BORN TO RUN US pressing LP variants: the short-lived, CX-encoded noise-reduction disc released in the early 1980s (Part 1 of 2)

This special vinyl edition is the one I previously mentioned as a major lack in my LP list of various U.S. BORN TON RUN releases when I replied to the comment posted by an anonymous visitor (to the blog article on 07/29/2016). It is one of about 70* new and reissue titles of various music genres from Columbia Records' unsucceeded project in the early 1980s to introduce a novel noise-reduction technology to the analog audio sound, called "Compatible eXpansion (CX)" encoding system, originally developed by CBS Laboratories in the late 1970s. 
*According to the information available on Wikipedia; however, the number differs depending on the sources.

A small CX identification sticker is not pasted on the shrink warp,
but directly glued on the lower right corner of the rear side of
the gate-fold sleeve (Columbia JC 33795).

The "CX"-encoded disc program would allow vinyl sounds better not only by reducing record surface noise but also by extending dynamic ranges. The "CX" is said so because a CX-encoded disc could even sound normal on any regular audio device (with an acceptable level of dynamic range compression), although you can benefit from the noise reduction/dynamic range expansion process if your playback system is equipped with add-on CX-decoder hardware. 

However, despite what the record company officially claimed, the debate over its "compatibility," a key part of the "CX" project, continued even inside the company. Early on, some of the label's own producers, engineers, and artists criticized that the CX-compressed action was audible without using the decoder, disputing the claim of its single-inventory compatibility. The same was outside the company. Among those who strongly opposed this new technology were Ken Perry of the Capitol Studios and Bob Ludwig of New York's Masterdisk, two cutting engineers associated with Springsteen's works ("CBS Fields CX Knocks," Billboard, June 27, 1981). In addition, there were no CX software releases from other major record labels and companies, which also hindered its widespread use. Consequently, the CX-sound system had become extinct on the vinyl format around the time when the CD arrived on the scene quickly. The technology was successfully applied on laserdisc, though.

What is described as the demo "CX" version of THE RIVER Disc 1
is visually distinguished from the standard pressing only by the
deadwax's matrix number (XRD-BL-36855-2A on Side 2) that
appears in the contrast-changed uppermost part of the image.

Because of the short-lived format, I had long been unaware of the existence of the CX-encoded version of the BORN TO RUN LP available commercially. However, it was not this album that made me realize CX alternates on Springsteen's LP titles. Back in 2016, through the usual search on eBay, I came across a curious auction item with the headline, "COLUMBIA EXPERIMENTAL DEMO CX ENCODED #20/500 Bruce Springsteen The River." 

Being a vinyl collector but not an audiophile, I had never heard of or known anything about the audio technical term "CX." Obviously, the auctioned demo LP prompted me to explore other examples of the unique vinyl format on Springsteen's back catalog. Then, I found a piece of relevant information in a Steve Hoffman's Music Forum thread entitled CBS "CX encoded" LP's (starting on May 9, 2005), where someone self-proclaimed as a die-hard Springsteen collector recalled his encounter with the CX version of the third album in Houston, TX, years back. To quote his post, he concludes: I passed on the record -- much to my eternal regret, as I've never seen another one, either in person or offered for sale anywhere at anytime (posted on Jan. 23, 2014). His words were enough to stimulate my instinct as a collector to try to dig out the CX-encoded BORN TO RUN LP.

— To be continued to Part 2.