Comments on: Four Jazz Classics, and Nary a Blue Note

By: woody

woody — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 15:46:28 +0000

I have 2 Lexington copies of Introducing Kenney Burrell (both VG-at best). One is flat rimmed and the other has the raised lip. The labels and jackets Dg are identical for both, however… The flat rimmed copy has one ear on both sides and the raised lip copy has several partial ears also on both sides. The position of the handwritten RVG and Cat No. is identical on both copies. I assume there is no way you could match position when writing on 2 different stampers so they should be from the exact same plate, right?

By: Clifford Allen

Clifford Allen — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 15:36:41 +0000

Aha, different Monterose auction than the one I was thinking of.

By: brian o'blivion

brian o'blivion — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 02:10:08 +0000

my thad jones BN 1527 has the ear on side 1 only…

By: Jim R

Jim R — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 19:46:00 +0000

Here is a link to the Monterose that I referenced in my earlier post. Ear only on side B, but you can see from the pictures that it is a deep groove Lexington pressing with a flat edge:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/J-R-Monterose-Blp-1536-Blue-Note-1st-Rvg-Near-Mint-/331597483814?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d34c00f26&nma=true&si=iMVS4pV3MigYY9YKkvjDU%252Bdf%252FUE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

By: Clifford Allen

Clifford Allen — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 17:33:20 +0000

I guess it depends on how likely it is that they pressed more than a thousand. Kenny Burrell was a pretty hot player overall but I’m not sure how well his first LP sold at the time. I didn’t think the Monterose was a flat edge, but a 1960s pre-Liberty pressing.

By: Jim R

Jim R — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 17:10:26 +0000

@Clifford – is that possible considering that the vinyl is flat edge and 1544 would have been towards the end of the flat edge run before the transition to the safety lip? There was a Monterose LP that recently sold on eBay (at a large sum) that also had a flat edge but the ‘”ear” only appeared on one side. As I said, this anomaly completely mystifies me.

By: Clifford Allen

Clifford Allen — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 14:39:00 +0000

You don’t think it’s a mix-and-match of leftover stampers? That would be my guess.

By: david j

david j — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 05:02:28 +0000

I’m guessing that it is just a mis-strike of the press. There is no reason for a dg lp to have no ear. Cohen doesn’t mention this, so I’m guessing it isn’t common.

By: Jim R

Jim R — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 15:56:55 +0000

Just to add a point of discussion to the one “ear” anomaly, I have a copy of 1544 with a flat edge, double deep groove, New York 23 label on both sides, frame cover, hand etched RVG, 9M, but an “ear” only on side A. This completely mystifies me. Any thoughts on what this means?

By: david j

david j — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 15:45:25 +0000

jim r, yes, really amazing. i’m curious if this was true of all pressings. i’m assuming only one stamper was ever made for this lp in the lex era as i can’t imagine they pressed more than maybe 1000-2000 of them.

any other copies out there? does anyone know if this multiple-ear-on-a-side pressing is true of other lps, as well?

gandi, it depends on the disc. some discs only have the ear on one side and are first pressings, but they are in the transition period in the 4000 series. 4059 was the first mono and 84077 the first stereo with an ear on one side only that are first pressings. please keep in mind that the records weren’t necessarily pressed/released in the order of the catalog number. i think the last mono/stereo with an ear (on both) is 4226. between these numbers it is a mixed bag. all lex first pressings have ears or the “p” on both sides.