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.

Because the same message is written in the accompanying acknowledgement letters, I found that
my recent purchase of a copy of NEBRASKA LP was from the Brazilian seller who once sold me a first pressing
copy of THE RIVER LP (front) many years ago. Note that a Held Up ... misprint remains uncorrected in
the second pressing copy (back).

As mentioned on the last blog, the version on the Brazilian LP plays a little bit slow when compared to its counterpart on the very first CD pressed in Japan. Then, a question arises as to which running time, on vinyl or CD, is correct?  It has long been known that the early Japanese CD copies run too fast. This issue on the playing time is apparent from the fact that despite including the longer take of My Father's House, the total running time of such CD is about 20 seconds shorter than that of the later corrected releases containing the regular version of the track without the extended coda. For example, my CD deck reads the total running time of the two early U.S. discs (both Columbia CK 38358) as follows: the first edition with a Japanese CD (withdrawn), 40 min 24 sec; and the second edition with a domestically pressed CD (corrected), 40 min 47 sec. Because of this, I guess it is more likely that the vinyl take represents the exact speed and pitch of the track. If so, the correct playing time of the alternate take is 5 min 43 sec rather than 5 min 35 sec.

Examples of Made-in-Brazil regular and promotional vinyl collectibles in
the 1980s, derived from the album THE RIVER through TUNNEL OF LOVE.

Like Japan, Brazil is a country where various unique vinyl discs of Springsteen have been released for promotional use only as well as for regular sale. To the best of my knowledge, the 1980's single-cut release of Hungry Heart (CBS 43.043) is the very first of such examples there. This 7-inch single, which plays at 33⅓ rpm rather than 45 rpm like most 7-inches, is housed in a unique color sleeve of his facial shot (different from the withdrawn Japanese version pictured here) and coupled with Stolen Car as B-side track, which is exclusive to this release all over the world. As exemplified by this, these vinyl collectibles are notably unique in that they exhibit differences in track configuration, sleeve artwork, or both. Although the NEBRASKA LP marks a new entry to rare Brazilian vinyl collectibles, this album is distinguished from all the others by that its uniqueness lies in featuring a rare alternative track rather than assembling selected tracks that have already been made on previously released albums and singles.

Finally, the finding of the alternate take on the regular vinyl release has brought up the following questions to my mind.  

Promotional insert mentioning BORN IN THE U.S.A. made
me wonder about the original release year of NEBRASKA
LP in the South American country.

1. How has the Brazilian CBS got the alternate recording into their hands?  This is totally unknown. It is possible that there was mishandling of the album recording between the U.S. and Brazillian CBS, just like the case of the first Japanese CD pressing (described here shortly). Thus far, however, no evidence has been known to substantiate such possibility.
2. Are the vinyl copies really pressed and manufactured in 1982?  Promotional version of the LP is known to exist, which comes with the gold-promo stamped sleeve and a promo insert in Portuguese, although the disc itself is a stock pressing. An interesting fact is that the insert mentions BORN IN THE U.S.A., indicating that these promo copies were released in 1984 or thereafter. They might be used for promoting reissues of the album thanks to the worldwide success of his seventh album and the long-stretched promotional tour. However, this made me wonder if the original release year of NEBRASKA is indeed 1982 in Brazil. There could be a possibility that the vinyl album was pressed in 1984 or 1985, and if so, which coincides with the year when the CD edition with the alternate track was manufactured in Japan.
3. Which take, regular or alternate version, is used for the cassette (CBS 16641) and CD (Sony Music 746.045/2-463360) releases?  Brazillian CBS has also released the album in cassette and CD format (I don't own neither copy). So, it is of interest to know which version is featured on each format. I'm especially interested in the cassette, since most probably, this format was issued simultaneously with the vinyl LP (see the photo below). On the other hand, the CD must have issued later as indicated by the renewed brand name "Sony Music" on the catalog number.

What seems a cassette in a holder, together with the catalog number (16641), is printed on the rear of
the LP sleeve, indicating that both formats are released simultaneously (cassette not in my possession).

