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

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by MilesSmiles, Jun 13, 2014.

  1. Clucking

    Clucking Elixir of Life

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
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  2. gov

    gov Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC Metro
    <If this was discussed/answered, I'm behind on this thread so can someone point me to where?>

    I'm curious as the rationale behind the $75 vs the $60 of the last batch?
     
  3. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    Search the thread for posts by drkNRG.
     
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  4. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
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  5. gov

    gov Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC Metro
    Thanks Gabe....

    Back to the topic at hand...I think I'll probably go for Midnight Blue (SRX would pay off on this one) and possibly Maiden Voyage. Night Dreamer if economics were different--we all have choices to make.

    I picked up a SUPREME first press Somethin Else (and I wouldn't have gotten free shipping from MMJ ;) ) so that would have been the other one.
     
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  6. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    midnight blue and maiden voyage would be fantastic SRX choices. To my ears they are quieter albums with tons of open space, which the SRX formulation seems to be of particular benefit.
     
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  7. alarickc

    alarickc Vinylholic

    Location:
    Shaker Heights, OH
    I'll be going for all of the new SRXs even though most are repeats for me (Moanin' and Blue Train already ordered!). Why? Because I'm lucky enough to be one of the only people out there with all the SRX/Supervinyl releases pressed so far (thank you lady luck for the Supervinyl Kind of Blue). At least that's what I'm telling myself. Besides, if I truly bankrupt myself I can build a decent shelter from all of my LPs....:laugh:
     
  8. Jgirar01

    Jgirar01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    I just can’t see paying 75 for titles I already have from MMJ. I don’t think I am going down the SRX foxhole outside of the few I own already. Will search out the explanation though.
     
  9. SJR

    SJR Big Boss Man

    I must say, mine doesn't sound that way at all. It's fantastic.
     
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  10. SJR

    SJR Big Boss Man

    Yeah, I'm keeping a lookout for the Vinyl Me, Please issue. The one I have sounds good — luckily it was well looked after by previous owners.
     
  11. MisterBritt

    MisterBritt Senior Member

    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM, USA
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    RE: JOHN COLTRANE BLUE TRAIN SRX:


    I've been thinking about recently announced SRX title John Coltrane Blue Train for the past couple days.

    AVAILABILITY:

    We have learned MMJ originally ordered 500 SRX copies but the order, inexplicably split by RTI, was only partially delivered. We were advised to not sit on our hands on this one, anticipating the Blue Train SRX will not last long. My knee-jerk reaction was that only 250 copies will be coming to market, the completion of MMJ's license for 500 copies. But I don't suppose that's for sure. Maybe the order was not split 50/50. Maybe there will be more or fewer than 250 copies coming to market. I'm not sure if the wiper blades are half-on or half-off. So much for visibility.

    ORIGIN STORY:

    What I've really been wondering is how John Coltrane came to make this record for Blue Note at all.

    Prior to Blue Train, he had done three records for Blue Note as a sideman. Whims of Chambers in 1956. A Blowin' Session with Johnny Griffin in 1957. And Sonny's Crib with Sonny Clark in 1957. The thing is, Coltrane signed a contract with Prestige in April 1957. Sources indicate it is unclear whether that was a one-year with extension or simply a two-year contract. By the time the Blue Train recording session rolled along, May 31, 1957, he had only released one album for Prestige as a leader, the originally titled, Coltrane (subsequently re-titled The First Trane!).

    OFF THE TRACKS:

    Sources indicate Prestige allowed Coltrane to record Blue Train for Blue Note to fulfill a promise he had made with Alfred Lion. That's what I find interesting. In researching the matter, we discover this footnote: "Just a few months after Coltrane, the Blue Note label got special permission from Prestige to produce the second album under John's leadership." - Source: John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 127. (1998, University of Michigan Press).

    This seems strange to me from all angles. While he had only released one album for Prestige he had recorded several others that were still in the can. Cattin' with Coltane and Quinichette; John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio; and five more that were gleaned from Prestige sessions prior to the Blue Note Blue Train session. Again, the Blue Train session date was May 31, 1957. Coltrane was in and out of the studio like a madman during this period. Before the end of 1958, he would record material that would be packaged into six more Prestige albums.

    ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL:

    While it's not unusual for a company like Prestige to allow an artist to guest on another label, it seems unusual to let an artist record on another label as the leader of that date -- to make his own album. And on the other side of the tracks, it seems unusual that Blue Note would take and invest in an artist signed to another label and promote a one-off album like Blue Train.

    CRAZY TRAIN:

    If and when that album does well (Coltrane referred to Blue Train as his favorite of his albums up until at least 1960), it would be Prestige who would stand to reap the rewards with subsequent record sales of all the rest of his material. I just don't get how Blue Train came to be recorded by Blue Note in the first place. I'm delighted that it was. But it leaves me scratching my head.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2020
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  12. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    @MisterBritt Coltrane around this time was nowhere near peak Coltrane, due to a recording and performing hiatus as a result of his drug abuse, correct? I’m sure prestige and others were skeptical about his future at the times or at least that is my guess.
     
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  13. periclimenes

    periclimenes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami, FL
    Ashley Kahn has a great book on the history of Impulse! records, and it has a fair amount of info on Coltrane, as you might guess. In that book, he details how lending artists to other labels for one-offs was pretty standard practice at that time. I'm sure Bob Weinstock borrowed some Blue Note artists from time-to-time.
     
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  14. lbloom

    lbloom Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Omaha
    Hi! I've got an extra one but it's mislabelled and has a Dexter Calling jacket. :)
     
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  15. dminches

    dminches Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    I really like Blue Train but also feel like it was recorded before many albums in which I prefer Coltrane’s playing. This includes a good number of the Prestige and Atlantic releases.
     
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  16. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Off-topic, but I'd love to see a new reissue of A Love Supreme given the upgrades in technology. I have the Speakers Corner and it's very good, but I imagine that another level is possible.
     
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  17. Starquest

    Starquest ‎ ‎ ‎

    Location:
    Twin Cities, MN
    I agree. It does not compare to what he did even two years later with Giant Steps. Some of the melodies on the Blue Train album are just too cutesy 50s for my liking, even though the playing is good.
     
  18. dminches

    dminches Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    I doubt any release will sound better than the Analogue Productions 45 rpm version.
     
  19. Joti Cover

    Joti Cover Forum Resident

    What a gem! ! I think my favorite Shorter albums are this one and ETC....i missed buying AA...hope it gets either re-released or done in another fairly noble fashion. ...Yes, this is the best version of Footprints imo.
     
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  20. struttincool

    struttincool Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Another AP 2x45 would fly off the shelves
     
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  21. gov

    gov Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC Metro

    Totally agree. The recent reissues are all essentially out of reach. I personally refuse to pay that kind of money for new records.

    OG BN/Prestige etc not necessarily a problem but I digress.
     
    Clucking likes this.
  22. Hershiser

    Hershiser Forum Resident

    Analogue Productions did this as part of their Impulse series. It is stellar and not cheap.
     
  23. Celticray

    Celticray Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richardson, TX
    Finally listened to this yesterday, its really great!!!
     
  24. Celticray

    Celticray Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richardson, TX
    Did you also get the Mofi Miles Smiles? Mine are super vinyl; they most have made a test run
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2020
  25. periclimenes

    periclimenes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami, FL
    The master tapes went up in smoke in the Universal fire, unfortunately.
     
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