Comment by han enderman:
Jax 314 - At first I also thought that the pale yellow labels might be remaining stock, but this is odd too. Jax 300-307 are yellow, with staff and N.Y. Jax 308-322 are black, without staff & N.Y. Labels stating "Disc Jockey Use Only" (Jax 316) are pale, but otherwise like the black labels. The pale 314 labels are intermediate: with NY, but without staff. I thought they made the dj labels when the record became popular, and subsequently they decided to make real dj labels (316). The later red label (like 45s?) has a Memphis address.
Comment by rhythmdog:
Although it never made "the charts", which were about 10 records long for R&B in the pre-1955 days, this record sold well, as evidenced by the several label variations shown here. From a search for sales on the Jax label, it's pretty clearly one of the label's best sellers.
The labels that han has described as white label dj copies are probably just washed-out yellow labels, as the record does exist
that way - also, actual dj copies have "disc jockey use only" (see
316 and note that the dj copies don't have N.Y., N. Y. on them)
I don't think that these white or yellow labels are "first" presses, as the label had changed over to the black style well before the release of this single. Probably just the label using up left over blanks in order to meet demand..