Hopefully, someone reading this blog might answer to these questions or provide clues to answer them. 

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)

The 3rd track clocks in at exactly 5' 43" as indicated.

There may be a few more examples of the error other than those mentioned above, but I am not sure. Note that the typo on the label has been rectified at least for the release in the U.S., U.K., and Canada.

To the best of my knowledge, there has been no literature or internet information that reports the existence of the alternative take on commercially available vinyl discs, nor even mentions such possibility. Currently, I own all the afore-mentioned misprint copies except for two African releases. The Brazilian copies are the latest addition to my collection, which indeed turned out to include the long version.

Two more orders from Latin
America in an effort to
confirm the finding.

Upon the finding, the first thing I had to do was to know whether this was unique to my own copy or not, since I was not able to eliminate a possibility that it was a fake. So, after the first copy was obtained, I searched for a few more through the internet and located two that were available from a music store in a city in San Paulo State (At that time, no copies were available on eBay). It took one month or so to receive these copies here, shipped from the other side of the globe, which mainly explains the delay since the last blog post. Anyway, I found that both copies contain, just like the first copy, the extended version with that synth coda. The running time is rightly 5 min 43 sec as indicated on the label, which was confirmed by direct listening comparison to the CD version (5 min 35 sec). This indicates that the track on vinyl plays a little bit slowly, provided that both are exactly the same recording. 

While checking these vinyl discs, what drew my interest was the fact that the three copies (hereafter referred to as #1 to #3) do not share the identical matrix codes, showing slight variations as listed below, on the dead wax of each side of each disc.

Top, Matrix letters "EL" and "C" common
to all sides of the three disc; Middle,
Copy #2-specific code "1-3-9"; and
Bottom, Copy #3-specific "1-2".

Copy #1

• Side A:   EL   C       138641 A         AL-38358 I
• Side B:   EL   C       138641 B         BL-38358

Copy #2

• Side A:   EL   C       138641 A     1-3-9    AL-38358 I
• Side B:   EL   C       138641 B    1-1-20     BL-38358

Copy #3

• Side A:   1-1-2    138641 A IV    EL   C     AL-38358
• Side B:   EL   C      138641 B    1-2     BL-38358

By a close examination on these hand-etched letters and numbers (pictured below), I came to the following interpretations as to the relationship among the three copies:

• All the matrix codes and numbers are probably inscribed on the lacquer masters by a single same mastering engineer, with the exception of those specific to each copy, such as 1-3-9 and 1-1-2, which seem to denote the generation of stampers.
• On Side A, the hand-etching of two catalog number-related codes (138641 A and AL-38358 ) of Copy #3 is noticeably different from those of Copies #1 and #2, indicating that there were at least two different metal mothers (hence, two lacquer masters) for pressing this side of the LP disc. An additional inscription (1-3-9 ) found on Copy #2 but not on Copy #1 may be an indication that Side A of the two was pressed from different stampers that were made from the same metal mother. 
• On Side B, the hand-etching of the two catalog number-related codes (138641 B and BL-38358 ) looks identical among the three copies; however, Copies #2 and #3 have extra codes that are specific to each pressing (1-1-20 and 1-2, respectively). From these observations, I figured that Side B of these vinyl discs was pressed using three different stampers that originated from the same metal mother.

              Comparison of catalog number-related matrix codes (138641 A/B  and AL/BL-38358 ).
              Note that Side A hand-etching of Copy #3 differs appreciably from those of Copies #1
and #2, whereas all look the same on Side B.

I don't know whether the above interpretations are correct or not. However, assuming that a single stamper makes up to several hundred to a thousand pressings, I guess that the substantial number of Brazilian copies, if not all, feature the alternate take rather than the regular take. If so, my biggest question is why this has not been mentioned anywhere on literature or internet for a long time since its release three decades plus seven years ago. Such a unique LP edition would have instantly become collectors' item to be highly sought after, back in the vinyl era of 1980s.

— To be continued.