Among collectors, Camden records don't always get the love these budget albums deserve.
Flaming Star is undoubtedly in my top 10 most-played Elvis records because it's one of the first records I ever bought (my very first version was on cassette) and contains such a wonderful collection of songs. To me, even after hearing the record probably a few thousand times, it remains an enjoyable listening experience.
For fun, let's zoom in on the
US pressings currently in my collection. This budget LP also has several variations that allows you to date its release roughly. First, the October 1968 release of
Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star And Others has a brownish/tan label, probably because it was a sponsored release at the time. The record comes in the standard 21-112-1 40D (red/pink) inner sleeve and includes a bonus photo for 1968.
In 1969, RCA also released the record as a "first pressing" on the Camden label. You can easily tell if you have a first pressing of the RCA version. Both the Hollywood and Rockaway plants pressed the record on outdated machines (which were phased out in 1970). Records from these machines feature a label with a "deep groove," an inner ring like most Elvis records of the 1960s.
Pictured below, on the left is the first Hollywood pressing from April 1969, also in a 40D inner sleeve, and on the right is the Rockaway pressing in the generic RCA Victor inner sleeve used by the Rockaway plant around 1969 and 1970.
In 1970 most of the production of the album moved to the Indianapolis plant which pressed new batches of
Flaming Star on newer machines which produced a Flat Label. It caught me by surprise that I do NOT have the 1970 Indianapolis pressing with Flat Blue Camden Label on Rigid Vinyl in my collection yet.
I started a search to fill that gap instantly but where
Elvisrecords.com states that the flex is (probably) the rarest of all
Flaming Star pressings upon searching all flat labels in the required condition I came across were flexes.
From 1970 on the Camdens were increasingly distributed in generic plain white sleeves, so I was really surprised to find this post-1971 reissue of
Flaming Star with Flat Blue Camden Label on Flexible Vinyl with an June 1975 Elvis LP catalog inner sleeve ( 21-112-1 pt 54D), pictured above, left. Was that inner sleeve original or did a professional seller add the sleeve? Difficult to say for sure but I bought the record of a private seller who had just a few Elvis records for sale, and I did see combinations of Camden records with mid-seventies inner sleeves with other sellers as well so could be authentically distributed like that. I hold it to be an original combination.
If this copy was from June 1975, it was issued months before
Pickwick in December 1975 did a mass reissue of the record on the Pickwick label (right). The Pickwick edition (pictured above, right) is in a printed inner sleeve I did not see before with Elvis releases on the Pickwick label. Usually, these reissues have either a white inner sleeve with a big P design (in Blue or Black) printed on both sides, plain white or no inner sleeves at all. This inner sleeve is a generic inner sleeve with some text about the Pickwick label printed on it. These inner sleeves are no big deal, nor do these add value, but it shows there are a lot of variations regarding these Camden releases. BTW, really love the
Super Sounds Super Savings hype sticker on the shrink wrap!
Nice one, very nice.