A bit doubtful, this one. There's no label identification on the sleeve of an EP offering eight poems from 'The Inn Of The Birds' by Anthony Rye, sung by Alvar Lidell with piano accompaniment by Haward Clarke, and its labels are white with just the speed, the appropriate side and the word 'Stereo' on them, as the scan shows. The only clue to its origins is the matrix number in the run-off, which is RRE-100. The RRE-100 numerical series, with an 'S' at the front for later stereo records, was used by label called Rare Recorded Editions, which was run by Michael G. Thomas and which had an esoteric catalogue of unusual Classical / Light Music items. It seems to have operated from around 1970 into the early '80s. An advert in 'Gramophone' magazine for June 1974 mentioned that SSREs 135, 139, 140 and 141/2 were now available via mail order from premises in Lymington Road, Hampstead, London, and that a list of 'Rare operas, vocal, orchestral and piano rarities' was available on request. Catalogue numbers reached SRRE-195, suggesting that there were at least ninety-five releases. The only ones that I have managed to track down were albums, and their rarity suggests that they were pressed in relatively small quantities. Proper printed labels were the norm.
The case for the EP being a Rare Recorded Editions product - presumably its first, going by the number - is basically that its matrix number fits into the label's series, its contents fit into the 'Specialist Records' tag of the company's advert, and the style of the matrix number indicates a Pye pressing - Pye pressed at least one early Rare Recorded Editions LP, SRRE-109, so we know that the company did business with them. The pressing marks give us a 'not after' date: that 'raised platform' around the spindle hole appeared on Pye singles in the 1960s and disappeared in June 1971. The stereo nature of the EP suggests a date in the '70s, as stereo 7" records were in a minority in the '60s; in addition RRE-100 being from 1970 or 1971 fits fairly believably with SRREs-139 to 141 coming out in the middle of 1974. On those admittedly flimsy grounds I've decided to allow Rare Recorded Editions a page on this site. If anyone can provide evidence to support or cast doubt on that decision I'd be pleased to hear from them.
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