RELATED BANDS AND ARTISTS

HUDSON FORD - NICKELODEON, 1973

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The earlier releases in 1973 of this album (in UK and Europe) include "Solitude", but US and Canadian releases, delayed until Feb 1974, included the current single "Burn Baby Burn" instead.

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Tracks

Crying Blues (Hudson/Ford)
Angels (Hudson/Ford)
I Wanted You (Hudson/Ford)
Hello, I Thought You Were Dead (Hudson/Ford)
Solitude [Burn Baby Burn on US/Can versions, SP 3616] (Hudson/Ford)
Dark Lord (Hudson/Ford)

Pick Up The Pieces (Hudson/Ford)
Let Her Cry (Hudson/Ford)
Tea Leaf (To Joss) (Hudson/Ford)
Take It Back (Hudson/Ford)
I Don't Understand (Hudson/Ford)
Revelations (Hudson/Ford)

Versions

UK VINYL

UK release

Vinyl album: AMLH 68208 (A&M, UK, 1973). Single sleeve. Issued with brown A&M label, may have been re-issued at later date with silver label. Two-side insert (28cm (11 in) by 28cm, slightly smaller than album size): one side has colour pic of Hud and John, the other has the album lyrics.

Front and back of sleeve

Inner sleeve

Labels

UK silver label reissue? (*)

Haven't seen one - was there ever such a thing?

US VINYL

US release

Vinyl album: SP 3616 (A&M, US, 1974). Not 100% sure of the date here - the US album has "Burn Baby Burn" instead of "Solitude": The UK album was released in the UK in August 1973. BBB was released on single in Feb 1974, and it's thought that the US album wasn't released until then either.

Single sleeve, nearly identical to UK, except US catalogue number under A&M logo bottom left of front of sleeve, different address details on back cover and, most important, the track listing includes "Burn Baby Burn". The line about being playable on mono or stereo players is not there either.

Instead of an insert, there's an inner sleeve, with the pic on one side (with a white border) and the lyrics on the other (with different publishing details for the US) Labels are silver labels.

Back cover

Inner sleeve

Labels

There appears to be at least two variants from different pressing plants. Whilst brown label releases had really quite distinctly different labels for each pressing plant, A&M seem to have had stricter style guidelines for silver label releases, so it's harder to spot the difference just from the labels. Whilst the typography and wording is consistent, the spacing between the album title and artist name is different and the space between artist name and track listing is much deeper on variant 1, both pushing the last titles well below the spindle hole.

Given that there were usually three pressings of brown label releases, there may be other variants out there, more difficult to discern. Anyone got any others?

Monarch pressing

Pitman pressing

US promo release

Vinyl album: SP 3616 (A&M, US, 1973). Standard A&M white promo labels in two variants. Cover has US address. There may be a third variant as with other Strawbs/Hudson Ford releases.

Monarch pressing promo - sticker and labels

Pitman pressing promo - sticker and labels

This promo sticker is tiny and on the back cover.

CANADA VINYL

Canada first release

Vinyl album: SP 3616 (A&M, Canada). Silver labels with "spiky" typography, similar to Early Strawbs (1974).

Label

Canada reissue

Vinyl album: SP 3616 (A&M, Canada). Cover identical to US, except for Canadian address as well as US address on the back cover. Comes with the same insert as US (exscept there's photo credit at bottom right) and a nice light blue protective sleeve. Silver labels.

Back cover and photo credit

Insert

Labels

Canada promo (*)

Vinyl album: SP 3616 (A&M, Canada, 1973). Was there any promos of the original release?

Canada reissue promo (*)

Vinyl album: SP 3616 (A&M, Canada). Spotted online, same as above, but promo wording on label. The picture of Hud and John has a photo credit bottom right to John Thomson, as on the full release.

Back cover and insert front

Labels

EUROPE VINYL

German release

Vinyl album: A&M 87482 AT/IT (A&M/Ariola Germany, 1973). Cover identical to US/UK releases, except with Ariola details instead of UK/US address. No insert in my copy but there almost certainly was one - it was pretty standard elsewhere.

