By Chip - HP (64.123.43.228 - 64.123.43.228) on Saturday, July 06, 2002 - 09:48 pm:

What color is the label of a 1st pressing of "Treasure Chest of Musty Dusties, Vol. 1" (Fortune LP 8011)? Was there more than one pressing of this and/or other Fortune LPs? If so, what color is (are) the label(s) for subsequent pressing(s)? Was this material ever released on CD? Thanks.

By Chip - HP (64.123.36.196 - 64.123.36.196) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 08:18 pm:

Are all of the Fortune experts on vacation?

By Ralph (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 09:03 pm:

Keep your line in the water Chip. Something will bite.

By david, glasgow, scotland (62.252.128.5 - 62.252.128.5) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 09:59 pm:

Hi Chip

If you utilise the search function you will find a thread in which Marilyn Bond announces that she is currently negotiating the purchase of the entire Fortune catalogue. She is in regular contact with Devora Brown and I'm confident this will happen.

To date there has been no legitimate cd release of Fortune product.

By Sue (152.163.204.211 - 152.163.204.211) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 10:48 pm:

Fury13, calling Fury13 ...

Your attention is needed in Aisle 3. What color were Fortune labels on LPs?

Weren't they purple like the singles?

By HW (65.116.80.19 - 65.116.80.19) on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 10:55 pm:

maybe Marshall Crenshaw knows - he's the one who sent me many cassettes of Fortune tracks.

Calling MC...

By mhc (172.135.25.118 - 172.135.25.118) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 02:20 am:

Oh, yes, well... Whenever I think of Fortune Records, I think of the late great Cub Koda, who was a good friend of mine. He loved Fortune Records and could answer this question (and any other on the subject) in a split second. I often wish that I could call him on the phone, but anyway.. I have a Fortune Records LP called "Tattooed Lady" by Skeets McDonald and various others (like Johnny Bucket, Boots Gilbert, The York Brothers, et. al.) which cantains a lot of bawdy songs from the Fortune Hillbilly catalog. The label is maroon. The catalog number is LP 3001, the address on the back is "3942 Third Ave., Detroit 1, Michigan" (no Zip code). BUT I don't think this is an original pressing. Anyway, my answer is, they might've been maroon, but I'm not positive. (sorry..)

By Chip - HP (64.123.36.196 - 64.123.36.196) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 04:00 am:

Thanks everyone. I have a chance to buy a NM copy of Fortune LP 8011 with a purple label for $30. It looks like a 60's pressing (nice and thick). Based on Sue's comment, it probably is a 1st pressing.

By Sue (195.93.66.11 - 195.93.66.11) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 04:15 am:

The thing is, Chip -- and Fury13 is the real Fortune label expert, he knows all this stuff -- Fortune was in the habit of re-pressing all their stuff with the same labels, so you can't tell by looking at a '70s Fortune label that it's more recent than a '50s or '60s original.

The thickness of your pressing though might be the clue that you DO have an oldie.

By Fury13 (12.2.196.17 - 12.2.196.17) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 09:12 pm:

The original LPs do have the the thicker, stiffer wax. The 3000 series appears to have started with red labels and the 8000 series with purple labels. Later labels included yellow with blue print and blue with silver print (the color scheme on many mid-'50s to early '60s 45 rpm vinyl).

What should be stressed is that the Browns (owners of Fortune) seem to have used any color label they could get their hands on. Colors included purple, blue, maroon, red, yellow, turquoise, pink, orange, black, white, and god knows what else. Early-'50s 45s and 78s used both maroon and blue labels. Mid-'50s 45s also used both maroon and blue (the blue appears on both "Baby I Love You So" by Joe Weaver, Fortune 825, and "Bacon Fat" by Andre Williams, Fortune 831); early '60s 45s (for a couple years, I think) used a pink and blue color scheme. This is what was predominantly used on "Village Of Love" by Nathaniel Mayer (Fortune 545) and "Mind Over Matter" by Nolan Strong & the Diablos (Fortune 546).

Label colors used on original issues could even vary with consecutively-numbered releases, especially on the Hi-Q and Strate-8 subsidiaries.

LP 8011 was originally issued in 1961, the year that the very first Fortune LPs were made (LP 8010 is first in the 8000 series, and was Fortune of Hits, Vol. 1 -- the first Nolan Strong & the Diablos package).

This info is to the best of my knowledge... as I said, the Browns would use any color label they could get their hands on. There wasn't much rhyme or reason to it, except that the Fortune logo remained the same on the label nearly to the end (the final logo version in the '70s was slightly altered).

By Fury13 (12.2.196.17 - 12.2.196.17) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 09:37 pm:

Also, what Sue said above is true... if the Browns found some original blue or maroon labels, they would go ahead and use them on second, third, fourth pressings, etc. They'd just use what they had in stock.

Here are some interesting Fortune-related links:

http://www.bsnpubs.com/fortune.html

http://www.lex-jansen.demon.nl/fortune/

http://members.aol.com/dowopdowah/diabs.htm

http://www.james-taylor.com/lasley/groups.html


And... scroll down for a pic of the Fortune building at 3942 Third just before its demolition in October 2001:

http://www.corridortribe.com/individuals/david_snow.htm

By Sue (64.12.105.49 - 64.12.105.49) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 10:01 pm:

I knew you'd know.

The 45 of "Mind Over Matter" I bought in the late '70s in a cutout bin at Harmony House was purple (maroon) and silver. For some reason I've mostly seen that purple/maroon color.

By Fury13 (12.2.196.17 - 12.2.196.17) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 10:24 pm:

Hey Sue, what did you think of that new Nathaniel Mayer release? Kinda fun, huh?

By Sue (205.188.196.32 - 205.188.196.32) on Thursday, July 11, 2002 - 03:12 am:

The Nathaniel Mayer 45 is very fun! I gave it a workout on my turntable. I wanted to scan the picture sleeve in at work but my favorite scanner was off duty. Tomorrow I will -- I'll post it here as well.

I'll get it back to you tomorrow or in the next few days.

By Chip - HP (64.123.36.161 - 64.123.36.161) on Thursday, July 11, 2002 - 03:14 am:

Thanks Fury13. You obviously know about Fortune.