DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Decoding two- or three-letter matrix hand etchings on the early pressings (Part 2 of 2)

NOTE: Vinyl discs reported here with the hand-etched matrix code "PPP" was found not to be pressed at the Pitman factory. Please check the updated information in the blog entry from 8/20/2022.

One yet unelucidated DARKNESS matrix code found
in some of the early U.S. pressings.

In some fraction of the early vinyl copies of the U.S. DARKNESS album released in June 1978, you can find at least four different varieties of hand-etched matrix codes, PN, PMI, PMN and PK. Each code specifies one of the four pressing plants that had been used unusually and temporarily for making Springsteen's fourth LP, due to the transient shutdown of the Pitman plant, one of the three major Columbia plants back then. In the last post, I attempted to crack these codes and proposed that: (1) the first and shared letter P might denote the Pitman plant because it is the most probable common term; (2) a second letter, N, M or K, refers to an initial of company that owned one of these pressing plants; and (3) a third letter, I or N, specifies the State where a company locates its own facilities. According to these assumptions, I interpreted the four matrix codes as follows: PN for Pitman/North American Music Industries, Scranton, Pennsylvania; PMI for Pitman/MCA Records, Pinckneyville, Illinois; PMN for Pitman/MCA Records, Gloversville, New York; and PK for Pitman/Keel Manufacturing Corp., Hauppauge (blog posts 1 and 2), New York.

There may be more examples but I cannot so far find any others, except for the three-letter code PPP, which is hand-inscribed on the run-off matrix of SIDE 2 of the certain pressings. I own four such copies whose rear sleeve features the large track listing and black font credits (see the last post for the details of the rear sleeve variation). The four copies share the identical matrix information and the machine-stamped TML-M inscription is found on both sides of vinyl disc. Thus, these pressings are not repressed copies (see this

Upper: The original SIDE 1 matrix number suffix 1AD is crossed out, after which
1AG is added. Two-letter suffixes usually don't indicate initial pressings.
Lower: The likely pressing plant-specific code PPP is found on SIDE 2 only.

post for an example of repressing). However, they are also found not to be initial or very early pressings because their matrix number suffix consists of two letters as visible on each side (1AG/1AB). Like the other four matrix hand-etchings, I first presumed that PPP encodes a unique pressing plant name and its geographical location. So far, however, I couldn't think of any plausible interpretation for this matrix code using the aforementioned assumption rules.

The following are what I consider as key facts and circumstances:

1. As explained above, the PPP-handetching pressings are NOT regarded as initial or very early copies that are originally released on June 2nd, 1978.
2. The pressing number seems NOT to be small since these copies are relatively found easily at used record shops or online auction, suggesting that they were pressed at a Columbia's regular pressing plant.
3. Upon the settlement of strike, the Pitman plant resumed the operation by the end of May or early June in 1978 (according to the 05/27/1978 issue of the Billboard Magazine), and thus it is most likely that this facility got started pressing the DARKNESS album by early summer in 1978.
4. These particular vinyl discs were apparently NOT pressed at Santa Maria and Terre Haute plants, the other two regular Columbia plants in operation back then, because their representative matrix codes, such as 1S and T1, are not found on the dead-wax space. 

Taking these into account, I guess the most probable pressing plant that had pressed these discs would be the Pitman plant, even though what exactly the triple P encodes remains unelucidated (All I can say is that one P letter, at least, must refer to Pitman). Having said so, I am still not certain about whether my guess is right or wrong. So, I would like to know if other interpretations are possible on this code.

Finally, I have examined my collection and summarized, as shown above, the relationship of record company/pressing plant/matrix information for the early U.S. pressings of the DARKNESS LP. It must be noted that, as the tabulation is solely based on my own copies I have kept to date, this summary is not complete and still missing relevant pressings that should be incorporated herein. For instance, I guess there would be a few more variants that were pressed at non-regular pressing plants. Another guess is whether the Santa Maria 1A/2A pressing has been available (as I have never seen the copies). Does anyone have a copy of such?

 → Check here for the updated information.