I believe the WCF 2001 – 58 series was the first time the label used the folder-type covers and all the reissued titles that had them came later. Based on two contemporary recordings among the first 10 titles – 2006/07 Led Zeppelin – Bonzo’s Birthday Party and 2011/12 Allman Brothers – Watkins Glen July 28/73 – the second half of 1973 appears as the most likely release date/ start of the series.
Matrix: 2001 A / B and 2002 A / B
It is relatively easy to distinguish the WCF copy from the Record Revolution original:
- Pink cover vs. a rather muted red and blue as seen below;
- Back cover design changed by incorporating cover art from the HH version (see below) providing a track list;
- Blank white labels vs. printed red or blue ones;
- Logo removed from the inside of the folder, lower left.
The original Record Revolution version. It must have been released fairly soon after the broadcast and became the first Dead recording enjoying wide circulation (“Since the album appears to have been made in 1971, the song titles are just guesses (“Had To Move,” “My Uncle” and “No Chance Of Losing” for example.” quote found in the first link posted below). The matrix was GD-R 1/2/3/4
Source: KSAN/KSFX & KMET FM broadcast, closing of the Fillmore West, 02 July 1971
http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2014/09/july-2-1971-fillmore-west-san-francisco.html
“The blue double lp that I had was regularly seen in Bay Area used record stores for the next several years–it was about as near to a “regional hit” as a bootleg could ever be considered. It’s not surprising. A local show, broadcast locally, pressed somehow, and quietly distributed to sufficiently cool stores. That was, in fact, pretty common on the East Coast and less so in the Bay Area...”
Opinions on how well the Dead played that night seem to differ quite quite a bit:
https://archive.org/details/gd71-07-02.sbd.backus.11798.sbeok.shnf/gd1971-07-02d3t03.shn
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Towards the end of 1972, TMOQ1 released their own version of this recording (matrix: GD – 527 – A / B). Does the added ‘1’ meant that this might have been planned as a two volume release?
Regarding the purple pressing, which sold for $236 in 2012, the seller wrote the following:
“…but the real rarity of this fabulous copy is the color. Look up this album on Popsike.com and you won’t see any that have sold that are of Purple Vinyl! What few copies of this that do exist are seen in the more typical colors of Yellow, Green, Red or Black. This may be the only copy known to exist in purple…”
While it’s probably not the only purple copy ever made, it sure is very rare.
- Reissues:
Ken”s TMOQ2 matrix: 2805 A-D
Ken’s smoking pig-branded insert has also been found on copies with the original red & blue printed labels but in a black cardboard cover (matrix: GD-R 1-4) and even on WCF copies.
- HH DEAD FILLMORE 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 matrix versions:
One of these has the same insert art work but no smoking pig. I suspect Ken nicked the art work from this version and not the other way around but please correct me if this is wrong. As for the copy with classic pig labels, smoking pig branded insert and the HH matrix, I have no explanation at this time. I do believe the seller was not mixed up when posting the matrix #.
- Reissues, pt.2: S-204/K&S versions:
Almost identical appearance but not manufactured at the same time perhaps: The regular S-204 reissue and the K&S destined pressing with the deletion hole and yellow insert, as described in HW.
“100 pressed and most were busted and destroyed in 1980 upon re-entry into Canada as “deletes” with punched covers. Those not destroyed were returned (due to a lack of laws making bootlegs illegal). This copy was “rescued” from the returned survivors. From the same shipment as the Flamin’ Groovies of which only 19 copies survived.”
