Warner Bros. Records · 1973–1978
Warner Bros. Burbank palm-tree vinyl labels.
How to identify one.
From spring 1973 until late 1978, US Warner Bros. LPs came on a label printed with a photo of a palm-lined street and the words BURBANK, HOME OF WARNER BROS. RECORDS curving across the top. It is the first-pressing label for Van Halen's 1978 debut, and it sits between two easier designs to spot: the solid green label before it and the cream label with a large WB shield after it.
01
What to look for on the label
The rim text narrows the date inside the palm-tree years. Discogs' Warner Bros. label notes, which cite Joe Lindsay's Record Label Guide, put palm-tree labels with no street address on catalog numbers up to about 2865, and labels with the 3300 Warner Blvd. address on later numbers through about 3180. Warner Communications wording and the W logo on the rim mean the label was printed in the second half of 1975 or later. Big sellers moved to the cream label quickly: Discogs notes Van Halen switched about six months after release.
- Palm-lined street photo. A full-color photo of a tree-lined Burbank street fills the label, with BURBANK, HOME OF WARNER BROS. RECORDS around the top edge and a small WB shield above the title.
- Rim text that changed mid-run. Early palm-tree labels (1973 to mid-1975) have no Warner Communications mention. Later ones read 'Warner Bros. Records Inc. · a subsidiary and licensee of Warner Bros. Inc. · 3300 Warner Blvd., Burbank, Calif.' and 'a Warner Communications Company' with the W logo, as on the Van Halen first pressing (BSK 3075).
- Solid green label before it. Green labels with the WB shield ran from 1970 into early 1973. Discogs lists the Doobie Brothers' The Captain and Me (BS 2694, March 1973) as a first press on the solid green label; palm trees start appearing from about catalog number 2693.
- Cream label after it. From the third quarter of 1978, Warner used a cream label with faint horizontal lines and a large WB shield with a RECORDS banner. Van Halen II (HS 3312, 1979) and Fair Warning (HS 3540, 1981) were issued on it, and so were later pressings of palm-tree titles.
- Custom labels skip the house design. Fleetwood Mac's Tusk (2HS 3350, 1979) came on a speckled custom label that matches the jacket. An original Tusk has neither palm trees nor the plain cream label.
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What the label does not prove
A period-correct label narrows the search. It does not replace the album-specific matrix, jacket, and format checks.
- Calling a cream-label Van Halen a first pressing. The debut started on palm trees and moved to the cream WB label after about six months.
- Treating palm trees on a 1973–74 album as an original when the rim carries Warner Communications wording. That text dates the label to mid-1975 or later.
- Expecting palm trees on every 1970s Warner album. Titles released before spring 1973 started on green labels, and custom-label releases like Tusk never used it.
- Reading the catalog number as a date. Repressings keep the original BS, BSK or HS number, so the label design and rim text do the dating.
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Albums found on the Warner Bros. Burbank palm-tree label
These album-specific guides show how the shared label clue combines with a catalog number, matrix, jacket, and value range.
1978 · BSK 3075
Van Halen — Van Halen
VG+ originals: $10–$20
Check this album1979 · 2HS 3350
Fleetwood Mac — Tusk
VG+ originals: $10–$18
Check this album1981 · HS 3540
Van Halen — Fair Warning
VG+ originals: $8–$18
Check this albumDeeper pressing guides
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A four-step check for your copy
- Identify the label: solid green, palm-tree street photo, cream with fine horizontal lines, or a custom design.
- Read the bottom rim: no address, the 3300 Warner Blvd. address, and whether Warner Communications wording and the W logo appear.
- Check the catalog number against the album's release year. Palm trees fit original issues numbered from about 2693 to 3180.
- Copy the matrix and plant mark from both sides of the dead wax, such as a star for Capitol's Los Angeles plant or a rifle symbol for Winchester, and compare them with the album's Discogs entries.
Keep checking the shelf
Compare another label family.
The same visual method works across the rest of the shelf.
roughly 1955–1962
Columbia six-eye
Identify a Columbia six-eye pressing by its six walking-eye marks, catalog prefix, label text, and dead-wax matrix—then check album-specific details.
Check this pressing
roughly 1962–1970
Columbia two-eye
Identify a Columbia two-eye pressing from its two walking-eye logos, 360 Sound text, catalog prefix, and dead-wax matrix variations.
Check this pressing
mid-1960s–early 1970s
Atlantic red and plum
Identify Atlantic red-and-plum LP pressings by label layout, catalog number, address and rim text, pressing-plant marks, and matrix details.
Check this pressingA few questions
The ones that come up.
Discogs' Warner Bros. label profile dates the Burbank palm-tree label from March or April 1973 to the third quarter of 1978. The solid green WB label came before it; a cream label with fine horizontal lines and a large WB shield came after.
For Van Halen (BSK 3075, 1978), the palm-tree label is the first-pressing label, and Discogs notes the album moved to the cream WB label after about six months. Matrix strings and plant marks then tell you which plant pressed your copy.
Tusk (2HS 3350) was issued on a speckled custom label designed to match the jacket. It still carries the WB shield and Warner rim text, but not the palm trees or the plain cream design.
Usually $10 to $25. Discogs medians for the two most common first-pressing entries were about $15 and $20 in October 2026. Clean copies with the inner sleeve sell above that; worn copies sell for less.
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