Motown releases on vinyl - reissue or not?

Normally I'm pretty good at spotting whether or not an album is an original release, an import, or a re-release. Usually the catalogue number is a dead giveaway. However, I've recently come across a copy of Martha and the Vandellas "Come and Get These Memories" and Jr. Walker's "Road Runner" LP's. They appear new [[spine is intact, color is factory-fresh, in shrink), but they were both not totally sealed, and the catalogue number is the same as the original release. There is no date indicating when, or if, these were reissued.

Has anybody ever noticed this? Normally Motown's reissues feature new catalogue numbers and, occasionally, some alterations in the cover, as Motown did with the '80's reissues.

I have noticed this, particularly with The Contours Do You Love Me original album [[Gordy 901), Earl Van Dyke's The Earl of Funk and The Miracles' Fabulous Miracles album all with original artwork and catalogue numbers. Not sure when they were reissued.

Would you be willing to check the run out groove information [[written in the vinyl in the area between the area that plays the record and the record label)? If I remember correctly, many of those re-issues that began appearing in the 1990's & 2000's have a year of issue etched there and possibly other information that differentiates them from the original issue.

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Originally Posted by antceleb12

Normally I'm pretty good at spotting whether or not an album is an original release, an import, or a re-release. Usually the catalogue number is a dead giveaway. However, I've recently come across a copy of Martha and the Vandellas "Come and Get These Memories" and Jr. Walker's "Road Runner" LP's. They appear new [[spine is intact, color is factory-fresh, in shrink), but they were both not totally sealed, and the catalogue number is the same as the original release. There is no date indicating when, or if, these were reissued.

Has anybody ever noticed this? Normally Motown's reissues feature new catalogue numbers and, occasionally, some alterations in the cover, as Motown did with the '80's reissues.

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I remember seeing sealed copies of these two, as well as THE FABULOUS MIRACLES, in a record shop a while back. I didn't bother checking the spine or catalog # as I knew they were reissues if only because the covers in the 60s were of a different quality with paste being used, etc. Plus I think the ones I saw had a sticker on them saying they had been licensed and reissued by another label.

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Originally Posted by carole cucumber

Would you be willing to check the run out groove information [[written in the vinyl in the area between the area that plays the record and the record label)? If I remember correctly, many of those re-issues that began appearing in the 1990's & 2000's have a year of issue etched there and possibly other information that differentiates them from the original issue.

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Good thinking! I checked, and for "Road Runner," along with the original catalogue of "SS 703," it had "S-34995." That registered on Discogs as a reissue, but I still cannot figure out the year of its reissue. I've found nothing on the Vandellas.

However, the Vandellas reissue has the Gordy label printed on the record. The Jr. Walker record has no label logo, just text - leading me to believe that these reissues are unofficial.

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Originally Posted by antceleb12

Good thinking! I checked, and for "Road Runner," along with the original catalogue of "SS 703," it had "S-34995." That registered on Discogs as a reissue, but I still cannot figure out the year of its reissue. I've found nothing on the Vandellas.......

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I would tend to think that the last 2 digits indicate the year of re-issue '95' i.e. 1995

Hi all!

As it happens I have both the originals and these newer copies of many of the albums mentioned so I'll go through them one by one and point out any obvious differences that may help to differentiate between the copies from the originals.

First of all, as a general point to note the cover material is always thinner card in these newer releases than in the original. Secondly, ask yourself how likely is it that an original album 40/50 years old is going to turn up in still sealed pristine condition and going for sale at a ridiculously low price? It's extremely unlikely. So, if you see a still sealed album going cheap be very cautious. I'll now point out the differences between the copies and the originals:

The Contours "Do You Love Me".

On the copy both the Master nos. H-1209 and H1210 and the Matrix nos. N09P-1926 and N09P-1927 are absent from the labels as is the mention of Jobete BMI as the publishers. On the deadwax in the copy the nos.S-35330 and S-35331 have been etched in to the vinyl. These are absent in the original. My original copy has a "deep groove" label, absent in the copy. The covers look identical. The printing of the logo "It's What's In The Grooves That Count" on the labels is sharper on the original than on the copy.

The Isley Brothers "This Old Heart Of Mine"

The labels look pretty similar with nothing apparently missing. On the copy the dead wax has S36914 and S36915 etched into it along with the catalogue no. TM269. The original has the Master nos. H-1400 and H-1401 and the Matrix numbers T4RM-6070 and T4RM-6071 stamped on [[not hand written). The Matrix nos. are missing on the copy.
On the rear cover of the copy the catalogue No. Tamla 269 is missing on the line above the title line.

The Miracles "Fabulous / You've Really Got A Hold On Me"

The cover spine on the original is white; on the copy it's yellow. On the original the catalogue no. Tamla 238 appears at the top and bottom of the spine. On the copy it's only printed at the bottom not at the top.

On the labels, the reference to Jobete BMI as the publisher is missing on the copy as is the Matrix nos. P4RM-1968 and P4RM-1969.

My original only has the Matrix nos. in the dead wax and nothing else. On the copy, the dead wax has T-238A and T-238B and S-38558 and S-38559 etched in handwriting in the wax. Again the original is deep-groove and the copy isn't.

Jr. Walker and The All Stars "Road Runner" [[Stereo)

The most immediate difference is the record labels. The original has the familiar Soul 3 colour swirl one, whilst the copy has a plain plum coloured one with the soul "box" logo in white.
The original only has the Matrix nos. TR4S-0792 and TR4S-0793 stamped in the dead-wax.
The copy has the catalogue nos. SS-703-1A and SS-703-1B and S-34995 and S-34996 handwritten in the dead-wax.
The catalogue no. at the top of the spine on the original is SS703 while on the copy it's SO703.

Finally Earl Van Dyke "The Earl Of Funk".

Again as with the Jr. Walker album the most obvious difference is the label. The copy has the same solid plum colour while the original has the three colour "swirl" label usually associated with issues on Soul.

On the labels the original fails to mention Earl Van Dyke by name while he is credited as the artist on the copy. The copy gives the album date as 1966; the original gives it as 1970. The Master nos. HS-1739-2 and HS-1740-2 do not appear on the copy, but they do on the original. The dead-wax on the original has SS-715 [[the catalogue no.), the Master nos. quoted above, the Matrix nos. Z4RS-3058-1 and Z4RS-3059-1 and the date 6-4-70 all etched or printed on it. The copy only has the catalogue no. and S-35224 and S-35225 handwritten into it.

I don't have a copy of Martha and The Vandellas "Come And Get These Memories" so I can't provide comparative details for it. Finally, all of these albums were issued I believe in the late 1980's or early 90's in Europe [[possibly Germany) and come with the same generic white inner sleeves with rounded corners. There may have been more in the series. I hope this helps you pick out these later copies from the originals.

All v helpful, Motown Johnny. I can add that I bought the Miracles LP, sealed, for $8.99 in NYC about ten years ago and showed it to Harry Weinger same day. He said it had been released under licence from UM - or Polydor as it had been at the time - but before his day, and if he could remember the licensing company then I've forgotten it now! I only played it once [[to transfer to CD), and thought the sound quality was excellent.

I sure do miss those days of record hunting and never knowing what I might find. I remember once having to decide between a pristine mint condition copy of the Supreme's Sing Rogers & Hart and Soul Sounds by Chris Clark. I also once saw an original 45 of the Velvelette's Needle In A Haystack nailed to a post in a used record shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan.