I have a Capitol U.S. green tower label mono reissue LP pressing of the Beach Boys - Pet Sounds from the early 1980s. It's supposed to be one of the best versions outside of Steve's DCC masterd LP. Have read that Wally Traugott cut this Capitol reissue LP. My U.S. Capitol copy does not have WLY or WALLY handwritten in the deadwax. It has MASTERED BY CAPITOL machine stamped on both sides. Side 1 has a zero (0) machine stamped which usually indicates the LP was pressed @ Capitol Records, Jacksonville, Illinois. Side 2 has JAM. Deadwax: Side 1 - MASTERED BY CAPITOL / N-1-16156 / G2 #1 / 0 / also a handwritten O with an X through it Side 2 - MASTERED BY CAPITOL / N-2-16156 / H1 #2 / JAM / also a handwritten O with an X through it. Where was this cut/pressed?
People here usually say that the green Capitol label Beach Boys RIs of the 80ies would be Wally Traugot masterings. I have a few, but not of them has Wly or Wally in then deadwax. I have seen the occasional JAM as on ChrisR's Pet sounds.
A question for W.B., our resident font expert: Can you identify the fonts on this label, and most importantly, are there digital versions of them? I think the word "Stereo" and the matrix info are Univers, but what about the extended sans serif font used in the track listings? I've been looking for a digital version of that one for a long time that I can use on my computer, but have never found a close match.
The color of that Apple clearly indicates a Los Angeles pressing from within Apple's final months in 1975 - as does the positioning of the "All Rights Reserved" print. However, let me say that the fonts here were proportional-spaced IBM Selectric typefaces, and as such are not available digitally. Univers Bold, we all know about, resembling Univers 65 (and the matrix number in Univers which bears some resemblance in that size to Univers 53), but the song titles and producing info were in Classified News Bold, and songwriting info in Classified News, I think 6 or 7 point. As for the type used for the album title and artists (and the "1" side designation) - a "headline" font, by the way - it was largely what is now designated "Futura No. 2 D Demi Bold": http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/urw/futura-no-2/futura-no2-d-demi-bold/characters.html with the "B" from another typeface called "Futura TS Demi Bold": http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/ef-typeshop/futura-ts/demi-bold/characters.html Oh, and that label copy typesetting was first fashioned in 1971.
Thanks WB! Here's another one that I've never found digital fonts for, that we've all seen many times; can you identify these?
First up, here's a case of one pressing plant using label copy from another plant of another company. In this case, it looks like a pressing by Capitol's Los Angeles plant using label copy fonts that originated from Columbia's Santa Maria, CA plant. Now, for the typefaces: They're all Varityper fonts, so there'd be no digital equivalent of any of them in that form. However, the typeface used for the LP title was Bell Gothic Bold, the closest equivalent as shaped being Griffith Gothic Bold: http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/fontbureau/griffith-gothic/griffithgothicbold-normal/characters.html The other two in use have no digital equivalents in any case: 12 point Gothic Extra Bold Condensed for the artist name, catalogue number and side designation; and 7 point Sans Serif Bold for the rest. However, in the latter case, it seems to be an amalgam of Ludlow Tempo Bold (which also isn't available digitally) and Linotype Metro Bold (which is, albeit as Geometric 415 Medium): http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/geometric-415/medium/characters.html
Was looking at a U.S. A&M Lee Michaels LP yesterday. There is an MR machine stamped in the deadwax with a circle. Is that the old Mercury/Richmond plant, or Monarch? Thanks.
Even muddling the waters further, RCA Indianapolis, in the 1950's, pressed LP's and 45's for Mercury - and within the point that that label opened a Richmond, IN factory that was once owned by Decca and, before that, Gennett. Such Mercury pressings were either marked by "RR" (if pre-1968 or so), then "MR" up to 1970-71 and finally "PR."
As so often, W.B. has answered my question as I'm typing. I've seen these marks on discs, of course, but not linked them to any actual plant....
The Pitman plant officially closed down at the end of March 2011. Most of its manufacture was transferred to the Terre Haute plant.
I'm just looking at the deadwax on a Canadian Richard Thompson LP on Hannibal from 1983, which at the time was distributed by A&M in Canada. The deadwax has STERLING and EDP machine stamped and CR etched. That means the LP was cut @ STERLING, verified in the liner notes. The CR usually means the LP was pressed in Canada @ CINRAM. But EDP (Europadisk, New York) was also a pressing plant? Wondering how an LP could have two pressing plants stamped/etched in the deadwax. And which plant actually pressed the LP?