Brown labels have catalogue 87482 AT, back cover and spine have 87482 IT. The German release of Free Spirit uses the IT suffix, as does the brown original 1973 release of Bursting At The Seams (though the silver reissue of BATS,long with a few others have an ET suffix). The silver releases of Hero And Heroine and most other UK prog releases use IT. By the time of Ghosts and Nomadness, the suffix is XOT. This is the only AT suffix I can find from that period on Discogs (there are a few XATs). So I;m guessing - but can't be certain - that AT was a misprint.

Labels

Spanish release

Vinyl album: A&M 87 482 1 (A&M Spain, 1973/1974).Near identical sleeve to UK sleeve, with Spanish catalogue number at bottom centre of the back cover on the yellow grid, with Ariola/Eurodisc details below at the centre of the orange border.

To the left of this is "T.G. Hostench, S.A. Corcega, 231-233, Barcelona (11) 1974" - no idea what this is - sleeve manufacture maybe? And not clear whether this indicates the Spanish version didn't come out in 1973 but 1974 instead. The fact that the album has silver labels suggests it may have come out later than the UK album (but before the US release in Feb 1974 (in whch case it might well have had "Burn Baby Burn" rather than "Solitude").

Labels

Yugoslavian release

Vinyl album: LSAM-70612 (Jugoton, Yugoslavia, 1974) Almost identical to UK issue except for Jugoton "badge" on front and back cover. Some very small printing towards bottom of back cover: "YUGOTON - PODUZECE ZA IZRADU GRAMOFONSKI PLOCA ZAGREB - DUBRAVA Made in Yugoslavia - Offsetni tisak - NASA DJECA Zagreb". According my trusty Serbo-Croat translator, "Yugoton - Company for making LPs"! Offsetni tisak is offset printing.

No lyrics inner sleeve or insert in my copy.

Front and back cover

Labels

ASIA PACIFIC VINYL

Australian release

Vinyl album: L35094 (cover/spine)/L35,094(label) (A&M, Aus, 1974). The cover is made from very light card. The front cover seems identical to the UK release. On the back cover there's an Australian catalogue number "L35094" next to the word "Nickelodeon" (with the number "68208" below in brackets). After the credits (which replicate the UK edition up to "Dan Fern") there are Australian publishing details. The wording at he bottom of the back cover on the UK edition about stereo records being playable ioon mono players does not appear.

Silver labels. My copy had no insert, not certain whether there was one.

Japanese release

Vinyl album: AML 206 (A&M/King Records, Japan, 1974) Like UK release, includes "Solitude" not "Burn Baby Burn".

Outer cover has Japanese cat no (and US cat no) at bottom left of front cover. On the back after the A&M UK address, UK printing details omitted and replaced with "Distributed by King Record Co. Ltd Japan". In the red border at bottom left of the back cover, "Made in Japan Y 2,300".

The inner sleeve (not pictured) is the same as the US/Canadian offerings (referring to US/Can publishers) except with the Japanese cat no at the bottom of lyrics side of inner sleeve instead of the US number.

There's also a Japanese language 2-sided insert, with lyrics in Japanese and a Japanese language article called "Burning The Earth Of Pop", which references both "Burn Baby Burn", released in 1974 (even though this is a "Solitude" release and BBB is not included) and "Don't Want To Be A Star" which appreared on the next album. There also a "(p) 1974" at the foot of the first column of text under the credits, which reinforces that this was not released until 1974.

As usual with King releases there's a Japanese language insert - single sheet, 2-sided - with sleeve notes and lyrics.

Cover

Cover with obi (Obi *)

My copy has no obi.

Labels

Insert

Japanese promo ??

It's certainly possible that there might have been a promo release (most A&M Strawbs albums had one). Anyone ever seen one?

OTHER VINYL

Brazilian release

Vinyl album: SA&M 2126 (A&M/Odeon, Brazil, 1974) . Sleeve and inner sleeve nearly identical to US release, with "Burn Baby Burn" included instead of "Solitude" Bottom right of back sleeve has manufacturing details, Brazilian cat no at top right oflyrics side of inner sleeve.

Labels

South African release

Vinyl album: AMLS 68208 (A&M, SA, 1973). The cover front is laminated (though the back cover is not) and is the same as UK release. The back cover has an additional line of underlined text at the bottom warning against illicit reproduction and the catalog number at bottom right of back cover is AMLS not AMLH. There's an Interpak logo bottom left. Brown A&M labels.

