Ruthless Rhymes Label

PINK FLOYD ‘ECLIPSED’ – Ruthless Rhymes Reissues: Hendrix ‘BROADCASTS – Maui’ + ‘LIVE AT THE L.A. FORUM 4-25-70’ / JETHRO TULL ‘FLUTE CAKE (MESS)’ / ROLLING STONES ‘HONOLULU’ + ‘SUMMER RERUNS’

February 10, 2014

Dylan, Bob, Frank Zappa And The Mothers Of Invention, Jethro Tull, LXXXIV Re-releases, Pink Floyd, Ruthless Rhymes Label, Slipped Disc Label, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Rolling Stones, Vicki Vinyl

12 Comments

Matrix: 404 A – D

My friend and main go-to person for bootleg research pointed out that this number looked like the 4xx series the 70s GLC label was using (GLC 411: Rolling Stones – All Meat Music ?; GLC 412: Neil Young – Young & Old; GLC 413: Elton John – B-B-B-Benny – Live in London; GLC 415: Crosby Stills Nash and Young “we waited 3 years for this”).

Sides A+B live at the London Rainbow on 20 February 1972 and sides C+D BBC Paris Theater 30 September 1971

floydboots.com states that the above was the first issue of this double LP with just 200 copies made on orange and light blue PVC, however not everyone agrees, see the list below.

A Vicki Vinyl/Ken co-production? The sub title hints that this might be a new pressing of TAKRL’s 1903 IN CELEBRATION OF THE COMET master, which was a copy of the German bootleg Best Of Tour 72

It should be noted that reissues of the TAKRL release and ECLIPSED both exist with Dessie Records and Verzyl paper labels. Two of the three tracks on the second disc had previously been available on yet another early TAKRL release: # 1913: NOCTURNAL SUBMISSION : ROBOT LOVE but Hot Wacks claims this was a copy of Contraband’s Floyds Of London

floydboots states that this does exist with a deluxe cover in a rare variation. If anyone has a good image of this, do leave a comment. The matrix number changed later to ECL 1-4:

I found the following list during my research but it clearly has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Unless you were there or one of the associates kept notes and they are available, it is very hard to say. which insert color was the genuine first issue.

1) 404 A-D. First pressing, big yellow insert cover, original yellow/white “Ruthless Rhymes” labels.

2) 404 A-D. First pressing, green (record 1) & blue (record 2) vinyl, 100 made, big red insert cover with stamp imprint, original yellow/white “Ruthless Rhymes” labels.

3) 404 A-D. First pressing, blue (record 1) and orange (record 2) vinyl, 200 made, big red insert cover with stamp imprint, original yellow/white “Ruthless Rhymes” labels.

4) 404 A-D. First pressing, big white/brown insert cover, record 1 with white label, record 2 with green label.

5) ECL 1-4. Second pressing, little yellow insert cover, white label.

6) ECL 1-4. Multicoloured vinyl, 50 made, little yellow insert cover with sticker, black/white cartoon labels. This also exists on black PVC.

7) RUTHLESS RHYMES GLC 404 A-D. Third pressing, green/blue vinyl, 100 numbered edition, big brown insert cover, silver/red “GLC” labels.

8) RUTHLESS RHYMES GLC 404 A-D. “Raring Record” labels.

9) LXXXIV Series #54, reissue of the “Ruthless Rhymes” edition, green/blue vinyl, 100 numbered edition copies.

***

Missing from the above list are pressings made with Slipped Disc, yellow RECORD 1/2 and Dessie Records labels – “RE-ISSUED AGAIN ON THE ‘DESSIE RECORDS’ LABEL USING NEW PLATES (MATRIX NUMBER – DESSIE A/D GR L-29708).”:

***

Auction results for this title vary quite a bit, with the colored Ruthless Rhymes and LXXXIV versions selling for as much as $500 and the MCV/Verzyl versions even close to $1200 but all other versions hovering around the $50+ mark.

This release has been copied in Europe several times with deluxe covers (copying the tree lady art work on the back) and box sets referred to by a color.

