Collecting log: 40 years after the BORN IN THE U.S.A. Japan tour — nostalgic old bootlegs and miscellaneous vinyl/CD collectibles related to the official album (Part 3 of 4)

Released in numerous countries worldwide, BORN IN THE U.S.A. remains one of the most commercially successful albums in music history. While I have not conducted a thorough survey, its widespread distribution and chart success suggest that the album was officially released in over 40 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, South America, and select parts of Africa and the Arab world.

As with Japanese releases, Mexican editions frequently featured 
altered sleeve designs and modified or added text, resulting in several 
collectible variants. A notable example is the gatefold edition of THE 
RIVER (CBS LP2S-103; see 06/18/2016), which displays lyrics on the 
inner panels rather than on a separate two-fold insert. Official colored 
vinyl pressings from the 1980s are also rare and highly collectible (see 
01/27/2020). The LP shown above (CBS CLS-5808) presents the 
Spanish tracklist and additional text along the bottom of the rear sleeve.

However, when collectible variants of this album — both regular and promotional editions — began to surface from various countries and became available to collectors in the mid-to-late 1980s, I was too engrossed in the flood of bootleg releases from the 1984–85 world tour, particularly those from Europe, to pay serious attention to the official releases. Consequently, many of the official vinyl records in my possession — some of which have been already showcased on this blog — were therefore acquired later, once the internet’s global rise made worldwide communication and transactions far more accessible. Anyway, here are a few of miscellaneous official collectibles of his mega hit album, as I hinted earlier.

Collecting and comparing different copies of the same album can sometimes uncover interesting facts about how vinyl records were made. Take DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN, for instance — early U.S. pressings were produced by eight different plants, among which six were operated by companies other than Columbia Records (see 08/20/2022 for the latest overview). Research like this also helps uncover the identities of uncredited mastering engineers who actually cut the master disc — especially for U.S. reissues and vinyl discs manufactured outside the U.S., where the originally credited engineer usually had no involvement. Examples include U.S. repressings for DARKNESS and THE RIVER, mastered by Chet Bennett (see 05/05/2022 and 12/22/2019), as well as U.K. original pressings of THE RIVER, NEBRASKA, and BORN IN THE U.S.A. by Tim Young (01/01/2020 and 01/05/2020).

A black-stickered U.S. reissue, credited as "Mastered by: Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk" on the custom inner sleeve, was actually cut by Chet Bennett, as revealed by his first name hand-etched in the deadwax (indicated by arrows). Although different master cuts often result in variations in deadwax spacing, the width of Bennett's cutting coincides with that of the Maestro's early pressing on both Sides One and Two (matrix numbers 3A and 2A, respectively: see 08/14/2019; Note that Ludwig also recut the master for a reissue: see 10/10/2020).

While the original U.S. pressing of BORN IN THE U.S.A. was cut by mastering legend Robert "Bob" Ludwig, the copy shown above — the latest addition to my  U.S. pressing collection — is another one mastered by C. Bennett. 

SIDE ONE:    <chet + AD>  PAL 38653    G3S    D G1
SIDE TWO:    <chet + AD>  BL 38653      G2Z    E G1        Straight = stamped; oblique = hand-etched.

As noted earlier, Bennett handled several repressings of Springsteen titles during his time at CBS/Columbia Records in the 1980s. I didn’t know who had mastered this budget reissue with the black hype sticker when I found it online, but I picked it up anyway to check the matrix information — after all, it cost just one coin (500 JPY ≈ 3.47 USD).

Alternate sleeve design also explains why collectors often seek multiple copies of a given title. Here are a few examples of my choices from my collection:

The top horizontal image shows the spine of the custom West German Vivitar sleeve, which bears no information about the artist’s name, album title, or catalog number. The disc is a red-label Holland pressing for the regular reissue. Although not pictured, the standard lyric sheet and inner sleeve are included.

• West-German "Vivtar" promotional reissue (CBS 86304): Released in the former West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) to mark the 50th anniversary of Vivitar Corp., U.S.-based photographic equipment company founded by German immigrants — this edition comes in the custom, promotion-only picture sleeve that makes it a genuine oddity. Yet the altered—or more precisely, replaced—sleeve scarcely identifies the record as a Springsteen release. Even if the cover image loosely relates to the lyrics of Glory Days, it doesn’t mention him or his music anywhere, not in German text on the back, nor on the spine, which reads “50 Jahre VIVITAR – die Weltmarke für Bildaufzeichnung ©1988 Hanimex (Deutschland) GmbH” [50 Years of VIVITAR – the global brand for image recording ©1988 Hanimex (Germany) GmbH]. Aside from the album title logo, there’s no reference to Springsteen at all. While undeniably rare, the release holds little appeal for me as a collector.

The former East Germany released not only the LP but also the cassette. On some copies of the cassette release (catalog number 056 222), the number is misprinted as "0 56 222" on the inlay card, although the correct version, matching the number printed at the top right of the rear LP sleeve, also exists.

• East-German issue (AMIGA 8 56 222): Issued in what was then former East Germany (German Democratic Republic), likely in 1986 or later according to the Discogs description, this version retains the original front cover design. However, about two-thirds of the back cover is filled with liner notes in German, adding a somewhat quirky charm. The layout is complemented by an appropriate photo of Springsteen, taken from the inner sleeve of the standard release. Incidentally, I studied German as my second foreign language during my undergraduate years — roughly four decades ago — but sadly, I’ve forgotten most of it, so I couldn’t make out the text on the back sleeve on my own.

With the Argentine release, the "Disco Para Demostracion..." promo indication appears not only on the front sleeve, but also the record labels. Interestingly, only half of the Spanish-translated song titles — Side One, Tracks 1, 2, and 6; Side Two, Tracks 2 to 4 — match exactly with those on Mexican LP (see top image). The remaining titles differ slightly (e.g., Side Two, Track 5 — possibly a misspelling?) or significantly (Side Two, Tracks 1 and 6). The track-length listings also don’t match exactly between the two releases.

• Argentine promotional release (CBS 20.534): The Argentine sleeve features a distinctive promotional marking “Disco Para Demostracion Venta Prohibida” (Demonstration Record – Sale Prohibited) printed diagonally in the top left corner, and the back deviates from the standard design — it’s printed in monochrome and also includes song titles in Spanish. My pick of the three.

Next, and finally, come a few Japanese items — though they are far less noteworthy or interesting than the advanced promotion-only release I introduced years ago (see 07/18/2015).

— Continued to Part 4 / Back to Part 1 or Part 2.