The GIST
ESP-Disk' released 130 individual titles during it's 1964-1975 existence. 109 on LP (which includes 1 promo only sampler that was included with a Billie Holiday LP) and 21 singles. A test pressing of 8 short commercials is listed below as well but not included as it was never commercially released. Their were 6 different addresses connected to the label during this period . Below you will see them broken down by year and matrix number to help determine pressing dates. Record label matrix numbers and pressing dates can be very confusing. The label might have a release date on paper and a matrix number assigned to the particular release and even have it advertised but then have to postpone the album months or even years for reasons beyond their control. Recordings and or album art can be delayed, pressing plant mistakes, artists disband and deals fall through. For this reason things may not seem to be in sequential order. Also many labels will press up double the amount of sleeves as they do vinyl as a way to save money anticipating that they will eventually repress the vinyl. This can result in a sleeve address not matching a repressed vinyl label address if the label has relocated between pressings. ESP was pretty notorious for all of the above.
PRESSING INFORMATION
It is understood that most releases were pressed in the smallest number that the pressing plant would allow which was 500. Some larger titles I can imagine were pressed in larger quantities as the label grew and could anticipate larger sales for artists such as Pearls Before Swine or the Fugs that both hit the Billboard Top 200. Many were pressed on Stereo and Mono which one can assume were made in separate pressings of 500 each (this has not been confirmed). Also one can make the assumption that if you see 3 different cover variations or vinyl label variations that is has been at least repressed 3 times. Using this logic one can make the assumption that some titles (William Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Karl Berger, etc) were all single pressings of 500. Where as Albert Ayler's Bells (which has dozens of variations) and The Fugs and Pearls Before Swine (which were claimed to have been bootlegged by the pressing plant, something that will perhaps never be proven or confirmed) likely sold thousands in order to reach the Billboard Charts. Below I have made very general estimations based on the data I have collected over the last 12+ years. Currently all titles below feature the first album art pressed. I have all the other variations and labels but not the hours it would take to build 109 individual pages to display them. I also have hundreds of other artifacts to include (memborabilia, posters, catalogs, buttons, repressings, etc). If anyone would like to volunteer to do web work please get in touch. All will soon be included in a book in the near future. Thank you all for your contributions over the years and please feel free to contact me with any addtions, corrections or questions. -Paul Costuros -- costuros@gmail.com November 2012. It is also understood that most early pressings had black and white labels and were not meant to be "white label promos"