Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: ALL THOSE YEARS — unofficial but the first retrospective release of a supectacular 10-LP box collection (Part 2 of 3)

"You certainly love Bruce Springsteen and his music. That's sure because only true lovers can buy a ten record set; this album has been made for guys like you. So we can avoid talking about how great he is, and how good his songs are: we both know. Here we want to introduce to you these records, that, of course, are the results of a deep passion and lengthy work. They contain recordings from twelve years of Springsteen's career, trying to cover every tour he has made."
Quoted from the preface of the booklet included in ALL THOSE YEARS.

As I wrote in the last blog (02/23/2024), my financial status as a university student did not allow me to purchase this magnificent release when I first saw it was out in 1984.  Undoubtedly, a 10-LP bootleg was a surprising and impressive release in its volume alone, and the concept every hard-core collector can share was well-represented by the accompanying 20-page booklet. To be honest, however, I did not become engrossed in this box too much initially because of the extraordinarily high price and because I much preferred live bootlegs of a whole or nearly complete single concert (just like the Official Live Archive series) to those of compilations from various locations. The latter reason also mainly explains why I wouldn't say I liked the official live retrospective box (see 11/21/2019).

Before the flood of vinyl Brucelegs in the mid-1980s, mostly from
Europe, colored vinyls were still relatively rare. This live compilation
single LP was obtained in September 1983 at 3,380 JPY (roughly
US $14 and based on Inflation Calculator, estimated to be $44 in
2024) from Kinnie, Japan's most famous vinyl bootleg shop in
West Shinjuku (西新宿) during the last half of the 20th century.

Moreover, live-compilation bootlegs in the early 1980s were often based on random collections of previously bootlegged live recordings (for example, PRISONER OF ROCK 'N' ROLL; see the image right).  Finally, the full tracklist for the entire twenty sides remained unknown to me as it was only found in the booklet inside the box package, where no relevant information was available. So, it wasn't until detailed bootleg discographies became available, such as the bootleg section of Blinded By The Light (P. Humphries & C. Hunt, 1985, Plexus, London), that I really got interested in this unofficial retrospective box.

"Even true lovers as you are, know better some periods of Springsteen musical life and don’t know much about others, so we have tried to give more room to some years than to others. We believe it would have been useless including different versions of Born To Run and Racing In The Street or many excerpts from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town tour; we’d bet all of you that have bought this set, have already got Piece De Resistance or Live In The Promised Land.”
Quoted from the preface of the booklet.

If I'm not mistaken, the different versions of Born To Run (still unreleased) and Racing In The Street (officially released in 2010 on THE PROMISE), both mentioned in the booklet's preface (see immediate above), appeared for the first time on "E" TICKET and DO I HAVE TO SAY HIS NAME?, respectively. Besides masterpieces like the former, the latter has been one of my favorite studio outtake bootlegs ever since it was originally released as a black vinyl with custom black labels, followed by several colored vinyl versions and a picture disc edition. I bought the black vinyl version on July 1982 when I was a high-school boy, through mail order from a record shop in Kobe (神戸) City at the expense of 4,000 JPY (equivalent to circa US $16 back then, which would cost $50 in 2024). Note that DO I HAVE TO SAY HIS NAME? is most probably the earliest bootleg known to feature Jersey Girl (live), the same version later included in both the unofficial and official retrospective live box sets.

As can be known from the preface to the accompanying booklet (see the second quotation above), more than half of the live recordings in this box were unheard of or unfamiliar to me as of early 1984. However, when I acquired my first copy (an unnumbered reissue) in 1987, not a small portion of these live recordings (for example, Steel Mill live, a Cleveland 1976 concert, and THE RIVER-tour rehearsal session) had already been available on several other independent bootlegs, and one live track (Jersey Girl) had been released officially. So, it was the early E Street material between 1972 and 1974 on Discs Two to Four that mainly gave me a fresh and thrilling LIVE experience "through the magic of bootlegging" (for example, see 11/13/2023).

Two CD editions of the 10-LP box set were released in Italy in the
early 1990s: first LIVE AND UNRELEASED 1971-1979 (4CD) from
Seagull Records, then followed by ALL THOSE YEARS (5CD) from
Templar Records. The former was a straightforward copy of the vinyl
set without the tracks on the last two vinyl discs (Records 9 and 10),
possibly avoiding a copyright protection issue (bootleggers' 10-year
rule; of course, that was not legitimate). The latter employed the same
tapes used for the vinyl edition, although the set eliminated three
tracks (Oh Mama Why, Sha La La, and Wreck On The Highway)
likely due to space limitations. My Seagull copy (Discs 3 and 4) got
hit by "CD-rot" and lost its readability soon after after I purchased it in
1990, like some early copies of Great Dane titles (2022/10/28).

