Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP (Part 3 of 4)

Alternate take for Stolen Car first appeared on a bootleg LP in the
mid-1980s (although the bootleggers used to call it Son You May Kiss
 The Bride) and then was officially released on TRACKS in 1998. The
famous John Hammond audition tapes recorded in 1972 have also been
circulated on various bootlegs (for example, see here) and the
advanced promo 3-track CD-R (Gateway Mastering Studios, CD PRO)
for the 4-CD compilation box is the first official release featuring
the acoustic demo of Growin' Up.

During the past 43-year career of recording and touring, Springsteen has not only released an incredible number of his compositions, but also re-released many original songs in the form of acoustic demo, alternate mix, different arrangement or live rendition, on several compilation LP, EP or live albums. As far as studio recording goes on album format, if my memory is correct, it got all started in 1998 with the release of TRACKS 4-CD box (US Columbia CXK 69475) on which he purposely included for the first time alternate versions to some songs that are already made on the previously released original albums or the flip side of some 7" singles, such as Growin' Up, Stolen Car and Stand On It just to mention a few. In this respect, the long version of My Father's House, that is commercially available only on the CD version of NEBRASKA pressed in Japan between 1985 and 1995, is a unique exception among his alternate tracks because it was released accidentally or inadvertently, as shortly introduced in Part 1 of this series.

Found on the dead wax of the NEBRASKA LP pressed in the US and
other countries like Holland is the initials "D.K." for Dennis King
who cut the final metal master at the Atlantic Records studios.

Back in 1982 before the CD release, this alternate track was cut on the acetate and made on the vinyl test pressing during the post-recording/manufacturing processes of NEBRASKA LP. These pre-release discs have been circulated in collectors' markets (see Part 2), which are the proof that this track had almost been made on the final LP. So, like other serious collectors, I was also seeking the possibility if the regular vinyl copies were out there that contained the alternate My Father's House. By far, no such vinyl pressings are known to exist on the world in any commercially released form, at least to the best of my knowledge. Interestingly, however, some of the regular LP from several countries represent another probable proof that the alternate take almost ended up on the album. Such LP copies mistakenly indicate the length of My Father's House as 5' 43" instead of 5' 03" on the Side 2 record label. This small, but implicative printing error may be known for years among vinyl collectors or NEBRASKA freaks, as the album was available more than three decades ago. But to my shame, I hadn't been aware of this until very recently.

The misprinted Side 2 label of the regular U.K. pressing lists the incorrect track time for My Father's House as 5' 43" (left). Although the vinyl test pressing does not indicate the track length anywhere on the record label or on the sleeve (right), comparison of the matrix numbers with the regular copy clearly shows that it does not feature the alternate take.

On this late March, I received a PM from a fellow collector in the U.K. and we had some nice talk and exchanged collector-wise info on NEBRASKA LP. During the communication with him, he sent me scanned images for the record labels including those of the U.K. pressing, which led to my utterly belated finding on the misprint (see the picture above; thanks D.R. for bringing this to my attention!). Many years ago, I obtained a test pressing copy for the U.K. album, back then hoping much for the inclusion of the alternate take of My Father's House. However, this test pressing was found to contain the common regular take, and in fact, it shared the same hand-etched matrix numbers ("CBS 25100-B3" on Side 2) with the regular copy I own. So, all the test pressings do not necessarily contain the alternate version of the track, and I guess the US test pressing is probably the only available source for the long version on the vinyl format.

Needless to say, this prompted me to check five regular US copies for this LP I own (three copies for the earlier catalog number TC 38358 and two copies for later QC 38358, though both prefix codes refer to the list price of $8.98), and I found that one of the TC 38358 copies indeed had the same printing error the U.K. copy has made (see the image below). In addition, even though the differences are tiny, the track lengths for Used Cars and Reason To Believe do not match those on the Side 2 label of the other four copies.

One US copy with the catalog number prefix "TC" carries the Side 2 misprint (upper left) while the other two "TC" copies in my possession do not (upper right; only one is shown). The former, with a gold promo stamp on the rear sleeve (seen on top of the lower left image), is likely to be pressed at Pitman Pressing Plant in NJ, because back then the matrix code suffixes A/B was assigned to this pressing factory. On the other hand, the matrix inscription "G!" indicates the latter from the Columbia Pressing Plant in Carrollton, GA. This copy also comes in the promo sleeve but the ”TC" prefix on the spine is overlaid with a "QC" semi-transparent sticker (middle in the lower left image). The label of a "QC" copy lists the track time correctly (lower right).

This particular copy is considered to be an early pressing based on the earlier catalog number prefix "TC", a gold promo stamp on the rear sleeve (though the labels are red; probably no white label promo exists for the US pressing, see here on this blog), and the matrix numbers (with the suffixes 1A and 2B on Sides 1 and 2, respectively). The printing error on the US LP label seems to be specific to pressing plant because, according to matrix numbers, the misprint version (TC 38358) came from Pitman, NJ, whereas the remaining four (both TC and QC 38358) from Carrollton, GA. However, this is not conclusive and more copies need to be examined.

By the way, It is said that no US copies have been circulating with the matrix suffix 1B (I don't remember the source; maybe from one of the NEBRASKA-related threads from STEVE HOFFMAN MUSIC FORUM ?), and I guess 1D, 1F and 1H as well that are all probably to be assigned to Side 2. Provided that this is true, I enjoy thinking on the possibility that the master disc with the matrix suffix 1B (or any of the other equivalents) originally featured the alternate take of My Father's House but was ultimately rejected as the final master and abandoned. Such a scenario could explain why neither promo nor regular pressing with this earliest suffix code ever surfaces.
— To be continued.