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Curious record side labeling

Do any of the jazz gurus on here know why some double-set records have this curious side labeling where record 1 has sides A and D, and record 2 sides B and C? It does not make much sense to me, and I wonder what purpose it serves other than to confuse the listener. I noticed this with a couple of Coltrane records from the '60s, recently with "The Other Village Vanguard Tapes."
actusreus

Showing 2 responses by larryi

larryi
4,188 posts
 
The only advantage to automatic sequencing is that it can be handy for listening to some operas. There are a few that have interesting opening material and great endings with a lot of "filler" in the middle. If you can just flip over a record to go from side 1 to 4 or 1 to 6 or 1 to 8, that might be an advantage--I might do that with, for example, Der Rosenkavalier."
larryi
4,188 posts
 
I can recall a few nightmare scenarios with a record changer. A friend had one and we were listening to some records. When we heard the same album being replayed, it was time to panic. That meant that the next record in series had not fallen completely (i.e., it was hung up) so the arm returned to playing the same record it had just played. The next record could be just barely hanging on, waiting to drop and sandwich the tonearm.
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