Printings (or Pressings?)

[Geographer]

One thing I really like about this site is the vast technical knowledge of many of the members. Unfortunately, I don't have the technical know-how of most, since I just like the music.

I was wondering if one of the "techies" could expand on something I have read in the last week. It seems that there is much mention of records being "pressed" in "Santa Maria." I was wondering if "Santa Maria" was Santa Maria, California. The reason I ask, is that I am a City Planner with Santa Maria and have been working on an Economic Develelopment Element to our City's General Plan. Currently Santa Maria is a horrible place to live and work (hope I don't get fired for saying that) and we are trying to bring back our economic viability. It would be wonderful to know if our City's economic "history" included an A&M pressing plant AND to know what happened to it or where it was located.

Currently, our only "honorable mention" will be the Michael Jackson trial! Yippee!

Thanks if you can help!

 

[Rudy]

A&M used to contract their pressing out to others. For a long while, they used Columbia, and I believe Monarch as well. One of our other members, who goes by W.B. (aka Will), wrote a discography book about Columbia and knows a lot about A&M's pressings. For the various pressings, he can tell by the etchings in the run-out area, or even by the typeface used on the record labels.

 

[W.B.]

It seems that there is much mention of records being "pressed" in "Santa Maria." I was wondering if "Santa Maria" was Santa Maria, California. The reason I ask, is that I am a City Planner with Santa Maria and have been working on an Economic Develelopment Element to our City's General Plan. Currently Santa Maria is a horrible place to live and work (hope I don't get fired for saying that) and we are trying to bring back our economic viability. It would be wonderful to know if our City's economic "history" included an A&M pressing plant AND to know what happened to it or where it was located.

Currently, our only "honorable mention" will be the Michael Jackson trial! Yippee!

Thanks if you can help!

Oh, Santa Maria is indeed one and the same as that you mention. Alas, Columbia shut down that plant in 1981 after only 17 years in operation (it went fully online in 1964). If this is of any help, that plant's address was 900 East Stowell Road. What stands there now?

But indeed, they did press a good amount of A&M product. Maybe not as much as Monarch (in terms of West Coast pressings), but they certainly did contribute their share. Prior to 1966 the Santa Maria, CA plant used label copy artwork imported from Los Angeles-based Bert-Co Press, then afterwards did their own label copy. Other West Coast-based clients whose records were pressed at Columbia's Santa Maria factory besides A&M included 20th Century Records (of Barry White fame), ABC/Dunhill, Warner/Reprise, White Whale, and Original Sound. United Artists Records was based in California after around 1969-70, but I haven't seen that many pressings, if at all, from Santa Maria (I think they used Allied Record Co. for that purpose).

The last known releases (LP and 45) on A&M to bear label copy artwork imported from Santa Maria, CA to the other two plants Columbia operated at the time (Pitman, NJ and Terre Haute, IN) came out in late 1969. Among the last in that regard included Joe Cocker! (SP-4224) and the original 45 of "Come Saturday Morning" by The Sandpipers (#1134; I have the second release, #1185, because of the font issue). After that, labels with artwork from Santa Maria were confined only to copies from that plant. Santa Maria-made copies of A&M LP's and 45's used a darker, more greenish variant of the ochre (Pantone 112C, I.I.N.M.) than the other two factories Columbia owned. It was also darker and more greenish than even what the Monarch pressing plant ("Circle MR") had come up with.

I hope my primer is of some educational value for you.

 

[Rudy]

I hope my primer is of some educational value for you.

Don't know about anyone else, but from me! One of these days we should collect all of your random bits and make a feature article out of it, which would make a great reference to point everyone to.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

W.B.

Can you tell by reading the "run in" on a LP or 45 issued by A & M where or what plant location it was pressed?

Just curious, If so how do you know? Would a novice like me be able to tell where it was pressed?

Rudy, wonder if this should be moved to another forum? Maybe it might get more input that would benefit others that maybe don't check the Carpenters forum persee?

....who just got back from a cold brisk walk, online....

 

[Rudy]

Chris--good idea. Consider it moved. I've left a "shadow" link ("Moved:") in the Carpenters forum so everyone can find it.

In most cases, yes, you can tell a lot from the run-out area (in the "dead wax") about the particular pressing you own. Some collectors go out of their way to find particular pressings of albums. Some information you can discover from the run-out (some or all are true, depending on the individual album):

1. Which plant the LP was pressed in;

2. Which stampers were used (RCA was good with this);

3. Determine if the pressing is an original or a re-cut;

4. Which engineer "cut" the lacquer.

The specifics are different depending on the record label, or the mastering engineer or studio.

I don't know the specifics of what the labels used, but knowledgeable collectors do. I'm still learning myself.

 

[Geographer]

All, I can say, W.B. is WOW! Thank you so much for that information! If it is okay with you, I am going to bring it up at our next staff meeting and "dazzle" my co-workers so a bit of Santa Maria "history" concerning our City's by-gone "Golden Age."

As for 900 East Stowel, I can't put my finger on what, exactly, is on that particular plot of land, but I think it is behind our now-abandoned and blighted J.C. Penny Shopping Center. I think I will have to go out and do some "feild work" this week and find out what is sitting on that property now. Maybe take a digital picture for posting? I find this facinating since or current major industries include the Rembrant Tooth Paste Co. and various wood-pallet making facilities. Also, for my own curiousity, I am trying to figure out exactly when Santa Maria went, figuratively, into the toilet and why it was allowed to happen. Seems like a major industry such as this was a terrible loss for Santa Maria.

Also, I don't see why we can't try and attract the same sort of industry today? Maybe a CD "pressing" type plant.

Thanks again for the info! The information is GREAT!

