Hank Mobley “Workout” (1961)

Photos updated January 25, 2021

Track Selection 1. Smokin’

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Track Selection 2. Greasin’ Easy

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Artists

Hank Mobley, tenor saxophone; Wynton Kelly, piano; Grant Green, guitar; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums; recorded Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 26, 1961

Music

Here is one articulate and perceptive comment on another blog which posted links to this Mobley album (with accompanying Rapidshare and Mediafire download links, of course. What it takes to be popular)

Well there you have it in a nutshell: “better than the fuckin wack new shit“. Nicely put, Maxime from France. Hope all you jazz fans out there are taking note, enriching your jazz vocabulary. I’ve just started reading Miles Davis biography, and every third word is mothersomething. May be I need to spice up the blog with a little more foul language, increase my credibility among jazz afficionados.

What more can I say? Well plenty.  For a start, it’s a great album, with four original Mobley compositions and just one standard.The penny  finally dropped about royalties. Second, a friend described this as one of the best Grant Green albums he has ever heard. There’s more than a little truth in that. Grant was on top of his game, around  the time of Idle Moments, the best Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson album I have ever heard. Green’s presence is significant, and his fluent linear solos are a delight, and all the better for having Hank around to keep it grounded, with earthy tenor lead lines and long acrobatic excursions and flourishes.Wynton Kelly stong chordal presence and elegant solos also contributes variety and texture. A cracker.

What’s not to like? Nothin’, now what i’m sayin ? By Jove, I think I’m getting the hang of  jive jazz talk, you mothersomethings!

Vinyl: Blue Note BN 4080

First pressing, on mixed NY labels (side 1)  47W63rd (side 2)  labels, as per Popsike, mono 1st pressing 1961, no DG. Laminated cover, original inner sleeve “finest in jazz” – no year.

It’s a smoking record alright. On the cover, Hank’s having a smoke (can’t make out the brand on the packet) and what may be a bottle of coke (can’t make out the brand) on the bottle. All that product placement opportunity wasted. But a great cover none the less.

Inner sleeve undated Type 3, issued May- November 1962 with releases 4062 – 41114 with exceptions. Appopriate match for 4080 first pressing.

Laminated cover

Collectors Corner:

Source: eBay                                                                                                          

Sellers Grading: BLP 4080 1st press / RVG /ear / different label addresses / mono    First pressing , as indicated by the different label addresses, which were present on all first pressings of this album ;   the subsequent 1963 reissue would have the NEW YORK USA address on BOTH labels.  BLP 4080 was the LAST Blue Note LP to have a 47 w 63rd label; all first copies have this one one side

Great in the room presence and enduring audio quality! Both sides of the vinyl are in excellent condition, with few marks.   There are a couple of slight non-feelable and non-audible minor  surface marks on Side 1, which do not affect  play.  Both sides of the vinyl play very nicely throughout, thanks to the combination of heavy-duty vinyl and superior Rudy Van Gelder mastering.  Virtually no extraneous surface noise, just the occasional very light crackle in the very quietest passages, and no jumps or scratches.

Collectors Coronary

No it’s not a misprint. Coronary. You read it right. Competition time! Run you eye over this auction that closed last week and see if you can spot anything interesting (double click picture for full screen) Remember, this is an LJC record collector’s intelligence test. Marks will be awarded for all correct answers, including spelling your own name correctly, and getting todays date right.. And as in most walks of life today, cheats will almost certainly prosper.

If you need a little help here’s a clue (right).

The first item of note is the eye-watering price, just over a thousand dollars. Admittedly it is “near mint”, but that is some premium. The second… – no, you got it straight away. New York label both sides. Not the first pressing, though the seller carefully avoids suggesting it is. Strangely the first pressing is mixed labels, not the other way around comme d’habitude. – this weeks touch of French sophistication – “as is usual” – (until Claude from Clichy writes in to correct me. Endearing trait of the French, interrupting you mid-sentence to correct any mis-speak)

Ten bidders chasing a near mint copy, pushing the price way up.So much for the wisdom of crowds.  May be it’s the “Beautiful!” We would all like our records to be beautiful, wouldn’t we? And the fetish for virgin-status, no spindle marks, unsullied by any previous owner. You wonder if the new owner will play it, or just look at it too. At least its a great cover to look at. But some price ticket.

The record collector exam question is: would you pay a thousand dollars for a 1963 second pressing of this record: Yes or No.

Time is up. Stop writing and hand in your answers to the LJC invigilator. You may leave in an orderly fashion. Please be aware this is a non-smirking post. Strictly no smirking, until you have reached a designated smirking area.