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

Bitches Brew

1970 · Columbia PG 26 (CS 9995 / CS 9996) · Stereo · US · 2xLP, gatefold · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Columbia
Catalogue number	PG 26 (CS 9995 / CS 9996)
Year	1970
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	US
Format	2xLP, gatefold
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Jazz Fusion/Jazz-Rock
Producer	Teo Macero
Musicians	Miles Davis (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (soprano sax), Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet), Joe Zawinul (electric piano), Chick Corea (electric piano), Larry Young (electric piano), John McLaughlin (electric guitar), Dave Holland (bass), Harvey Brooks (electric bass guitar), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Lenny White (drums), Don Alias (drums, congas), Jim Riley aka Jumma Santos (percussion, shaker)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  XSM152412-2D S2
Side B:  XSM152413-1AD S1 COLUMBIA NY
Side C:  XSM152414-1H S1 B 1
Side D:  XSM152415-1AF 1 T A 3

Condition

Cover: EX GATEFOLD/EX
Vinyl: NM-/NM-/NM-

Variant chronology

1970 (early, Mar-Jun) - US Columbia PG26, red 'two-eye' label (two CBS eye logos at 9 & 3 o'clock, plain text), Sanctuary mis-credited to both M. Davis and W. Shorter
1970 (Jun) - US Columbia PG26, red 'two-eye' label, Sanctuary corrected to W. Shorter only
1970 (Jul onward) - US Columbia PG26, red label with repeating orange 'COLUMBIA' rim text replacing the two-eye design, Sanctuary credited to W. Shorter only, mixed-plant (Santa Maria/Terre Haute) runouts  <- this copy
1971-1975 - continued red label with orange rim text, Terre Haute/Pitman/Santa Maria represses, various stamper generations
1972-1976 - Columbia solid-orange label reissue (two-eye/rim-text design fully retired)
1980s - Columbia budget red-label reissue
1990s-2020s - CD, Legacy, and audiophile vinyl reissues (Mobile Fidelity, Music On Vinyl, etc.) - variable, not directly comparable

This Pressing

1970 US Columbia PG26 stereo, red label with repeating orange rim text (post two-eye design), Shorter-only Sanctuary credit, mixed Santa Maria/Terre Haute pressing - a second-wave 1970 pressing, not the original two-eye first press.

The Album

Recorded over three days in August 1969 at Columbia's 30th Street Studio, Bitches Brew marked Miles Davis's decisive commitment to electric, rock- and funk-inflected jazz after the tentative steps of In a Silent Way. Davis assembled a sprawling ensemble of overlapping electric keyboards, electric bass and guitar, multiple drummers and percussionists, and Bennie Maupin's bass clarinet, then worked with producer Teo Macero to splice, loop, and layer the freewheeling studio jams into the album's dense, hypnotic long-form pieces. Arriving as Davis, already a towering figure across bebop, cool, hard bop, and modal jazz, sought to reach a younger rock audience, the record's uncompromising sound alienated segments of the traditional jazz establishment even as it became a commercial breakthrough unprecedented for a Davis jazz release. Anchored by the sprawling, cyclical groove of the title track, it is now regarded as the founding document of jazz-fusion, reshaping the genre's possibilities for the following decade. Critically divisive on release, its influence proved lasting and profound, paving the way for Davis's own subsequent electric period and for a generation of fusion musicians who followed in its wake.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Pharaoh's Dance - J. Zawinul

Side 2

1. Bitches Brew - M. Davis

Side 3

1. Spanish Key - M. Davis
2. John McLaughlin - M. Davis

Side 4

1. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down - M. Davis
2. Sanctuary - W. Shorter

The Label

The side labels show Columbia's continuous repeating rim design - 'COLUMBIA' text alternating with a small diamond-framed eye icon runs all the way around the red field, not the earlier design with only two large CBS eye logos fixed at 9 and 3 o'clock. Per bsnpubs/Discogs timelines, Columbia introduced this repeating-rim-text red label around July 1970, superseding the original two-eye label used on the true first-pressing run from March-June 1970, and it was itself later replaced by a plain solid-orange label around 1972. Side 4 already credits 'Sanctuary' to W. Shorter alone (the initial dual Davis/Shorter mis-credit was corrected mid-way through the two-eye era), confirming this copy postdates both two-eye stamper states. This places the pressing in Columbia's second major 1970 label-design wave - a genuine 1970 US pressing, but not the more collectible earliest two-eye first press.

Fidelity

Original 1970 Columbia pressings were assembled under Teo Macero's supervision without a separate mastering-engineer credit on the disc; quality varies by plant, and Santa Maria and Terre Haute pressings of this era are generally rated by collectors (forums.stevehoffman.tv) as solid, warm, dynamic vintage cuts, though somewhat less consistently quiet than the best Pitman copies. This mixed Santa Maria/Terre Haute, rim-text-label example sits below the rarer two-eye first pressings in the collector hierarchy but above later 1970s solid-orange-label represses in punch and perceived dynamics. Modern audiophile reissues (Mobile Fidelity, Music On Vinyl, and other 180g remasters) offer quieter surfaces and extended low end but are valued by some collectors more for consistency than for matching the analog immediacy of a good original pressing.

Notes

This is not a two-eye pressing: the label carries the continuous repeating orange 'COLUMBIA' rim text with small eye icons that Columbia adopted from around July 1970 onward, replacing the original two-eye (two large CBS logos at 9/3 o'clock) design used on the true first pressings. Sanctuary is already correctly credited to W. Shorter alone, consistent with this later label state. Runout etchings show Santa Maria (S) plant markings on sides 1-3 and Terre Haute (T) on side 4, a normal mixed-plant setup for Columbia's high-volume 1970 manufacturing of this title. Net verdict: a genuine 1970 US original release, but from the second label-design generation rather than the more collectible two-eye first pressing.

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