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

Kenny Burrell

Midnight Blue

1966 · Blue Note BLP 4123 · Mono · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Blue Note
Catalogue number	BLP 4123
Year	1966
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Soul Jazz/Blues
Producer	Alfred Lion
Musicians	Stanley Turrentine (tenor sax), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Major Holley Jr. (bass), Bill English (drums), Ray Barretto (conga)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  BNLP 4123-A EAR VAN GELDER
Side B:  BNLP 4123-B EAR VAN GELDER

Condition

Cover: NM-
Vinyl: NM

Variant chronology

1963 - US Blue Note, deep groove, NY USA labels, Van Gelder + Plastylite ear stamp, true mono first pressing
1966 - US Blue Note reissue, NY USA labels retained, Van Gelder + ear retained, deep groove dropped  <- this copy
c.1967-70 - US Blue Note/Liberty-era reissue (labels move toward "A Division of Liberty Records" text) - no documented sale of this variant
1970s - US United Artists-era Blue Note reissue - no documented sale of this variant
1985 - US Blue Note digital remaster reissue (4BN 84123) - no documented sale of this variant
2000s-2020s - Analogue Productions / Music Matters 45rpm & 33rpm audiophile reissues

This Pressing

2nd press (mono, c.1966) - Blue Note NY USA label WITHOUT deep groove; Van Gelder stamp + Plastylite ear retained in runout.

The Album

Recorded in a single session at Van Gelder Studio on January 8, 1963, Midnight Blue found guitarist Kenny Burrell paring his working group down to a spare, blues-drenched quintet, deliberately omitting piano so his own chording could carry the harmony. Burrell had already built a reputation as one of the most versatile guitarists in jazz, equally comfortable in bebop, soul-jazz and blues settings, and this date leaned hard into the blues and Latin-tinged grooves that were then reshaping Blue Note's commercial sound. Tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine's warm, vocalized tone became the record's second voice, while Ray Barretto's conga added a subtle Afro-Cuban lift that distinguished tracks like Chittlins Con Carne and Wavy Gravy from straight 12-bar blues. The album's unhurried, late-night mood and its emphasis on feel over flash made it an immediate favorite with listeners beyond the jazz-specialist audience, and it remains Burrell's most enduring and best-selling Blue Note session. Critics have long cited it as a high-water mark of early-1960s soul jazz, prized for its economy, groove and the chemistry between Burrell and Turrentine. It cemented Burrell's standing as a leader in his own right after years as an in-demand sideman, and its title track and Chittlins Con Carne have become minor blues-guitar standards. The record's blend of blues authenticity and jazz sophistication continues to be cited as a touchstone of the genre.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Chittlins Con Carne (Burrell)
2. Mule (Major Holley Jr.)
3. Soul Lament (Burrell)
4. Midnight Blue (Burrell)

Side 2

1. Wavy Gravy (Burrell)
2. Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You (Redman-Razaf)
3. Saturday Night Blues (Burrell)

The Label

The side labels show the classic white/blue Blue Note design with a single "BLUE NOTE" wordmark split vertically, "BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC." arcing above "NEW YORK, USA" beneath the 33 1/3 MICROGROOVE LONG PLAYING legend - the same New York-address design used on the true 1963 first pressing. This copy does not show deep groove on either side, which rules out the earliest (1963) pressing run and instead places it as a 1966 reissue that kept the same New York labels and the Van Gelder/Plastylite-ear stamps in the dead wax but was pressed after Plastylite's deep-groove stamper rings had been retired (deep groove disappeared industry-wide, and at Blue Note specifically, by the mid-1960s). Because the label wording and address here still read "NEW YORK, USA" with no "A DIVISION OF LIBERTY RECORDS" text, this predates the post-1966 Liberty-era relabeling, placing it as a transitional, non-deep-groove NY pressing - the second rung in the BLP 4123 pressing hierarchy, below the deep-groove original but above the later United Artists/Liberty and 1970s reissues.

Fidelity

The Van Gelder-cut lacquers and Plastylite pressing are unchanged from the original configuration, so this non-deep-groove NY pressing sounds essentially identical to the 1963 first press, differing only in the cosmetic loss of the deep-groove ring from the stamper/press setup rather than any change in mastering. Collectors on the forums generally rate all Van Gelder/ear-stamped mono Blue Notes of this era as sonically superior to the later Liberty/United Artists reissues and to the stereo remix, prizing the punch and warmth of the mono cut. Within the fidelity hierarchy for BLP 4123, this pressing ranks just behind the deep-groove 1963 original (which commands a premium mainly for collectability, not audible superiority) and above the post-1966 Liberty-era and 1970s United Artists reissues, and well above the 1985 digital remaster; modern audiophile cuts (Music Matters, Analogue Productions) use fresh transfers and outclass all vintage mono pressings sonically but trade the vintage-mono character for higher fidelity and are generally stereo, not mono.

Notes

This is not the true 1963 first pressing: there is no deep groove on either side, ruling out the earliest deep-groove NY USA stamper run. The label design is otherwise identical to the original - full "BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC. NEW YORK, USA" address, no Liberty-era text - and the runouts still carry the Van Gelder hand-etch and Plastylite ear, consistent with a c.1966 non-deep-groove reissue on the same New York labels, made before the label wording changed under Liberty ownership. That places this copy as a second-pressing variant: later than the 1963 deep-groove original but earlier than the Liberty/United Artists label changes that followed. Released May 1963; this pressing dates to the mid-1960s reprint run.

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