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

c. 1958-59 · Blue Note BLP 1577 · Mono · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Blue Note
Catalogue number	BLP 1577
Year	c. 1958-59
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Hard Bop
Producer	Alfred Lion
Musicians	Lee Morgan (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Kenny Drew (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), "Philly" Joe Jones (drums)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  BN-LP-1577-A RVG EAR 9M
Side B:  BN-LP-1577-B RVG EAR 9M

Condition

Cover: VG+
Vinyl: VG

Variant chronology

1958 - US true 1st press, NY23 on one label + 47 W 63rd NYC on the other, deep groove, RVG/EAR
1958-59 - US 2nd issue, 47 West 63rd NYC address both labels, deep groove, RVG/EAR, 9M stamper (second-issue configuration type 5193282)  <- this copy
1959-62 - US repress, "47 W 63rd INC" wording - No documented sale found for this variant
1963-66 - US repress, black/white "New York, USA" labels, deep groove discontinued - No documented sale found for this variant
1966-67 - US Liberty-era stereo reissue, BST 81577
2022 - Blue Note Tone Poet reissue (Kevin Gray/RTI, 180g, mastered from analog tapes) - No documented sale found for this variant

This Pressing

Second-issue mono pressing (c.1958-59) - deep groove, RVG/EAR, 9M stamper; Side 1 label matches the "47 W 63rd both sides" second-issue design, but Side 2's mismatched "New York, USA" address is an open question.

The Album

Blue Train, recorded September 15, 1957 at Van Gelder Studio, was John Coltrane's only date as leader for Blue Note, made while he was under contract to Prestige and playing nightly with Thelonious Monk at the Five Spot, an association that sharpened his harmonic imagination. Producer Alfred Lion assembled a front line of Lee Morgan and Curtis Fuller alongside Coltrane's regular Miles Davis rhythm mates Paul Chambers and "Philly" Joe Jones, with Kenny Drew on piano, giving the record a hard-driving sextet sound distinct from Coltrane's Prestige sessions of the period. Four of the five tunes are Coltrane originals, including the brooding minor-blues title track and the intricate "Moment's Notice," whose rapid ii-V changes became a jazz standard and an early showcase for the harmonic reach Coltrane would push further on Giant Steps. The album arrived as Coltrane was consolidating the language critics later called "sheets of sound," and it is widely regarded as the strongest, most fully realized statement of his mid-1950s development. Blue Train has endured as a touchstone of hard bop for its compositional ambition matched to blues-rooted swing, and it remains one of the most celebrated albums in both Coltrane's and Blue Note's catalogs, cited by generations of critics and musicians as a foundational modern jazz record.

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

Side 1 reads "BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC · 47 WEST 63rd · NYC" in the blue/white ring design with deep groove, matching the second-issue label (both sides 47 West 63rd instead of the true first pressing's one-side "NY23"). Side 2, however, reads "BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC · NEW YORK USA" with no street address at all - a design normally associated with Blue Note's mid-1960s simplified address labels - so the two sides of this copy do not match each other. Deep groove appears on both sides, which argues against a full mid-1960s repress (deep groove was generally phased out by 1962) and supports the runout's 9M/RVG/EAR stampers being an early pressing run, with Side 2 possibly carrying a mismatched or substituted label rather than being a true later repress. This copy is placed on the second-issue (47 W 63rd/deep groove/RVG-EAR) line of the hierarchy on the strength of its runout and Side 1 label.

Fidelity

This is a Van Gelder-cut mono lacquer (RVG stamp) pressed by Plastylite (EAR in the deadwax), first-generation analog mastering from the original September 1957 session tapes. Collectors on the forums rank early deep-groove, RVG/EAR Blue Note mono pressings of Blue Train at the top of the album's fidelity tree, surpassed only by a genuine NY23 first-stamper copy; this second-issue pressing sits just below that but well above 1960s Liberty-era stereo repressings, 1980s Japanese reissues, and CD transfers. The 2022 Tone Poet reissue (Kevin Gray, mastered from the analog tapes, pressed at RTI) is the best-regarded modern audiophile edition and is prized for quiet, well-centered vinyl, but many collectors still rate a clean original Van Gelder cut like this one as sonically superior for tape-generation immediacy.

Notes

1958-59 Blue Note BLP 1577 mono - second-issue Van Gelder pressing (RVG stamp, Plastylite EAR, 9M stamper, deep groove present on both sides). Side 1's "47 West 63rd, NYC" label matches the second-issue configuration, but Side 2 reads "New York, USA" with no street address, a mismatch that fits neither the true NY23 first pressing nor the second issue. This copy shares its 9M/RVG/EAR runout and Side 1 label design with another BLP 1577 pressing (No. 160), placing both in the same early pressing generation; a further BLP 1577 copy (No. 138) is a 2022 Tone Poet reissue, decades later than either.

Documenting collections

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