Blue Note vinyl. United Artists 1970s pressings.

Hi folks.

I have the opportunity to buy some excellent quality (clean vinyl, covers) Blue Note titles. The records are from when BN was owned by United Artists, circa 1975-79.

Anyone have any info on the general quality of the sonics of BN LPs from this era?

One person who has a website says the quality of these recordings isn't very good, but I wanted to canvas some more opinions.

These would cost me between $25 and $30 a piece.

I'm concerned about how they would sound, not their value to a collector.

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm curious of this also, but generally speaking, the vinyl in that time period was spotty due to the petroleum crisis.

 

have a look at this write up for some useful leads
http://kleene.ss.uci.edu/~rmay/Bluenote.html

 

Can depend on title. Some older Blue Note titles were pressed for years with the same stampers, many titles were slow and steady sellers. Investment collectors will fixate on originals, those of us on a budget who play them and enjoy them often can rely on later pressings, Liberty and early UA make superb play copies. And often cheaper and in better condition.

 

I only have a few, but probably 3 of 4 or so have RVG in the dead wax and sound great. One of them is a reissue of a Jimmy Smith that clearly has a rechanneled stereo banner across the top, but it's got the initials and is mono, and sounds really nice. All my opinion, of course.

 

I think that's a bit pricey, but otherwise those lp's sound really good. Of course all analog, and certainly a great way to get into the BN catalog at a big discount. See if you can get some kind of volume discount and grab them.

 

I'm thinking that the price is a bit high, but I guess that also depends on where you are. In some places Liberty or UA reissues are pretty common, but in others they, along with any jazz, are not. But I think the UA Blue Notes are decent, and also the comps they did are generally pressed fine.

 

I agree with the last two posters about the $. Too much money but they can sound good so if you can get him down to realistic prices it might be ok. No more than $20 tops no matter what the title and in NM condition.

 

I'll third that the price is too high, blue label (with black or white "b") issues can sound great if pressed from Van Gelder masters but are usually in the $10-$15 range, ditto on $20 tops. Leave the non-Van Gelder mastered records behind, I would only pay $10 max if it was a title I especially wanted, as they don't sound anywhere near as good.

 

If you were contemplating paying $30 for UAs..and are after good sound and not colllectabiliy..for heaven sakes, buy the Music Matters and AP 45s for $50 each. Next, give the Classic Records mono and stereos titles of the 1500 and 4000 series a try.

Buy 2 MM or APs instead of 4 of this guys UAs.

 

I agree with this 100%

 

Let me add that by the 1970's most if not all Blue Note mastering was being handled out of UA's own studios in Los Angeles. As well, most of the LP pressings came out of the two plants UA owned by then - All Disc in Roselle, NJ and Research Craft in L.A. Compared with the vaunted RVG cuts, these are very much touch-and-go, value-wise.

 

Usually, the Research Craft pressed Liberty and pre 1973 era United Artists re-pressings of older RVG Stampers are good choices for BN lovers on a budget. And often can be had for under $20 for a nice copy.

 

Excellent pressings, but I wouldn't pay more than $15 for one.

 

I can think of some I would gladly pay $30 if NM - Hank Mobley 'No Room For Squares' UA blue & white label Van Gelder stamp comes to mind. It sounds fresher than the AP SACD I have.

 

For that price I would just go with the AP SACD's and the XRCD 24's on Acoustic Sounds and Elusive Disc. The OJC's from the 80's and 90's as well (except any RVG remastered stuff). All sound very good. I'm somewhat of the opinion that if you're not going for an original vinyl might as well get a well mastered CD for the convenience factor.

EDIT - as e630940 just mentioned though, exceptions can be had!

 

Thanks everyone. Good advice. I'm going to give these a pass. Love this website!

 

Acoustic Sounds currently has a bunch of these on sale for $25:
http://store.acousticsounds.com/s/367/Classic_Records_-_April_2013_Blue_Note