quite critical to the article by Martins, starting off with "(the article) contained so many errors (that) I had to write" [annotations in parentheses by this blogger]. The main criticism raised in the letter was the sequential order by which these early bootlegs were released (see below). It is of note that "Eagle Eye" is credited as one of the producers for the above-mentioned two Hoffman Avenue Records releases, and Trenton is where the man behind these bootlegs grew up in youth. So, we can easily guess who this anonymous was.

Eagle Eye's claim that early Bruceleg titles appeared in the following order now seems to be widely acknowledged:

1. THE JERSEY DEVIL (briefly mentioned on this blog here): Hoffman Avenue Records; HAR 147; Single LP pressed in September 1975 in California; Flyers telling how to get it were distributed at the Roxy during Bruce’s October shows.
2. THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT: Hoffman Avenue Records; HAR 160; 2LP pressed in November 1975.
3. LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE 8/15/75 (hereafter simply called THE BOTTOM LINE): no label; no number; 2LP from East Coast.
4. HOT COALS FROM FIERY FURNACE (briefly mentioned on this blog here): Hoffman Avenue Records; HAR 164; 2LP pressed in February 1976.
5. LIVE: Coral Records; NR-909-2; Released in East Coast very shortly after HOT COALS ...

Some other source (I don't remember where I got the information) said that THE BOTTOM LINE and LIVE on Coral Records were pressed in early and mid December 1975, respectively (and if so, HOT COALS ... is corrected to be the fifth release). In either case, the release of THE BOTTOM LINE precedes LIVE. Thus, THE BOTTOM LINE is honored, among others, as the first ever bootleg for the legendary Bottom Line concert, which is a main reason I pick it up here.

Thick black vinyls with plain labels. Matrix numbers are hand-scratched: side 1, SIDE-1 A-1; side 2, SIDE-2  B-1;
side 3, SIDE-3 1-C; and side 4, SIDE-4 D-1.

THE BOTTOM LINE was produced by some old guy who lived in Levittown, Pennsylvania, just for making money (which I heard from "someone" in Southern California; see here). According to a flyer inserted into my copy of HOT COALS ... LP, this bootleg was back then sold for $10 in New York City and Philadelphia, and through the contact to East Coast bootleggers, the Hoffman Avenue Records were able to make it available to their customers in West Coast (By the way, $10.00 in 1975 had the same buying power as $45.57 in 2016; calculated on the DollarTimes website). This double-disc set covers all the songs performed that night but Kitty's Back (totally missing) and Quarter To Three (cut the reprise), and represents slightly different track configuration compared to LIVE on Coral Records. It came out in a simple black & white sleeve featuring on front a picture just stolen from the official third album. The rear sleeve is blank and the record labels are plain on all four sides of the two vinyl discs. So, it is obvious that relatively less effort was made by the bootlegger to show the set as something special, which contrasts markedly with fan-based enthusiastic (albeit amateurish) or semi-professional approach as found in the manufacture and production of the other four contemporary Springsteen bootlegs.

Hand-etched matrix numbers on Side 3 of Disc 2

While it seems to be inferior by comparison, there are a few notes that may be worth mentioning for THE BOTTOM LINE. First, the vinyl discs are appreciably thicker and heavier than those of the other related titles that are pictured at top of this page. When measured, Discs 1 and 2 from one of my two copies amounted to an average of 200 g weight (205 and 195 g, respectively), which is categorized as "heavy vinyl pressing" by the current industry standard (For a related topic on bootleg vinyl weight, see here). On the other hand, two record discs from a copy of LIVE on Coral Records were far much lighter, weighing only 116 and 112 g for Discs 1 and 2, respectively. Second, it does sound slightly better than the others to my ears, with more high end and cleaner instrumental separation, although there's more concomitant surface noise. Finally, THE BOTTOM LINE is less severely edited and still retains some DJ talks that are removed or edited out on the Coral Records release and the others such as double- and triple-LP versions of THE GREAT WHITE BOSS (Listen to the opening remark before kicking-off Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out on Side 1 and right before the show closer Rosalita on Side 4). For these reasons, and because of being the first ever legendary Bottom Line '75 bootleg, my rating on this relatively unattractive-looking, underestimated release is probably greater than the consensus of vinyl Bruceleg collectors.