Japanese-only BN covers (King, etc...)

[robviti]

Is a Japanese issue the only way to get a hold of Jackie Mac's 'Hipnosis'? The title tune keeps buzzing around in my head and I want to get the disc, but no luck on Tower or BN so far in locating the disc? Anyone know where I could get this domestically? Is it OOP in the USA? Thanks loads for any leads.

hipnosis has never been reissued by itself on cd, not in japan or the u.s. however, the music is currently available as part of mosaic's grachan moncur select. check it out: moncur select

Edited May 5, 2004 by jazzshrink

[chris olivarez]

These are way cool. Thanks for posting RT.

[wolff]

I've got Two Bones/ Fuller and Blue Pearl/Bud Powell(45 RPM). I've always wondered if there were more 45RPM singles done. The insert does not mention any. Only seen 2 or 3 of the others...rare birds.

[brownie]

Thanks for posting these ! The Hutcherson 'Inner Glow' is a new one for me - I wonder what this one sounds like? (with Harold Land in the lineup I'll bet its a winner..)

no doubt ... never heard of this one ... anybody know it?

I got most of these Japanese BN/King when they came out in the early eighties when I purchased them with the avidity that younger fans now have for the current CD reissues. Except at the time, they were hitherto unissued material. And most of them seemed to have been pressed in limited quantities and disappeared very quickly.

The Bobby Hutcherson is one of the best date by this great player. A pretty progressive session. He produced the date which was recorded in March 1975 in Los Angeles by Bert d'Angelo.

Hutcherson is the main soloist throughout the album (both on vibes and marinba).

The other players get a chance to solo some with Harold Land in top form on the title track.

[Jim R]

I got most of these Japanese BN/King when they came out in the early eighties when I purchased them with the avidity that younger fans now have for the current CD reissues. Except at the time, they were hitherto unissued material. And most of them seemed to have been pressed in limited quantities and disappeared very quickly.

I remember that as well. Fortunately, I was able to find a number of the above titles (NIGERIA, MR. NATURAL, CONFIRMATION, CHANT, CLUBHOUSE) in the LT series, and in some cases as cutouts (maybe $4 a pop). Then again, I spent a lot on some of the Japanese LP's (SWINGIN', FREEDOM, REMEMBERING G.G., OLEO, GOODEN'S CORNER). It took me almost ten years to find GOODEN'S CORNER, and before I knew it, all that Grant Green stuff with Sonny Clark was widely available from Mosaic.

BTW Eric, the Mobley wasn't the only cover that the Japanese "recycled" for different issues. Other examples were the covers from Sonny Clark's TRIO and COOL STRUTTIN'.

[andybleaden]

I never managed to pick up inner glow which was a shame nor was I able to find Freedom by Kenny Burrell but by hook or by crook or mosaic I have managed to whittle down the list of missing Japanese Blue Notes to single figures which,though expensive and time consuming, has proven to be a delight.

Anyone here ever managed to find Freedom or Inner Glow on cdr?

[brownie]

I'm with Jim R. on that one.

Favorite of the bunch was Tina Brooks 'Minor Move' (with Lee Morgan, Sonny Clark, etc...). There was no Tina Brooks dates available by then.

The 'True Blue' LP had been OOP for years. It was reissued by King around the same time. The cover of 'Back to the Tracks' was visible only on those BN LPs inside sleeves but the album was still unreleased.

Tina fans had to wait until Mosaic gathered the various sides for their box set.

I still have that 'Minor Move' King LP. One of BN best date.

I've also kept those Grant Green Kings. Their covers were non-BN but great just the same.

Edited May 5, 2004 by brownie

[PHILLYQ]

Is a Japanese issue the only way to get a hold of Jackie Mac's 'Hipnosis'? The title tune keeps buzzing around in my head and I want to get the disc, but no luck on Tower or BN so far in locating the disc? Anyone know where I could get this domestically? Is it OOP in the USA? Thanks loads for any leads.

It's on the Moncur Mosaic Select, and it's on a 2-fer LP from the 70s.

Thanks much, Jim & Jazzshrink(Check the time, you guys posted at the same time!) for the info. Is the Moncur a good Select in your(or anybody else's) opinion? Thanks again.

[JSngry]

A great one, in my opinion.

[PHILLYQ]

I ordered the Moncur Select today. OHHH MY ACHING WALLET!#@$%^&*

[Brad]

Maybe this is in the category of dumb questions but did King originally have the right in Japan to issue the BNs and was that then this passed on to Toshiba. Second question, are some of the covers that have been posted here from that great web site different from how they were issued in the US. And if they were the same, why are the covers different from Japan to the US. For instance, Jim R indicated that Live at the Renaissance Club was issued as Three Blind Mice. Why different covers. Some of these covers are better than the US issue. And great covers do help sell records.

[Rooster_Ties]

I too would like to learn more about King. How did they come to be able to release previously unreleased sessions??

Did King also re-release standard BN albums, with their original artwork (for what were previously released sessions, like say "Sidewinder" or "Black Fire", or any of 100 other possible titles).

Or did King only release previously unreleased material??

And, my often asked, but "I-don't-ever-really-ever-expect-to-get-an-answer" question: Was there ever a King cover designed for Andrew Hill's "Chained" - which was supposed to be released on King, and which has still never been released anywhere. (It had a catalog number and everything.)

Also, just a very basic question: What years did King operate?? I'm assuming sometime in the late 70's, and/or early 80's. But I really don't know what years.

