[78-L] RM Test Pressing - Bunk Johnson 1943

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

 From CDB: Just got a bunch of 78s and found this TEST PRESSING with 
Bunk Johnson and ex-members of Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band.  
Anybody know what this is?  Is the date 1943 correct?

This was issued as No. 5 on the bootleg Jay Records label. From my book 
Collectors Guide to  to Jazz on Bootleg & Reissue 78 R.P.M. Records 
1932 to 1952, page 46: Bunk Johnson with the Original Lu Waters Band, 
Clancy Hayes vocals: Ace in the Hole (mx. 5A)/Careless Love (mx. 5B); 
first public issue. Also available as a private “test pressing” with 
plain label. “Ace in the Hole” has matrix number RM401; “Careless 
Love,” mx. RM402. On a copy the author has seen, the words “Test 
Pressing” are printed in script type in green ink centered above the 
spindle hole. Known among collectors as the “Test Pressing release,” it 
is believed only a small number of copies were produced.

I don’t know about the accuracy of the date but Jay Records were issued 
in the late 1940s at the time other bootleg labels were emerging and 
issuing records.
Geoffrey Wheeler