Music Matters Definitive Blue Note 45 RPM and 33 & 1/3 RPM vinyl series (pt7)

Well, this SRX version of Blue Train represents a dilemma for me. I have the black pressing of the MM Blue Train but I don't feel the need to double dip, except... what you said about being a direct comparison. I'll have to think about it...

 

You should be able to sell one or the other without taking a loss.

 

So I was thinking about ordering the Mosaic 45 but I heard there are issues with the pink sleeves and the 45's. Do you think I will run into any issues if I go for this one?

 

If you have an RCM or access to one you should be fine. Mine came perfectly. It was my very first MM and it’s awesome

 

It was released in June 2013, after RTI stopped using the pink sleeves that left a residue. It should be either a pink or clear sleeve without residue.

And if I’m wrong, the residue washes right off anyway.

 

Anyone have issues with True Blue 45? Mine came in paper sleeves (not pink or clear, just standard paper, which is the only MM release I have like that). The records are visibly scuffed, though that has never affected playback on my other records. Side 1 is incredibly noisy, even after multiple rounds of brushing. I'm ok with some noise, but this noise interferes with the music. Wanted to know if anyone else encountered this; I was going to ask MM for a replacement.

 

Thank you. Did you have to clean the residue off or did it not even have any?

Thanks!

 

Mine had no residue, it was perfect.

 

I think the earliest MM 45s used the poly-lined white paper sleeves, so that is normal (as long as it's poly-lined, which you didn't mention). I believe when they switched to the see-through plastic sleeves, it was because they were less likely to produce seam splits during shipping.

While most of my MM albums had some kind of visual imperfection in the vinyl (hairline scratches or that odd whitish striping), I've rarely had any audible problems, and definitely not with my copy of True Blue. It seems to me that you have a very good reason for return.

 

Does anyone else think that Blue Train is overrated? I am new to the jazz world and have been trying to finalize my list for an order. I have listened to Blue Train a few times on Spotify since the SRX just got released to see if I wanted to add it to my order. I think it's good but I like a lot of the other albums that I have listed to so far a lot better. I know that this is considered one of the best releases so am I just a noob? I am debating ordering it because it may grow on me and won't be around later but it's pretty steep at $75....

 

I'd be hesitant to use a word like "overrated," but I do tend to lean at least slightly in that direction with regard to Blue Train, if only to the extent that I think Coltrane has many albums that I personally find far more satisfying. I think the iconic cover art is a big part of its mystique, as well as the haunting title track (and even the title itself), which is rightfully a classic. The rest of the album doesn't feel all that different to me than any number of Blue Note albums of the period, though--which is not to say there's anything wrong with it, but just that it doesn't really stand out to me. Among similar "classic" hard bop Blue Notes, I personally find albums like Something Else, True Blue, and even Cool Struttin' to be more interesting throughout the course of the whole album, though none of them has a single track as strikingly memorable as "Blue Train." And then I personally think both Coltrane as an artist and jazz as a genre started heading in even more interesting musical directions in the next few years.

That said, with that cover art and opening track, I don't think the iconic status of the album is going to diminish any time soon.

 

Thanks for sharing this take on it. I was thinking that overrated might be the wrong word to use here. Just in the small number of the Blue Note albums that I have listened to so far, I have found that I like a lot of them more than this one. I wasn't commenting on the historical importance of the album or the influence it may have had on jazz but rather my opinion of the music itself. I kind of feel like it his hyped so much simply because of Coltrane's name. Prior to dipping my toes into jazz, he is one of the few names I knew along with Miles Davis.

 

After the SRX vinyl series was launched in January 2019 there were posts here concerning turnaround times in getting an order shipped and the laggardly pace of USPS Media Mail. Perhaps those frustrations exacerbated by the anxiousness in getting the albums in hand...y’know the old saying about a watched pot never boils.

It seems to me that MMJ has gotten their processing smoothed out.

Order the set on Feb 7 at 6:14am their time. Shipping confirmation email received at 6:12pm eastern time. Packaged received and logged in the building’s package room today Feb 14 at 1:28pm. 1 week, all in, MMJ to NYC.

I brought the discs upstairs when I came home. MMJ knows how to pack records for shipping and saying this is an understatement. I trust these records will sound extraordinary but nuthin’ goes on the turntable until it has been cleaned so I won’t get to hear any SRX for a few days. But to everybody else - enjoy the latest batch.

