Capitol Record Club records - why are they collectable?

i bought a Capitol Record Club edition of Master of Reality by Black Sabbath yesterday, and it is pretty durned good-sounding. is this the reason why Capitol Record Club issues are desirable, or is it because were they not pressed in large quantities? in what years did the 'club' operate? thanks.

 

Bruce Spizer, in his The Beatles' Story on Capitol Records - Part One book, noted that the Club got started in 1958, and it was around 1964 that they started issuing albums on "other" labels with the unique "90000" series numbers. By 1968, however, with financial losses mounting, Capitol sold their Record Club to Longines-Wittnauer, which used the "Capitol Record Club" name until about 1972. From 1968 on, record-club releases on Capitol itself were pressed by Decca (which pressed most of the Longines Symphonette Society LP's), with "Manufactured under license from Capitol . . . " perimeter print and an 80000 series for LP's up to 2999 and the later (pre-1972) 100 series, and 71000 series for post-1972 11000 releases, as well as Record Club issues of London/Parrot LP's; while Capitol handled pressing exclusively for "other" Record Club clients. Those "Capitol" LP's used the light lime-ish green Capitol LP label well after the regular Capitol LP's switched to red and then dispensed with the outline in the background signifying their circular logo.

Proportionally to proper "stock" copies, Capitol Record Club copies are somewhat rare. That might explain the value. One advantage of such copies are the stereo mixes on LP's for the Philles label, f'rinstance.

 

Where were the actual Longines Symphonette LP's (on their own label - the black one with the guy playing kettle drums, IIRC) pressed? I remember Longines touting the quality of their pressings, at least at one time...

 

I own a small handful of Capitol club records, mostly A&M and Verve, and they do not sound as good as the genuine article. My guess is that whatever tapes the other labels sent them to press were not all that good, a generation or two away from what the original labels used themselves. Typical though--I have Columbia club LPs that also sound "strange" compared to the originals. Hmmm...maybe I'll eBay the few I have.

 

Eddie, maybe you happen to get a copy that wasn't played to death and taken care of properly?

 

you're right, it's in pretty much immaculate condition for this title--i think that's why it sounds so good. the vinyl is certainly much thicker than its WBR counterpart. i need to A/B with my Warners original.

 

I bought a copy of David Wilcox's Out of The Woods from a used record store a while ago for $1, and it was the same thing - whoever had before played it maybe once, it was pristine, and sounded fantastic.

 

Speaking strictly of Starday/Capitol Record Club releases here. Sometimes the only way to get true stereo on a Starday release was to get it from the record club. Many things the parent label released as mono only showed up in stereo there. The ony other way to find such an item is to track down the few Starday/London UK pressings that showed up in stereo. Now if they did that for a hillbilly label like Starday, did they do it for others?

 

That label even says manufactured by Capitol, with a Capitol catalog #. Weren't there albums of their own without Capitol catalog #'s?

 

That Christmas example was not unique. From time to time in the early 1970's Capitol did press some Longines Symphonette LP's. One such album, pressed in 1971, was a Nat King Cole box set. I.I.N.M., it was pressed in Scranton, PA, with the "IAM" (International Association of Machinists) insignia, and matrix numbers with a Capitol Custom "SAAB" prefix (the AAB part signifying 1971). I may have even seen a Capitol-pressed Longines Symphonette album of The Top 10 Hits of 1972 with an orchestra doing covers of . . . well, you get the picture. The 1.5" indented ring is also a clue as to Capitol make, not just the other characteristics described herein. Capitol's Jacksonville plant also pressed a Longines Symphonette album of Frankie Valli / Four Seasons songs in 1974, with lacquers mastered by MCA's New York studios (the ones with the "E" code, i.e. on some Decca Who's Next pressings); by that time, Longines Symphonette changed (i.e. "modernized") its label design.

As to that Christmas LP, based on the typesetting and catalogue number, I'd say that was from 1969.

 

I like them because they are different from the regular pressings. I have some Capitol pressings of albums by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, and Petula Clark. To see an army green Warner Bros. label with Capitol fonts is interesting.

Maybe it's just me.

 

I joined Capitol Record club to get the little Longines Symphonette stereo back in the early seventies. In return I had to purchase (IIRC) ten or twelve LPS at a faily hefty price to fulfill the membership requirements.

 

However, based on the uncoated paper stock and typesetting, the pressing was definitely from Jacksonville, though one of the sides had had metal parts from Scranton as you said. But yeah, it's kinda' weird.

However, I must advise that Going Places! was issued before A&M's move to 1416 N. La Brea. "46" (later ZIP'd to 90046) was applicable to A&M's prior address, 8255 Sunset Blvd. (which would later be occupied, in that order, by UNI, 20th Century and Casablanca).

Especially ironic about "Capitol Record Club" pressings of Warner/Reprise LP's is Capitol's subsequent pressing of stock LP's and 45's for Warner/Reprise after 1976.

 

So where were the Longines LP's pressed that not made for Capitol Records and are on that black label with kettle drummers?

 

Decca. Based on the typesetting, it would look like it came from Gloversville, NY (stick "1" on the dead wax). That might explain MCA doing lacquer mastering of LS sets later in the '70's.

 

Most Cap Rec Club pressings aren't worth much of anything beyond the novelty value of the catalog number(s), and some '69/'70 Cap Lp's with the rainbow label after the regular stocks had gone to the target.

As for the Philles 'stereo,' that's duophonic rechanneling for the Crystals. If Cap pressed the Ronettes and Righteous Brothers, same stereo as the 'regular' editions.

I've found a few Starday stereo records in mono sleeves; their pressing history is strange and contrary, to say the least(that can sometimes be said for King/Federal as well). But the situation may have been different in Canada, of course. For example, while many stereo singles issued stock in the US could be found in mono-only in Canada, sometimes the reverse was true, like Tommy James' "Draggin' The Line"(US stock was mono, Canadian stereo).

 

Thanks William!

 

Yep, that's a Cap pressing(yech...)

'Compatible,' huh? Well, by '76, I'd hope so...

 

I can't add much to what others have said, except that the reason Capitol Record Club pressings are collectible has to do with scarcity and novelty rather than sound quality. There aren't many around, and they can be easy to overlook.

Also, there are some fun label anomalies with Capitol Record Club LPs. For example, it was still using the 1965-67 Dunhill label as late as 1971 (I have a Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds LP on the old Dunhill label). Also, Steely Dan's Can't Buy a Thrill was pressed on ABC-Dunhill rather than the correct ABC label.

I think the club shut down around 1973, 1974 at the latest, but not before it ditched the "Capitol" name; you can find some very late pressings in the same number series claiming they were manufactured by Longines.

To me, the most interesting Capitol Record Club albums are the exclusives; some of them were two-record sets in gatefold sleeves and served as sort of best-ofs for artists who may not have had one so comprehensive at the time.

 

Finding those old labels on records that shouldn't have them is a lot of fun, huh? Always a kick when the rare one comes along...