****

Jimi Hendrix ‘BROADCASTS – Maui‘

Reissue of this classic TMoQ combo 7502 and about the third incarnation and also the third on colored wax. Also exists in red & green and with blank labels.

***

ditto ‘LIVE AT THE L.A. FORUM 4-26-70‘ “SCUSE ME…” version

Back in the day, many bootleggers issued this title, Rubber Dubber, Munia, TMoQ, … it was even available as a series of four 7″ records. The insert originally showed an image of Jimi’s head but a dark spot appeared on the Hen and TMOQ versions and more rounds of copying the copy transformed it into something looking like an expressionist art piece.

The splatter/mcv discs are usually found with Mushroom label designated packages but not in this case.

***

Jethro Tull ‘MESS‘

Two different reissues of this early TMoQ title recorded by Dub Taylor shortly after Led Zeppelin’s Blueberry Hill performance.

****

ROLLING STONES ‘(in exotic) “HONOLULU“‘

A reissue of Pig’s Eye # 09

***

ditto ‘SUMMER RERUNS’

Originally out as TMoQ 72011

***

Frank Zappa ‘METAL MAN HAS HORNETS WINGS’

Originally on Wizardo Records – WRMB 365

****

And two example of stamps with different fonts (the second example may not even be a stamp and may have been produced significantly later):

****

I’m probably missing a few. If you know of any others, do leave a comment.

ROD STEWART ‘RHYTHM & BOOZE’

February 3, 2014

Ruthless Rhymes Label, Stewart, Rod

Bruce Springsteen on Ruthless Rhymes: ‘Live at the Hammersmith Odeon’ / ‘ “E” Ticket ‘ and Fakes ‘BORN TO ROCK’ + ‘SMALL TOWN BOY’

February 2, 2014

Ruthless Rhymes Label, Springsteen, Bruce, TMOQ (smoking pig), Vicki Vinyl

1 Comment

LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH ODEON

A) Ruthless Rhymes labels. Orange/Blue/Yellow insert. Matrix BS 1975 (same for all versions)
B) Slipped disc labels. Various insert colors
C) Blue blank labels. Deep Yellow/Orange inserts
E) Raring Records label – first time with wrap-around insert ca. 1981 D) Smoking Pig labels with wrap-around insert

The bootleg section of brucespringsteen.it reports that the inserts used for C) & E) show signs of having been copied (I will spare you the discussion of shadows between monkey legs… ). More importantly, two types of inserts exist: The standard single sheet version and a slightly re-designed wrap around version with a Bruce-Landau meeting story on the flip side, reminiscent of of a lot of Vicky Vinyl product 1976-77 (see below):

This live recording from 18 November 1975 has since been officially released in 2005 on the Born To Run: 30th Anniversary 3-Disc Set .

****

“E” Ticket

Back of the LP track listing, obviously not written by a German native speaker

The number shown on the top right hand corner of the LP is identical with the matrix number. Also available with blank white and green “hörweite stereophonie” labels, as expected.

Side 1:

Rosalita (Come out tonight)    New York,NY,914 Studios(USA) 01-Jul-1973/1       Instrumental
Kitty’s back                                                                                                  ”                           –
Thunder road                               New York,NY,Record Plant(USA) 01-Mar-1975/1        –
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) New York,NY,914 Studios(USA) 01-Jul-1973/1   Instrumental

Side 2:
Walking in the streets        New York,NY,Record Plant(USA) 01-Mar-1975/1                     –
She’s the one                                                                                              ”                                    –
A love so fine            New York,NY,????(USA) 16-Oct-1974/1                                        Instrumental
Born to run                  New York,NY,914 Studios(USA) 01-Aug-1974/1              –
Thunder road            New York,NY,Record Plant(USA) 01-Mar-1975/1                       Acoustic
Jungleland                   ”                                   ending w. chorus

***

Then there were two advance copy versions that might not actually be genuine – confirmation needed:

“A blank-cover pre-release is rumored to exist, and it should be a white stamped and hand numbered white sleeve with the same matrix and labels. It’s unclear the role of the so-called ‘advance pressing’ stamped cover edition with custom green labels(ST/MX1), since this circulated massively and at low cost in late ’80, and it seems a modern reprint, carrying an evident reprint of the ‘head’ variant of the label.” [brucespringsteen.it, from where I also borrowed a few images]

In the 1980’s also reissued as a picture disc.

