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
John Coltrane
Blue Train
1958 · Blue Note BLP 1577 · Mono · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM
Pressing details
| Label | Blue Note |
|---|
| Catalogue number | BLP 1577 |
|---|
| Year | 1958 |
|---|
| Mono / Stereo | Mono |
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| Country | US |
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| Format | LP |
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| Speed | 33 1/3 RPM |
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| Genre | Jazz - Hard Bop |
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| Producer | Alfred Lion (uncredited on the jacket) |
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| Musicians | John Coltrane (tenor sax), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Kenny Drew (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), "Philly" Joe Jones (drums) |
|---|
Matrix / Runout
Side A: BN-LP-1577-A EAR RVG 9M
Side B: BN-LP-1577-B RVG EAR 9M
Condition
- Cover
- VG+
- Vinyl
- VG
Variant chronology
1958 - US Blue Note, New York 23 address on one label, 47 West 63rd on the other, deep groove, RVG and Plastylite ear stamps
1958 - US Blue Note, 47 West 63rd address on both labels, no INC, no ® mark, deep groove, same stamper as the first pressing <- this copy
1959 - 47 West 63rd INC address (one or both sides), deep groove continues - no separately documented sale
1959 - No ® mark repress, West 63rd INC - no separately documented sale
1961-1966 - Liberty-era mono repress, flat label, no deep groove - no separately documented sale
1959-1973 - Stereo BST 81577 pressings, New York and later Liberty/United Artists labels
1984 - Japanese stereo reissue (ST-81577) - no separately documented sale
2020s - Blue Note Essential Vinyl Series colored-vinyl reissue
This Pressing
Early West 63rd label pressing (mono) - deep groove both sides, RVG and Plastylite ear stamps, same stamper as the first pressing.
The Album
Recorded in September 1957 at the midpoint of a year in which John Coltrane was reshaping his playing after leaving Miles Davis's group and working through a period of personal transformation, this session stands as his only outing as a leader for Blue Note during his contractual run on Prestige, made possible because Blue Note borrowed him for a single date. He assembled a front line of Lee Morgan and Curtis Fuller alongside his working rhythm section of Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers and "Philly" Joe Jones, giving the record a harder, brass-driven sound than his Prestige sessions of the same period. The album is built around four originals, including the title blues and the harmonically dense "Moment's Notice" and "Lazy Bird," plus a single standard, "I'm Old Fashioned," that lets Coltrane stretch out as a ballad interpreter. It arrived at a moment when Coltrane's improvising was growing noticeably more exploratory, foreshadowing the dense, rapid-fire approach that would soon be dubbed "sheets of sound." Critics and listeners responded to the record's combination of blues feeling and advanced harmonic writing, and it quickly became recognized as one of the defining hard bop statements of the era. In the decades since, it has remained a touchstone recording both for Coltrane's own development and for the Blue Note label's identity as a home for serious, blues-rooted modern jazz.
Tracklist
Side 1
1. Blue Train (Coltrane)
2. Moment's Notice (Coltrane)
Side 2
1. Locomotion (Coltrane)
2. I'm Old Fashioned (Kern-Mercer)
3. Lazy Bird (Coltrane)
The Label
The side labels on this copy read Blue Note Records Inc with the 47 West 63rd, NYC address and carry no INC suffix and no ® registration mark, with a deep groove pressed into both sides. This West 63rd address replaced the transitional label that paired a New York 23 address on one side with West 63rd on the other when Blue Note's offices moved in the late 1950s, and the matrix and stamper figures match those used for the very first lacquer cut, making this an early-generation label change rather than a later remastering. The front and back covers print the catalogue number simply as 1577 without the BLP prefix used on the labels, which is the normal house style for this jacket and not a separate issue. This label places the pressing just behind the true first (mixed New York 23/West 63rd) label state and ahead of the West 63rd INC repress labels that followed.
Fidelity
The Van Gelder-cut lacquer and 9M stamper on this pressing are the same used for the very first label state of this title, so the sound is effectively indistinguishable from the earliest copies off the press. Collectors on the forums rate original Blue Note mono pressings of this title as the definitive listening experience, ahead of the contemporaneous stereo cut and all subsequent reissues. Among later reissues, audiophile mono remasters are generally regarded as close but secondary to an original deep-groove mono pressing like this one.
Notes
This is an early-generation mono pressing on the 47 West 63rd label without the INC suffix or ® mark, with deep groove pressed into both sides. The runouts carry the Van Gelder stamp and Plastylite ear alongside the same 9M stamper figures used on the earliest New York 23/West 63rd label state, indicating this copy was cut from the same lacquer as the true first pressing rather than a later remastering. The label design places it just after the mixed-address first state and ahead of the West 63rd INC labels that followed in 1959. Vinyl grades VG with a VG+ cover.
Documenting collections
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This record’s page: https://vinylcurator.net/albums/john-coltrane-blue-train-west-63rd-and-new-york-city-labels/
