The oldest American company for children's music turned out to help Columbia's Pitman plant for pressing Springsteen's fourth LP. (image taken from Discogs) |
As summarized in this series before (for example, see 5/23/2021 and 4/23/2022), those pressing plants counted five, back then owned or run by the following companies:
- North American Music Industries (NAMI) in Scranton, PA (3/21/2017)
- MCA Records in Pinckneyville, IL (3/18/2017)
- MCA Records in Gloversville, NY (7/29/2017)
- Keel Manufacturing Corp. in Hauppauge, NY (6/30/2017 and 10/2/2017)
- Goldisc Recording Products, Inc., in Holbrook, NY (5/23/2021)
Until very recently, I thought this line-up was sufficient to represent all the subcontracted plants, but that was wrong. Last month, an American lady kindly provided quite interesting information on this topic in her comment (posted on 7/20/2022) to one of the series articles (3/21/2017), which was unheard of to me (and probably to you, too), revealing the sixth subcontracted pressing plant that got involved in the album production.
Now it's clear that the hand-etched PPP refers to Pitman-subcontracted Peter Pan Records pressing. Shown is SIDE TWO of my personal copy with SIDE ONE/TWO matrix numbers |
- PN = Pitman-subcontracted NAMI
- PMI = Pitman-subcontracted MCA Records, Illinois
- PMN = Pitman-subcontracted MCA Records, New York
- PK = Pitman-subcontracted Keel Manufacturing Corp.
- PV = Pitman-subcontracted Viewlex, Inc. (which owned Goldisc Recordings Products, Inc.)
In addition to the above, there was yet another hand-etched code, PPP, which was the most unclear about what pressing plant it specified. Previously, I assumed this triple-letter code for the Pitman based on some circumstantial evidence (11/19/2018 and 5/15/2021). However, because of the lack of definitive proof, I simultaneously raised a question against my hypothesis ("I cannot figure out why two different symbols, machine-stamped 'P' and hand-etched 'PPP,' were alternatively used to indicate the same pressing plant"; 5/15/2021).
Previously and erroneously assigned Pitman Pressing Variants One and Two (see 5/15/2021 and 4/23/2022) are now corrected here for Pitman and Lakewood pressings manufactured at Columbia Records and Peter Pan Records, respectively. |
- PPP = Pitman-subcontracted Peter Pan Records
Originally and erroneously in this blog, the PPP-inscribed pressings were reported as "Pitman Pressing Variant Two" (see 4/23/2022), featuring the red Columbia labels where both Springsteen's name and album title are split into two separate lines. The label design is overall the same as that of the "genuine Pitman" pressings with a "P" dead-wax stamp (formerly referred to as "Pitman Pressing Variant One" on 4/23/2022). Still, the Pete- and Pitman-pressing labels are noticeably different and easily distinguished by the spacing between the album title and track list, as already pointed out (5/15/2021) and shown in the pictures immediately above.
Here from the previous version (5/23/2021), I have revised and updated the summary table for the relationship between pressing plants and dead-wax matrix information of the early U.S. vinyl pressings for DARKNESS LP. Note that this work is still in progress, and your feedback for revision, corrections, and updates is always welcome. Finally, I greatly appreciate the comments from that American lady, not only for providing invaluable information but also for letting me aware of my incorrect assumption to be fixed.
I just purchased a used copy of Darkness at the Edge of Town and found that it has the label for Johnny Mathis You Light Up My Life on side one. the record itself is correct, but for some reason the wrong label is on side one. Ever run across something like that? (Columbia PBL 35318 is written on the runout with PBL crossed out on the Mathis side). strange . . .
ReplyDeleteThat's a rare finding! I have several error-bearing pressings but no copies like yours (w/ a label of another artist). Maybe the pressing plant mixed up the labels as Mathis's album was released from Columbia Records earlier (March) in 1978 than DARKNESS (June). Can you specify where the error disc was pressed from the label text/design or matrix inscriptions?
Deletethe runout grooves have PAL 35318 IAC PV and PBL 35318 2J PV, so from above looks like Holbrook NY?
DeleteYep, your copy must be a Holbrook pressing, as you also see the plant-specific hand-etching code "GOL" on the deadwax. For more info, see a relevant post here: https://manattop.blogspot.com/2021/05/darkness-on-edge-of-town-us-lp.html
Deletedon't know how to post pics to this thread, but if you send me an email address I'll send you some pictures just so you have them!
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can post photos in the comment section, but you can PM me as attachments at: manattop@gmail.com
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