Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Helen Merrill

Helen Merrill

2020 (recorded Dec. 22-23, 1954; originally released 1955)  ·  EmArcy (reissued by Analogue Productions) MG-36006 (Analogue Productions APJ 127 / AAPJ-127)  ·  Mono  ·  US  ·  LP, gatefold · 33 1/3 RPM

Helen Merrill - Helen Merrill: Front Cover
Back Cover Other Side 1 Label Side 1 Vinyl Side 2 Label Side 2 Vinyl Side 1 Matrix Runout A1 Side 1 Matrix Runout A2 Side 2 Matrix Runout B1 Side 2 Matrix Runout B2

Pressing details

LabelEmArcy (reissued by Analogue Productions)
Catalogue numberMG-36006 (Analogue Productions APJ 127 / AAPJ-127)
Year2020 (recorded Dec. 22-23, 1954; originally released 1955)
Mono / StereoMono
CountryUS
FormatLP, gatefold
Speed33 1/3 RPM
GenreJazz - Vocal
ProducerBob Shad
MusiciansHelen Merrill (vocals), Clifford Brown (trumpet), Danny Banks (flute), Jimmy Jones (piano), Barry Galbraith (guitar), Osie Johnson (drums), Bob Donaldson (drums), Milt Hinton (bass), Oscar Pettiford (bass & cello)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  AAPJ-127-A KO6ECA
Side B:  AAPJ-127-B2 KO6ECA

Condition

Cover
NM
Vinyl
NM

Variant chronology

1955 - US EmArcy, deep-groove 'pouring hand' label, flat/blue-black graphics, matrix beginning with early Mercury press codes
1956-59 - US EmArcy, later pouring-hand label variants (color/rim text changes), deep groove retained on early copies
c.1970s-80s Europe/Japan EmArcy reissues (Trip, Philips, Phonogram, Toshiba) - black or maroon labels, non-deep-groove
2020 - Analogue Productions APJ 127 (cat. also printed AAPJ-127), mono, 200g, Kevin Gray mastering, QRP pressing, Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket, Quality Record Pressings/Universal Music Special Markets label  <- this copy

This Pressing

2020 Analogue Productions mono reissue (APJ 127/AAPJ-127) - Kevin Gray mastering, QRP pressing, Stoughton tip-on gatefold; not a vintage EmArcy pressing.

The Album

Recorded over two December 1954 sessions for Mercury's EmArcy imprint, this eponymous debut introduced 24-year-old Helen Merrill to the jazz world alongside trumpeter Clifford Brown, then at the height of his tragically brief career, and bassist/cellist Oscar Pettiford, with arrangements by a 21-year-old Quincy Jones in one of his earliest professional credits. Merrill's hushed, breathy, deeply intimate delivery on ballads such as "Don't Explain" and "What's New" distinguished her from the more extroverted vocalists of the day, and Brown's tender obbligato lines behind her voice stand among the most affecting recorded examples of his artistry before his death in a 1956 car accident. The session favored relaxed tempos and close small-group interplay, with Jones's spare charts framing Merrill's phrasing rather than crowding it. Produced by Bob Shad for EmArcy, the album is now considered a landmark of 1950s vocal-jazz intimacy and one of the definitive pairings of a singer with a major horn soloist. It never delivered Merrill mainstream pop success, but it secured her lasting reputation among serious jazz listeners and critics, and remains the recording most identified with both her early career and Clifford Brown's brief but luminous discography as a sideman-collaborator.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Don't Explain
2. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
3. What's New
4. Falling In Love With Love

Side 2

1. Yesterday's
2. Born To Be Blue
3. 'S Wonderful

The Label

This copy's label is the pale violet-to-blue gradient EmArcy 'pouring hand' graphic with an added Analogue Productions triangular 'AP' logo, a round 'Quality Record Pressings' logo, and 'Universal Music Special Markets' credit printed on the right — branding that never appeared on any 1950s-80s vintage EmArcy pressing. Rim text reads 'LONG PLAYING HIGH FIDELITY ... MERCURY RECORD CORPORATION MADE IN U.S.A.' with fine print at the top edge stating 'A Verve Label Group release; Originally released 1955. (c) 2019 UMG Recordings, Inc. Manufactured by Universal Music Enterprises...' Discogs lists this exact configuration as catalog APJ 127 (the jacket/hype-sticker print AAPJ-127), released 17 April 2020, mono, 200g, mastered/pressed by Kevin Gray at Quality Record Pressings for Analogue Productions/Acoustic Sounds. This unambiguously identifies the disc as the modern audiophile mono reissue rather than any vintage first- or later-generation EmArcy pressing, all of which lack the AP/QRP/UMG branding and carry genuinely deep-groove labels of a plainer design.

Fidelity

Mastered by Kevin Gray from the analog tapes and pressed on 200g vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, this mono reissue is widely praised on forums.stevehoffman.tv and by audiophile press for its warmth, low noise, and vivid presence compared to worn vintage EmArcy copies and the earlier Mercury/Verve CD transfers; a companion mono SACD was issued alongside it. Within the album's fidelity hierarchy it ranks below only a truly pristine first-generation 1955 EmArcy pressing (which carries the most direct-to-lacquer immediacy but is now scarce and often worn) and above later 1960s-80s reissues, straight CD reissues, and most other vinyl reissues; some listeners note faint sibilance or occasional flatness versus the best original copies, but it is regarded as the most reliably excellent-sounding widely available pressing today.

Notes

This is the 2020 Analogue Productions mono reissue of the 1955 EmArcy debut, catalog APJ 127 (jacket-printed AAPJ-127), released 17 April 2020. The label's AP triangular logo, 'Quality Record Pressings' roundel, and 'Universal Music Special Markets'/UMG copyright text confirm modern manufacture, ruling out any vintage 1950s-80s EmArcy label. The typed runout 'AAPJ-127-A KO6ECA' / 'AAPJ-127-B2 KO6ECA' matches Analogue Productions' catalog-based lacquer/plating codes used on this reissue series, consistent with QRP plant practice, though the exact stamper/plating suffix could not be independently confirmed from a Discogs deadwax photo. Gatefold Stoughton jacket and 200g weight are standard for this AP release.

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