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

The Natural Soul

1963 · Blue Note BLP 4108 · Mono · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Blue Note
Catalogue number	BLP 4108
Year	1963
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Soul Jazz/Hard Bop
Producer	Alfred Lion
Musicians	Lou Donaldson (alto sax), Tommy Turrentine (trumpet), Grant Green (guitar), John Patton (organ), Ben Dixon (drums)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  BN-LP-4108-A EAR VAN GELDER
Side B:  BN-LP-4108-B EAR VAN GELDER

Condition

Cover: VG+
Vinyl: VG+

Variant chronology

1963 - US Blue Note BLP 4108, New York USA label, deep groove both sides
1963 - US Blue Note BLP 4108, New York USA label, deep groove side 2 only
1963 - US Blue Note BLP 4108, New York USA label, no deep groove  <- this copy
1963 - US Blue Note BST 84108, New York USA label, stereo
1966 - US Blue Note BST 84108, repress, stereo
1967 - US Blue Note BST 84108, A Division of Liberty Records label, stereo
1967 - Blue Note "A Division of Liberty Records" blue/white label, mono/stereo reissue
1970 - US Blue Note 84108, repress, stereo
1973 - US Blue Note BST-84108, United Artists-era reissue, stereo
1974 - South Africa Blue Note BNTJ(M) 6/84108, reissue, mono
1986 - US Blue Note BST 84108, Manhattan-era remastered reissue, stereo
1993 - Japan Blue Note BST 84108/BN 4108, limited edition reissue, stereo
2020s - Japan reissue (Blue Note BN 4108, OBI)

This Pressing

1963 mono pressing - Blue Note New York USA label (no deep groove), Van Gelder stamp and Plastylite ear in the deadwax.

The Album

Recorded May 9, 1962 at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio and issued in 1963, The Natural Soul finds alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson deep into the soul-jazz groove he pioneered for Blue Note, pairing his blues-drenched, gospel-tinged alto with the young organ-guitar-drums combo of John Patton, Grant Green and Ben Dixon plus trumpeter Tommy Turrentine. Donaldson had already helped define the funky, backbeat-driven strain of hard bop that made jukeboxes and jazz clubs move, and this session - a direct follow-up to his earlier organ-combo dates - doubles down on that formula with original blues lines like "Funky Mama" and "Sow Belly Blues" alongside a warm, unhurried reading of the Gershwin standard "Love Walked In." The album crystallizes a period when Donaldson, criticized by some purists for playing to the room rather than the avant-garde, was quietly building one of the most influential bodies of accessible, blues-based jazz of the era. Its easy, danceable grooves and Patton's percolating organ work helped cement the organ-combo sound that would echo through soul jazz and later soul and funk records. Contemporary liner notes framed Donaldson as one of the music's most consistently satisfying and underrated players, a reputation the album's relaxed, groove-forward sequencing bears out. Decades on, The Natural Soul remains a touchstone of the Blue Note soul-jazz catalogue and a favorite among collectors and DJs drawn to its unpretentious, foot-tapping swing.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Funky Mama
2. Love Walked In
3. Spaceman Twist

Side 2

1. Sow Belly Blues
2. That's All
3. Nice 'N Greasy

The Label

The side labels show the white and blue Blue Note design with the arced '33 1/3 MICROGROOVE' legend, 'BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC · NEW YORK USA' beneath it, and BLP 4108 with no West 63rd Street or Liberty text - the plain 'NEW YORK USA' address used from late 1961 into 1966, before Blue Note added the 'A DIVISION OF LIBERTY RECORDS' line. This pressing's labels show no deep-groove ridge. That places this copy within the New York USA label era of this catalogue number - the label the title was first issued on - made before the later Liberty-era redesign.

Fidelity

Cut and pressed from Rudy Van Gelder's original analog masters, with his stamp and the Plastylite "ear" marking an original-era lacquer and pressing plant. Collectors on the forums consistently rate original Blue Note New York mono pressings of this era among the best-sounding versions of these sessions, prized for Van Gelder's punchy, immediate organ-combo sound. This no-deep-groove New York mono copy sits just behind the deep-groove copies in the collector hierarchy, but well ahead of the later Liberty-era "Division of Liberty Records" pressings and any digital reissues, which soften the tape's original warmth and dynamics.

Notes

1963 Blue Note BLP 4108 mono pressing with New York USA labels (no deep groove) reading "BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC · NEW YORK USA" with no Liberty text, a design used from late 1961 into 1966. The runout carries BN-LP-4108-A/B, the Plastylite ear, and the Van Gelder stamp, placing this copy within that New York-label era rather than the later "A Division of Liberty Records" pressings.

Documenting collections

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