BOB DYLAN FIRST ALBUM INSANELY RARE FOR EXPORT TO UK LP

$

355

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·       BOB DYLAN - SELF TITLED 1962 ALBUM – INSANELY RARE ORIGINAL U.S. MADE-FOR-EXPORT TO U.K. COLUMBIA STEREO LP CS-8579

·       ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

·       MONSTROUSLY RARE PRESSING ON  RED AND WHITE COLUMBIA "THREE EYE” LABEL (YES, FOLKS, THIS CYCLOP OF A RECORD HAS A THIRD EYE ADDED ON TOP – PERHAPS IT IS AN “ALL-SEEING” EYE OF SOME SORT?)

·       THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, MADE-FOR-EXPORT 1962 U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·       ORIGINAL, THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

·       CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

·       THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

 (►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you'll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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By know you know that the first pressing of Bob Dylan's first album on the impossible "Six-eye" Columbia label is near-impossible to find: it can easily fetch upward of $2,000.00 on the open market.

Ah, but wait. You haven’t seen anything yet. Compared to what we have here – a surreally made-for-export to UK pressing on just-about-unheard of THREE-EYE Columbia label, EVEN the rare first pressings on six-eye label are about as common as muck. 

What we have here is so monumentally, bizarrely, preposterously rare that EVEN the information on this pressing is scarce. You can’t even google this stuff! This is only the second copy we have held in our hands in almost 40 years of collecting.

BUT BEFORE WE CONTINUE,  WE MUST FIRST DISPELL SOME POPULAR MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE OF THIS PRESSING. NAMELY, THERE IS A BOB DYLAN DISCOGRAPHY WEB SITE OUT THERE WHICH CLAIMS THAT THIS IS A “MADE IN SINGAPORE” PRESSING.  IT ABSOLUTELY, FIRMLY, CATEGORICALLY, IS NOT! . AND HERE’S WHY IT ISN’T:

(1)          Singapore did not exist as an independent country back in 1962. Consequently, there was no such thing as “Made in Singapore” when this album came out (Singapore was a part of British Malaya until 1957, and a part of Independent Malaya/Malaysia from 1957 to 1965, when it finally separated from Malaysia and became independent). Technically speaking, Singapore was briefly independent for a few days in 1963, but I honestly doubt that the first (and only) priority of the newly-independent state was to print the debut album of the unknown Jewish-American singer-songwriter with about zero commercial potential in an otherwise Moslem nation. In short, the first legitimate “Made in Singapore” Bob Dylan album that could even hypothetically have been released domestically was ‘Highway 61 Reivisted’.

(2)          If this album were “Made in Singapore” (sic), why, then, does it have American matrix number on BOTH the record label AND the trail-off vinyl (dead wax)

(3)          If this album were “Made in Singapore”, why does it have American-style cover, which has “Made in USA” on it?

(4)          If this album were “Made in Singapore” , why does it have Malayan Royal Customs stamp (“Penguasa Kanan Kastaw, Butterworth”) on one label? Surely, something made in Singapore back in the early 1960’s wouldn’t require customs clearance from Malaya, which was then the same country as Singapore.

(5)          If this album were “Made in Singapore” , why does it have American label’s name (Columbia) on it, rather than British or Malayan (CBS Pte Ltd.)?

(6)          What are the odds that, in early 1960s, Singapore would have had more buying public owning stereo audio equipment than United Kingdom, it’s colonial sovereign? In United Kingdom, stereo record players were not a standard until as late as 1967 and stereo pressings of rock albums (except for the Beatles) were essentially an aberration, not the norm.

So, now that we have this misconception out of the way, let’s try to explain why the Malayan peninsula was an entry point for the export copies of this album to UK:

Despite its scarcity, we were able to infer and deduce something about this pressing based on peripheral and ephemeral information on hand.

The amazingly rare 3-eye label (with a third “eye” located at the 12 o’clock position on the label) should NOT be confused with its better-known relative, the classic red-and-white “360 stereo” label, which was introduced by Columbia much later, in 1965. Despite the visual similarity, the 3-eye label is much, much older (we believe it was in print for only the shortest period of time in 1962) and may EVEN have PRECEDED the red-and-black “Guaranteed Fidelity”-style Columbia label, which was in print between 1962 and 1965.

In any event, we know this much: the “3-eye” label (an “eye”, being, in fact, a stylized presentation of record needle touching the record) was a transitional , made-for-export US label used for excruciatingly short period of time, possibly as short as six months!  Thus far, we have seen ONLY THREE other titles on this rare label: another one by Bob Dylan, one by Barbra Streisand, and another one by Johnny Mathis (both of the 1962 vintage).  No other titles have ever surfaced that we are aware of (please feel free to correct us – we will gladly append any comments of questions to this auction page). In view of the limited title selection found on this label, we speculate with high degree of confidence that the label was in use ONLY during the first few months of 1962.

This rare 3-eye label was used EXCLUSIVELY for Columbia made-for-export to UK’s colonial possessions in the Far East (Malaya); BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE: THESE PRESSINGS, IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR POINT OF ENTRY TO THE UNITED KINGDOM, WERE INTENDED FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM, NOT FOR ITS ASIAN TERRITORIES AND COLONIAL DOMAINS.  Namely,  Columbia Records in the United Kingdom was NOT the same label as their older, American namesake, and was NOT affiliated with American Columbia in any way, manner or form. Columbia in the United Kingdom was a part of the EMI-Odeon/Capitol family of labels (which was a home to such recording artists as Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Graham Bond  Organization, Pink Floyd, etc.), and, as such, not related to Columbia/Epic/Harmony/Okeh family of labels in the US . This must have posed a significant identity problem for American Columbia label in marketing their artists to the British public.

