Collecting log: The early 1980s U.K. vinyl pressings with "timtom" or "Ty" handwritten matrix inscription (Part 3 of 4)

Happy new year! I tried to complete this topic within the last year but was just not able to have enough time to do so. Anyway, I'll continue to blog on my collection and hope all your collectors' wishes come true this year.

In my collection, the earliest example of a timtom-inscription, as shown in the inset on the upper-left corner, is found on Side 2 of BORN TO RUN (matrix number suffixes; -A4/B2) that was included in the 3-LP box set released in the U.K., November, 1979. However, his hand-etching was not found in the other two albums (the first two albums) also coming in this box; the same is the case for a later regular copy of BTR LP shown on the left (-A5/-B3).

The latest three blog posts, including this one, focus on Springsteen's U.K. pressings that were cut by Tim Young, an audio mastering maestro in Europe, also known as the first non-U.S. Grammy-awarded engineer (2008). Before co-founding and joining the world renowned Metropolis Mastering with his colleagues in 1993, he had served at CBS Studios, London (1976-1993), where he was already admired for his work of cutting vinyl records for various artists. As shown in the last two posts, his handiwork of cutting 7" and 12" singles from THE RIVER is easily identified by his timtom or Ty hand-etched signature on the dead-wax space. As far as I examined, however, it was not confirmed that he was involved in cutting 7" singles from the next album NEBRASKA and further subsequent albums (i.e. no signatures on the dead-wax), suggesting that his contribution was exclusive to THE RIVER singles. So, to clarify this a little more in depth, I extended the survey into the vinyl album pressings.

A DMM stamp as found on the plain white test
pressing of TUNNEL OF LOVE U.K. picture disc.

Although my U.K. vinyl collection is quite small in quantity compared with the U.S. counterpart, I found timtom or Ty inscription in some copies of BORN TO RUN (CBS S 69170), THE RIVER (CBS 88510), NEBRASKA (CBS 25100), and BORN IN THE U.S.A. (CBS 86304), that have been originally released between 1975 and 1984. Note that this does not exclude the possibility that he was involved in the cutting of other albums pressed in the U.K., especially of DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (CBS S 86061), since the release year of which falls within the period of his career at CBS Studios (unfortunately, I own only a repressed copy for the U.K. edition that does not carry either hand-etching). It is, however, unlikely that he cut the lacquer masters for LIVE/1975-85 (CBS 450227 1) and TUNNEL OF LOVE (CBS 460270 1), taking into account the fact that these mid- to late-1980s pressings were made from direct metal masters (often accomanying a dead-wax stamp or inscription DMM).

An observation almost common to these timtom- or Ty-inscribed albums of Springsteen mentioned above is that his signature is inscribed only on one side of a vinyl disc. For example, I found a timtom hand-etching on Side 2 of BORN TO RUN that came as a part of BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 3LP box set (CBS 66353) as shown in the top picture:

• Side 1:   CBS-S-69170-A4
• Side 2:   CBS-S-69170-B2         timtom  

The above copy is obviously not an initial pressing since the box was issued November 1979. This coincides with the fact that his career at CBS Studios started in 1976, but not in 1975 when this classic rock album is originally released, although a further late copy I own had no timtom handwriting (matrix number suffixes -5A/-3B ).

Part of matrix inscriptions on Side 1 of the test pressing (left), the regular first pressing (middle), and a subsequent pressing (upper and lower right) of THE RIVER U.K. 2LP, the last of which additionally carries a machine stamp and hand-etchings that are generally found in the U.S. pressings.
 

 

Comparison of the dead-wax width among four different U.K. pressings of THE RIVER LP. From left to right: test pressing, first pressing, and two subsequent pressings with the U.S. matrix information on Sides 1, 2 and 4 (left of the two) and Side 2 only (right). The last one came with a two-sided flyer advertising through BORN IN THE U.S.A., indicating that it's a mid-1980s repress. Note that the dead-wax space gets narrower as a pressing gets later.

