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
Miles Davis
A Tribute To Jack Johnson
1971 · Columbia KC 30455 · Stereo · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM
Pressing details
| Label | Columbia |
|---|
| Catalogue number | KC 30455 |
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| Year | 1971 |
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| Mono / Stereo | Stereo |
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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 - Jazz-Rock/Fusion |
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| Producer | Teo Macero |
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| Conductor | Teo Macero |
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| Musicians | Miles Davis (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (keyboards/organ, courtesy of Warner Bros. Records), John McLaughlin (guitar), Steve Grossman (soprano saxophone), Billy Cobham (drums), Michael Henderson (Fender bass); additional session personnel compiled into the LP include Chick Corea (electric piano), Dave Holland (electric bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Sonny Sharrock (guitar) and Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet), with Brock Peters as the voice of Jack Johnson. |
|---|
Matrix / Runout
Side A: MAL-30455-1A P Y
Side B: MBL 30455-1F 1 T
Condition
- Cover
- EX
- Vinyl
- NM DEEP GROOVE INDENT/NM
Variant chronology
1971 - US Columbia red label, orange 'COLUMBIA' rim text, KC 30455, Pitman NJ pressing, matrix MAL/MBL-30455-1A/1F <- this copy
1971-72 - US Columbia red label with white '360 Sound Stereo' text, KC 30455
c.1973-on - US Columbia red/orange label, catalog changed to PC 30455 (often via sticker over KC)
1970s - Columbia Records of Canada pressing, KC 30455, '360 Sound' white text
Later - Various reissues incl. Shorewood 'Shorepak' gatefold poster edition (S 70089)
1990s-2000s - Columbia/Legacy CD reissues (not vinyl) - n/a
2016 - Mobile Fidelity MFSL 1-440 audiophile 180g reissue
2020 - Music On Vinyl/Columbia reissue, 140g
This Pressing
Early US pressing (stereo, c.1971) - Columbia red label, KC 30455 catalog, Pitman NJ plant stamp in the matrix.
The Album
Recorded in early 1970 as the soundtrack to William Cayton's documentary about heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson, this album finds Miles Davis pushing the electric, rock-inflected direction he had opened on Bitches Brew even further toward raw, riff-based jamming. The centerpiece, 'Right Off', reportedly grew out of an impromptu studio warm-up: guitarist John McLaughlin began vamping while waiting for Davis, and was quickly joined by bassist Michael Henderson and drummer Billy Cobham, prompting Davis to walk in and improvise trumpet lines over the groove that producer Teo Macero then edited into a side-long piece. 'Yesternow' was assembled by Macero from multiple sessions and musicians, splicing together a slow-burning, bass-riff-driven mood piece that closes with dialogue from the film. The record arrived at a pivotal moment in Davis's career, following his full turn to electric jazz-rock fusion, and it stands as one of the most focused and rock-influenced statements of that period, prized by many listeners for its visceral, funk-driven energy. Though a modest commercial performer on release, it has since come to be regarded by critics and musicians as a high point of the jazz-fusion era and an essential entry in Davis's 1970s electric catalog, admired for the interplay of McLaughlin's guitar with Henderson and Cobham's rhythm section.
The Label
This copy carries the plain red Columbia label with orange 'COLUMBIA' logotype repeating around the rim and the small two-eye logo box, with no white '360 Sound Stereo' overprint - a design Columbia used circa 1970-72 immediately before that wording was added to the same red livery. The catalog number is printed as KC 30455 on both labels and jacket (spine/back), the original Columbia numbering used before the company's mid-1970s renumbering to the PC prefix. Discogs variant data confirms later copies carry a PC sticker over the printed KC number or a '360 Sound Stereo' white-text label, both markers of a later print run. The matrix suffixes (MAL-30455-1A, MBL-30455-1F) with the 'P' code point to Columbia's Pitman, NJ plant, consistent with early-1970s US manufacturing for this catalog block. Taken together (KC prefix, plain red/orange label lacking 360 Sound text, Pitman stamp, low lacquer-cut letter suffixes) this sits at or very near the front of the domestic US pressing run rather than a mid-70s PC-era repress or Canadian pressing.
Fidelity
Engineered by Stan Tonkel and produced/edited by Teo Macero from the original 1970 Columbia studio masters; this US Pitman pressing represents Columbia's standard early-1970s cutting rather than an audiophile mastering, with quality generally solid but variable by copy, as was typical of Columbia's high-volume plants of the era. Collectors on forums such as Steve Hoffman's generally regard original Columbia pressings of this title as punchy but not particularly quiet or deep-bass extended compared to modern remasters. The 2016 Mobile Fidelity MFSL 1-440 180g reissue is widely considered the sonic high-water mark for the album, offering greater clarity, quieter surfaces and tighter bass than any vintage Columbia pressing, including this one. Within the vintage-pressing tier, an early KC-prefix red-label copy like this one is regarded as among the more desirable original variants, ranking above later PC-era reissues and Canadian pressings but below the MFSL and other modern audiophile cuts.
Notes
This is an early domestic US Columbia pressing rather than a later PC-era repress. The KC 30455 catalog prefix (versus the later PC 30455 renumbering used from roughly 1973 onward, sometimes applied via sticker over the original KC print) and the plain orange-on-red Columbia label without the '360 Sound Stereo' overprint both point to a 1971-72 manufacturing window. The matrix codes (MAL-30455-1A, MBL-30455-1F) with the 'P' suffix indicate Columbia's Pitman, New Jersey pressing plant, consistent with early US stock for this title.
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