I think I had jumped the gun y'all. It's so strange. I had replayed the same track at least four times yesterday before giving up because of the "scratch" at the beginning of the last song "Call me". I even prematurely wrote an email to Bluenote inquiring about this. Just browsed the other two posts on Agon about this album, but no mention of the suspected anomaly. So, I listened to the CD again this morning, and lo and behold ... NO pops.
I just took the chance to enjoy the album all over again. My favorites are "Norwegian Wood" and guess what ... "Call Me". Go figure! Thanks for your posts.