Robbk

That's what it had to be.  And I've seen many credits listed as Henry, rather than "Hank".

Tom DePierro and I had an acetate of that recording in our stack of acetates and demo records for "From The Vaults", we found in The Motown Vault.  I had it on my suggested list for one of our project's later LPs.  I don't recall that one turning up in those 1980s and 1990 auctions, where most of them ended up in The UK.  I remember that it had Eddie Holland's name on it along with the song title, so it must have been a Motown demo record, rather than the creme-coloured red typed Jobete Music "Proof of Ownership" acetates.  But, now that I think of it, I seem to remember it also being on a bigger Lp-type acetate, containing 4 songs, all by Eddie Holland, if I remember correctly.  I think it was from 1964.
I remember finding the demo record because I remember being glad it was from the period 1962-1964, because that was my favourite Motown period, and I was fighting hard with Tom to get as many of the earlier sounds in the LPs.  We found several more cuts from that period by several artists in that stack.  If no one in The UK NS or Motown Collecting communities remembers seeing it, maybe an American or Canadian bought it? 

"Was the Joker Records label, based in Los Angeles (?) associated with Motown?  ALL the releases are published by Jobete music, the publishing affiliate of Motown Records. Did Berry Gordy own or part-own this label and use it to release records that didn't suit the main Motown labels?"
L.A.'s Joker Records was owned by LA KGFJ DJ, Herman Griffith and a partner, and he was friendly with Hal Davis, who, along with producer, Marc Gordon, ran Motown's Jobete Music's West Coast Office.  And ALL of Joker's songs were NOT published by Motown's Jobete Music.  "Jan-Cris Music" was Joker's in-house publisher, and published most (about 75%) of their songs.  Jan and Cris were the names of Griffith's two daughters. 
The reason for 8 of Joker's songs being published by Jobete is that several of Joker's producers and songwriters were writing songs for Jobete L.A. (like Chester & Gary Pipkin, Vince Love, Charles Wright, Willie Hutcherson (Hutch), and others).  A few of them were signed to Jobete as songwriters and Producers, who produced the "proof of ownership" recordings and artist demo records.  Whatever they produced that Jobete wanted to own, the company bought.  
Even when Jobete bought a song, the local L.A. writer/producers, by contract, had the rights to put out commercial record issues on artists not signed to Motown (often demo singers and background singers), IF and when Motown had not issued its own commercial release on that song, within 6 months of buying its publishing rights.  That is how so many Jobete songs were released sung by Mary Love (LA Jobete background singer) on Modern Records, and so many Jobete songs were issued on Joker Records, and Jobete LA producer Frank Wilson, issued songs sung by himself on his own local label (Power Records), as well as VJ's Tollie Records, and by Connie Clark on Joker.
 

Many, if not most of those Manhattan addresses were skyscrapers with large suites with hundreds of post boxes (like 1619 and 1650 Broadway).  Tiny, and other small, and even mid-sized record companies had post boxes in them, to have a prestigious Manhattan address.  Many of them did not have an office in those Downtown buildings, as they never could have afforded the rental costs. Even having the same suite number only meant that they were only one of several hundred post boxes in a suite filled with post boxes, that looked like the outer area post box room in a large local, or regional post office. Those 3 subsidiary labels probably just had a single room, each, inside Calla's suite of offices (which may not even been located in Lower Manhattan).  And they probably all used (borrowed) Calla's meeting room to hold their business meetings. 

I got the Ivorys on the early label font/design in late 1966, so this post has the  order correct, as I also remember the later Despenza issues' designs coming in 1968 or 69, and again at the beginning of the 1970s, after its Wand run, whose issue I didn't see sold or promoted, in Chicago record shops, but only found later in thrift stores or discount store record stock dump-offs. 

I like it.  But any Ramsey Lewis fan can tell that's NOT him playing the piano.

I like it.  But any Ramsey Lewis fan can tell that's NOT him playing the piano.

That's the rumour that was going around back then and ever since.  It was said that some of the gangster's thugs held him by his legs out a window of a high building, just to persuade him that they were serious.
 
We've already had a few threads about this.  There was an extensive thread about this on Soulful Detroit Forum.

