BOB DYLAN/HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED BPG 62572 (-65) UK MONO

This post is for vinyl techies and anoraks only. Continuing the struggle with my Dylan UK sixties issues trying to establish what kind of press they are and which came first, but it's almost impossible. The early ones come with a variety of different cover features, label differences and types of matrix numbers. Luckily I got some help with this one from Alan Fraser, one of the men behind "Searching For A Gem" - the ultimate site on all Dylan releases world wide. Usual for all initial presses are structured labels with "33", heavy vinyl and thick lined boxes around logo on label and cover. They show up with any of three matrix number settings. Most common is the stamped record number BPG 62572. There are also two kinds without the BPG prefix. One an EMI contract press with the stamped EMI types including mother/stampers at nine and three o'clock. The other has the number stamped "upside down" without the mother/stampers, so I assume it's somekind of Fontana/Philips contract press. Covers are laminated with two flaps. It is also supposed the earliest came with unboxed song titles on rear. There's a lot more, but these seems to be the main features. This has most of the signs for a first press mentioned above, including the assumed Fontana/Philips press "upside down" matrix number 62572-1A-1/62572-1B-1. Two things differ though - the cover "Printed and made by Garrods & Lofthouse Ltd. Patents pending" has three flaps, and the song titles are boxed. So I didn't get it all right this time. Mostly UK sixties issues are very reliable and for many of them you can establish timeline and number of pressing exactly. Obviously that is not the case with Bob Dylan. To quote Alan Fraser - " I realised a long time ago that no Dylan album that has survived from the 1960s will be identical to any other!". That's disturbing for a nerd like me, but also challenging and I'm not giving up yet. Pics below are from this particular copy. It is now also listed as "variant 4" in the "Searching For A Gem" itemization of the album. http://www.searchingforagem.com/1960s/MonoLPs006.htm (SYSÖ*) (BÖB*)