Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: Suki on double vinyls! — YOU CAN TRUST YOUR CAR TO THE MAN WHO WEARS THE STAR from the mid-1970s and NEW YORK CITY SERENADE from the late-1980s (Part 2 of 5)

Obviously, Springsteen's facial shot by Eric Meola is the prototype of the Texaco-serviceman-guised drawing on the bootleg cover. On the right is an actual photo image featured on the interior of the famous Script Cover gatefold sleeve that houses the advanced U.S. promotional test pressing of BORN TO RUN LP (1/25/2015). The same picture was also used, as it is, for the cover image of another bootleg, LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE 8/15/75, released late in 1975 (8/11/2016). BTW, you may notice a small JASRAC sticker (a typical one from the mid-to-late 1970s; see 5/10/2018) on the bottom left corner of the bootleg. JASRAC stands for Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, and the presence of its sticker means that the bootleg's content is officially licensed. But, then, how could this happen? Probably, JASRAC distributed the sticker to the import trader in response to the successful application for the license, who then put it on the album cover. In fact, here, we often see JASRAC-stickered copies of bootleg vinyl and CD imports.

I don't think either LP or CD color decoration works to the
effect, and I still prefer the original mono-tone artwork to
these reissue sleeves. The CD set (Love 022/023, Labour
Of Love) is the second-ever digital bootleg release for the
Main Point benefit show '75, following the Great Dane
Records title (shown in the bottom image).

"What crummy and ugly cover art the bootleggers put on the front!"  That was my initial and honest impression when I saw the imitating sketch on the bootleg cover of his face, the best known of which is featured as the inner photograph of the BORN TO RUN gatefold LP sleeve (see the picture above). And that vivid coloring of the green/yellow reissue cover made me feel further low (8/14/2015, 8/16/2015, and 9/2/2015). I also remember playing this bootleg for the first time, which was my first listening opportunity to his unofficial live recordings. Immediately after dropping the stylus and listening to the beginning of the first track on Record One, I thought I was cheated by the bootleggers. But why?

Lahav's contribution has never been credited to Japanese BORN TO RUN LP. Shown
are the labels and rear sleeves (part) of the probable last standard reissue in the
U.S. from the 1990s (upper, Columbia JC 33795; see also 9/13/2015) and the final
and fourth vinyl press in Japan from the mid-1980 (lower, CBS/SONY 25AP 1274)
with the olive obi (inset). She has already been mentioned, though, on the rear
sleeve of U.S. reissues since 1976-1977, just before Columbia Records' price code
(= prefix of the catalog number) was changed from "PC" to "JC" (see 6/29/2016).

When I started collecting unofficial live records in the summer of 1981, I had no idea there was a female band member who played violin for a short period in the past. Unlike the U.S. repressings (see 6/29/2016), by 1981 and until the end of the vinyl era, none of the Japanese vinyl releases, including the first (CBS/SONY SOPO-96; 5/14/2022) and three reissues (25AP 1274), credits Suki Lahav as playing violin on BORN TO RUN LP (see the images on the right). Then, I thought the string part was performed by an anonymous session musician or orchestra member. So, I never expected the concert to open with her stringed solo (of the intro to Incident On 57th Street), quickly assuming that it must be a live performance by someone else rather than Springsteen and the E Streeters. 

No internet back then, and it was in November 1982 that I learned the details of the early band members and their history, including the temporal presence of the female violin player, when Dave Marsh's Born To Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story was first published in Japan by CBS/SONY Publishing, Inc.

My first copy of the original press (upper right) suffered
seriously from the infamous CD rot, the oxidized deterioration
of the aluminum layer making a disc impossible to read, less
than one year after the purchase. As you see, the original copy
(Disc One) has developed the typical symptoms (discolored and
turned bronze), while the Master-Plus edition remains silver
and plays fine (upper left, early bulky-case edition; lower,
late slim-case copy).

However, the blame stopped here, and what followed and played on the two discs was full of magic and surprises by the man and his band members. Like many old-timers enthusiastic about vinyl Brucelegs in those days, I had become a bootleg addict, playing this double-vinyl set countless times, along with other classics such as PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE and LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND, until the entire performance was released in 1990 on silver CD  by Italy's Great Dane Records (THE SAINT, THE INCIDENT & THE MAIN POINT SHUFFLE: GDR CD 9012). Moreover, as I fell too deep into this bootleg, I realized that I also got favorably interested in that "crummy/ugly" artwork, even though back then, I knew neither what message the bootleg title originally conveyed (i.e., Texaco's advertising jingle from 1962) nor why Springsteen was drawn as "the man who wears the star (and holds something like a hose)."

It's been so long since then, and even now, I occasionally take up one of these SODD copies from the record shelf and give it a listen for pure enjoyment, looking at the slick cover and wondering who drew it. Does anyone know?

— To be continued to Part 3 / back to Part 1.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: Suki on double vinyls! — YOU CAN TRUST YOUR CAR TO THE MAN WHO WEARS THE STAR from the mid-1970s and NEW YORK CITY SERENADE from the late-1980s (Part 1 of 5)

The first half from a dozen line up of the
Singer's Original Double Disks label releases
(SODD 000 to 012) is shown. This includes two
early Springsteen bootlegs from the mid-1970s,
of which the SODD 006 title has two typos
(Flat Tops And Pin Drops; see 5/10/2018).
Taken from the slick insert of Beatles'
SECOND TO NONE (SODD 009).