Shannon

 

[W.B.]

W.B.

Can you tell by reading the "run in" on a LP or 45 issued by A & M where or what plant location it was pressed?

Just curious, If so how do you know? Would a novice like me be able to tell where it was pressed?

From the fall of 1970 onwards, the A&M mastering engineers (including Bernie Grundman) indicated the pressing plant in their runoff grooves. A 'P' on the wax (i.e. A+M 2300S-P2) indicated that the lacquer was to go to Columbia's Pitman, NJ plant; a 'T' designated Columbia's Terre Haute, IN factory; 'S' indicated Columbia's pressing operation in Santa Maria, CA; and 'M' was Monarch Record Mfg. of Los Angeles ('Circle MR'). In later years, as other pressing plants were added to A&M's itinerary, 'RCA' (for RCA's Indianapolis, IN plant) and 'ES' (for ElectroSound, which I believe was the former Sonic Recording Products/Goldisc Record Mfg. plant in Holbrook, NY) would also be found on lacquer designations.

Pre-1970, the lower lacquer numbers (1-10) appeared to be divided amongst the three Columbia plants while Monarch got the higher-numbered lacquers (the -15 and -18 on the pressing of the Carpenters' "Ticket To Ride"/"Your Wonderful Parade," #1142, that was shown on the thread therefor). This may not be the complete and total rule, but I see it as a rule of thumb.

For the record (no pun intended), Free's "All Right Now" (#1206) was transitional in this regard. My main copy of the record, on the "All Right Now" side, has 'A+M CSG-2005S-7' on the runoff -- but the copy emanated from Pitman. A later pressing had a 'P1' designation for that side.

But I had been hoping to educate that Santa Maria city planner who'd made that inquiry initially. It is precisely because of my knowledge of the history of the plant therein that led me to think of the irony of the Michael Jackson trial being there (being as he's an Epic recording artist, and Epic is a subsidiary of the company which, under a previous owner, ran that plant).

 

[W.B.]

All, I can say, W.B. is WOW! Thank you so much for that information! If it is okay with you, I am going to bring it up at our next staff meeting and "dazzle" my co-workers so a bit of Santa Maria "history" concerning our City's by-gone "Golden Age."

Oh, by all means, please! And if they'd allow, you can also mention that, besides my having compiled that Columbia discography talked about from time to time in this forum, I'd also provided info about label printing, disc mastering, and record pressing information for Bruce Spizer's books on The Beatles' Capitol and Apple releases. In short, my knowledge is largely all-encompassing. (Oh, and in early 1969, Columbia's Santa Maria plant put out some copies of The Beatles' Yellow Submarine, as well as some other Capitol LP's of the period as Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman, on a subcontracting basis.)

Also, I don't see why we can't try and attract the same sort of industry today? Maybe a CD "pressing" type plant.

As for myself, I thought it was a tragedy that then-CBS (now Sony) couldn't have hung on another year or two for it to be converted to CD manufacture -- as Pitman, NJ had been and, before that, Terre Haute, IN.

 

[W.B.]

Don't know about anyone else, but from me! One of these days we should collect all of your random bits and make a feature article out of it, which would make a great reference to point everyone to.

I think that's a good idea. All the better, so that when people see an LP or 45 pressing, they can point to it and say "Ah, that's a Monarch!" or something like that. Something on the order of the sections pertaining to the individual A&M artists, perhaps?

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Quickly glancing at my Carpenters Mono Promo 45's Most seem to be pressed with either a 'M' for Monarch Record Mfg. of Los Angeles or a 'S' for Columbia's pressing operation in Santa Maria, CA

My 3 LLP's (Little Lp's):
Now & Then is a 'T1' for Columbia's Terre Haute, IN
Close to You is also a 'T1'
The Singles 1969-1973 is a 'T2'

(What would the 1 & 2 mean after the 'T')??


Interesting enough I have 2 copies of Voice of the Heart:

One I just recently picked up was a sealed copy to find inside that it was a purple LP with a RCA in the "run-in". Which I found to sound quite amazing

the 2nd was my original one that I bought from a local record store when it was released in 1983, that one had so many skips cause I played it like heck. That one is not purple & the "run-in" is 'ESI'

I'm assuming that my 2 Voice of the Heart Lp's were pressed in diff states?

Thanks for all your time with this info, interesting read

 

[W.B.]

My 3 LLP's (Little Lp's):
Now & Then is a 'T1' for Columbia's Terre Haute, IN
Close to You is also a 'T1'
The Singles 1969-1973 is a 'T2'

(What would the 1 & 2 mean after the 'T')??

They would be the first and second lacquers, respectively, designated for Terre Haute. They do not necessarily indicate such lacquers in general, unlike pre-1970.

 

[Rudy]

Don't know about anyone else, but from me! One of these days we should collect all of your random bits and make a feature article out of it, which would make a great reference to point everyone to.

I think that's a good idea. All the better, so that when people see an LP or 45 pressing, they can point to it and say "Ah, that's a Monarch!" or something like that. Something on the order of the sections pertaining to the individual A&M artists, perhaps?

Actually, I am setting up something similar to the Editorial and Interviews selections on the left menu on the A&M Corner home page...basically the same setup, but it would be a feature article. It's quite easy to do...the "interface" for composing it is actually a forum set up like this one, but the pages themselves are displayed outside the forum. (And in fact, the news postings on our home page come from forum posts in a special private area.) That way it's easy for someone to go in and create, edit and manage their own articles in the same type of editor used to create a forum post. That would give you freedom to set up anything you'd want to.

It would only take me a half hour to set up the public page...and I've had a couple of my own articles brewing that weren't quite ready for prime time. So anytime, really...I'd finish up my articles and things would be ready to go.