[brownie]

The BN King business started in the mid-seventies. King released about three-fourth of the BN catalogue as LPs. With exact reproduction of the original covers. In excellent sound.

Michael Cuscuna helped King in unearthing unissued material that appeared on the King label.

A lot of these unissued sessions came out in 198O.

BN King issued LPs until the mid-eighties. Then Toshiba took the relay and reissued most of the same material on LPs and CDs.

About the Andrew Hill 'Chained' session, the title is in the King list I have with a note syaing it was unreleased.

[Eloe Omoe]

Anyone here ever managed to find Freedom or Inner Glow on cdr?

I have Inner Glow on LP. I'm all with Brownie on that one. A great record that deserves a reissue.

Luca

[Jim R]

Second question, are some of the covers that have been posted here from that great web site different from how they were issued in the US. And if they were the same, why are the covers different from Japan to the US. For instance, Jim R indicated that Live at the Renaissance Club was issued as Three Blind Mice. Why different covers. Some of these covers are better than the US issue. And great covers do help sell records.

Brad, some of the Japanese issues shown above had U.S. counterparts in the LT (aka "Blue Note Classics" aka "rainbow") series- those LP's with the wide white border around an often irrelevant (but usually tasteful) color photo. Examples of this are NIGERIA, CLUBHOUSE, CHANT, CONFIRMATION, MR. NATURAL, etc.

Some, such as SWEET SLUMBER, were exclusive in their Japanese versions- at least initially (SWEET SLUMBER later became LUSH LIFE in the U.S., for example, with a different cover).

I can't tell you why different covers were chosen for various issues here and in Japan. What surprised me a bit in terms of some of the eventual U.S. CD issues is that neither the LT nor the Japanese art was used (such as with SOLID, COOL BLUES). For Jimmy Smith's ON THE SUNNY SIDE (aka STANDARDS), they didn't even use the original title.

Gets kind of confusing... but as long as the music is being reissued.... whatever.

[Rooster_Ties]

What surprised me a bit in terms of some of the eventual U.S. CD issues is that neither the LT nor the Japanese art was used (such as with SOLID, COOL BLUES).

Was there a King issue of "Solid"?? And if so, what did the cover look like??

Don't remember seeing that one anywhere before, including at the site that I provided a link to at the very beginning of this thread.

Anyone??

[brownie]

Was there a King issue of "Solid"?? And if so, what did the cover look like??

Don't remember seeing that one anywhere before, including at the site that I provided a link to at the very beginning of this thread.

Anyone??

Grant Green's 'Solid' was released on King (GXK-8187). It came out with the wide white border around a photo that was standard for a number of BN reissues at the time. Same covers were used for Japanese, US and European issues.

The 'Solid' cover photo showed two pinballs and a queue. Photo by Tom O'Brien.

[Jim R]

Interesting. Here's what I know about SOLID. The cover brownie describes was used for the U.S. issue (LT 990), which I owned. However, I have a 1991 Japanese book of various artists' discographies called "Jazz Heroes Data Bank", which shows a different cover for SOLID. It doesn't list its GXK number (only LT 990 is given), so I wonder if that cover was ever actually used. All the images in this book are in black and white, but I can easily tell that the art for this LP (which I never saw in person, BTW) was designed by the same (Japanese) artist who did the covers for OLEO, NIGERIA, GOODEN'S CORNER, MATADOR, etc. It's in that same vein. Anybody else ever see that cover?

[Jim R]

Well, I just tried some image searches, and not only did I not find the Japanese cover for SOLID, I didn't find the LT cover with the billiard balls.

However, check this out (not a lot of images, but lots of discographical data on Toshiba, King, etc, LP issues!

Japanese LP data pages

[Jim R]

..... okay, I think I'm awake now. If anybody has "Blue Note 2: The Album Cover Art" (original 2nd volume, 12" X 12" size), the Japanese cover for SOLID is on page 100, along with the Fujiyama covers I mentioned above (OLEO, etc). SOLID was done by a different artist (Aizawa) in the same Andy Warhol / Fujiyama style.

=====

Speaking of Grant Green, I came across a nice site- can't necessarily vouch for the discographical data yet, but still pretty cool:

G.G / illustrated discography

Edited May 7, 2004 by Jim R

[couw]

[Jim R]

Ah, very good- I haven't seen that in years. Now please post the Aizawa cover- and please animate it, too. In the meantime, I'm going to bed.

[Rooster_Ties]

Was there a King issue of "Solid"??  And if so, what did the cover look like??

Don't remember seeing that one anywhere before, including at the site that I provided a link to at the very beginning of this thread.

Anyone??

Grant Green's 'Solid' was released on King (GXK-8187). It came out with the wide white border around a photo that was standard for a number of BN reissues at the time. Same covers were used for Japanese, US and European issues.

The 'Solid' cover photo showed two pinballs and a queue. Photo by Tom O'Brien.

I had no idea that King ever released anything with those same "white border" covers that we all know from the U.S. "LT" series.

I was assuming (wrongly, it would seem) that all the King issues had "Reid Miles"-ish looking covers, hence my querey.

[Brad]

Jim,

Thanks for answering all those questions. It's hard to fathom why certain things are done certain ways but that web site you posted of blue note and other label releases is a treasure trove of information. I'm going to have print that out and save it.

[Brad]

Here's another dumb question, unrelated, but how the heck do you animate covers and what software would I need?