 

I often think if there were a few weaknesses in this 10-LP set, the 1980 and 1982 parts might be considered: the aforementioned tour rehearsal in Lititz, Pennsylvania, and two club appearances in New Jersey. Although such recordings were rare and interesting, in my opinion, the period could have been better represented by other superior sources in terms of live performance, such as the 1981 "Vietnam Veterans" concert. As far as I remember, there was only one song from this benefit show that was bootlegged in the vinyl era (namely, the one and only, and simply stunning performance of Ballad Of Easy Rider, captured on WHO'S BEEN COVERED BY THE BOSS, another live compilation triple picture-disc bootleg).

— Continued to Part 3 / Back to Part 1.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: ALL THOSE YEARS — unofficial but the first retrospective release of a supectacular 10-LP box collection (Part 1 of 3)

Two copies are in my possession, with and without a limited serial
number. The first copy I got was a reissue without a serial number
at the JEUGIA Karasuma Shijo (烏丸四条) branch, Kyoto, in 1987.
It took a few more years, but luckily, I obtained an early copy with
a limited number in the 200s from a European collector at a much
cheaper cost than the original copy I first saw in 1984.

"It is the nicest collection of Springsteen material released anywhere, commercially or bootlegged."  Steve Reed (1984) 'All Those Years' a great set. Backstreets, Number 11 (Vol. 3, #3), excerpted from p. 23.

"The thoughtful choice of songs and all round excellence of sound, packaging and production makes this the ultimate in bootlegging."  Patrick Humphries and Chris Hunt (1985) Fire on the fingertips (Bootleg singles, EPs and albums). In: Springsteen: Blinded by the Light, excerpted from pp. 133–134, Plexus Publishing Limited (London).

"Most [sic] complete Springsteen set ever made."  Author unknown (1986) Section One: Non-commercial releases. In: The Bruce Springsteen Collector's Guide, excerpted from pp. 4–5, 1986, publisher unknown.

"The original vinyl version, which had also originated in Italy, had excited considerable comment in the wake of Springsteen's own disappointing three-CD collection Live 1978-85 [sic]."  Clinton Heylin (1995) Chapter 17. It was less than twenty years ago ... In: Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Reccording Industry, excerpted from p. 311, St. Martin's Press (New York).

It was forty years ago in 1984, and if my memory serves me right, before the release of BORN IN THE U.S.A. in early June (see 08/14/2019 on its release in Japan). It was when I was a university sophomore in a natural science course and often stopped by import record stores on my way home from the university in Kyoto City. Back then, two music stores, JEUGIA (十字屋) and YURINA Records (優里奈レコード), were major sites in the city's shopping district, where U.S. and European vinyl import discs, including bootlegs, were available (It was three years before Tower Records invaded in this ancient capital in 1987). On such a routine visit to the latter branch in Shin-Kyogoku Sanjo (新京極三条), I noticed a massive black box with an unusual thickness I had never seen before (only one copy and not in stock at the former store nearby). A brief Japanese memo was attached to the front of the box, which a store staff member hand-wrote, explaining it was a serially numbered, limited edition 10-LP set containing various live performances. That's how I got to know the legendary bootleg.

The retrospective box is the thickest (28 mm of spine width)
among Springsteen's bootleg boxes from the 1970s and
1980s that typically contained 3 to 4 vinyl discs.

Not only the box package, but also the retail price was out of standard. I still remember the price tag asking for 42,000 JPY (Japanese Yen), roughly US $180 based on the JPY-to-USD exchange rate 40 years ago, which would cost about $530 today (according to Inflation Calculator; https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/).   How the pricing was extraordinary is also known easily compared to the retail prices for official albums released in Japan back then, such as 2,500 JPY for BORN TO RUN (single LP), 4,000 JPY for THE RIVER (double LP), and 7,500 JPY for the later LIVE/1975-85 (quintuple-disc box) (Note that these retail prices were fixed under the Japanese system). Of course, the amounts were far beyond the affordable level for me as a university student, so all I could do was just to see when it would be bought by someone rich or a die-hard collector. I remember the box remained there for a relatively long while, obviously due to the incredibly high expense, but it was finally gone after several months.

From a bootleg catalog of a Japanese retailer around May 1987. The advertised copy was most probably a reissue because nothing was mentioned about the assigned limited number. However, it was still sold at 40,000 JPY (= $277; Compared to 1984 when this bootleg was originally released, the Japanese Yen strengthened much against the U.S. Dollar in 1987).

This issue also introduces Japanese collectibles.

Interestingly, rumors of this unprecedented underground release (to Springsteen) seem to have been widespread among bootleg collectors in Europe and the U.S. Although the carried information mostly turned out to be incorrect, the number 10 issue (vol. 3, #2) of the Backstreets magazine delivered an advanced report to readers in its "On record" column before Steve Reed, the reviewer of bootleg in the issue, obtained or listened to the box set. So, in the column, the bootleg was called THROUGH THE YEARS rather than ALL THOSE YEARS, although I don't know whether it was a tentative title or based on false information.

