Collecting log: The early 1980s U.K. vinyl pressings with "timtom" or "Ty" handwritten matrix inscription (Part 2 of 4)

Four U.K. 7" singles cut from THE RIVER and examined here.

Between 1980 and 1981, CBS Records U.K. released four 7-inch singles from THE RIVER, for each of which several variant issues exist. Oddly in this era, the company issued two editions for each regular single that differed in the labels on the discs (Sunburst paper or tangerine plastic), with some having a large spindle hole or cut-out center like typical U.S. 7" singles (as found in some paper label copies of Sherry Darling : CBS 9568). There was also a promotion-only disc for each with white paper labels. Moreover, two releases were withdrawn due to mis-coloured lettering on the sleeve (Hungry Heart : S CBS 9303) and mis-configuration of B-side (Sherry Darling backed with Independence Day : CBS 9568 promotion-only pressing). Finally, minor differences were observed in the label printing, such as font size, between same titles (as seen on the paper labels of The River : CBS A1179). Although this vinyl format is not my prime target of collecting, I own at least one copy each for these regular single copies.

Collecting log: The early 1980s U.K. vinyl pressings with "timtom" or "Ty" handwritten matrix inscription (Part 1 of 4)

Whoever credited (see the inset taken from the lyric sheet), the
master lacquer of this vinyl pressing is cut by someone else.
Shown is a U.S. repressed copy of THE RIVER Disc 1, where the
matrix inscription "chet" means that the master-cutting engineer
is Chet Bennett who worked for CBS Records in the 1980s.

As you see in this blog, one of my favorite activities to do when hunting a vinyl record, whether official or bootleg, is to check the dead-wax space for the matrix numbers and associated stamps or inscriptions. This can allow us to know fundamental information regarding production of a given record, such as the generation of the pressing and location of the pressing factory. The initials of a mastering engineer are also hand-etched or stamped, though not always. Of course, we can know who is responsible for mastering and cutting, from production credits that are usually printed on the inner or outer sleeve, or accompanying lyric sheet. 

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FOLLOW THAT DREAM 3LP (Part 4 of 4)

Two matrix codes on
the Disc 1 deadwax.

This concludes a short series of blog posts on one of a few classic vinyl bootlegs from the 1981 European leg of THE RIVER tour. It has long been said that, like the sister release TEARDROPS ON THE CITY, the original audience recordings no longer exist that were used for making this bootleg. This makes it distinguish from almost all of the other vinyl underground releases whose source recordings have been successfully digitized and circulated. So, collectors of live recordings and bootleg maniacs still highly value the original pressing of this old vinyl stuff.

An excerpt from "Stockholm 81 - Revisited", an essay by Drutten and Gena (2002), which mentions the loss of master concert recordings (taken from the booklet accompanying the vinyl-sourced remastered CD-R release by the Piggham Records).

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FOLLOW THAT DREAM 3LP (Part 3 of 4)

The triumph success of BORN IN THE USA has not only delivered the plethora of new live bootlegs mainly from the 1984-85 world tour, but also brought back the past recordings of previously bootlegged live concerts. Such revival issues include FOLLOW THAT DREAM, TEARDROPS ON THE CITY, and BORN TO BE THE BOSS, the famous THE RIVER tour bootleg trio from Sweden originally released in the early 1980s. I remember these re-releases hit the Japanese market around summer 1987 (see the last post for a scan of a mail-order catalog issued by a Japanese bootleg retailer). The bootleggers reproduced the original LPs, including cover arts and record labels, fairly well when compared with rather crummy earlier reproductions that appeared soon following the original releases (again, see the last post).       

The artist's name is removed from all six side labels on the three discs of the 1987
re-release (right). There is, I guess, the possibility that bootleggers might have
modified the labels intentionally to differentiate the two editions, because except
for the labels, the reissue faithfully reproduces the original artwork and design.

