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

The Man With The Horn

1981 · Columbia FC 36790 · Stereo · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Columbia
Catalogue number	FC 36790
Year	1981
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Jazz-Funk/Fusion
Producer	Teo Macero
Musicians	Miles Davis (trumpet), Bill Evans (soprano saxophone), Al Foster (drums), Sammy Figueroa (percussion), Marcus Miller (Fender bass), Barry Finnerty (electric guitar, 'Fat Time' only), Mike Stern (electric guitar), Randy Hall (vocals, synthesizer, arranger, celeste), Robert Irving III (Yamaha CP30 acoustic piano, Mini Moog synthesizer, arranger), Felton Crews (Fender bass), Vincent Wilburn Jr. (drums), Gil Evans (arranger on 'Aida' brass section)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  AL 36790-1E COLUMBIA NY
Side B:  BL-36790-1F COLUMBIA NY

Condition

Cover: EX
Vinyl: NM

Variant chronology

1981 - US 1st pressing, red Columbia label, various domestic plants (Pitman/Terre Haute/Carrollton/Santa Maria)  <- this copy
1981 - Dutch/European CBS pressing, red CBS labels, 'Nice Price' inner sleeve
1981 - Canadian Columbia pressing
2010s-2020s - reissue vinyl (e.g. Music On Vinyl / clear vinyl editions)

This Pressing

1981 US Columbia FC 36790 stereo pressing - standard red-label domestic first-year issue, no distinguishing plant markings.

The Album

The Man with the Horn marked Miles Davis's return after a self-imposed six-year retreat from illness, addiction, and creative silence following 1975's Agharta and Pangaea. Recorded piecemeal between June 1980 and May 1981 at CBS's 30th Street studios in New York, it blends sessions cut with a young Chicago funk/R&B crew led by singer-arranger Randy Hall and keyboardist Robert Irving III with tracks featuring Davis's touring band of guitarists Mike Stern and Barry Finnerty, bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Al Foster, and soprano saxophonist Bill Evans. The album is transitional and uneven: side one's extended, guitar-driven vamps on

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Fat Time - 9:53
2. Back Seat Betty - 11:15
3. Shout - 5:52

Side 2

1. Aida - 8:10
2. The Man With The Horn - 6:32
3. Ursula - 10:50

The Label

This copy carries the standard 1981 Columbia red label with repeating yellow 'COLUMBIA' rim text and the circled-arrow 'eye' logo alternating around the perimeter, no deep groove, used across Columbia's US pressing plants (Pitman NJ, Terre Haute IN, Carrollton GA, Santa Maria CA) in the early-1980s CBS era. This generic red 'Columbia' design succeeded the earlier orange/red 'walking eye' labels of the 1970s and remained standard well into the mid-1980s, so its presence simply confirms a US domestic pressing from the record's 1981 release year rather than pointing to any distinct sub-variant. The runout AL 36790-1E / BL-36790-1F with 'COLUMBIA NY' confirms CBS Studios NY mastering via the DisComputer system but does not identify the specific pressing plant among the many stamper-suffix variants (1A through 1H+) catalogued for this title. As a mass-produced major-label release with no deep groove, no promo markings, and no distinguishing rim text beyond the standard design, this copy sits as one of many equivalent domestic first-year pressings.

Fidelity

Sourced from the original 1981 CBS DisComputer digital mastering/EQ system at CBS Studios NY rather than a pure analog tape-to-lacquer chain; Steve Hoffman forum posters frequently note this contributes to a somewhat thin, hissy, dynamically flat sound regardless of specific pressing. Quality varies copy to copy, with clean US or European originals from 1981 generally considered the best vintage option. No audiophile reissue (Mobile Fidelity, Analogue Productions, Music Matters, etc.) exists for this title; later reissues like the Music On Vinyl clear-vinyl edition are sourced from later digital remasters and rated inconsistently by collectors, generally not surpassing a clean original pressing.

Notes

1981 Columbia FC 36790 stereo pressing - a standard US first-year issue on the red 'repeating rim-text' Columbia label used across multiple domestic pressing plants. Runout AL 36790-1E / BL-36790-1F 'COLUMBIA NY' confirms CBS Studios NY mastering but does not specify plant among the many known variants. This is a mass-market major-label release rather than a scarce or audiophile-sought variant, and value is driven almost entirely by condition rather than pressing rarity.

Documenting collections

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