In his contribution entitled New Bootlegs Reviewed (page 23), Reed wrote: The last three months have been rather quiet on the Springsteen bootleg front — there have only been a handful of new releases, though the new album* certainly increase the number of these records once again. Most of the talk these last few months has been of a ten record set titled "Through the Years." It's supposed to contain a complete concert from the 75, 78 and 80 tours and sound quality and packaging is rumored to be excellent. It's a European release and we still haven't seen a copy — it's also probably the most expensive bootleg ever marketed: We've heard it's selling for something like $125, making it of interest only to the most serious archivist.
*Denoting what became his seventh album (BORN IN THE U.S.A.).

The issue says "Summer 1984," so all the article manuscripts must have been collected by early 1984 or earlier for the scheduled publication. After the hearsay of the box set, the bootleg column continues to introduce the then-latest two unofficial titles, BLINDED BY LIFE (2LP) and "LUTHER" (another box set of studio outtakes pressed on three colored vinyls, named after a popular Italian soccer player who is a big Springsteen fan). The anticipated box was fully covered in the same column of the next issue (Number 11, Fall 1984; see the quote at the beginning of this post).

— Continued to Part 2.

Collecting log: Born To Run / Backstreets Japanese 7-inch single with an unusual inner company sleeve (Part 2 of 2)

Although most copies of the Japanese Born To Run single came in a generic ocean-blue company bag, some accompanied a custom-designed inner advertising sleeve for the now-defunct Pan Am Airways, encouraging Japanese nationals to fly the airline company when traveling to the United States on the occasion of the bicentennial celebration in 1976.

In the late 1960s to early 1970s, CBS/SONY (Japan) Inc. partnered with Pan American Airways (ceased operations in 1991), commonly known as Pan Am, and advertized this airfreight company and its Boeing 747 jetliner (which had just entered service at that time) on their inner sleeves for some 7-inch singles. According to the relevant page on the Discogs database, such vinyl discs were released as "Air-Play Series 45 RPM" between 1969 and 1972, at least three years before Springsteen's first single, Born To Run, coupled with Backstreets (CBS/SONY SOPB 334), was issued here in 1975. However, one of my possessions came in a Pan Am color-inner sleeve, although it differed from those shown in the Discogs.

The Twin Tower was also an iconic NYC
landmark familiar to the Japanese, partly
because a Japanese American, Minoru
Yamasaki, designed the architecture (he
was the first male Japanese American
featured on the TIME magazine cover in
1963). I occasionally visited there in 1993
while staying in the States.

Because of the time-frame mismatch, I had long thought that the copy did not originally accompany the Pan Am sleeve, which supposedly replaced the original inner due to damage on it or whatever reason during circulation in the second-hand market. However, I saw another copy of Born To Run with this unique inner bag, which was auctioned online late last year. This prompted me to examine the possibility that a small fraction of Springsteen's first singles in Japan were released with such a special inner sleeve.

Through the internet search, I did find a few other examples of CBS/SONY's 7-inch singles released in 1975, whether domestic or foreign artist releases, that came with the same Pan Am sleeve used as an inner bag. So, despite the abovementioned information on Discogs, the partnership between CBS/SONY and Pan Am must have continued beyond 1972 until 1975 or further. This "1975" Pan Am sleeve emphasized on the color picture side the United States National Bicentennial in 1976 to attract Japanese tourists, the sentences of which (written in Japanese, of course) are translated as follows:

• America is waiting (printed in larger white letters on the red background on the top of the inner sleeve).
  
• The year 1976 marks the bicentennial of the founding of the United States of America. 
• Commemorative events have already begun in cities and states across the United States. 
• Please take this opportunity to visit there using Pan Am. 
• There are three flights from Tokyo to the West Coast and one to New York. 
• The available planes are jumbo jets.

By contrast, nothing is mentioned about the 200th anniversary of the National Foundation on the "1969-to-1972" sleeves, which supports the Born To Run's inner sleeve as a later version distinct from "Air-Play Series 45 RPM." 

The said Born To Run copies with the Pan Am inner sleeve probably can't be regarded as a Springsteen collectible in a true sense because that special inner was not necessarily specific to his singles but also other concurrent releases from the record company. However, it is certainly a rare variant of one of the classic Japanese items from the mid-1970s that might interest hard collectors and 7-inch mania. On the other hand, I have thus far not seen any copy of Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out / She's Th One (CBS/SONY SOPB 350) with the Pan Am inner, the second single off the third album and released early in 1976.

Finally, based on the machine-stamped stamper numbers on the trail-off space, some variations are obvious in the Japanese vinyl pressing (SIDE A, 1 A 1 to 1 A 3; SIDE B, 1 A 1 to 1 A 4). Just for your information, what I observed in my copies is summarized in the table above.

— Back to Part 1.