The other three albums mentioned above were released in the 1980's after he joined CBS Studios. As for THE RIVER LP, however, there are no his signatures on the test pressing and its regular release edition in my possession, which share the identical matrix numbers as follows:

• Side 1:   84622-A-1   CBS S 85510-A-1
• Side 2:   84622-B-1   CBS S 85510-B-1
• Side 3:   84623-A-1   CBS S 85510-C-1
• Side 4:   84623-B-1   CBS S 85510-D-1

A typical early U.K. package contains round-top inner sleeves in
addition to a hype sticker and a flyer advertising back issues.

Although here I don't go into the details, this LP released in the U.K. shows variations in several aspects from pressing to pressing (BTW, the variations found in the European copies of THE RIVER LP is definitely a collector-oriented subject that needs exploration). To my knowledge, the relatively early copies came with a hype sticker on the front sleeve, inner sleeves with round-top cut-out shape, a one-sided merchandise leaflet listing up to DARKNESS, and sunburst record labels with "MADE IN ENGLAND" printed on the bottom but not on the rim. However, most of such pressings had matrix numbers different from those of the above-mentioned very early pressing, strangely mixing up with the U.S. pressing-specific inscriptions (see here and here, for example). Here is one instance from my collection (oblique, hand-etched; straight, machine-stamped):

• Side 1:   CBS-S-84622-A3  85510-A3  PAL-36855 ENG F21    KP   MASTERED BY CAPITOL
• Side 2:   CBS-S-84622-B3  85510-B3  PBL-36855 ENG F21    KP   MASTERED BY CAPITOL
• Side 3:   CBS-S-84623-A2  85510-C2       Ty
• Side 4:   CBS-S-84623-B3  85510-D3  PBL-36856 ENG F23    KP   MASTERED BY CAPITOL 

Young's signature found on Side 3 of a U.K.
pressing. Note that this side is free of U.S.-
related matrix inscriptions.

Supposedly, these pressings used the U.S.-made lacquer masters after the U.K.-specific matrix codes were inscribed on the dead-wax space, with the exception of Side 3 where such U.S. codes are totally absent. Interestingly, only this side carried a Ty signature, an indication that it was the only side among the four that was cut in the U.K. 

As always, I fantasized how this mixed-up matrix codes could happen, which is explained by the following speculative scenario:

1. The very first lacquer masters, which were cut in the U.K. (but not by Tim Young because his signatures are not found on the deawax), were used to press the vinyl album at the early phase of its release. In fact, I've seen these regular copies (with the matrix suffixes A-1/B-1/C-1/D-1) much less compared with the rest of pressings.
2. And then for unknown reason(s), the lacquer masters were replaced by those of the U.S. origin carrying a MASTERED BY CAPITOL machine-stamp and KP inscribed by mastering engineer Ken Perry at Capitol. Another matrix inscription ENG might refer to the assigned export to the U.K. Note that some other European pressings, such as Dutch discs, carry a similar abbreviated country code like HOL, in addition to the U.S. pressing-specific inscriptions. 
3. However, such lacquer masters might happen to contain Held Up Without A Gun, the last tune deleted from the album, on Track 2 of Side 3. 
4. So, the new lacquer was cut by Young using the final master tape including five tracks, but not six, for this particular side. 

Oddly, mastering engineer's name does not show up in the album's production credits on the U.K. edition (left),
but is clearly indicated on the U.S. edition (right, Ken Perry), of the accompanying lyric sheet.

Just a fantasized idea. So, most probably this is wrong. Interestingly, however, the U.K. version of the folded lyric sheet does not credit who is responsible for mastering, despite that Ken Perry (at Capitol) is clearly mentioned on the U.S. edition. This printed fact might support the above speculative scenario (#1) that CBS Records U.K. had originally no intention to use the U.S.-made lacquer masters for pressing THE RIVER LP. The next and final post on this topic examines the U.K. edition of NEBRASKA and BORN IN THE U.S.A.
— To be continued.