Anyone know which of the releases of Jimmy Delphs "Almost" came out fist please?

Jimmy Delphs - Almost/I've Been Fooled Before (Carla 2535)

Jimmy Delphs - Almost/Don't Sign The Paper Baby (Karen1538)

The Carla release seems a little harder than the Karen one - although both are pretty common.

Cheers

Richard

Don't know which came first but Manship has both for £20 i think when i last looked.Me i prefere the Betty Lavette version on Karen which i think is slightly rarer than the Jimmy

The Karen release is march 68 (according to delta number) would have thought Carla first? but my copy is vinyl. prefer it on Carla for the excellent flip "I've Been Fooled Before" maybe "Almost" was the B side in one or both cases?

also agree with above poster, I prefer Betty's take myself but that's just coz it's Betty!

steve

From research I did years ago about the local Detroit radio charts during the '67 riot, I know that "Almost" was a big local hit in late July 1967, so Carla must have preceded Karen by many months.

-1967

- 1968

Both of these have the same Matrix on the "ALMOST" side "CAR-12290-1"

From research I did years ago about the local Detroit radio charts during the '67 riot, I know that "Almost" was a big local hit in late July 1967, so Carla must have preceded Karen by many months.

Thanks Matt - excellent info

Carla -1967

Karen - 1968

Both of these have the same Matrix on the "ALMOST" side "CAR-12290-1"

Thanks Roger great stuff

Out of interest - what are the matrix numbers of the other sides - in case the're might be further clues in those (probably not)?

Cheers

Richard

No problem Richard

-1967

- 1968

Both of these have the same Matrix on the "ALMOST" side "CAR-12290-1"

Matrix on the "I'VE BEEN FOOLED BEFORE" side "CAR-12289-1"

Matrix on the "DON'T SIGN THE PAPERS" side "KA-13954-1"

The Carla & Karen stuff has many different label Variations, Colour, shade etc.

Difficult to find all the different variations.

Just arrived this morning a DEMO same pressing plant as above.

Thanks Roger

Definitely supports the case that the Carla release came first - and also that 'I've Been Fooled Before' was the a-side, with 'Almost' on the flip.

Cheers

Richard

Regarding the Different Variations.

Guessing that it's just a matter of which pressing plant they were pressed at the Original time of release.

Popsike.com

A regional label variation. Rather than a different period of time. Anyone know for certain.

That's the feeling I have regarding this one. I assume there will also be a Styrene DEMO out there.

Hi Roger

Yes, I believe you are right in that these are just different variations from pressing plants across the US which made the records across at the original time of release.

That said, there may well have been 're-pressings', but still at the original time of release as a record took off and 'broke' in different parts of the US (music was very regional/local in those days as we know).

There are some Karen/Carla releases which demonstrate this quite clearly (e.g. Capitols - Cool Jerk) where there was a local Detroit release, but then several different regional/national releases which were pressed quickly when the record went big - so local first, then nationally distributed ATCO versions.

So basically, yes I think these are all originals, around at the same time, but some records may have been broken slightly earlier or later in some regions of the US.

The Karen/Carla labels seem especially typical of this, with many variations of some releases (some quite rare and not seen that often).

I have quite few different variations in my collection of some of these Karen/Carla 45s. Just can't help buying them

Cheers

Richard

Always loved this, but preferred Betty Lavette, which I used to play as my last record in my spots in the 80s.

Paul

The Karen release is march 68 (according to delta number) would have thought Carla first? but my copy is vinyl. prefer it on Carla for the excellent flip "I've Been Fooled Before" maybe "Almost" was the B side in one or both cases?

also agree with above poster, I prefer Betty's take myself but that's just coz it's Betty!

steve

Almost was the "B" side of "Don't Sign The Paper", which was the hit side that made the radio in Chicago, L.A. and anyplace in USA that I was in while that record was out (that had a Soul radio station). That was a re-issue of "Almost), as the Carla version came out first (It has pressing number of 12290, whilst "Don't Sign The Paper" has 13954). In addition, I seem to remember the Carla version out before the Karen.

-1967

- 1968

Both of these have the same Matrix on the "ALMOST" side "CAR-12290-1"

got a different matrix on my Karen copy Roger, but it's a monarch press

steve

Thanks Steve, that Delta Number would tell us Year & Month for the Karen release.

Yes,-what is that Monarch number? I was living in L.A. at that time and all my copies have the ATCO number (13954). I don't believe I've ever seen a Karla or Karen record with a Monarch number.

Thanks Steve, that Delta Number would tell us Year & Month for the Karen release.

Roger did say in post #3 mate, the Delta dates it around march 68 (70627)

steve

Thanks Steve. So you did.

Missed that as I have been posting on here and just had the Gas Board out as a Monoxide detector went off earlier, turned out to be a faulty Monoxide Detector.

Fortunately we have two so it did seem odd.

The way Monarch worked I suspect that a Styrene CARLA Copy would have an earlier Delta Number.

I love that red and yellow label variant, it's one of my favourite labels. Great tune too.

70627 would have been pressed in the middle of March, 1968.

Yes,-what is that Monarch number? I was living in L.A. at that time and all my copies have the ATCO number (13954). I don't believe I've ever seen a Karla or Karen record with a Monarch number.

Hi Robb

I think I may have misunderstood here but I have lots of Carla and Karen 45s on West Coast presses on styrene with a Monarch stamp and scratched-in delta number, and some have the 'MO' suffix to the release number on the label

Cheers

Richard

Hi Robb

I think I may have misunderstood here but I have lots of Carla and Karen 45s on West Coast presses on styrene with a Monarch stamp and scratched-in delta number, and some have the 'MO' suffix to the release number on the label

Cheers

Richard

Yes, I see now that I have a few styrene L.A. Monarch pressings that have both the ATCO number AND the Monarch delta sign and number etched into the trail. HA! And now that I look even more closely, one of my "Almost"/"Don't Sign The Paper" issues is from Monarch. The "Almost" side is 70627, and, curiously, the HIT side, "Don't Sign The Paper" is 70628. Unfortunately, my Carlas were not pressed at Monarch. So I can't compare the numbers. 70600 places it in mid-March of 1968. But Delph's Carla release of "Almost" must certainly have been between the tail end of 1966 and early 1967.

dont sign the papers actually made 68 on the hot 100 in june 68...jimmy`s only `hit` tho