CASSETTE & 8-TRACK

UK release

Cassette: ZCAM 68208 (A&M, UK, 1973). Precision Tapes release, with running order different from LP (but same as 8-track release below), including "This Is Not The Way To End A War") and "Solitude" rather than "Burn Baby Burn".

Running Order

Side 1
Crying Blues
Let Her Cry
Hello I Thought You Were Dead
Solitude
Take It Back
Dark Lord

Side 2
Angels
I Wanted You
Tea Leaf (To Joss)
This Is Not The Way To End A War
Pick Up The Pieces
I Don't Understand
Revelations

Outer cover

Cassette labels

UK CAM reissue (?)

Precision Tapes stopped doing A&M's cassettes in 1973 or 1974, after which many titles were reissued by A&M themselves. Was Nickelodeon reissued with a CAM prefix and the correct LP running order?

UK 8-track release

8-track: Y8AM 68208 (A&M, UK, 1973). Listed on Discogs. Like the UK LP release it includes "Solitude" rather than "Burn Baby Buren", but surprisingly also includes the B-side of "Pick Up The Pieces" - "This Is Not The Way (To End A War Or To Die)" - hitherto unreleased other than as the B-side of "Pick Up The Pieces" and also on the UK cassette, but never on LP vinyl and not on CD until 2016's A&M Years boxed set.

Running order

Program 1
Crying Blues
Let Her Cry
Hello I Thought You Were Dead
Solitude

Program 2
Take It Back
Dark Lord

Program 3
Angels
I Wanted You
Tea Leaf (To Joss)
This Is Not The Way

Program 4
Pick Up The Pieces
I Don't Understand
Revelations

Labels etc.

SA release

Cassette: ZCAM 68208 (A&M, UK, 1973). Same catalogue number as UK release would have been, but this was distributed by RPM (Pty) Limited, so it's a South African release. Inner cover is blank. Minimal paper labels.

Running Order

The running order is quite different from the LP, but follows the UK 8-track above (apart from omitting "This Is Not The Way To End A War"). "Solitude" is included rather than "Burn Baby Burn".

Side 1
Crying Blues
Let Her Cry
Hello I Thought You Were Dead
Solitude
Take It Back
Dark Lord

Side 2
Angels
I Wanted You
Tea Leaf (To Joss)
Pick Up The Pieces
I Don't Understand
Revelations

Outer cover

Cassette labels

UK release

Nickelodeon is now available on CD as a legitimate release as part of Hudson Ford - The A&M Years boxed set, released May 2017, wth bonus tracks and excellent packaging..

Box

Back of card sleeve and CD

Spanish bootleg CD release

CD bootleg: RDI 33053 (RDI, Spain, 2009).. Bootleg release, no bonus tracks. All four Hudson Ford releases came out as unauthorised bootleg CDs, produced in Spain by Retrodisk International. Packaging designed to match closely the original releases, insert is minimal, the outer modelled on front and back covers of original UK LP releases, with a standard biography in the centre. The CDs themselves are ugly and metallic.

Please do not buy these bootleg releases - the A&M albums are now available as a legitimate release as part of Hudson Ford - The A&M Years boxed set, released May 2017, wth bonus tracks and superior packaging.

Insert, inner and outer

Tray outer and inner

Big Pink (query bootleg) Korean CD release

CD: Big Pink 399 (Big Pink, Korea, 2015)..

Facsimile release from Korea. Outer sleeve matches UK release, comes with an Obi, which is got up to look transparent over the gid-based sleeve and side decorations. Inside, the very plainly designed CD has a paper inner sleeve like an old fashioned 33 rpm LP (nice touch: it quotes playing speed as 200-500 rpm). Also included is a 2-sided lyric sheet and a 1-sided set of Korean sleeve notes.

It is not clear whether this release is authorised.

Obi, CD and inner sleeve

Insert

Big Pink (query bootleg) Japanese CD release

CD: VSCD 5648/Big Pink 399 (Vivid/Big Pink, Japan, 2016?). All three A&M albums were released on CD by Big Pink in South Korea, and, with very similar packaging but different obis, in Japan by Big Pink Japan.

Cover and Obi