Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP: Update – 2nd – to The alternate take with synth coda on regular vinyl pressing!!!

Recently, Japanese sample copies appear 
to be distributed without a sample sticker 
on the sleeve (see 6/14/2025 for another 
example), making them impossible to 
identify without opening the package.

This year has been exceptionally good for Springsteen fans and collectors, with abundant new material released. That said, I have not purchased the extraordinarily expensive TRACKS II, but instead obtained only a sample CD copy of the excerpted edition, LOST AND FOUND: Selections From The Lost Albums (Sony Records Int'l SICP 31774), though I did listen to the full tracks online. Frankly, I find the package unnecessarily luxurious — if I want a book, I will buy a book, but not such an overpriced CD (or vinyl)/book set (in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever even looked through the one that came with THE TIES THAT BIND: The River Collection). I can’t help but wish Springsteen would focus more on the music itself. For me, the absolute standout is the upcoming release of NEBRASKA ’82 — and honestly, ELECTRIC NEBRASKA on its own would be enough for me. By the way, why does the title even include ’82 ? Surely everyone knows that the album was originally released in 1982.

The two company codes printed on the record labels and sleeve — catalog numbers and C.G.C. numbers (enclosed in green rectangles) — serve as essential indicators for determining whether a vinyl copy pressed in Brazil represents an original release or a reissue, and for identifying its release year when multiple issues exist. As shown, all four of my copies are identical with respect to both numbers (CBS 138.641; C.G.C. 43.203.520/0002-95). 

What always comes to mind when discussing NEBRASKA is the alternate take of My Father’s House with the extended synth coda, long known among collectors as first commercially available in 1985 only on early Japanese CD issues (CBS/SONY 32DP 357, 25DP 5246, and SRCS 7860), as well as on some early U.S. and European copies that contained the Japan-pressed export disc (Columbia CK 38358 and CBS CDCBS 25100, respectively; see 9/10/2016). Will this track be included in the forthcoming box? I doubt Springsteen even remembers this version, given what he once told Rolling Stone this June about the album: I have no recollection of it, but I can tell you there’s nothing in our vault that would amount to an electric Nebraska.

Honestly, I miss The Other Band’s renditions from
the 1993 tour, particularly the uptempo, electrified 
Atlantic City from NEBRASKA. I was at Madison 
Square Garden in June 26, 1993, to experience it 
firsthand — the concert that later became infamous 
as the “Motherfucker” show (see 5/14/2017)

With the new release only a month away (scheduled for October 17), I'm revisiting and updating this topic, following the earlier post on 3/31/2022. As noted six years ago (5/22/2019, 7/13/2019, and 7/22/2019), Brazilian album copies (CBS 138.641) are the only known vinyl release featuring the longer version of My Father’s House. Yet, with limited information, three questions remain unresolved (see 7/22/2019). One central question has been whether these vinyl copies were, in fact, pressed and released in Latin America in 1982.

My conclusion, however, is otherwise, based on the evidence outlined below, with particular attention to two types of numbers printed on the sleeve and record labels: catalog numbers and C.G.C. numbers. The latter abbreviation stands for Cadastro Geral de Contribuintes, was a General Taxpayer Registry number, which served as a corporate tax identification number. Legally established in 1964 and in use until it was replaced in 1998 by the C.N.P.J. (Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica or National Registry of Legal Entities), Brazilian law required all commercial products to display the manufacturer’s or distributor’s C.G.C. number.

As shown in the table above, a review of Brazilian CBS releases between 1980 and 1986 — including selected Billy Joel titles and two additional releases with catalog numbers immediately preceding (CBS 138.640) and following (CBS 138.642) that of NEBRASKA — helps clarify the relationship among release years, catalog numbers, and C.G.C. numbers. Based on these two identifiers, the Brazilian copies of NEBRASKA with the catalog number 138.641, although the album was originally issued worldwide in 1982, fall out of chronological sequence and instead align with the 1985 releases.

THE RIVER provides a good example of how different catalog numbers and C.G.C. numbers were assigned to Brazil's original and reissued vinyl releases. Note that the reissue label preserves the original release year (1980) and does not indicate the actual release year (1985). The original label contained a typo, “THE PRICE YOU PLAY,” which was corrected in the reissue. A different typo for this song is also known from the Zimbabwean pressing (see 10/03/2014).

As you may have noticed, before 1984 (and in the case of the 1986 LIVE box), there were discrepancies in the C.G.C. numbers following the slash between sleeves and labels (e.g., 0002-75 vs. 002 or 0008-60 for pre-1984 releases). However, this does not affect the conclusion presented here. The digits following the slash identified the company’s internal department or activity, making it plausible that different numbers were assigned to the sleeve production team (printing department) and the record pressing team (manufacturing department) until 1983.

The C.G.C. numbers on the labels and sleeve match those of
the original album (see the images and table above) from
which this unique Latin American 7" rarity originated.

Suppose these Brazilian vinyl copies were pressed around 1985. As previously speculated (see 7/22/2019), this would coincide with the Japanese CD release on May 22, 1985, suggesting that both CBS/Sony Japan and CBS Brazil received the alternative master mix for the reissues. This does not necessarily preclude the possibility that NEBRASKA was originally issued in Brazil in 1982. To date, however, I have not found any vinyl copies reportedly released before the catalog number 138.641 (if present, probably 138.5XX, with XX > 43, as Joel's album was released eariler that year) with a different C.G.C. number — likely 33.131.376/0002-75 on the rear sleeve (refer to the table above) — leaving a 1982 Brazilian release unsubstantiated.

Nonetheless, such a 1982 release cannot be entirely ruled out, particularly given the artist’s considerable popularity in that country [recall that Brazil was the only country to issue the Hungry Heart 7" single (CBS 43.043) in 1980, backed with Stolen Car in a distinctive color sleeve]. Any additional information or corrections would be greatly appreciated.

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