Herbie Hancock

Head Hunters

c. 1998-2004 (early 2000s per Discogs variant notes) · Columbia KC 32731 · Stereo · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Columbia
Catalogue number	KC 32731
Year	c. 1998-2004 (early 2000s per Discogs variant notes)
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Fusion/Jazz-Funk
Producer	David Rubinson, Herbie Hancock
Composer	Herbie Hancock
Performer / Orchestra	The Herbie Hancock Group (The Headhunters)
Musicians	Herbie Hancock (Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hohner D6 clavinet, ARP Odyssey synthesizer, ARP Soloist synthesizer, pipes), Bennie Maupin (soprano & tenor saxophone, saxello, bass clarinet, alto flute), Paul Jackson (electric bass, marimbula), Harvey Mason (Yamaha drums), Bill Summers (congas, shekere, balafon, agogo, cabasa, hindewhu, tambourine, log drum, surdo, gankoqui, beer bottle)

Availability

This record is currently listed for sale: view the listing on Discogs.

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  AL-32731-3A RJ 3
Side B:  BL32731-3A BT

Condition

Cover: NM-/NM-
Vinyl: NM-/NM

Variant chronology

1973 - US original, orange/red Columbia label with '© 1973 CBS, Inc.', AL/BL 1A-1B stampers (Pitman/Terre Haute/Santa Maria)
c. 1977 - US reissue, PC 32731 catalog number, CBS-era red label
c. 1998-2004 - US Sony-era reissue, red label with '© 1973 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.', KC 32731 + AL/BL label matrix, 3A recuts  <- this copy
2008 - US Columbia/Legacy reissue 88697392181, barcode jacket, Sony BMG era
2009 - Speakers Corner (Germany) 180g all-analog reissue
2015 - Analogue Productions APJ 084, 180g 33rpm, Sterling/QRP
2017 - Analogue Productions APJ 084-45, 2xLP 45rpm, Sterling/QRP

This Pressing

The Album

By 1973 Herbie Hancock - already a Blue Note star, Miles Davis alumnus, and composer of 'Watermelon Man' and 'Maiden Voyage' - had taken his sextet through the dense electric explorations of the Mwandishi trilogy on Warner Bros. Watching audiences walk out on that music while crowds erupted for funk acts like Sly Stone and the Pointer Sisters, Hancock made a deliberate turn toward groove, dissolving the septet and building a new band around retained reedman Bennie Maupin, Oakland bassist Paul Jackson, LA session drummer Harvey Mason, and New Orleans percussionist Bill Summers. Recorded in 1973 at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco with producer David Rubinson and released October 26, 1973, Head Hunters delivered four long tracks: the anthemic 'Chameleon' built on Jackson's two-note bass line and Hancock's clavinet-as-bass-guitar; a reinvention of 'Watermelon Man' opened by Summers' hindewhu-and-beer-bottle imitation of Ba-Benzélé pygmy music; 'Sly,' a layered tribute to Sly Stone; and the brooding closer 'Vein Melter.' The album became a phenomenon - the first jazz LP certified platinum, reaching #13 pop, #2 R&B and #1 on the jazz chart, with an edited 'Chameleon' crossing over to radio and dance clubs. It effectively codified jazz-funk as a commercial language, and its grooves and textures have been sampled by generations of hip-hop producers, making it one of the most influential electric jazz records ever made.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Chameleon
2. Watermelon Man

Side 2

1. Sly
2. Vein Melter

The Label

This copy carries the salmon/red Columbia reissue label: white 'COLUMBIA' arch at top, maroon print, label matrix 'KC 32731 / AL 32731' (side 1) and 'KC 32731 / BL 32731' (side 2), and the rim credit '© 1973 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.' CBS Records was renamed Sony Music Entertainment in January 1991, so any label with this credit postdates the CBS era (1973 originals and all 1970s-80s pressings read '© 1973 CBS, Inc.'); combined with the pre-Sony BMG branding, that fixes this copy to roughly 1998-2004. The typed runouts ('AL-32731-3A RJ 3' / 'BL32731-3A BT') are 3A recut lacquers rather than the 1A/1B first cuts found on 1973 pressings, confirming a reissue generation. A further fingerprint matches Discogs' documented Sony-era variant (r37313829): the anomalous A1 composer credit on the label ('Herbie Hancock-A. Willis-D. Rubinson-J. Cohen') that never appears on original labels, which credit Chameleon to Hancock/Jackson/Mason/Maupin. Note: the documented Discogs variant's runouts end in 'RML' while this copy's end 'RJ 3'/'BT', so a parallel pressing run of the same reissue is possible - a dead-wax photo would settle it.

Fidelity

The source recording - cut at Wally Heider Studios by Fred Catero and Jeremy Zatkin - is famously robust, with a huge, dry funk low end that flatters almost any pressing. This reissue uses uncredited 3A lacquers, almost certainly derived from Sony's 1990s remaster chain rather than a fresh all-analog cut, and collectors treat it as a serviceable but unexceptional modern pressing. The widely available 1973 US originals (Pitman/Terre Haute/Santa Maria, 1A/1B stampers) remain the value-for-sound benchmark: warm, punchy, and cheap. At the top of the fidelity hierarchy sit the all-analog Analogue Productions reissues mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling from the original tapes (APJ 084 33rpm, 2015; APJ 084-45 2x45rpm, 2017, pressed at QRP), with the Speakers Corner 180g also well regarded; this Sony cut sits clearly below all of those.

Notes

Early-2000s US Columbia reissue of KC 32731, not the 1973 first pressing. Decisive evidence: label rim credit reads '© 1973 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.' - a company name that did not exist before January 1991, whereas originals and all 1970s-80s pressings read '© 1973 CBS, Inc.' - and the typed runouts are 3A recut lacquers rather than the 1A/1B first-generation cuts. The anomalous A1 writer credit on the side 1 label (A. Willis/D. Rubinson/J. Cohen) exactly matches the documented Discogs Sony-era variant. One open point: that documented variant's runouts end in 'RML' while this copy's transcriptions end 'RJ 3'/'BT', so a sister pressing run of the same reissue is possible; a dead-wax photo would confirm.