Blue Note Pressing Question

Skip Drinkwater

I found Herbie Hancock's "Takin' Off" LP on Blue Note that says "microgroove" and plays in mono, but also says "a division of Liberty" etc. on the label... I know the first pressings are New York, but the fact that it's mono and has microgroove written made me curious... Weren't the Liberty pressings all done in stereo? What's the for this pressing?

pickwick33

I found Herbie Hancock's "Takin' Off" LP on Blue Note that says "microgroove" and plays in mono, but also says "a division of Liberty" etc. on the label... I know the first pressings are New York, but the fact that it's mono and has microgroove written made me curious... Weren't the Liberty pressings all done in stereo? What's the for this pressing?

I don't know exactly when Blue Note was bought out by Liberty - I'm guessing mid-sixties - but by the time the industry stopped making separate mono and stereo titles in 1968, Liberty would have already had Blue Note for a year or two by then.

So yes, Liberty was definitely pressing mono versions of Blue Note titles. One well-circulated Liberty innersleeve from around '67 advertises several BN albums in mono/stereo - Stanley Turrentine's Rough & Tumble, Jimmy Smith's Bucket!, Horace Silver's Jody Grind, etc..

Skip Drinkwater

Ah... Many thanks, dude.

hcrink

First Liberty pressings are '66, I think.

Fatback

After 1958 all sessions were recorded in Stereo. Therefore, anything mono was folded down from stereo tapes. Therefore, it's a myth that mono presses are the most desirable Blue Notes across the board. Only before 1958.