Blue Note on vinyl: 260 records from one of the best-known jazz labels – from sixties hard bop and soul
jazz to seventies jazz-funk, including 160 first pressings. You’ll find the condition of record and sleeve with each copy – if anything’s missing, just ask us.
We usually have just one copy of each record. With an alert we email you as soon as something new arrives here.
Blue Note on vinyl: spotting pressings, understanding the series, finding originals
In short: Blue Note is the label that shaped modern jazz – with its own sound, its own photos and covers that are art today. The Vinyl Room
currently has 260 Blue Note records, 160 of them first pressings. The focus: sixties soul
jazz and hard bop and seventies jazz-funk. Thomas says he has almost everything from 1500 to 4300 in his collection – some of it as later pressings.
▶ Plattenparty video at 1:06:04
“Thanks to OBC I have almost unlimited access to Blue Note and related label originals – and very, very early reissues.”
Michael 45 · video at 1:30 · OBC is the former name of The Vinyl Room
What makes Blue Note so special?
Alfred Lion founded the label in New York in 1939. The photographer Francis Wolff soon joined, from 1953 Rudy Van Gelder recorded almost every
session, and the designer Reid Miles created the covers. This combination of music, sound and design still makes Blue Note unmistakable. In our
Plattenparty stream it’s put like this: “We know this sixties Blue Note design that is so iconic today.” ▶ Plattenparty video at 1:02:43
How do you recognise an early Blue Note pressing?
No single feature is enough – it’s the combination that counts. Thomas in the stream: finding a first issue is difficult because there is so
little difference “on the labels … the run out, the register mark”. ▶ Plattenparty video at 1:05:28 These features help you place a record:
Feature
What you see
What it means
Address on the label
Lexington Ave · West 63rd · “New York, USA” · Liberty
Rule of thumb for when it was pressed: Lexington until about 1957, West 63rd about 1957–1962, “New York, USA” about 1962–1966, then Liberty. Leftover label stock can blur the dating.
Deep groove
ring-shaped indentation in the label area
typical of early pressings
“Ear”
small stylised “P” in the runout
mark of the Plastylite pressing plant
RVG
initials in the runout, etched or stamped
cut by Rudy Van Gelder
Catalogue number
BLP 15xx · BLP/BST 4xxx · BN-LA
series and period; “BST 84…” = stereo
Important: if an album only came out later, even its first pressing carries the label of that time. More on our page “How to spot a first
pressing”.
The 1500 series – the holy grail
The fifties modern jazz series (BLP 1501–1600) is the ultimate goal for many collectors. The series first came out in mono; stereo editions of
individual titles came later.
“When the 1500 series came out they only pressed around 2,000 copies – that’s why the first issue is really, really rare. Nobody knows exactly how many were made.”
It includes, for example, John Coltrane’s “Blue Train” (BLP 1577). Thomas names Hank Mobley’s self-titled album in mono as one of the rarest Blue
Note records. ▶ Plattenparty video at 1:05:41
Are seventies Blue Notes worth it?
Yes – that’s the tip from the stream. The seventies records with jazz-funk and fusion, often with BN-LA numbers under United Artists, are not
yet seen as iconic and are therefore often affordable. “But they will be iconic, I’m sure,” as it’s put in the stream. ▶ Plattenparty video at 1:02:56
What is the Blue Note 1500 series? Blue Note’s fifties modern jazz series (BLP 1501–1600), first released in mono and pressed in small first
runs – for many collectors the most coveted Blue Note series.
What does the “ear” on a Blue Note record mean? A small stylised “P” in the runout – the mark of the Plastylite pressing plant. It helps place
early pressings.
What does “BST 84…” mean? The stereo edition: an “8” in front of the number stands for stereo, for example BST 84117 as the stereo version of
4117.
What are BN-LA numbers? The numbering system of the seventies, when Blue Note belonged to United Artists – for example BN-LA259-G.
Why are Blue Note originals so expensive? Because the early runs were small, many records were played a lot and well-kept copies are rare.
Thomas says finding a copy in better condition can take “another ten years”. ▶ Plattenparty video at 1:06:23