As a result, bootleg collectors and auction sellers often refer mistakenly to these three 1987 re-releases as the originals. That said, several distinct differences exist between the original and the faithful reissues. The subsequent sections explain what I have noticed by closely examining my copies of the two editions of FOLLOW THAT DREAM, just like I did before for TEARDROPS, a companion release to this.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FOLLOW THAT DREAM 3LP (Part 2 of 4)

Silver pressed CD reproduction of the two famous Swedish
vinyl bootlegs. The three triple-CD sets are released in the
early 1990s, then followed by some CD/CD-R titles which
attempt to improve the vinyl-sourced sound quality.

As almost always happened with reputable bootleg titles, FOLLOW THAT DREAM had been pirated and re-bootlegged since its original release in late 1981 or early 1982 from North Europe, not only on vinyl but also on CD/CD-R, due to the unrecoverable loss of the master recordings. As a result, several variant copies are still in circulation in the second-hand market and frequently turn up on internet auction. The original release, though quite hard to find nowadays, is easily distinguished from most of the vinyl reproduction by comparing the differences in dead wax-matrix numbers, label color and design, and sleeve format and print quality (see a photo collage of these variants below). As described concisely in the bootleg section of Blinded By The Light (P. Humphries & C. Hunt, 1985, Plexus, London), the original pressing came on black vinyls with black labels. The photo used inside the gate-fold sleeve was a spectacular color shot of band-on-stage, rather than of Bruce alone (leaning on a microphone stand) which was used for most of those reboots.
 

Examples of various non-original vinyl copies of FOLLOW THAT DREAM that typically came with plain colored labels and featured the "Bruce alone" photo inside the gate-fold sleeve. The single-pocket sleeve version is also known to exist. Note that these are not from my collection.
 

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FOLLOW THAT DREAM 3LP (Part 1 of 4)

Which one is the earlier release?  Shown above are two different issues both of which carry black labels on
the waxes and feature an on-stage band shot on the inside of the full-color gate-fold sleeve (the two apparent
prerequisites for the original). The original edition of this classic bootleg title from the early 1980s was and
still is highly sought after by Bruceleg collectors.

Generally in the vinyl era, THE RIVER tour was poorly represented by bootleg releases in terms of sound quality, at least partly due to the lack of excellent live recordings. This situation was in contrast to that for live bootlegs released in the 1970s or during and after the BORN IN THE U.S.A. tour: many of the early underground releases, as exemplified by a series of DARKNESS tour bootlegs, are sourced from radio broadcasts of live performance (thus, at least they are listenable), while audience recordings from the BORN IN THE U.S.A. tour have overall improved the sound quality compared with those from THE RIVER tour.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 5 of 5)

The domestic release date (June 21, 1984) is
stamped in red on the folded Japanese insert
and given in the Japanese imperial year format
[(Showa) 59 = 1984].

Before starting this topic, I had never thought that I would write five consecutive blog posts about one of the most, if not the most, mediocre collectibles in his entire vinyl LP catalogue (mass-produced regular pressings, I mean), and this is the last one. In the last two posts, I paid particular attention to the dead wax width of various different pressings of the mega-hit album with the early regular U.S. pressing as a reference, since this physical parameter is an undistinguished but fundamental determinant for vinyl disc variations. Then, what was unexpected to me was that at least a few non-U.S. pressings, such as Filipino and Dutch, are in fact made using the U.S. disc masters, as indicated by the MASTERDISK stamp on their run-off groove area (along with Ludwig's etched initials RL on the former vinyl pressing), which is not the case for other major releases like the U.K. pressings.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 4 of 5)

Another flawed copy of the album from my
collection is the U.K. first pressing, as indicated
by the matrix number CBS-86304-A1, which
comes with the blank label on Side One.

