Garethx

Solidsoul: be aware there are TWO MIXES or versions (104A and 104A3) on the red/white logo as detailed above. The one which you refer to as having better sound production is less muffled, yes, but has too much top end and not enough bass. It's quite a pronounced difference. There is one mix on the magenta/yellow logo: 104A. I don't think there is any sonic difference between the 104A copies on either red/white or magenta/yellow. Bear in mind there can be a difference in pressing quality between the beginning and end of a single pressing run as stampers get worn.

Should also state that rather than being different mixes the two are completely different recordings. Different vocal take and radically different guitar playing.

The above is incorrect. The easiest way to tell what mix you have is by the record's title, rather than the label design. The good mix is always titled "YOUR NOT LOVING A BEGINNER" and exists on both red/white and magenta/yellow labels. The mix with radically different EQ is titled "YOU'RE NOT LOVING A BEGINNER" and is only on the red/white logo. The different mixes have different matrix numbers: 104A for the YOUR… variant and 104A3 for the YOU'RE… version. If you search soul-source topics on the subject Sebastian Fonzeus kindly provided a detailed comparison of the two sound files.

Interesting thread. I think the scans of the mythical US issue look pretty convincing. I think Ray Dahrouge may have got his wires crossed regarding the identity of the artists. I think the black artists he refers to as cutting this song are the Mayberry Movement (an unreleased Event recording subsequently issued by Ace/Kent). While these Anderson Brothers are clearly not Joe and Stefan as per Andy Rix's research I think they are in all probability another white act. Had the Mayberry version been available to DJs in the mid '70s it would have blown the GSF one away in my opinion.

The 5,000 Volts above was pressed at Columbia. By the time Phonogram acquired Philips-Mercury their own pressing plants had gone.

From 1972 onwards Philips USA used this label layout: as others have mentioned it was standardised with the European, British and Canadian labels, including the quasi-legal copyright wording along the top. There's never been a formal standard wording for this in any territory so it would 'apply' anywhere. The Millionaires 45 mentioned in the original post looks like a completely legit post-1972 reissue. The typesetting of the overprinted text (title, artist, writer credit and catalogue number) is consistent with the US Philips-Mercury factories. Why someone would pay £88 for it is a mystery. The last US Philips 45 listed on 45 Cat is L.J. Johnson "Your Magic Put A Spell On Me", an Ian Levine/Danny Leake project from 1976.

UK or US?

Both great, but radically different versions..

I understand the Precisions on Hen Mar are a different group.

How much should this degree of Writing on Label affect the value of this particular 45. It's an unplayed copy of Leroy Taylor "Oh Linda" on a Brunswick yellow DJ copy. The vinyl is completely flawless but the marker on the Oh Linda side obscures the catalogue number. What is a fair, up to date value for this copy? Thanks in advance for any input.

Yes. There are styrene albums, which Monarch experimented with briefly.

Plenty of Styrene plants on the east coast and the middle of the country: Allentown (ARC) who pressed for London Records in Pennsylvania, Shelley in New York (Shrine and lots of indies plus the Roulette-distributed custom labels), Columbia's Pitman, New Jersey plant (the biggest record pressing plant in the world for a decade), Bestway (the inventors of the Styrene 45!). In the midwest the various Mercury/Philips plants produced what has to be the worst styrene of the lot. The west coast had many vinyl plants: Alco, Allied, Waddell in Burbank (the MGM west coast operation) etc.

I've always suspected that 'Earl Jackson' was a psuedonym for a white artist.

Clear as a bell on Kent's 'Foot Stompers' compilation from 1984.

Derek, it's the other side of Volcanic Eruption, the unpromisingly-titled 'Red Robin', which is the side for me.

I like the Volcanic Eruption 45.

I'm not sure about this. The Auroro labelled copies appear to be a completely different, unrelated label to the Bell-distributed Aurora label. There are no other Aurora/Auroro releases which appear with those label characteristics. The Auroro copies have typesetting which tie it to a Specialty press (typeset at Keystone). Both these facilities were in Pennsylvania. All other Aurora releases were pressed at Bestway in New Jersey. Maybe a scenario of a local release getting picked up by a larger concern, but with such a closely related name and the same catalogue number? Unlikely. I suspect this is a bootleg for a local market in the States done near the time of release. Youtube clip comments state that the Soul Woman side got heavy airplay in Pittsburgh—a common source of such unofficial releases.

Lee Moses was also a highly creative guitarist, so it's not really that strange.

Yes. Tommy Yates red and blue promos are from the same plant.

That's certainly not Canadian. Benji is right in that the label colour was a marketing tool meant to relate to the type of music: blue for Soul/Pop, black for Jazz with corresponding light blue and yellow demos. Certain titles existed on both black and blue labels but I don't know quite why. The red demos are just an oddity. Tommy Yates, 'Something's Got To Give' is on both black and blue issues and light blue and red demos. It isn't simply down to different pressing plants, as all variants of the Tommy Yates I've had or seen come from the same MGM Bloomfield, New Jersey plant. The other MGM singles plant was H.V. Waddell in Burbank, California. These have quite different typesetting for singles. Sometimes the MGM labels needed to rush-use other pressing plants for big sellers: Southern Plastics, MidWest, Monarch, Allied etc. but the Verve 45s were rarely anticipated to sell out of their original pressing runs: the label was run on very conservative lines, sales-wise. Verve Folkways, for example was specifically started as a tax-dodge which then confounded the MGM board by actually having hits. It's just occurred to me that red labels with black type would have been pretty difficult for radio DJs to read in low light, which is why most companies used light labels with higher-contrast type colours: white with red, yellow with black etc. An experiment with red-labelled DJ copies would probably have been short-lived for this reason.

Virtue had a mastering studio. Many recordings cut at other studios throughout the tri-state area in addition to Philadelphia studios were mastered there.

Mono.

The R means it was pressed by RCA's Rockaway plant in Queens, New York.

Many thanks.

Don't know that I've ever seen styrene of this—demo or issue.