Second Deacon EP surfaces - now it gets interesting!

A long while ago, I was impressed by the discovery of a 7-inch EP on the Deacon label. I wrote a blog post about it way back when (see here), but have found out a bit more since then, and also managed to bag a copy of my own. And there, I contentedly let the matter rest. But this week I was contacted by collector, Lester Monks, with scans of a familiar looking EP, or so it seemed:

Ah yes, I thought. I know all about this one - DEA 5023, containing tracks from Deacon's Pick of the Pops volume 4, of summer 1970. But then I did a double take. Lester has in fact turned up a completely new EP on the same label. Here are some spruced up images:

The catalogue number is DEA 5022 - one before the other EP. And get this - 5023 contains tracks 9, 10, 11 and 12 from the parent album; this one has 5, 6, 7 and 8 from the same LP. In other words, the two EPs taken together contain two thirds of the LP, with the tracks in the same order. So... what's the betting there is a third disc out there, numbered 5021 and containing tracks 1-4? I'd say the odds were pretty high.

So, how have these EPs managed to slip under the radar for so long? Presumably because they are rarer than hen's teeth, but nevertheless, this new find features no less a luminary than Elton John - and yet it's completely undocumented! 

For those interested, Elton can be heard singing lead on "In The Summertime" and "Lola", and tackles backing vocals on the other two recordings. This ought to be a celebrated rarity among Elton collectors, commanding a staggeringly high price. So be it - their loss is Lester's gain!

Thanks again to Lester for the scans - what a brilliant find.

Oh - one last point: both EPs are called "volume 2", while the LP, the second in the series, was called "volume 4". What's that all about, then?...