THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP: Venezuelan release

Right after opening the parcel that has been delivered from the other
side of the globe. International shipping cost only $5.00 by FEDEX 
which are unbelievably cheap compared to the current standard rates
for importing LP or 12" releases.

Special record packages, like gate-fold sleeves or box sets, always stimulate collectors' mind. This is particularly the case when they are limited in quantities or available only in certain regions or countries. As already featured several times in this blog, the gate-fold sleeve edition of THE RIVER LP is a representative example of such vinyl collectibles and has been released back in 1980 in the following five countries: Israel (CBS 88510), Mexico (CBS LP2S-103), Venezuela (CBS CS-10378), South Africa (CBS AGP 87/88) and Hong Kong (CBS/SONY 40AP 1960-1). What makes these releases more collector-oriented is the fact that they differ from each other, slightly or totally, in terms of the artwork design inside the gate-fold sleeve. So, serious collectors, including myself, have collected them all (or are trying to do so).

Comparison of Side 4 labels between Venezuelan (right) and Mexican 1st (left) LPs.
Both labels feature the Spanish song titles but they are not necessarily the same.
Strange asterisk insertions on the right margin of track listing on the Venezuelan
label seem to be used to fill space between words.

Among the five gate-fold releases, the Venezuelan copies are considered the rarest and were the last one on my want list. Recently I obtained a so-so conditioned copy (i.e. developing ring wear on the outer sleeve) from the seller in that country. This South American version is distinguished from the others by its unique inner gate-fold design and typos on the record labels throughout all four sides mainly misspelling Springsteen's name, as reported on the Lost In The Flood collector's page. In my opinion, although certainly unique, that lime green-toned inner gate-fold is bizarre rather than interesting, and is hardly well done.

Like Mexican first and second releases, the Venezuelan issue has the Spanish song titles that are put down with the original English titles on both record labels and the rear side of the gate-fold sleeve. However, these Spanish translations are not necessarily the same between the two releases, as shown below and in the picture above (taking Side 4 tracks as the example). 

1.  Ramrod (VN, Ramrod ; MX, Aliete )
2.  The Price You Pay (VN and MX, El Precio Que Pagas )
3.  Drive All Night (VN, Manejando Toda La Noche; MX, Manejan Toda La Noche )
4.  Wreck On The Highway (VN, Accidente En La Autopista ; MX, Muerte En La Autopista )

CBS logo with the catalog number replaces the
barcode found on the US single-pocket sleeve.

The matrix numbers are hand-etched on the dead wax of each side of each disc, but neither mastering engineer's inscription ("KP" by Ken Perry) nor machine-stamped "MASTERED BY CAPITOL" are found.

• Side 1:  CS-10378-A     OM
• Side 2:  CS-10378-B     OM
• Side 3:  CS-10379-A     OM
• Side 4:  CS-10379-B     OM
  

A few other notes to this release. The spine is black in background color with blue lettering, which is — to my knowledge — not the case for any other editions of this double album (mostly blue, with the exception of white for the South African release). The small copyright credits on the bottom left of the rear sleeve is the same as those of the US release (© 1980 CBS Inc./℗ 1980 CBS inc./Manufactured by Columbia Records/CBS Inc./51 W 52 Street, New York, N.Y./... ), which should have been removed or modified appropriately to indicate where the copy is in fact manufactured.

Most probably, the only known "EL RIO" (THE RIVER) LP sleeve with black-colored spine

Withdrawn Japanese 7" single with a rare
sticker for white label promo copy

Having collected all the five gate-fold versions of my favorite album, I still prefer the Mexican first edition over the other four releases because I like the way the lyrics are presented (on the inside of the gate fold, but not on the separated lyric sheet) although those for the first four songs are not listed because the gate fold reproduces only the inner side of the folded lyric sheet accompanied by the standard issues. Production-wise, the Hong Kong release is also very nice with high quality in both sleeve and vinyl discs. As I wrote previously, back then, the Hong Kong Office of CBS/Sony Records was administrated by Japanese staff. So, I often fantasize about the possibility that CBS/Sony originally had a plan to release THE RIVER in this deluxe package here in Japan (but that fell through). Sounds ludicrous?  OK, you remember that this record label had initially released Hungry Heart / Held Up Without A Gun (CBS/Sony 07SP 511), the first single off the album, with the unique, full color-insert sleeve (which differed completely from the standard "Boardwalk" B&W sleeve and was eventually withdrawn). So, maybe it's not necessarily a very absurd idea that the album sleeve could also have been specially treated in a non-standard manner like gate fold, although no supportive evidence exists for this. Just a fantasized idea.
— Back to the relevant post 👉

From top to bottom: Israeli, South African, Hong
Kong, Mexican and Venezuelan releases.