As mentioned in the last post, the original or early copies of BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP (Columbia QC 38653) manufactured in the U.S. have wide deadwax on Side One, which in addition to the matrix hand-etching RL, is a feature associated with the vinyl pressings mastered by Robert "Bob" Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME. On the other hand, the later pressings with narrow deadwax, where his initials are absent, are not cut by this Mastering Maestro, despite whom the album production credits refer to as mastering engineer on the album inner sleeve. This fact just made me wondering about the deadwax width of various copies of the album pressed in countries other than the U.S. Here for making comparison, I picked up several of the copies randomly from my collection.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 3 of 5)

The width of the dead-wax space is about 21 mm long for the early
vinyl discs and 13 mm for the repressed copies.

Back to the early U.S. pressings of the mega-hit album. In the first post of this topic, I wrote about the three features that are prerequisite for such vinyl pressings: a blue & white sticker pasted on the shrink wrap of the album sleeve and two signatures (MASTERDISK stamp and RL inscription) on the run-off groove space of the vinyl disc. Additionally, there is yet another point by which a given copy can be distinguished from the later pressings. The early discs mastered by Robert "Bob" Ludwig have an apparently wider dead-wax space compared to the repressings. This difference is found on Side One only. It is of note, however, that some vinyl pressings lack the RL hand-etching even though the run-off area is wider. As I mentioned in the last blog, one such example is the copies with the matrix number PAL 38653-3L. I don't know if he happened to forget to inscribe his initials on the master lacquer or if this particular pressing indeed is not mastered by him (though unlikely).

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 2 of 5)

With the vinyl collection increasing steadily and continuously, erroneous or defective copies of official releases have gradually accumulated over the years in my collectible archives. As summarized here, such flaws range from tiny careless typos on record labels, sleeves and Obi-strips, to one-of-a-kind production errors like a lyric sheet mistakenly used for making the inner sleeve for Disc One of THE RIVER LP. Although BORN IN THE U.S.A. and its associated vinyl releases have never been my prime target of hunting and collecting, I own two such examples for this album. Shown here is a U.S. copy with the record labels that are incorrectly aligned to the vinyl disc.

Disc can be set on a turntable and played normally. This error results from wrongly processed paper labels because the center hole has to be punched out before vinyl pressing.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 1 of 5)

On the front sleeve of the U.S. releases, original and early vinyl pressings
came with a blue and white sticker whereas a black and white one was
used for later and repressed copies.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the release of BORN IN THE U.S.A. (blog posts related to this album are summarized here). Just like in the U.S., before the internet era, radio airplay here was the primary source of listening to newly released songs, although the number of radio stations in Japan was (and still is) way smaller than that of the U.S. I believe it was a Friday night of May 1984 when Dancing In The Dark, the advanced single off the album, was for the first time aired in Japan (and I listened to it) on the NHK-FM radio program called Sound Street (PM 10:00-10:45), which was hosted by Yoichi Shibuya, one of the most influential critics in popular/rock music in Japan (previously mentioned here; he is one of those who contribute essays to the rare promotional booklet for the Japanese edition of DARKNESS LP).

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: Is another WINTERLAND (3LP) a repress or an inferior pirate copy of the legendary bootleg?

Originally broadcasted on KSAN-FM radio from San Francisco, December 15th, 1978, the first night at the Winterland ballroom is probably the most bootlegged of all the concerts Springsteen has ever played. However, the live recordings are still in the vault and remain one of the most highly-anticipated releases for his official live archive series. In the vinyl era, LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND (also known as WINTERLAND,1978 ), a triple-LP set originally released on the Slipped Disc Records label, was the most widely known among many titles bootlegging this concert. Although I don't think further explanations are needed, you can refer to some of the past posts for the information on this underground LP (for example, read here).

The famous 1978 live FM-broadcast concert from the West Coast was well captured on LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND (left, first numbered box; center, second gate-fold edition), followed by the releases of various other bootleg titles including WINTERLAND (right).

Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP (Update 3/3):The alternate take with synth coda on regular vinyl pressing!!!