I talked to people from Detroit, connected with Motown, or knowing people there, and being in the business themselves about Correc-Tone, and The Supremes' involvement.  Yes, they were moonlighting there in early 1962.  Their recordings were made during spring 1962, backing Wilson Pickett, and probably James Velvet (ex-Satintone James Ellis?).  I don't believe they were the backing group of Gino Washington on "I'm a Coward" (or any other song of his). I had always heard that The Rochelles (who backed him with credits on his 1964 Amon and Wand releases), who were his friends in high school, and also were in his club review act, backed him whenever he had a female back-up group, at least through 1966.  The pre-Supremes, as The Primettes did all their back-up work for Robert West in late 1959 and early 1960, all in Detroit.  Everything I read about the late 1962-early 1963 Enrica release said that it was recorded in New York, and James Duddley (AKA Dudley) was at that time, a New York Artist (although originally from The South), and those Primettes were a New York group, with no connection to Detroit, and the name was used without any knowledge of Robert West's Lupine Primettes, whose name was unknown because, even when West had his late release of their Lupine record to take advantage of The Supremes' Motown success, it was only distributed in Michigan and Ohio.  No one in New York would have heard of them. 
I believe that The Enrica record was only listed as being The Pre-Supremes because of the group name, but never seen any evidence that The Detroit group had anything to do with that record. And I can't believe Detroit's Supremes (ex-Primettes) went to New York to record those Enrica cuts, which were certainly recorded after The Supremes were contracted to Motown.  That CERTAINLY would have come out some time during the last  55 years.
Wilbur Golden saw that saw that Motown was doing well, and that Ed Wingate, who had also entered the business recently, was enjoying running expenses through his record business to his advantage, regardless of whether or not he made money on selling the records, he decided he wanted to enter the record business, too.  He secretly approached Brian and Eddie Holland, and Popcorn Wylie, and got them to agree to come work for him at his new record company.  Robert Bateman said that Brian and Eddie came to him and told him that Golden offered them a good regular monthly salary to operate his new record company, as songwriters, producers and A&R men, and to also set a a new recording studio.  They agreed to jump ship from Motown to work for him.  He had asked them to get more of Motown's crew to come and join them at the new label.
So Bateman said with that option open to him, he went to Berry Gordy and asked him for a regular salary at the level Golden offered, and Gordy refused.  So, Bateman quit right then.  When he talked to Golden to take the job, Golden not only offered him the producer's job, he offered him the A&R/Director of Operations job that was supposed to go to Brian.  It turned out that a couple days before that, Berry had found out that Brian and Eddie were leaving, and offered them a solid salary and bought them each a Cadillac, to get them to decide to stay with Motown.  Bateman was peeved at The Hollands for not informing him of that.  But it was too late, he had formally quit.  He got the job of handling the setting up the new recording studio and hiring other people.  He hired Jazz pianist, Willie Harbert as the main arranger, and brought in his Satintone groupmate, Sonny Sanders as a writer, arranger.  And brought in Janie Bradford to moonlight as a songwriter(using her alias as Nikki Todd), and Ron Davis as a writer.  He brought The Supremes in as moonlighting background singers.  Martha and The Vandellas were already moonlighting for Chief Funk Brother, Joe Hunter, at Freddy Brown's Mikay's Records, and with them for Armen Boladian's Ring Records (really Mickay's masters).  He also brought in ex-Satintones, Vern Williams and Sammy Mack as writers and as a new group, The Pyramids, and also brought in William Weatherspoon as a writer, Don Juan Mancha as a writer and producer,  and young, aspiring singer/songwriter, Laura Johnson as the company's secretary.

Charles Perry's "Move On Love" was first released on Magnum Records, and picked up (leased) for national distribution by MGM Records.  Originally produced by Joe Jefferson, it was later released as an oldie (a couple years later on Jefferson's own Mutt & Jeff Records.
 
Good Old Gold was cheaply made (poor quality) oldies label.  I'm not sure whether or not they even paid for the rights to issue those recordings, they certainly don't sound like they were made from the master tapes.

I've NEVER seen that blue issue.  I've NEVER seen ANY of that blue vertical logo design on any Chess record after 1830.  I'm guessing that's a special reprint.  It looks real enough.  But, in 1963 I lived in Chicago.  the original release was on the black issue, and, later, still during its initial sales run, the yellow and orange.  I traveled across USA and Canada for 3 months that year, looking at hundreds of thousands of 45s.  I never saw it.  If that were used in a press run in a plant that had an old overstock of the previous label style, why did I never see it in ALL these 52 years since?  There must have been precious few pressed.  Some kind of special commemorative issue?  A boot?  It looks legit, however.  But. I CAN'T bring myself to believe it is from 1963.

Yes.  The above 2 are different pressing plant pressings of the original.  The bottom is a late 1970s boot pressed up at the same plant around the same time as The Magnificents on Dee Gee, and several others with that same font and label design.

The football origin is the "correct" origin story.  The 3 footballers, Rosie Grier plus 2 other players who had been stars on The New York Giants for many years, and recently had been traded to The Los Angeles Rams, had ventured into the record business and managing a singing group, within a few years of moving to L.A., only after Grier had already started to, himself, become a successful singer.  So, the ex-footballers moving from New York directly to San Diego is inaccurate.