James Barnett Pressing On Ebay

[Guest Paul]

right, had a few beers so i might be pissing up the wrong alley - but -

Isn't the matrix markings down to who mastered the disk and made the stampers?

You could then take the masters anywhere and have them pressed, providing they had the correct equipment?

Exactly!

That's what I've said in two earlier posts. And that's why I said it seems the bootleg singles may have been mastered and / or pressed by (or for) Lyntone or British Homophone.

Matrix inscriptions (written or stamped) can be applied at various stages from cutting to plating and processing.

For example, on two of the singles I issued last year I had the lacquers cut at EMI Abbey Road, the metalwork processed at a plant in London and then I shipped the plates to Holland where I had new stampers made and got the records pressed at the old Sony factory. That doesn't happen every day, but it's not rare, and the result can be that a collector will look at them and assume they were pressed somewhere else.

No doubt when President had sudden hits with George McCrae etc, they had duplicate plates or stampers made so they could press copies at various plants at the same time. In most cases the records would look pretty similar.

But, apart from similar matrix inscriptions or stampings, what also makes the Soul Sounds bootlegs similar to other records (Jay Boy, Rio, etc) is the extra heavy guage. I haven't checked one but I reckon they are at least 60 gram, rather than 40 gram which is more common.

The other reason I'm still inclined to think Lyntone or British Homophone are likely to have been involved (to whatever degree) is because they were thought to be the sources of some bootleg records at that time - rather than Orlake, Philips, Decca, EMI and Pye who were quite strict.

I already said it's possible that the lacquers were cut by Lyntone (for example) and the records were pressed elsewhere and I just remembered there was a pressing plant called ICP (Industrial Commercial Plastics) in Leicester at that very time. That would have been very convenient for Jeff King.

But we still need more info.

Paul

Edited June 22, 2011 by Paul

[Guest Paul]

...and I just remembered there was a pressing plant called ICP (Industrial Commercial Plastics) in Leicester at that very time. That would have been very convenient for Jeff King.

...I just did a google search and found links to Billboard which - guess what - referred to a couple of cases of ICP pressing bootleg records in that period (for which they got a slap on the wrist).

So that's another possibility.

[Guest Paul]

...oh and I found this very interesting article in Billboard from 11 September 1971 which actually refers to the Soul Sounds bootlegs and links them to a source from Leicester:

[dthedrug]

HI ALL AT THE END OF THE DAY WHAT HAVE I LEARNED FROM THE THREAD, LOADS AND LOADS OF STUFF ON VINYL RECORDS IN THE UK

:thumbsup:The last question about DOCTOR BIRD RECORDS? I HAVE NOT READ ALL THE THREAD , HOWEVER, PAUL has got in before me I think but i have some evidence, and it has a benefit to most collectors, where R&B AND KING and any associated labels ,were pressed , i that clears up have some very rare R&B KING SLEEVES, AND WHEN I SAY RARE, THEY ARE BESPOKE, AND I WILL BE SURPRISED IF YOU HAVE GOT ANY IF YOU LIVE OUT OF LONDON, THESE THROW AWAY CARD SLEEVES ARE UNIQUE TO A PARTICULAR RELEASE, SO EACH RELEASE HAD IT'S OWN SLEEVE, AND IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THE SCRIBBLE, IT GIVES A HUGE INSIGHT TO THE LABEL AND HISTORY BEHIND A RECORD, AND FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO FIND NEW STUFF, I AM AWARE THE WRONG RECORDS ARE IN THE SLEEVES, BUT I AM SURE IT WILL BE FUN FOR SOMEONE TO HAVE A COUPLE SPARE,?? SO THERE IS A .;INK WITH ISLAND RECORDS AND TO A PHILIP'S STAMPER,

I WILL SEE WHAT YOU HAVE FOUND, WELL DONE PAUL. DAVE