The permanent solution to this problem was obviously found when Columbia (US) established its own distributing “arm” in the UK (CBS Records,Ltd.). We are not sure when exactly CBS (UK) was founded, but we believe it was somewhere between 1963 and 1964. We speculate that the young and fledgling UK arm of Columbia records initially had a very limited production and marketing capacity, and was probably extremely reluctant to try its luck with young and untried American artists, such as Bob Dylan

The workaround solution to this problem was found when CBS (UK) was allowed to domestically release the “safe” (highly popular) titles by well-established artists, such as Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis, but IMPORT American pressings by those artists with a more limited commercial potential (such as Bob Dylan). For reason’s that we cannot adequately explain – perhaps to circumvent the customs restrictions – these early imports from the United States were routed to UK mainly through the Malayan peninsula . This is how the amazingly rare pressing of Bob Dylan’s first album we are presenting here came about. Essentially, because the British branch of Columbia records had very little interest in very young Bob Dylan, Columbia (US) printed their own copies and shipped them off to UK through Malaya, with which UK, the former colonial power, had a special export and custom arrangement with.

Printing of the covers for these made-for-export pressings turned out to be another logistical problem. Obviously, Columbia had pre-printed covers stockpiled for domestic (American) market, so they were reluctant to print additional, country-specific UK covers at extra cost. To address this problem, and to “cheat” UK customs, Columbia pasted small, square stickers with their UK affiliate’s logo (CBS) all over American covers, covering each and every mention of BOTH Columbia Records, Inc (the American parent company) - three small stickers on front side, two more small ones on the back and one medium-sized on the back side. As you can see from our photos shown below. CBS stickers are all over the place. Clearly, the idea was to recycle American covers as British ones, despite the all-too-obvious fact that the British covers of the period had a distinctly different construction, texture, thickness and overall appearance and could not possibly have been confused as American.

We suspect that all this was happening quite literally as the Columbia (UK) was making an initial attempt (this pressing on 3-eye label) to market Bob Dylan in the UK. Alas, the sudden upswing in Bob Dylan’s popularity probably made any further promotional effort a moot point. All of a sudden, British skiffle fans espoused Dylan as one of their own. We believe that this, um…(pardon the pun) Simple Twist of Fate rendered any additional US-made export pressings of this album unnecessary. Henceforth, Dylan was a household name in the UK, and his albums were domestically pressed and distributed. Dylan’s short-lived American made-for-export first album on “3-eye” label appears to have been the first, the one and the only Bob Dylan album NOT to be released in the UK domestically, at least not initially.

Well, there you have it, folks. Our theory of how Dylan got to become a Rock Messiah (some actually called him Judas – just check out Live at Albert Hall 1966) and a household name in Britain. Alas, despite all his enduring popularity in the Kingdom, he yet has to become the Royal Family’s favorite Singer-Songwriter (we hear that this honor goes to Leonard Cohen – not a bad choice either). Perhaps the Royals were not amused by Dylan’s “Queen Jane Approximately”? Or they thought that “Ballad of a Thin Man” refers to Prince Phillip? The answer, my friend, is Blowing in the Windsors.

Now for the music: this truly IS a piece of history: an album that announced Bob Dylan’s arrival to the unsuspecting world; the work that started the entire Dylan cult, which would follow merely a year or so later, on the heels of his next album (“Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”). Capably produced by the legendary John Hammond, Sr. (who, among others, discovered such stars as Billie Holiday, Robert Johnson, Big Joe Turner, Pete Seger, Leonard Cohen, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan and was the father-in-law of Benny Goodman and the father of John Hammond, jr (you figured as much, didn’t ya?) , the album shows Bob Dylan's deep and genuine love for all forms of archetypal musical Americana, particularly traditionals, spirituals, folk, blues and work song, but also his evolving, maturing ability as a songwriter.

Track listing: You're no good -Talkin' New York - In my time of dying - Man of constant sorrow - Fixin' to die - Pretty Peggy-O - Highway 51 - Gospel Plow - Baby, let me follow you down - House of the risin' sun - Freight Train Blues - Song to Woody - See that my grave is kept clean.

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·                               CONDITION:

·                               RECORD

(IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)          WE GRADE THE VINYL AS STRONG VG++. A few light abrasions (probably just sleeve scuffs inflicted in storage over the years) ARE VISIBLE, but they appear fairly  insignificant relative to the overall condition of the vinyl, and are only moderately visually distracting. For most part, the vinyl looks impeccable, without any MAJOR visual flaws or imperfections. Much of the original luster is intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new.

(b)          The record is pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(c)           Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·       COVER

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT VERY GOOD++ (VG++).

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-         Cover has some light ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 2 (front side) and 4 (back side)

-        A small yellowish water stain noted on the back  panel (less than 1 square inch in size )

-        Cover has some writing on its back side (name of the previous owner written in blue ballpoint pen, about ¼ x 1½  inch in size)

-         Cover shows some light yellowing on back side, apparently from aging.

-         Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the spine

-         Minor shelf wear noted on the seams (nothing significant)

-         Cover has two corners slightly worn / dinged  / bent (nothing significant)

NO OTHER IMPERFECTIONS ON THE COVER:

-        No split seams

-        No cut-out (drill) holes.

-        No cut-out corners

-        No saw-marks or indents

-        No dirt/dust rubbing stains (friction marks caused by rubbing against other covers)

-        No stamps

-        No tearing: no chips, dents or nicks on the seams

-        No peel-off marks

-        No mold or mildew spots

-        No stickers or labels

-        No water damage

-        No razor marks, scratches, pressure marks, lines, streaks, or  cuts.

-        No warping

-        No wax, glue, paint or liquid drops on the cover

-        No glue traces or wax residue.

-        No bar codes

-        No RIAA stamps or stickers. 

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