The inside is different than the outside. BTW, have you noticed
that the Mexican LP is upgraded to an almost mint copy
from the one previously shown here?
 

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Gloversville pressing (Pressing Plant owned by MCA Records)

The U.S.-pressed DARKNESS LP (Columbia JC 35318) variation continues. First introduced here in this blog, early copies of this vinyl album have more varieties than those of the other albums, in terms of the location of the pressing plant where the record was manufactured. The cause of this variation was due to the labor strike that took

Unfortunately, the signature (⧈-G-⧈) of MCA Records'
pressing plant in Gloversville is stamped so weak that it is
not clearly visible on the dead wax of my copy (shown 
is the stamp on Side 2, as indicated by hand-etched "2").
Check the Discogs website for the clearer images.

place in Spring 1978 at the Pitman pressing plant of NJ, the then major factory to manufacture and distributie Columbia Records' products mainly for the East Coast market. This compelled the plant to stop its operation temporarily and so, several unusual pressing plants (to Springsteen's records) had compensated for the album production, although the two other major Columbia's plants located in Santa Maria CA, and Terre Haute IN, were most probably unaffected and operating. Here on this post, I show the fourth example of such early DARKNESS copies, not originating from any of the three major Columbia Records' plants, but pressed at MCA Records' Gloversville plant of NY, according to the dead wax matrix information on the vinyl disc.
 

Vinyl discs from this plant are characterized by the unique dead-wax stamp, ⧈-G-⧈. As told previously, MCA Records back then owned another pressing plant in Pinckneyville, IL, where this album was also pressed and stamped uniquely with another distinct matrix character, ◈-P-◈. Obviously, the stamped single letters, "G" and "P", identify the location of each pressing plant, Gloversville and Pinckneyville, respectively. What can be read on the dead wax area of my Gloversville copy are as follows (hand-etched, oblique; stamped, straight):

• Side 1:  ⧈-G-⧈    1          PAL-35318-1J    PMN           TML-M     
• Side 2:  ⧈-G-⧈    2          PBL-35318-2Q    PMN           TML-M

Apart from the pressing plant-specific stamp, another unique code in the matrix inscription is a hand-written three-letter code "PMN" on the Gloversville pressing while my Pinckneyville copy carries "PMI" instead. Although pure speculation, the first two common letters PM could refer to Pitman and the last letter (N or I) of each could specify NY or IL, the State where each pressing plant was located. Just guessing.

Compared to a Santa Maria pressing (left), both Pinckneyville (center) and Gloversville (right) discs have the same-sized, smaller indent ring on the record labels which seems to be common to MCR Records pressings (slightly less than 1 inch in diameter; the size of the circular ring on the Santa Maria disc is 2.5 inch long). As for label printing, the same standard font is used on both Santa Maria and Gloversville discs whereas the font on the Pinckneyville labels is apparently different as noted on the previous relevant post.
 

Up to this point, by examining my collection, I have confirmed that the following companies lent a hand to the Columbia Records in 1978 for pressing early copies of the DARKNESS album:

• North American Music Industries (NAMI), Scranton, PA
• MCA Records,  Pinckneyville, IL
• MCA Records, Gloversville, NY
• Keel Manufacturing Corp., Hauppauge, NY

There may still be missing plant(s) that have participated early in pressing this LP. In fact, I have some DARKNESS copies that are yet to be identified confidently as to where they were pressed (although they seem to originate from Pitman).

Both Gloversville (left) and Pinckneyville (right) pressings come in
the large-font (tracklist)/black-lettering (album credits) sleeves,
with gold promo stamp on the latter.

