BRITISH BLUE JAM
Company: CBM
Matrix Number: BBJ-1-A 3426-A / BBJ-1-B 2A 3426-B
Release Date: June, 1972
Country: USA
SIDE A
1. YER BLUES
2. WHOLE LOTTA YOKO
3. LOVE IN VAIN
SIDE B
4. MIDNIGHT RAMBLER
5. DEAD FLOWERS
6. HONKY TONKY WOMEN
7. SATISFACTION
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Sound quality: EX-mono
Source:
1-2: audio soundtrack to the Lennon appearance in the then unreleased "Rock and Roll Circus" TV special, recorded December 11th, 1968.
3-7: Rolling Stones, London Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, March 14th, 1971
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COMMENTARY
This is essentially a Rolling Stones album with the two Lennon tracks from the (then) unreleased "Rock and Roll Circus" TV special at the beginning of side A, sourced from the U.K. “Gulp” LP.
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We have included it here because of its historical relevance within the CBM Beatles-related catalogue.
RELEASES
1. June, 1972 (photo below the title). The first pressing came with a light greyish insert with black text and a blue-printed drawing, and a rubber stamp in red ink reading "ALL ROYALTIES PAID" on the back of the jacket. The record was on blue vinyl with some black speckles, and the label was orange with the CBM disc logo, RI3426 catalogue number and track listing. The pressing quality is very good. This is one of the very few CBM records pressed on colored vinyl. Other known titles whose first pressing was on colored vinyl are CATNIPS (Cat Stevens), SEVENTY DOLLAR ROBBERY (Bob Dylan), YOUNG MAN'S FANCY (Neil Young), all on blue vinyl with black speckles, and PLINTH (Rod Stewart), on red vinyl.
2. Late summer and fall, 1972, 1973. All the subsequent pressings were on black wax; at first the original labels were used, sometimes printed in dark orange rather than black, then any of the generic labels that were available to the company were used, including the green ones used for CBM-2, DON'T PASS ME BY (used in summer 1972), in various combinations. The insert was printed monochromatically in blue or black. Some copies released in summer 1973 had plain colored labels, yellow was seen, or white with a 1" colored bar (red and brown were seen, distributed in August 1973). A late summer 1973 pressing had yellow/white labels with A/B side indications. The copies released in August 1973 had a folder-type jacket. All these records have a ring at 7 mm from the spindle hole as the stamper pressing mark
4. December, 1973. Same insert as #3, white label with "Comet Records." This and the later versions were pressed at the new pressing plant in Charlotte, NC after CBM moved from Norfolk, VA, in October 1973, and had poorer quality. The stamper markings are a ring at 12 mm and another, shallower, ring at 32 mm from the spindle hole.
3. 1974. Copies pressed in January had a greenish printed insert, and the label was white with red pirate. The record, as typical of the CBM releases of early 1974, was in a brownish inner sleeve. Later repressings had plain white labels and some of them had as pressing marking a ring at 31 mm; these were probably released in late 1974 with insert printed in black.
INTEREST. The first pressing on colored vinyl is rare and has a great collector's value (****); the further repressings are progressively less interesting, particularly those released in and after 1973 in poorer quality (***/**).
THE WCF COUNTERFEITS
The WCF company reproduced the CBM records in early 1973, directly copying the greenish insert, without deleting the CBM disc logo, but adding the track listing at the top. The record was pressed from matrix BBJ 1 A X / BBJ 1 B X and released with a blue label with BBJ and the track listing.
1974. The company released their cheap repressing on a folded cover, with blackish insert and blank labels; as usual, these were the labels of another record glued on reverse.
INTEREST. The first pressing is scarce and moderately interesting for completists (**), the 1974 repressing has almost no value (*).