***

The book Warman’s American Records includes a picture of this bootleg with the caption “Bruce Springsteen was very upset when he saw this album “E Ticket”, available in independent record stores – with early rough mixes of songs from his Born To Run album.

****

BORN TO ROCK

Obviously not a genuine Ruthless Rhymes product. Also found with “Guilty” labels (another clue) and usually on black PVC.

Tower Theatre, Philadelphia (Upper Darby), PA, USA – December 31, 1975

“This show was the last of a four-night stand (27, 28, 30, 31 December) at the Tower Theatre. Recent events had given Springsteen much publicity and a national profile. Ninety thousand people consequently applied for tickets to see him at this three thousand seat venue. The first thirteen of the eighteen songs played appeared on the double LP Born To Rock (Ruthless Rhymes).

Mike Appel, Springsteen’s then manager, wanted to capitalise on the success of Born To Run with a double or triple LP of live performances. Accordingly, the Tower Theatre shows were recorded, along with concerts in Greenvale, NY (12 December) and Toronto, Canada (21 December), using the Record Plant’s mobile unit with Jimmy Iovine responsible for the recording. Songs from the now-legendary shows at the Bottom Line and the Roxy Theatre earlier in the year were also under consideration for the album. A live album would have been a good idea. Springsteen had already built up a formidable reputation as a live performer, enhanced by radio broadcasts of live shows and cemented by the production of bootlegs of these performances. In particular, Springsteen fan Lou Cohan had produced LPs of the Bottom Line and Roxy shows. As Clinton Heylin writes in his bootleg history, The Great White Wonders, this “was clearly one instance where bootlegs were helping to establish an artist rather than riding on the back of his success.” A live album would also presumably have been much quicker to produce, avoiding the excruciatingly prolonged process that had finally resulted in Born To Run, and getting another album into the record shops while interest in Springsteen was still considerable.

The reason that this live album failed to appear is bound up with the power struggle between Appel and Springsteen’s future manager, Jon Landau. According to Dave Marsh, in his book Born To Run, Springsteen “felt that the band’s onstage excitement wasn’t ready to be captured yet.” Marc Eliot’s The Making Of Bruce Springsteen tells a different story, suggesting that Springsteen initially favoured a live release but was dissuaded by Landau. Landau had been brought in to co-produce Born To Run. He had not only handled production duties but had done much to sort out the impasse and get the album released. Appel, seemingly wary of Landau’s influence, told Landau that he would, of course, work on the next studio album, but that he would not be required for the live LP. In a seeming attempt to marginalise Landau, Appel also pointed out to Springsteen that “it would be foolish to have Jon Landau as a producer of a live album where he had no experience.” As is well known, Landau supplanted Appel as Springsteen’s manager and no live album appeared.” [collectorsmusicreview.com]

****

SMALL TOWN BOY

Matrix: 24473

The back cover mentions ‘Contessa Records’, so this was clearly produced by someone else. Later repressed and now more commonly known as the Swingin’Pig release under the same title from the second half of the 1980s.

PATTI SMITH ‘you light up my life’ :Ruthless Rhymes

January 29, 2014

Patti Smith Group, Ruthless Rhymes Label, Vicki Vinyl

3 Comments

From Hot Wacks: First 200 copies rubber stamped “Advance Copy”. That seems quite high. Maybe the cover art got delayed.

I dig the depth perception here – the owner really achieved a nice result in this angled shot. Photographing records is harder than it looks, I find.

