Deadwax inscription ID's needed

Not on the Beatles, but on one of my UK copies of DSOTM:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (-10/-9 HTM, all inserts) UK EMI Harvest SHVL 804
Side One: SHVL 804 A - 10 .......... g M (3 o’clock, g is hand-written) ..... 1 (at 9 o’clock) .......... Harry
Side Two: SHVL 804 B - 9 .......... A P A (3 o’clock) ..... nothing (at 9 o’clock) .......... HTM

 

Interesting. The US version of "Love Songs" was sourced from the '60s Capitol tapes (ie: Duophonic master for "Yes It Is"). If Harry Moss cut this for the UK, he must have used the original UK tapes then, making this version actually worth owning.

 

this is in the dead wax of Alice Cooper's Killer



here's a Black Sabbath Vol 4 Porky



and a Led Zeppelin II RL

 

A rare variation of then-RCA Chicago mastering engineer Randy Kling's signature, I see. I've some of the 45's he cut and I never saw his signature this way.

 

I've never seen a 'Kling' spelled out like that, either.

 

I believe my copy of 'Killer' is like that too. I gotta check, though.

 

My Canadian Kinney original "Killer" has the more common variation of Randy's signature.

 

I was just wondering - did Arnie Acosta work at Masterdisk? Cause I have a Canadian pressing of "Strange Animal" by Gowan that has his "AA" signature next to the Masterdisk stamp.

 

I have a copy of Steely Dan Gold on MCA from 1982 that has RL in the dead wax. Is it possible that Bob Ludwig could have worked on that LP?

 

Yep, it's like that!

 

Here is the latest Randy Kling signature in the deadwax of Ryan Adams '29' LP.

JG

 

Here is Steve Rooke (Abbey Road) signature on Graham Parker's Mona Lisa's Sister and Paul McCartney's Wings reissue Band On The Run.

JG

 

Here is Wes Garland's (Nashville Record Productions) signature on a lot of Sundazed LPs.

JG

 

Of course, He did lots of stuff. I think he's credited on that one.

 

Thanks - I wasn't sure if he only worked for one label, or how that worked.

 

Most mastering engineers and houses worked on whatever they got hired to work on, regardless of label. This was even true for the mastering houses that were actual subsidiaries of labels, such as early Masterdisk (owned by Mercury in the early years), Capitol, RCA, and MCA Whitney...

 

Yes.

P.S. I also have a copy of "Steely Dan Gold", but it is a Canadian pressing. My copy has an "MS" next to Bob Ludwig's signature. Who is "MS" or what does it stand for?

 

Thank you for posting the pic and decrypting it. I have a slew of WG/NRP pressings and had no idea who was the mastering engineer. The copies I own all have a 'u' in a circle for United, also based in Nashville, which is the pressing plant. Unfortunately, it is more times than not, a sign of a record that will not sound too terribly impressive.

 

Re: SM1 etc..

I've always assumed these to be some sort of pressing plant and/or metalwork identifier, of little importance except I'd assume those marked SM1 are earlier generation to those SM2.. it really doesn't have the finesse to be a mastering mark. However, there is a Steve Marcussen who cuts discs. Any credits on the disc covers or inserts?

Compare the mother/stamper marks often found on other albums.. 1-1, 1-2 and so on. These are not definitive, as again the manufacture was so spread out in location these marks don't mean much in the grand scheme. I suspect they're only valid for the one pressing run.. e.g. a set could be made in 1975 labeled 1-1 and 1-2 and there might be a completely different set from 1978 with the same marks. Or maybe not.

 

The small "H" on Side 1 meant that the stamper was originally used by Columbia's Hollywood pressing plant (on Alden Avenue), which closed some time in 1964; the other designation on both sides, actually "SM1," indicated this was a Santa Maria, CA pressing. It sounds like the lacquers were cut by Columbia's Hollywood studios at Columbia Square; between 1963 and 1966 many of that studio's lacquers used the same machine-stamped type (whose readability was positioned within 12 o'clock) as used by New York and (since 1963) Chicago. Perhaps the last machine-stamped lacquer to come from Hollywood was of The Byrds' "Eight Miles High" single (Columbia 4-43578, 1966).

 

This question is about present-day reissues. On a quite a few of them, in the deadwax, I've seen two pairs of initials next to each other, GI and RM, often accompanied by the "Mastered by Capitol" stamp. RM is obviously Ron McMaster but who or what is GI? I've searched very hard and can't find an answer.