One note on my Gloversville copy that may be worth mentioning is its weight. It is a thick vinyl weighing 138 g, and is the heaviest among the collection of my U.S. DARKNESS pressings, with the exception of the promotion-only picture disc edition. Just for comparison, I picked up one copy each originating from different pressing plants and measured the weight individually. The results are as follows: Pinckneyville, 112 g; Hauppauge, 110 g; Scranton, 120 g; Santa Maria, 106 g; Terre Haute, 110 g (a white label promo); Pitman, 119 g (a later pressing coming in a sleeve with a barcode); and picture disc, 162 g. The half-speed mastered LP (Columbia HC 45318) was excluded because I have only one copy that is still sealed.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: Thoughts on double LP bootleg releases from the DARKNESS Tour '78 (concluded)

This bootleg is one of the earliest triple-vinyl box sets. Two blue-transparent
vinyls on the center are LP discs and the lilac-opaque disc on the right is a
12" EP (45 rpm). I don't know anything about "Hangman" labels except that
this East Coast-based (?) bootleg label has also released some other
Springsteen LP and 7" vinyls, such as PAID THE PRICE TO BE THE BOSS
from a November 1976 show and the Fever/Higher & Higher (live) single.

It was since 1978's DARKNESS Tour that triple-vinyl format has become standard for Springsteen's live bootleg, as represented by PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE, LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND and PHILADELPHIA SPECIAL. This simply reflected the length of concerts Springsteen performed during this tour which had been substantially extended compared to the previous tour (i.e., From this tour, shows were divided into two sections plus encores). Before these bootleg titles, there had probably been only one or two releases of multi-disc sets consisting of more than a double LP: BOX O' ROCKS (5LP) and THE GREAT WHITE BOSS (3LP). However, the former is a repackaged volume of the first three issues of Hoffman Avenue Records releases [i.e. THE JERSEY DEVIL (1LP), THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT (2LP) and HOT COALS FROM FIERY FURNACE (2LP)]. The latter, on the other hand, is actually not a 3LP set but to be exact, it is a double album plus a 12" EP (45 rpm), and I don't know for certain if this particular version (i.e. Hangman labels) among several of the Bottom Line bootlegs indeed came out before the aforementioned DARKNESS Tour bootlegs.

Designating who gets how many copies?  Pictured is a portion of
a supposedly bootlegger's memo (personal names erased) found
on the rear side of a white plain sleeve that was frequently used
for "slick cover" U.S. bootlegs back in the 1970s. This sleeve was
included as part of the stack to ensure protection of vinyl discs 
inside the shipping packaging when I obtained some Springsteen
titles from a West Coast collector a few decades ago. Almost
certainly, “Roxy” refers to the double LP (THERE AIN'T ...) from
October 1975, but not July 1978.

On the previous post, taking a particular bootleg (BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 78) as an example, I mentioned about the shortened 2LP version of the legendary Passaic '78 concert that is captured almost entirely on another bootleg (PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE). Because both bootleg titles were most probably made by the same bootlegger (Vicki Vinyl; or one by her and the other by her intimate co-worker), this practice is usually regarded as greedy bootlegger's routine to suck money from collectors. However, in a recent communication with Dave, a fellow collector and contributor to this blog, he pointed out another interesting possibility which sounds plausible to me. According to him, the bootleggers might have wanted to do minimal investments with the partial shows before sinking bigger money into the more deluxe sets for the complete concerts. This speculation is reasonable because by doing so, bootleggers might have estimated the sales potential of "their" future products that would contain a full or more complete concert. Without such information, it would have been risky for bootleggers to make and release multi-disc sets like 3LP or 4LP in box packages. In fact, single- or double-disc versions of incomplete live bootleg have been available for each of the following 1978 FM-radio broadcast concerts from the Roxy [e.g. LIVE AT THE ROXY THEATER, HOLLYWOOD 1978 (2LP), SPRINGSTEEN RAISES CAIN (2LP) and THE ROXY IN STEREO (2LP)], Agora [WARRIORS REST (1LP)], Capitol Theater [BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 78 (2LP) and THUNDER ROGUE (1LP)], and Winterland [FIRE (2LP)]. It seems that, if not all, most of these bootlegs originated from West Coast in the late 1970's.

Dave's speculation requires at least one assumption that these "concert-excerpt" bootlegs came out before the releases of the more complete editions [e.g. THE AGORA SHOW Part I & II (2 x 2LP), PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE (3LP box) and LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND (3LP box and then gate-fold sleeve)]. However, it is now impossible to confirm whether this indeed was the case or not.

Lastly, regarding the DARKNESS Tour double-LP bootlegs, one thing curious to me for long is the fact that in the vinyl bootleg era, the Roxy concert had never been treated as a complete or near-complete form, despite its reputation as the best show (or one of the best) ever performed by the man and his combo. Was the market saturated with the three different titles of double LP releases mentioned above? My thoughts on this may be posted on another occasion.