"SODD (Singer's Original Double Disks) was Ken's usual medium for double-sets (still a relative rarity in the mid seventies). Though SODD only issued a dozen titles, they produced some of the Kornyphone Family's finest artifacts. Their second release — You Can Trust Your Car to the Man With [sic] the Star — was a radio broadcast of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band recorded at the Main Point, on the outskirts of Philadelphia, February 1975, capturing in FM quality the six-month period when the E Street Band had electric violinist Suki Lahav adding her delicate timbre to their sound. With prototype performances of 'Wings for Wheels' (soon to become 'Thunder Road') and 'She's the One' (incorporating parts of 'Backstreets'), and chestnuts like 'Incident on 57th Street' and Dylan's 'I Want You', it may well be Springsteen's greatest extant performance. But this broadcast had only been aired on local Philadelphia radio. It took the SODD set, one of a handful of Springsteen bootlegs at the time, to spread the word to all and sundry."
Quoted from BOOTLEG: The Secret History Of The Other Recording Industry, Clinton Heyin, 1996, St. Martin's Griffin, NY.

Having stayed only between October 1974 and Mach 1975 before returning to Israel, Suki Lahav (1951—) was probably the most enigmatic and effective player in the early period of the E Street combo. As briefly described in the citation above, her contribution as a violinist/vocalist was indispensable for the stunning live arrangement and performance of new songs (Incident On 57th Street, 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy), and New York City Serenade) from the then-latest album, THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE, breathtaking cover repertoires (Spanish Harlem and I Want You), and then-unreleased BORN TO RUN tracks (Jungleland and Wings For Wheels). However, to the best of my knowledge, there were only two bootlegged concerts featuring this female talent in the vinyl era, one from the above-mentioned Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA (February 5, 1975) and another from Memorial Chapel Concert Hall, Union College, Schenectady, NY (October 19, 1974).

My collection includes eight "SODD" slick-cover editions (three white, two orange, two blue, and one brown) and two "TAKRL" reissue versions (white or green/yellow printed sleeve). In addition, I own two more SODD 001 copies (white insert, not shown) that actually contain two discs from SODD 006 capturing the 1975 Roxy show aired on KWEST-FM (October 17; see 5/10/2018).

As we all know, YOU CAN TRUST YOUR CAR TO THE MAN WHO WEARS THE STAR (SODD 001) is such a famous bootleg that I believe you don't need the introduction of this all-time classic title. Sourced from an FM radio broadcast by Philly's rock station WMMR of the benefit concert, this double LP was an artifact by Ken Douglas, one of the two pioneers of rock-genre bootlegs. The original was released from West Coat, probably in 1976, with an orange or white slick insert specifically designed for the Singer's Original Double Disks (SODD) series (see the above citation and 5/10/2018).

SODD 001 copies in my possession exhibit four label variations (shown are those for Disc One). Note that (1) white labels print "Worlds," which is "World" on the black ones, and (2) the stamper ring on SPINDIZZIE is much smaller, most probably because of the pressing plant that differs from the others. As far as I've seen, SPINDIZZIE labels were exclusive to the brownish slick cover, while plain pale-yellow labels with a side indication (often found on TAKRL releases) were mostly associated with the sky-blue insert copies. Generally, bootleg labels are nonsense, and SPINDIZZIE's side-two tracks contain a funny title that might be something related to Springsteen (Landau Go Home).

Disc One/Side One of the SODD 001 edition shows the dead-wax
matrix number "SODD 2-001-A" (upper), which is crossed out on
the white-cover TAKRL repress carrying a newly inscribed number
"24903-A" (middle). My green/yellow TAKRL copy has simply a
short dead-wax inscription "1A," indicating that this one is not a
repressing but a pirate or counterfeit bootleg (bottom).

However, there was no "SODD" indication on the record labels. Instead, most early copies carried labels on the wax printing "World" or "Worlds Records" on a black or white background, which was in fact common to this dozen bootleg series. In addition, there was another label variant, SPINDIZZIE, which was relatively minor compared with World/Worlds Records-label copies. I've seen that SPINDIZZIE copies always came with the brownish-SODD insert cover. Interestingly, the diameter of the stamper ring greatly differs between SPINDIZZIE and World/Worlds Records labels (see the images immediately above). So, the two label variants were most probably pressed at different record plants, even though the same stampers were used for both based on the dead-wax matrix inscriptions (i.e., All are SODD 2-001-A/B/C/D; for SIDE ONE, see the upper image on the left).

The rear sleeve of the TAKRL reissue prints the catalog number
(takrl 24903) on the bottom right corner and features whole
stories about how phonograph records and the bootleg label
came into existence.

Then, it was repressed in 1978 as part of The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label (TAKRL) series, the main bootleg label run by Douglas back then, which came in a printed sleeve rather than a cheap slick-insert cover, with the catalog number (TAKRL 24903) printed on the back. Accordingly, the original matrix inscriptions were crossed out, and the above number was hand-etched on each run-off groove space (24903-A/B/C/D; compare the upper and middle images above). The record labels were also changed to other kinds, such as plain pale-yellow TAKRL labels (printing a side indication only; see the label images above) or Monique D’Ozo labels, the most often seen examples (BTW, Monique D'Ozo is a real female person's name; read this entry on The Amazing Kornyfone Label blog). As well known, Douglas used all the unofficial labels mentioned above (and others) for his various bootleg releases.

The TAKRL reissue has been pirated or counterfeited many times, including the green/yellow picture-disc edition (Disc 2 only). These copies were usually inscribed with different matrix numbers than the two aforementioned (for example, "1A" on Disc One; see the bottom picture of the above dead-wax images). Such a pirate copy was one of the first three bootlegs I took the plunge and bought back in 1981 when I was a high-school boy (8/14/2015, 8/16/2015, and 9/2/2015).

— To be continued to Part 2.