Vinyl Icons

ORIGINAL VINYL LP
Bridge Over Troubled Water was released in January 1970. In the US [Columbia KCS 9914] the inner sleeve featured an ad for Simon & Garfunkel songbooks. One pressing later that year arrived with a sticker that read 'Featuring The Smash Hit "Cecilia"', but in a misprint there was no lettering on the record labels. The UK version on CBS [S 63699, KCS 9914] came with a more typical inner sleeve advertising other CBS releases.

Prompted by the inclusion of the Andean tune 'El Condor Pasa' a pressing was made for the Bolivian market with that song used as the album's title [CBS 50099]. Another curio was the Singaporean version, which featured the same lettering font as the standard front cover but carried a different photo of Simon & Garfunkel.

The Spanish 1970 version had the title and record label details translated as Puente Sobras Aguas Turbulantas [CBS S-63699] as did pressings released in Chile [CBS 121.007] and in Argentina, which was in mono [CBS 8.998].

Quadraphonic LPs were released in 1972 in the US and Canada, although not in the UK. These had gold labels and came in a sleeve with a gold border around the cover photo [pictured above] with an ad for quadraphonic audio equipment on the inner sleeve [Columbia CQ 30995].

CASSETTE AND 8-TRACK
The American 8-track cartridge was released in 1970 on Columbia in a red shell [18 10 0750] and in the UK on CBS [42-63699] in white. Two years later a quadraphonic 8-track cartridge came out in the USA on Columbia [CAQ 30995].

As for cassette versions, these were released in 1970 with orange labels and a white shell in the UK and with black shells and orange and yellow labels in the US, both on CBS [40-63699].

FIRST CD
The first CD of Bridge Over Troubled Water appeared in Japan in 1982 with a grey/green obi-strip [CBS/Sony 35DP 14], and this was followed by a European release in 1984 [CBS CDCBS 63699]. The US and Canadian CDs finally came in 1985 on Columbia [CK 9914].

A remastered CD appeared in 1993 as a limited edition gold disc on Columbia/Legacy [CK 53444] and on that label in Europe the same year [01-480418-100] but on Sony in Japan [SRCS 6768].

In 1999 a special 'Millennium Edition' CD was released in the UK and boasted a facsimile LP cover within a protective sleeve, with fold-out lyric sheets and, unusually, an Obi-strip [Columbia MILLEN2, 4952142000]. A US 2001 edition, remastered by Vic Anesini, then came out on Columbia/Legacy with two bonus tracks: 'Feuilles-O' and 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' demos [CK 66004].

The first Japanese 'paper sleeve' version was released in limited edition with an orange obi-strip, and an insert with song lyrics and liner notes in Japanese [Sony Records International MHCP 96].

SPECIAL EDITIONS
A 2CD and single DVD set came out in the UK and Europe in 2011 on Columbia/Legacy comprising the original album and a second CD with the same tracks as a concert recording, 'Live 1969', which first saw the light of day on a CD in 2008. The DVD consists of a 1969 TV movie Songs Of America and a documentary The Harmony Game describing the recording of Bridge Over Troubled Water.

A 12-page booklet was also included [88697828292]. The US edition came out that year in a CD and DVD Digipak but without 'Live 1969' [Columbia/Legacy/Sony 886978272423 / 88697 82724 2].

AUDIOPHILE VINYL
In 1980, a half-speed remastered version was released in the CBS Mastersound series in the US [Columbia, HC 49914] and in Europe on CBS [CBSH 63699]. In 1984, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in conjunction with Columbia released Bridge Over Troubled Water in its Original Master series in the US, pressed on 'high definition' vinyl by JVC in Japan [MFSL 1-173].

The album was released in a particularly unusual format in the US in 1999 on four one-sided 45rpm discs on 180g vinyl [Classic Records/Columbia, KCS 9914]. That same year saw the release in the US of the LP on 200g Clarity SV-P11 super vinyl on Classic Records [KCS-9914]. In 2009 Music On Vinyl released a 180g LP for European territories through Sony's Legacy label [MOVLP046/ 4624881000].

Finally, to celebrate the album's 50th anniversary this year, CBS/Sony has announced it will be releasing a limited edition LP on 180g gold-coloured vinyl [pictured below] featuring the original red Columbia label [19439723771].