EDP was plating and stamper making. The stamper I sometimes have as avatar is an EDP. So, your LP was cut at Sterling, lacquer processed at EDP, stampers sent to Canada and pressed at Cinram.
Not every label has such a tortuous journey. Often pressing and plating take place in the same facility. EDP were specialists though, I've never found a noisy one. They did all the Carthage/Hannibal, a lot of the cheap classical MHS label. I always like seeing that little oval on a disc.
Both sides were cut in Hollywood; the markings you mentioned seemed to indicate they were cut by Jay Maynard.
Just to add a little to what WB says: Not so long ago I e-mailed Ron McMaster at Capitol Mastering to ask him what the GI or G1 meant in the deadwax of many recent pressings he'd mastered. I was amazed to get a really friendly reply from him in which he went to great lengths to explain. In short, the G (or other letter in same place) refers to the Capitol cutting room/lathe used to cut the lacquer and G is his mastering room. (There would have been more than one cutting room in the past.) The number of course refers to whether it's the first cut of the lacquer or a subsequent cut - he mentioned how he once did 65 cuts for a very popular Kenny Rogers album so that one went up to G65! Nowadays you seldom get past G1 but he did make the point that "sometime the plant will blow a side in the processing and only reorder one side to finish the record so side A is G-1 and side B is G-3." What a nice guy! It doesn't quite explain who cut your sides though. Did RM cut one side and JAM cut the other? Or were they both cut by JAM, for some reason using different rooms/lathes?
Great information. Thanks W.B. and back2vinyl. I have a 1951 Duke Ellington LP Masterpieces By Ellington on the plain maroon Columbia Canada label. Was wondering where it was cut and who was pressing Columbia Canada LPs in the 1950s? Side 1 matrix Side 2 Found the LP years ago at a tag sale. Very nice sound.
Re: Masterpieces By Ellington LP Sckott has a U.S. copy on the 6-eye label. The matrices on his LP are: Side 1. XLP 5672-2E Side 2. XLP 5673-1G
CL 825 was circa 1955-56, though the XLP numbers are vintage 1951. The lacquers may've dated to 1955-56, as it wasn't until early 1952 that the famous stamped type on the deadwax as shown in those pics was first introduced (though in this layout, it was only in place to early 1959 after which the characters were bunched closer together and put in a semi-curved layout). And they were cut in New York and shipped off to the plant in Canada (Quality?) that pressed for Columbia Canada in those days. These fonts - all Linotype Trade Gothic Bold Condensed (though the 6 point size used was actually Trade Gothic Bold Extra Condensed) - were used on Columbia LP's and 45's right up to the opening of the label's own Don Mills, ON plant in 1971 - though after 1962, such typefaces were alternated with label copy artwork imported from Columbia's U.S. plants in Bridgeport, CT (through 1963-64) and Pitman, NJ (thereafter). Incidentally, that stamped type was also used by a few other places: namely, Mercury's New York studios after 1959-60 and used through 1974 in the first year after being spun off into Masterdisk; RCA's New York studios on 78's only from 1951-54; and RCA Italiana in the mid-1950's to early '60's. The last two, in a 6 o'clock position rather than 12 o'clock as used by Columbia and Mercury/Masterdisk. And the smaller type used on the deadwax of RCA vinyl from 1952 to c.late 1970's appears to be a smaller version of this stamped type. I'm still at a loss as to what the name of this typeface is, though.
Found this LP recently at a local thrift store. Barabara Streisand - Live Concert At The Forum Columbia Canada - Oct. 1972 As mentioned in another thread, this is possibly the very last new Columbia LP release that was issued either by Columbia Canada or Columbia U.S. on the 2 eye label. The vinyl is fairly light weight when compared with any 1960s to 1970 2 eye label LP. It weighs in at 108 grams. The LP copy of Bridge Over Troubled Water that I have, also on the 2 eye label is 158 grams. Big difference. If the Simon & Gafunkel LP was repackaged and sold today, Sony could call it "audiophile" and charge big bucks. Deadwax (etched) Side 1 - PAL 31760-1A (6 o'clock) 2G (12 o'clock) Side 2 - PBL 31760-1A (6 o'clock) 2G (12 o'clock)
The other thread may be wrong. I just heard from member ChrisM (London, Ontario). Chris worked in music retail for many years, from the 1970s onwards. He owns an original Columbia Canada LP of Miled Davis - On The Corner/I] with the Columbia 2-eye label. I ran a couple of Google searches for LP release dates. One Web site says the Streisand LP was released on October 1. The Wiki enty for On The Corner has a release date of October 11, 1972.
