Springsteenlyrics.com

As far as I know, there are at least 5 versions of the Canada vinyl pressing of Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J..
(save the image or open it in a new tab to zoom in)

Version 1:
- Catalog number "KC 31903"
- "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." on two lines on labels
- Fold-out postcard sleeve
Discogs

Version 2:
- Catalog number "KC 31903"
- "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." on one line on labels
- Gatefold sleeve
My copy | Discogs

Version 3:
- Catalog number "PC 31903"
- "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." on one line on labels
- Gatefold sleeve
My copy | Discogs

Version 4:
- Catalog number "WPC 31903"
- Regular sleeve
My copy | cgfesp's copy below | Discogs

Version 5:
- Catalog number "XPC 31903"
- Fold-out postcard sleeve with barcode
Discogs


Export copies:
I've seen export copies of version 3 with "Sounds-Express" stickers masking all references to Columbia on the cover and on the labels. Up to 1990, EMI Records Ltd. owned the international rights to the Columbia trademark, so distributors had to mask all "Columbia" logos and references for legal reasons.
My copy

Notes:
- I think I listed all the versions in the correct chronological order
- Please have a look at your copies and tell me if you have one that's any different from the ones I listed.
- I need confirmation of all what is marked in red. Please compare with your copies.
- Lost In The Flood also lists catalog number CBS JC 31903, but I've never seen such a copy. Only U.S. issues.
- All copies of Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle, and The River that I have with "Sounds-Express" stickers were bought in Switzerland. "Sounds-Express" may very well be a Swiss distributor.

(edit: some of the information in the below post have been corrected by a later post by cgfesp)

Observation:

As we've always known, the first issues of the Canadian pressing came in a full gatefold sleeve (which is unique to Canada) and later reissues came in the well-known fold-out postcard sleeve. However, observing the versions with catalog numbers KC 31903 and PC KC 31903 makes me doubt that. It seems that the first pressing came in a fold-out postcard sleeve, soon after they changed to gatefold sleeve, and later pressing used the fold-out postcard sleeve again.

We all agree that, in chronological order, the catalogue numbers are KC 31903, PC 31903, WPC 31903, XPC 31903. Assuming that there are no other versions than the five listed above, there are two variants of KC 31903 and one variant of PC 31903. Logically, the KC 31903 label that is similar to the PC 31903 label must be the second pressing. The first pressing would be the KC 31903 label that is different from the PC 31903 label.

1) KC 31903 (first pressing) >>> postcard sleeve
2) KC 31903 (second pressing) >>> gatefold sleeve
3) PC 31903 >>> gatefold sleeve
4) WPC 31903 >>> postcard sleeve
5) XPC 31903 >>> postcard sleeve

Do you know when in the 80's the reissue XPC 31903 appeared ?

By the way, typo at line 5 in your last listing:

5) WPC 31903 >>> postcard sleeve => 5) XPC 31903 >>> postcard sleeve

vzell wrote:Do you know when in the 80's the reissue XPC 31903 appeared ?

By the way, typo at line 5 in your last listing:

5) WPC 31903 >>> postcard sleeve => 5) XPC 31903 >>> postcard sleeve

Thank you for alerting me about the typo. Post corrected.

As for your question, that's a tough one. First, in "XPC", "PC" is the price code (see this discussion), but I have no idea what "X" (or "W") indicates. Note that the Canadian pressing of The River has catalogue number "XPC2 36854" (the "2" indicates two discs). So the "X" is not specific to a period.

In the above five label variants, you will notice that only the last one (XPC 31903) has "STEREO" on the right side, while the others have it on the left side. By looking at Canadian pressings of some Springsteen and non-Springsteen albums, I concluded that this transition happened sometime between 1985 and 1986. See below examples: So, based on that, I would say that the XPC reissue is from 1986 or later. It should be noted that in 1986 Columbia pressings in Canada started to have a barcode on the rear sleeve. The XPC reissue of Greetings is the only one with a barcode.

And one more observation. You will see that there's the following text at the bottom of the first four labels:
MANUFACTURED BY CBS RECORDS CANDA LTD. REG. T.M. OWNER " "COLUMBIA"
This text has always been used on Canadian pressings since the mid-70's (even earlier). But this "XPC" reissue of Greetings has something particular. Instead of the above-mentioned text, it has the following:
"COLUMBIA" MARCAS REG. MADE IN CANADA
Similar text is found on US pressings. Could it be that the "XPC" reissue is a US pressing for the Canadian market? I would like to see another Canadian pressing (of any artist) with that same text.

I have a copy of version 4. It has a normal sleeve, not fold-out postcard, with a lyrics insert.
The insert is a thin sheet of paper with part of the lyrics on one side and the back postcard in the other side of the sheet.

Pictures of the lyrics insert

cgfesp wrote:I have a copy of version 4. It has a normal sleeve, not fold-out postcard, with a lyrics insert.
The insert is a thin sheet of paper with part of the lyrics on one side and the back postcard in the other side of the sheet.

Thank you! I corrected (and completely overhauled) the original post accordingly.