NEBRASKA LP B-side misprints. From top to bottom: South Africa,
U.S. (left), Canada (right), Zimbabwe, Brazil (left), U.K. (right),
South Korea (left; not sure of its authenticity though), and Hong
Kong (right).

Having confirmed that the extended version of My Father's House is consistently featured on the recently obtained, three old independent pressings (in terms of vinyl stampers used; check the last blog), I'm almost confident that the regular Brazilian LP of NEBRASKA (CBS 138.641) is the only apparent vinyl source of the alternate version of this track that has been released commercially. Taking into account the number of circulating copies, I don't think this South American edition of the album is particularly rare. However, the LP certainly stands as a unique vinyl collectible with a rare version of a song that is not available on any other vinyl disc. It is of note that Springsteen obviously considers this song as one of the important compositions in his career, since it was recently handpicked by himself for CHAPTER & VERSE, the companion album for his autobiography published in 2016, and more recently, performed regularly on a series of Broadway concerts in 2017 through 2018.

Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP (Update 2/3):The alternate take with synth coda on regular vinyl pressing!!!

Portuguese translation of song titles, which are printed in small white letters on the rear sleeve, signifies where these copies are pressed and released. One of the two copies (left and center) I lately obtained, although cheap, is in miserable conditions; however, this was the only copy available with the lyric sheet which seems to be missing from many of the circulating copies. Or are these pressings not necessarily all released with it originally?

As mentioned in a series of blog posts (available here), an interesting fact is that the alternate take of My Father's House is found on some U.S. acetate discs and early test pressings before its commercial release (read Part 2 of this series), indicating that it was almost released on regular vinyl pressings. Evidence to support this includes a typographical error that wrongly lists the track length as 5 min 43 sec (correctly 5 min 3 sec) on the Side B record label of (early) LP copies released in no less than eight global regions (see Part 3 & Part 4):

• U.S. (Columbia TC 38358; no misprint on QC 38358)
• U.K. (CBS 25100)
• Canada (Columbia TCX 38358)
• Brazil (CBS 138.641)
• South Africa (CBS DNW 2804)
• Zimbabwe (CBS DNW 2804; most probably S. Africa-pressed)
• Hong Kong (CBS/SONY 25AP 2440; Japan export?)
• South Korea (KJPL-0598/OC-38358; not sure of its authenticity)

Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP (Update 1/3): The alternate take with synth coda on regular vinyl pressing!!!

Still, I'm not certain if what I report here is totally NEW information to you, readers and visitors of this blog, since I believe many, if not all, of you are knowledgeable collectors of his music. At least for me, however, this probably is the biggest surprise in this decade, and one of the most exciting findings in my career as a vinyl collector of Springsteen's records. As you know, an alternate take of My Father's House, notable for its extended instrumental coda, happened to be pressed on regular CD in Japan due to mishandling of the recording between the U.S. Columbia Records and CBS/SONY Japan. It was when his sixth album NEBRASKA was for the first time reissued in the then cutting-edge music medium in 1985 domestically and for export to the U.S. and Europe. Thus, it is a general consensus that no vinyl copies of this album, which is originally released worldwide in 1982, exist that contain the alternate version of this song.

You can't know if the track is an alternate take, as far as you simply watch the grooves.
You need to play and give a listen to it. —  Shown is an erroneous U.S. copy of NEBRASKA
with a blank label on Side 2, pressed at the Columbia Records factory in Carrollton, GA,
according to the matrix number information on the dead wax space.
(Note that this copy has nothing to do with the one here I'm talking about)

Collecting log: Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (live) from NO NUKES 1979 (a.k.a. the MUSE concert), a U.S. custom promotion-only 12" disc released as the 100-numbered 33⅓-speed limited edition (Part 4 of 4)

