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

Lou Donaldson

Gravy Train

1962  ·  Blue Note BLP 4079  ·  Mono  ·  US  ·  LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Lou Donaldson - Gravy Train: 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 1 Matrix Runout A3 Side 2 Matrix Runout B1 Side 2 Matrix Runout B2 Side 2 Matrix Runout B3

Pressing details

LabelBlue Note
Catalogue numberBLP 4079
Year1962
Mono / StereoMono
CountryUS
FormatLP
Speed33 1/3 RPM
GenreJazz - Soul Jazz/Hard Bop
ProducerAlfred Lion
MusiciansLou Donaldson (alto sax), Herman Foster (piano), Ben Tucker (bass), Dave Bailey (drums), Alec Dorsey (conga)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  BN-LP-4079-A EAR RVG
Side B:  BN-LP-4079-B EAR RVG

Condition

Cover
VG+
Vinyl
VG

Variant chronology

1962 - US Blue Note BLP 4079 mono, NY USA label, deep groove side 1, RVG stamp + Ear
1962 - US Blue Note BLP 4079 mono, NY USA label, no deep groove, RVG stamp + Ear  <- this copy
1966 - US Blue Note BLP 4079 mono reissue
1962 - US Blue Note BST 84079 stereo, NY USA label, RVG stamp + Ear
1966-1975 - US Blue Note BST 84079 stereo repress(es)
1990s-2019 - Japan/EU reissues and remastered CDs

This Pressing

1st pressing (mono, 1962) - New York, USA label, deep groove side 1, RVG stamp + Ear in the deadwax.

The Album

Recorded April 27, 1961 at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio and released by Blue Note in July 1962, Gravy Train captured altoist Lou Donaldson's working quartet with pianist Herman Foster, bassist Ben Tucker and drummer Dave Bailey, augmented by Alec Dorsey's congas for extra rhythmic heat. Coming on the heels of Blues Walk and Here 'Tis, the album continued Donaldson's turn from straight bebop toward a bluesy, backbeat-driven "soul-jazz" sound built on jukebox-friendly standards and originals, straight-ahead jazz, bebop and blues done Donaldson's way. It stands as a solid, representative entry in Donaldson's prolific early-1960s Blue Note run rather than a landmark, valued more for its consistency and groove than for any single innovation.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Gravy Train (Donaldson)
2. South of the Border (Kennedy-Carr)
3. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (Burke-Van Heusen)
4. Avalon (Rose-Jolson)

Side 2

1. Candy (David-Whitney-Kramer)
2. Twist Time (Donaldson)
3. Glory of Love (Hill)

The Label

The side labels are the white/blue Blue Note design reading "BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC · NEW YORK, USA" with no street address, the transitional 1962 New York-address label used just before the plain "NEW YORK, USA" font reset and the later loss of the Van Gelder ear/deep groove combination. The matrix (BN-LP-4079-A/B) carries an RVG stamp and EAR/Plastylite mark etched in the deadwax, among the last Blue Notes to carry the RVG stamp before it was replaced later in 1961-62 by the full "VAN GELDER" etching. This combination of NY-address label, deep groove on side 1, RVG stamp and Ear places this copy in the earliest, first-pressing manufacturing run of BLP 4079, ahead of any later 1960s NY-label repress that dropped the deep groove and RVG stamp.

Fidelity

Van Gelder's original 1961 all-analog tape, cut to lacquer by RVG himself as shown by the RVG stamp in the runout; the Ear (Plastylite) mark confirms an original Plastylite-pressed disc rather than a later custom-pressed run. Collectors on the forums generally rate these early-1960s NY-label Van Gelder-cut Blue Notes very highly for warmth and presence, ranking them above the mid-60s Liberty-era NY/Div. of Liberty pressings and well above generic reissues; no audiophile remaster (Music Matters, Analogue Productions, Tone Poet) of this specific title exists, so this original pressing represents the top of the album's known fidelity hierarchy alongside other RVG/Ear first pressings.

Notes

1962 Blue Note BLP 4079 mono - original first pressing. NY USA labels with deep groove on side 1, RVG stamp and Ear (Plastylite) mark in the runout identify this as the first-issue variant. This RVG-stamp/Ear/deep-groove combination was phased out later in the Blue Note NY-label era, placing this copy in an early manufacturing run for this catalogue number.

Documenting collections

I do this work for other people’s collections too — documenting a collection record by record, researching individual pressings, and preparing collections for sale or for insurance. If you have a collection you would like documented, or a record you want identified properly, get in touch: email

This record’s page: https://vinylcurator.net/albums/lou-donaldson-gravy-train/