A: Recorded Dec 22, 1948, E. T. Herzog Recording Studio, 811 Race St., Cincinnati, OH, mx: 49-S-6060.
B: Reissue of Sterling 201 B (Jan 1947); recorded Dec 11, 1946, Castle Recording Co., WSM Radio Station Studio, Nashville, TN [Hank Williams and The Country Boys], MGM mx: 48-S-24.
BB Jan 29, 1949, p. 25 (MGM ad)
BB Feb 26, 1949, p. 116 (Review)
BB C&W (Juke Box/Retail Folk Records Charts) #1 - Lovesick Blues (42 weeks), #6 - Never Again
Thanks for the explanation, fixbutte! I've been wondering about these stars for a long time but never made the link to Metrolite before. I've now switched the image order.
@xiphophilos
The label set with two stars on each side of the MGM lion also refers to the "Metrolite Non-Breakable" material, described here as follows:
Quote:
Metrolite is an odd material. It's like a halfway point between shellac and vinyl. But whoever decided that it was "non-breakable" obviously never dropped one! I would describe it as "slightly less breakable" from shellac.
Metrolite was started in 1949, see here. As we can see from the label images on the database, it was first used exclusively for promo copies, and only from October 1949 on Metrolite pressings were noted on stock copy labels.
So you're right anyway and the label set with the stars belongs to a later pressing from October 1949 or after. I haven't found an album set though in which this record might have been placed. Moanin' The Blues, from September 1952 (see here), contained "Lovesick Blues" (on MGM 30636) but not "Never Again". A label image of MGM 30636-B, complete with the Metrolite note and the four stars, can be found there.
Usually, MGM seems to have attached two stars to both sides of the MGM lion only in the 30000 series, which all seem to have been album releases.
This is the first 10000 series release I see that also has these stars attached - maybe because it came from an album set? I assume the second label version without the stars is the original singles release, but I don't know for sure.
Any comments / clarification would be appreciated.