Sonny Rollins: 4001 Newk’s Time goes Stereo

More taking Liberties: Blue Note mono original, Liberty first Stereo. Now read on.

Selection 1: Tune Up (Miles Davis) Blue Note original mono

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Artists:

Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Wynton Kelly, piano; Doug Watkins, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums; recorded Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, September 22, 1957, original mono release  January 1959, first release in stereo later 1966, by Liberty Records Inc.

Music

In the preceding year, Rollins recorded his most iconic works: Saxophone Colossus, Tenor Madness, Way Out West, Sound of Sonny, and two Volumes for Blue Note. Newk’s Time shows Rollins in his most fertile period, prior to his lengthy sabbatical (’59-’62).

A mixture of Tin Pan Alley show-tunes and  strong bop compositions from Miles Davis and Kenny Dorham, this is a classic Rollins set, noted for the interplay between Rollins and Philly Joe rather than the ensemble work, which is nonetheless sympathetic. Wynton Kelly’s  piano comping is both harmonic and  rhythmic, freeing drums to spar with the lead instrumentalist.

Rollins demonstrates his mastery of improvisation around the heads and changes, with witty or ironic quotes, and sparkling exploration around the melody. The result is an eagle soaring over the landscape of Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker. All these Rollins records are essential, and Newk’s Time is no different.

Vinyl: BLP 4001

Mono edition, RVG stamp, Plastylite P, mixed +/- ® labels both printed by Keystone Printed Specialties

Side 1: -DG, 47 West 63rd label heavy ink, with ® and INC
Side 2: +DG, 47 West 63rd label fine ink, no ® no INC – original 1959 printed label

The first of the Blue Note 4000 series, one of the last acetates with 9M in the runout, + ® Side 1 label indicates later manufacture:  a repressing from1960-1.

The 1959 original release as seen below is 47W63rd label, fine text, DG both sides and no ® either label,

The label is only one aspect of authenticity. The re-use of original plates (mother/stamper) is more relevant to audiophiles, who are getting original sound quality without original labels. Here the collectors divide according to their aspirations, 1st pressing fundamentalist, or Van Gelder engineering enthusiast.

FIRST STEREO RELEASE BST 84001 (1966)

The Newk’s Time session was recorded by Van Gelder at Hackensack in September 1957, (released in January 1959). Van Gelder had commenced experimenting with two track tape recording several months previously, in March 1957, with Blakey’s Orgy In Rhythm. Whilst Van Gelder later began recording only on two track tape (hence mono fold-downs from two track), in the interim, he ran simultaneously a full track and a two track Ampex tape recorder. The purpose of two track tape was not to issue stereo, which barely existed commercially, but to provide greater flexibility in mixing the mono release. However those two track tapes provided the foundation for later “stereo” releases of these early Van Gelder recordings.

When the commercial demand for stereo began in earnest, Van Gelder went back to the two-track tapes of some sessions, and created a stereo master. BLP 4001 however did not see a Van Gelder stereo release and remained issued only in mono.

In the absence of a Van Gelder stereo master, a first stereo metal master, BST 84001, was mixed and cut by Liberty engineers in 1966. We know from the differing label print (Keystone and Bert Co) that copies were pressed on both East and West coast, and neither master bears the VAN GELDER mastering stamp:

Who cut either of the masters remains unknown, and with them, the mystery of the differing stereo mix of “Tune Up” from the other tracks

Selection 2: Tune Up (Miles Davis) Liberty stereo

Vinyl: BST 84001 Liberty – West Coast (Bert Co label)

Curiosity prompted me to add the Liberty stereo to my collection and we know what curiosity does to cats.

Saxophone, piano and drums on top of each other in the left channel, bass on the right. (Charitably, Rollins may be left of centre, as DGmono has opined, but the rhythm section is definitely out on the limbs) On full stereo rig with speakers 10 feet apart (not just a pair of PC speakers) I found it a complete car crash, cats in a sack. If you were to judge the album by the first track you would be forgiven for taking an axe to it.

But wait!  First track Tune Up is not the whole story. As you  move on to the remaining tracks, a ray of sun shine opens up. Normal audio service is resumed. Take the presentation on track two, the sprightly Dorham composition Asiatic Raes.  (Raes? No, my spellchecker didn’t like it either) very pleasingly balanced stereo.

Asiatic Raes, the second selection, is apparently the tune Lotus Blossom recorded by composer Kenny Dorham on his Prestige album Quiet Kenny. There is also an Asiatic Raes credited to Dorham on Hubbard’s Blue Note Going Up. One can’t but help think the connection between Lotus Blossom and Asiatic Raes might be a forced misspelling of Asiatic Race? (From ancient times the lotus has been a divine symbol in Asian traditions) . Perhaps the intention is ironic.

Selection 3: Asiatic Raes (Dorham) Liberty Stereo

It’s a mystery how one track can go so badly adrift when every other track is fine. Its not just one thing or another for the whole album. Bad Stereo one track, good stereo the others.  What the story is behind this I have no idea.  Perhaps Liberty had to revert to the mono tape for just that track, reasons unknown, and electronically fake it for stereo, but had good two track tape for all the other songs titles. That’s my theory, but I could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time.

 Back Cover

For the benefit of readers of liner notes, I’ve experimented  here with RAW processing and the application of a judicious amount of unsharp mask before conversion to jpg, rather than shooting in jpg to start (where the camera decides sharpness).  Judge the results yourself at full screen. Perhaps this is in reaction to crawling over blurred Ebay shots of Prestige covers, squinting to read the cover address that distinguishes early from later pressings. Posterity deserves something better. It’s not difficult.

Collector’s Corner 

For completeness, I couldn’t leave this post without the original fabulous mono presentation of Asiatic Raes on BLP 4001

Selection 4: Asiatic Raes (Blue Note mono original)

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Or a taste of the Freddie Hubbard / Hank Mobley version, courtesy of YouTube

Liberty reissues both mono and stereo

In the later ’60s Liberty understood the market expectation for stereo. However, Liberty issued both a mono and a stereo Division of Liberty copy of this title, one of the few they put out in both formats. Somehow, I sense something unusual was going on here. The Liberty mono has Keystone printed labels. Did Liberty revert to the original mono Van Gelder metal?  If not did they access the original full track tape, or did Liberty create a mono fold down from the two track tape? So many question, so few answers.

There was clearly a story behind 4001, Perhaps our friends form Tokyo know the answer.

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