 

I'm not even sure it was musically all that influential (in the way that his later albums would be, or in the way that the earliest hard bop albums, or the first modal albums, were), but it tends to be beloved by many folks for a lot of reasons. Two are those I mentioned above--the memorable title track and the iconic cover and title. But part of it is also the fact that it is the only album Coltrane made as a leader on Blue Note, which adds to its mystique. Blue Note provided an extra day of paid rehearsal in comparison to other labels, so for fans of Coltrane's early, less adventurous period, this may be the most polished example of his hard bop playing (though I personally prefer his Lush Life on Prestige as far as his hard bop period goes). Plus, some people seem to hear special qualities in some of the other tracks that have evaded me so far. Ultimately, these judgments are always very personal, and I respect those who consider this an all-time classic. Still, I don't think you are entirely wrong to be wondering what all the fuss is about in comparison to other Blue Notes of the period, or in comparison to other albums by Coltrane.

 

Two words make Blue Train a classic album to me: Moment’s Notice.

 

I just wasn't sure if I was missing something since I'm new to exploring jazz. I do think it's a good album but it just doesn't seem as memorable to me after a few listens like some of the other albums I have listened to so far. I t debating if I will regret not grabbing the SRX because maybe it will grow on me. I feel like $75 is a bit much and there are other albums that I would rather get. Those albums will be around later though...

 

A few years ago I felt much the same as you about Blue Train. I kept putting it off and thinking I didn't really want to spend the dough (back when it was $60) and it didn't seem that great to me musically except for the title track. Along the way I picked up a used blue label with black b, cheap, and a CD...The Ultimate Blue Train. After listening to those a few months it started to grow on me and I finally was ready to step up and get the MM 33 mono but by then it had risen to $70 or 75. Luckily, A fellow SHF member sold me an extra of his for a little less. I encourage you to get it. I think in the long run you'll be glad you did.

 

One more word... "Locomotion". Lee Morgan's trumpet solo is to die for. And the transition into the ballad "I'm Old Fashioned" evokes such feelings of such warm comfort and tenderness. There are a lot of delightful, less obvious, hidden gem moments in Blue Train.

 

Same boat. The day I got home from depositing cash into our account to get my music balance back to zero, I get on here and see MM has pressed but 500 SRX Blue Trains and I “only have the ultimate version” on CD. I was trying to hold out on the SRXs for awhile but what’s a person to do?

 

I just wish it wasn't $75... The other ones that I'm ordering at $60 are even too much in my opinion but after getting two Grant Green MM albums, I really want to grab another handful of other artists while they are still around. After this order, I don't think I will be buying any more MM albums for the foreseeable future.

 

Get the SRX “Blue Train” - if you don’t like it, it will gain value. I like that album (I have the standard MMJ 33) and it sounds amazing.

 

I might be one ....the crazy one here....got all 3 MM Blue trains now....i have to get my head checked sometime...

 

Great discussion. For me, I was drawn to Blue Train before I was aware of its "iconic" status. Those first two tracks just had a uniqueness about them that caught my virgin jazz ears at the time. Over time, I've grown to like the rest of the album, and now appreciate it more as a whole. I've got a fair amount of Coltrane, and probably cue up some of his other records more often these days. Lush Life is certainly one of them -- I just sink into the purity of his playing on this record.

 

It's interesting to think about how we get caught up into making purchasing decisions. In a lot of these cases, we are buying things due to actual or expected future scarcity that we would otherwise put off in favor of other things. And, for the most part, the scarcity turns out not to be all that real of a concern; however, there are those handful of cases where it really does become hard to find a desirable pressing of an album for less than three figures (or even less than $200). So just when we realize that relatively few used MM albums go for really big bucks in the classifieds, MM comes up with a coveted title in only 500 copies, seemingly guaranteeing scarcity.

I'm not really criticizing them, because their reasoning makes sense--if they can press that many more, why not, especially if people want to buy them in the new SRX format? But it is fascinating how well they've figured out how to push our collective buttons. Even I'm tempted to order a copy, though I'm more than satisfied with my AP 45, just because it seems like a sure-fire investment opportunity. But then I'm asking myself why I buy records in the first place, and it normally has nothing whatsoever to do with investing. I think I'll just let others get their copies instead.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts--I'm curious to hear more from those who appreciate the rest of the album more deeply than I do. I've never really experienced "Moment's Notice" as sounding different from most other Blue Note dates at the time (its famous origin story notwithstanding). But I wonder if I might have thought of it differently if I hadn't already heard quite a bit of Coltrane's later material before hearing this album.

I really like your description of listening to Lush Life--that pretty much describes my experience of it as well!