My Guy - Miss Ray Pressing

[nsoule]

Is anyone able to identify/confirm the bootleg copies of Mary Wells "My Guy" that were pressed up by Miss Ray?

There's a strong case for the white label copy below that has no promotional/demo/audition/sample copy text, weird catalog number formatting and typeface, slightly lower sound quality, and although it looks like an ARP press, no ARP stamp is present in the runout.

[reese]

I thought she did the bootlegs so that she could get some cash for the NY office. So wouldn't she have tried to make them look as legitimate as possible, i.e., with the regular map label?

[woodward]

I thought she did the bootlegs so that she could get some cash for the NY office. So wouldn't she have tried to make them look as legitimate as possible, i.e., with the regular map label?

Your stated reason for her pressing and selling these is what I was always under the impression really happened. But way back when these could have been the way they were pressed.

[reese]

I do recall a neighbor of mine having a black and white label map copy of MY GUY.

[nsoule]

I thought she did the bootlegs so that she could get some cash for the NY office. So wouldn't she have tried to make them look as legitimate as possible, i.e., with the regular map label?

I really don't know, but hopefully someone can confirm.

I do remember reading that Barney Ales spotted the bootleg copies in a shop while in NY and made the phone call to Berry to alert him, so I would have to imagine that they were noticeably different to any of the legitimate map label pressings. Also, despite the scan, most copies of the white label version above will have a drill/cut-out hole, which is abnormal for promotional copies.

[Roberta75]

I believe Miss Ray was broke and press those records illegally. I think Mr Gordy had her arrested.

[Graham Jarvis]

I have quite a number of early Motown white demo's both Map & Plain [[Motown) that do not have "Advance Copy" or "Disc Jockey" or "Not For Sale" or No address.

I had understood that the NY press was on Stk "Blue Map" ?
The Eddie Holland's all "Bell Sound"

Attachment 18743

[nsoule]

I have quite a number of early Motown white demo's both Map & Plain [[Motown) that do not have "Advance Copy" or "Disc Jockey" or "Not For Sale" or No address.

I think it's all of anomalies together rather than just the lack of promotional text. I would also imagine that if Raynoma was on hard times with the NY office, she would press up the cheapest copies possible, so a cheaper white label with black text instead of the multi-color map label seems likely. I believe she also used a copy of the actual 45 as her master, so the lesser sound quality of the above white label copy also fits.

But I don't know of any other 60s Motown 45 that uses the label style of the Mary Wells 45 above that isn't an ARP pressing. It should have the ARP stamp or at least the Nashville Matrix stamp with a 10, but it doesn't. And most if not all of the same label design promos from ARP do have the promotional text as well, like your Eddie Holland in the upper-left.

The matrix info for the above MW white label copy:
[[A-side) DM W-0762191 LW R5KM-3450-1
[[B-side) R4KM-3351-1 LW A1

The "LW" is sideways on both sides indicating that the record was plated at Longwear Plating in NY. Longwear did do plating for Monarch, but there's nothing else in the runout indicating that this is a Monarch press. Another strange thing is that the R5KM/R4KM RCA numbers are all etched, and all of the legitimate 60s presses from the Indianapolis or Rockaway plants that I have are stamped.

Even if it's not the Miss Ray bootleg, it's a really weird pressing.

[Graham Jarvis]

All of the demos I have are really good sound quality like all Motown records, so you might be right, my MW Demo is a Black & White Map design but I have also seen the same copy as you have. I also have one "My Guy" map design but all dark blue & black writing, never really looked at it.

Makes you wonder how many got sold or issued?