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.
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Obtained a long time ago from a Californian retail shop at US $16.50,
way cheap according to the current market pricing. |
It has been long said that this particular vinyl edition was specially pressed at the request of
David Geffen, the President of
Asylum Records back then, who distributed these limited pressings to friends of him. I heard of (or read) this background tale sometime in the 1990s. Strangely, however, I cannot recall from where I got this information. Moreover, I
have not been able to find any official source that documents this. Although I guess that the most probable source might be the
Backstreets Records, so far I fail to locate any pieces of evidence to support the possibility in their publication, catalogs, flyers, or my archived e-mails from this fanzine site. As another probable source, I could mention
LuckyTown Digest,
the fan-based Springsteen mailing list (operating back in
the late 1990s to early 2000s), but I'm totally not sure. Does anyone have any clue or lead on this?
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There are no differences in label printings except for record turn speed. Take note that the combo name is typed as THE "E" STREET BAND. Jenny Take A Ride is a medley of C. C. Rider and Jenny Jenny although most bootlegs rather list these two songs separately or simply name the entire performance as Detroit Medley.
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Comparison of the matrix numbers on Side A featuring Devil
With The Blue Dress Medley, between the 33⅓ rpm edition
(upper) and 45 rpm promotional disc (lower). |
The two versions look identical. Then, aside from playing speed, what respects do they exactly differ from each other? Consistently, every limited
33⅓ rpm edition I have checked through a quick internet search (5 copies plus mine) had two hand-written numbers which were made in the same manner (
a given number / 100) with black marker: one just below the
reddish brown sticker on the front sleeve and the other on the upper-right empty space on the record label of
Side A (Springsteen's side). There are no more differences in the die-cut sleeve between the two versions. However, further differences are apparent in the details of the record labels. The label paper used for the limited edition seems somewhat to be of higher quality than that for the usual promo version. Its background color is not plain white but slightly cream toned, with sharper text printing and denser black fills on the label (see the pic above).
Different playing speed means that the two types of 12" singles were pressed from different stampers. So, what are inscribed on the dead wax space were also expected to differ between them. The followings are matrix numbers on each side of each disc:
45 rpm edition
Side A: ASS-41442 A AR (45) B-14707
Side B: ASS-11442-B AR ASS-41442-B AR (45) B-14708
33⅓ rpm edition
Side A: ASS-41442 A-1 AR (33 1/3) B-14709
Side B: ASS-41442 B-1 AR (33) B-14710
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By the way, the Japanese version of the triple LP (Pioneer/Asylum
P-5186-8Y) comes with two additional folded inserts, one for the
translation of the excerpts from the booklet and the other for lyric
transcription for the album. |
There are at least two interesting facts on these matrix codes. One is that the catalog number (
AS-11442) is mistakenly hand-etched on all the four sides. Note that the corrected matrix number on
Side B of the
45 rpm disc still contains an error "
ASS". The other fact is the presence on all sides of the hand inscription "
AR" which almost probably stands for
Allied Record Company, a pressing plant/manufacturer in
Los Angeles, California. If so, unlike
NO NUKES triple LP from which both
A- and B-side tracks are taken, these promotional 12" discs were not pressed at any of the three major
Columbia Records' pressing plants (see
Part 3 on the album's pressing plants). This "
AR" code is also printed in the parenthesis below the catalog number on the record labels of both editions. Finally, I have no idea as to what the other matrix codes
B-14707/8/9/10 refer to. The numbering may reflect the order of vinyl pressing and manufacture, though (
45 rpm early, then
33⅓ rpm).
Now blogging on this subject is a bit longer than I initially thought. Back in high school days, this version of
Devil With The Blue Dress Medley provided me with the very first listening experience of Springsteen's live performance, which was a sort of baptismal moment, to say exaggeratedly. The recent live archive release of
NO NUKES 1979 concerts reminded me of this so much.
P.S. Speaking of the official live archive download, I have noticed that the Backstreets.com, when reporting the NUGS release of the October 1975 show at the Roxy last year (December 7, 2018), featured on their web site the pictures of an old AIN'T NOBODY HERE ... vinyl bootleg in my possession, apparently taken from my blog page (May 5, 2018) without my permission! Check the JASRAC sticker on the upper left corner of the shrink wrap. I'm not complaining about that, of course. Just thrilled to know that someone at the "authoritative" website probably read my blog articles.
P.S. Speaking of the official live archive download, I have noticed that the Backstreets.com, when reporting the NUGS release of the October 1975 show at the Roxy last year (December 7, 2018), featured on their web site the pictures of an old AIN'T NOBODY HERE ... vinyl bootleg in my possession, apparently taken from my blog page (May 5, 2018) without my permission! Check the JASRAC sticker on the upper left corner of the shrink wrap. I'm not complaining about that, of course. Just thrilled to know that someone at the "authoritative" website probably read my blog articles.
This was a very interesting four-part series. Some good analysis here. Good observation regarding the high cutting numbers.
ReplyDeleteI have the same test pressing of the album as yours. Based on the writings, it came from the WAER-FM radio station. It has some interesting drawings. I always wondered about them. Here are the versions I have of the album: https://www.springsteenlyrics.com/collection.php?category=vaalbum&f_ymin=1979&f_ymax=1979&f_c=&cmd=list
As for the single, in addition to the two versions (33⅓RPM and 45RPM), I have three different acetates. These are dated January 15th and January 17th 1980. This answers your doubt in the first line above. One of them, based on the writings, was sent to Stanley Johnston who worked with Crosby, Stills & Nash. Here are the versions I have of the single: https://www.springsteenlyrics.com/collection.php?cmd=list&category=single&f_ymin=1979&f_ymax=1979&page=1&f_c=USA
And last, though this is not in most collectors' area of interest, the No Nukes video is the only release on which Springsteen appears on these three obscure video formats: Betamax (I'm still looking for a copy), VHD, and CED. Plus of course VHS and Laserdisc. Here are the versions I have of the video: https://www.springsteenlyrics.com/collection.php?category=relatedvid&f_ymin=1980&f_ymax=1980&f_c=&cmd=list
Hi Eddy,
Delete1. On your test pressing:
(1) According to the memo on one of the three white sleeves of your copy, the radio station received these pre-release pressings on November 30, 1979, a few weeks advance of its commercial release. As a collector, I'm always interested in this kind of facts and information.
(2) In relation to the NO NUKES concerts, the large drawing on the same sleeve must obviously be an image of mushroom cloud resulting from atomic bombing.
2. On the release date of the 12”promotional discs:
Based on the labels glued on acetate discs, your three copies are all playable at 33 rpm rather than 45 rpm. Because of this, and because the two different editions were pressed for different reasons (commercial promotion vs. private use), I think there still is a possibility that the 33-rpm edition was pressed early in 1980 while the usual promotional 45-rpm version was already finished up in November or December, 1979.
BTW, your collection is overwhelming, which blows mine far away, actually!