Matrix # PSG-44-A / PSG-44-B

Collector’s Comment: “Unlike most of her other bootlegs, which were taken from radio broadcasts, this one was recorded on the scene from within the audience. The sound quality is excellent, and the performance is good to very good.”

“Most of the Patti Smith bootlegs come from around 1976, during her first significant touring after the release of her debut album, Horses, in the fall of 1975. This one is notable as a chronicle of the spring 1978 tour promoting her third album, Easter. Here, appearing on May 12, 1978, at the Santa Monica Civic Center, Smith is a more polished, less-spontaneous performer, and a more ambivalent one. The LP’s second side is given over to a selection of Easter songs — “Rock n Roll Nigger,” “Till Victory,” “Space Monkey,” “25th Floor,” and “Because the Night” — but the first side is more interesting. It consists entirely of cover songs, performed by Smith in her inimitable style. After playing the Who’s “The Kids Are Alright” and the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” Smith introduces “Time Is on My Side” by reciting a brief bit of her own verse: “Memory is just hips that swing like a clock/ Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock/F*ck the clock!” the Who’s “My Generation,” meanwhile, gets new lyrics: “I don’t need that f*cking shit/Hope I die because of it.” After a surprise cover of John Lennon’s “It’s So Hard” comes an even more surprising choice from a woman who was just then experiencing her first and only singles hit. “Hi, we’re a Top 40 band, we’re the Patti Smith Group,” Smith says. “We’d like to do a little Top 40 for you.” And with that, she takes on Debbie Boone, doing a verse and chorus of “You Light up My Life.” Her mixed feelings about commercial success couldn’t be better expressed. This bootleg has only average sound, but it is one of the weirdest sets in the Patti Smith catalog. ” [allmusic.com]

***

Complete set list:

01        Babelogue
02        Rock’n’Roll Nigger
03        Privilege (Set Me Free)
04        Kimberly
05        Till Victory
06        Redondo Beach
07        Space Monkey
08        25th Floor
09        The Kids Are All Right
10        Ghost Dance
11        Be My Baby
12        Time Is On My Side
13        It’s So Hard
14        Pumping (My Heart)
15        Because The Night
16        You Light Up My Life
17        Easter
18        Radio Ethiopia
19        Gloria
20        Ask The Angels
21        My Generation

“It offers an accurate glimpse of the artist circa 1978. Patti’s stage banter is hilarious and she is truly unique. There is virtually no hiss in this recording. You can hear the taper talk to his cohorts but only very rarely. Otherwise there is very little talking. No distortion, no speed problems, vocals are sometimes a little muffled. Parts of the recording are ex- in nature but I would call the rest of it vg to vg +, as always, IMHO. The show appears to be complete to me. It’s a wild performance with a lot of Patti/audience interchange and stage banter. “

Her live in concert rendition of the bootleg’s title track can be found here:

https://app.box.com/shared/c9cvc13z3n

THE ROLLING STONES ‘SATISFACTION GUARANTEED’ : audifön

January 27, 2014

Audifön label, Ruthless Rhymes Label, The Rolling Stones, Vicki Vinyl

2 Comments

“Love In Vain” and “Tumbling Dice” are actually in reverse order on side 3.

Label variation 1

And # 2 from a later reissue.

MATRIX: IMP 1023-A Re-1 / IMP 1123-B /C /D

IMP # 1123 would slot right in between Kiss – Destroys Anaheim Part 2 and Neil Young – Old Man’s Fancy in the Idle Mind discography.

“…first released as a classic 2 LP in 1978. The venues sampled on the original LP were: St. Louis July 11, 1978, Buffalo, N.Y., July 4, 1978, Greensboro, N.C., June 26, 1978, Oakland, CA, July 26, 1978, and Chicago IL., July 8, 1978. A really nice “best of” effort. The printed color LP jacket was exceptional at the time. The white and yellow record labels were “Ruthless Rhymes, Ltd.”. The most fantastic version of Beast of Burden was recorded on this LP, and it was from St. Louis […]. Note: The original vinyl release in each case is BETTER Quality than these audience source tapes! ” [rollingstonesnet.com]