Released late in 1979 (or early in 1980?), the U.S.-only 12-inch 45 rpm single of Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (Asylum AS 11442) is the first ever analog disc in this form for promotion-only use, and the second ever among his entire catalog of this large-format single of gramophone record, following the Holland-only regular issue of Rosalita (CBS 12.7753). Despite the exclusive contract with Columbia Records, this live recording of his staple encore performance is licensed under Elektra/Asylum Records, which makes it his first non-Columbia release. The vinyl disc, backed with Jackson Browne's Before The Deluge (probably the best choice of non-Springsteen performances from the album NO NUKES), comes in a white die-cut sleeve with a custom-designed sticker pasted on the front. Any of these could be a good reason to add this promo vinyl, albeit rather common, to your collection. However, what makes it really a stand-out collectible is the presence of the alternate, extremely rare 33⅓ rpm edition limited to 100 numbered copies, as already mentioned on Part 1 on the subject.

Collecting log: Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (live) from NO NUKES 1979 (a.k.a. the MUSE concert), a U.S. custom promotion-only 12" disc released as the 100-numbered 33⅓-speed limited edition (Part 3 of 4)

Both test pressing and white label promotional copies for NO NUKES LP shown here were pressed at the Santa Maria pressing plant in California, as each side of vinyl has a hand-etched number/letter code (1S) that specifies where these discs were pressed. The pressing plant is also known from an abbreviated code CSM (Columbia Santa Maria) in a parenthesis that is found beneath the catalog number-side indication (ML-801-E) on the white label. According to Discogs, there are two more code variations, CP and CTH, referring to Columbia Pitman and Columbia Terre Haute, respectively. Thus, this soundtrack album (yes, this album is classified as the soundtrack for the NO NUKES documentary movie) was pressed at the three major Columbia Records' pressing plants even though it is an Elektra/Asylum release.
 

Collecting log: Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (live) from NO NUKES 1979 (a.k.a. the MUSE concert), a U.S. custom promotion-only 12" disc released as the 100-numbered 33⅓-speed limited edition (Part 2 of 4)

Note that the second post on this topic also constitutes the latest part of a featured blog series Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited. 

Although the officially released Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (live) was exciting enough for me at the first listening, I did not know that it was not the intact performance from the concert, with a major edit in the midst to eliminate the instrumental break and health hazard warnings from Springsteen. It was Dave Marsh's Born To Run semi-authorized biography from which I knew how the edited version was produced and came out on the NO NUKES album. Then around late in 1981, I was able to imagine what the actual live performance looked like, when I obtained and listened to my first copy of LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND (a.k.a. WINTERLAND, 1978) that contained the earlier 1978 version (with the instrumental part and his oral warnings, but no Devil With ... reprise before the medley was concluded).

Collecting log: Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (live) from NO NUKES 1979 (a.k.a. the MUSE concert), a U.S. custom promotion-only 12" disc released as the 100-numbered 33⅓-speed limited edition (Part 1 of 4)

Various NO NUKES releases (from left): a Japanese regular copy with the Obi strip; a custom U.S. promo-only 12" disc played at 45 rpm (still with the price tag of $10); same but played instead at 33⅓ rpm; a U.S. test pressing made at a Columbia Records plant in Santa Maria; and a white label U.S. promo copy.

You may be wondering why my blog was not updated for quite some time. Have I run out of material to write about?  Never, of course not and there are still plenty left. In the past months, my work-life balance was skewed too much towards work, which has kept me away from blogging and other hobbies for unpredictably long periods. In addition to this main reason, during this period, I have become a victim of the evil of eBay Global Shipping Program (GSP) thrice. In each case, the seller in the U.S. adopted GSP for the international delivery, even though I pleaded him/her not to do so and to reconsider to use another option (i.e., any method of direct shipping from a seller to a buyer) instead of this quite inconvenient program for overseas buyers. As a result, without explicit explanation, the "extremely rare items" of Springsteen vinyl collectibles I won were restricted at the Global Shipping Center and not allowed for export to my location.