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 5 of 5)

Doberman is one of the earliest known CD-R bootleg labels, releasing their first ever
Springsteen titles in 1996. Initially, their copies came with CD-R discs with no artwork,
just a hand-written catalog number. Accompanying inserts were stamped with a serial
number in blue. I obtained most of these CD/CD-R imports from Spanish retailers
in the mid-to-late 1990s (see 12/08/2020).

Great Dane (1989—1997), Scorpio (1989—), Crystal Cat (1992—), E Street (1993—1999), and so on. With the advent of underground CD labels, the early and mid-1990s were exciting years for bootleg collectors. We saw not only lots of new releases not bootlegged previously, but also reissue titles to appreciate classic concerts again, often in better quality or at least free of the clicks and pops inherent to vinyl discs. Towards the late 1990s, however, the circumstances substantially changed.

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 4 of 5)

I bought this double bootleg in 1989 at a flea market in Rome, still with the price tag on the front sleeve asking for 37,000 lire (equivalent to US $26 and JP 3,700 Yen based on the then exchange rate). Of course, I negotiated a discount (down to 32,000 lire or so), and the shop owner accepted it because I also purchased two brand-new bootleg CDs from him.

A wooden wall decoration given at
Moon Valley Hotel, where I stayed in
Seiano 33 years ago (the dates and
location are stamped on the back;
see the inset above).

Back in June 1989, when I was in my mid-twenty, I got my first opportunity to visit foreign countries in Continental Europe: Italy, Switzerland, and France. First landing in Rome after an exhausting long flight from the Far East, I took trains and headed south to the first destination, Seiano di Vico Equense, a beautiful site south of Naples with a full view of the Gulf of Naples and Vesuvio (Although I have had no chance since then, someday I hope to visit there again). I stayed there for a week or so to fulfill the main purpose of the trip, then moved up to the north, and before reaching Switzerland, stopped in Rome and Milan for a couple of days. While I enjoyed the sightseeing, history, and culture in these ancient cities, I did not forget to expand the bootleg collection of my favorite artist, hopefully by picking up some rarities otherwise unavailable here (In those years, I was still much more interested in bootlegs rather than official products).

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 3 of 5)

Released nearly four decades ago, every die-hard collector must own
this box set, either as an original numbered copy, an un-numbered
repress, or both (and yes, I do have both; see 12/27/2017).

"A cover of the Ben E. King hit of the Sixties. The chance to hear a song like this in any way Springsteen concert is what makes him the Boss. In his career there have been so many songs showing up only once or twice and then disappearing: this is one of those gems. On violin you can hear Suki Lahav, who joined the E Street Band for few dates in 1974."
A live performance of Spanish Harlem with Suki Lahav playing violin, recorded on October 19, 1974, is featured as one of the 66 tracks on the legendary bootleg album ALL THOSE YEARS. The above description is found in and transcribed from the gorgeous 20-page booklet accompanied by this underground box set released in Italy around 1983.

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.

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.