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

The Miles Davis Quintet

Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet

1961 · Prestige PRLP 7200 · Mono · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Prestige
Catalogue number	PRLP 7200
Year	1961
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Hard Bop
Producer	Bob Weinstock
Musicians	Miles Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  PRLP-7200 A RVG
Side B:  PRLP-7200 B RVG AB

Condition

Cover: EX
Vinyl: NM-

Variant chronology

1961 - Yellow/black "fireworks" label, deep groove, 203 South Washington Ave Bergenfield NJ address, RVG stamp, mono first pressing  <- this copy
1964-1970 - Gold trident label (mono), same deep groove/deadwax as first press
1964-1971 - Blue trident label (stereo, PRST 7200)
1970s-80s - Prestige/Fantasy reissue, blue/silver or later logo label, no deep groove
2014 - Analogue Productions APRJ 7200, 200g mono audiophile reissue

This Pressing

1961 first pressing (mono) - Prestige PRLP 7200 yellow/black "fireworks" label, deep groove, 203 South Washington Ave Bergenfield NJ address, RVG-stamped runout.

The Album

Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet is the last-released of the four classic Prestige albums (Cookin', Relaxin', Workin' and Steamin') assembled from two marathon studio dates - May 11 and October 26, 1956 - that Davis's celebrated "First Great Quintet" recorded to fulfill its Prestige contract before the trumpeter's move to Columbia Records. Having road-tested most of this material on tour, Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones cut the sessions essentially live in the studio, often in a single take, capturing the loose, blowing-session spontaneity that became legendary. The program balances Tin Pan Alley and Broadway standards with bebop staples and a Monk composition, showcasing Coltrane's rapidly maturing improvisational voice alongside Davis's understated lyricism. These sessions mark a pivotal moment in Davis's career, the closing chapter of his first great working band just before he assembled the sextet that would record Milestones and Kind of Blue. The quintet's telepathic interplay and the rhythm section's effortless swing made these Prestige dates a cornerstone of hard bop, influencing how small-group jazz combos approached repertoire and pacing for years afterward. Critically, the four Prestige LPs drawn from these sessions are regarded as among the finest examples of mid-1950s modern jazz, and Steamin' in particular is prized for the ballad performances and the burning tempo of "Salt Peanuts." Its lasting legacy rests on documenting, in real time, the sound of a band operating at the peak of its collective chemistry just before disbanding.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Surrey with the Fringe on Top
2. Salt Peanuts
3. Something I Dreamed Last Night

Side 2

1. Diane
2. Well You Needn't
3. When I Fall in Love

The Label

This copy carries the classic Prestige yellow-and-black "fireworks" label reading "Prestige Records, Inc., 203 South Washington Ave., Bergenfield, N.J." with a pronounced deep groove on both sides, the design/address Prestige used for its mono jazz line from the mid/late 1950s through the label's 1964 switch to gold-trident labels. The etched "AB" runout code plus stamped RVG matches the earliest documented stamper generation for PRLP 7200 (AB PRLP-7200-A / AB PRLP-7200-B-1). This yellow deep-groove label predates the 1964 gold-trident mono and blue-trident stereo redesigns, placing this copy in the true first-pressing run issued at the album's original July/August 1961 release rather than a later Bergenfield-era trident-logo repress.

Fidelity

Mastered and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder at his Hackensack studio directly from the 1956 quintet sessions; this deep-groove yellow-label mono pressing with RVG stamp represents Van Gelder's own original lacquer cut, prized by collectors on the forums for its warmth and immediacy compared to later Fantasy-era repressings sourced from generation-removed tapes. Pressing quality on these early Bergenfield-era Prestige mono LPs is generally very good, though slightly more prone to surface noise than contemporary Blue Notes due to Prestige's more modest vinyl stock. In the album's fidelity hierarchy this original mono first press sits at the top alongside early gold-trident mono repressings, well above later stereo Fantasy reissues, with the 2014 Analogue Productions APRJ 7200 200g mono LP (mastered from the original tapes, pressed at QRP) representing the modern audiophile-grade alternative collectors on the forums consider the best-sounding modern option.

Notes

1961 Prestige PRLP 7200 mono - original first pressing. Yellow/black fireworks label with deep groove and the 203 South Washington Ave, Bergenfield NJ address predates the 1964 shift to gold/blue trident labels, and the RVG-stamped, AB-etched runout matches documented early stampers for this catalog number. Sold to collectors as the true first-issue configuration of this final installment in the 1956 Prestige quintet sessions, released July/August 1961.

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/miles-davis-steamin/