Saturday 29 June 2013

BLUE NOTE'S SLIP-UP




Following on from yesterdays post featuring Madlib's delve into the Blue Note vaults, I thought I'd put this related item up on display.
In 1994, Blue Note set about re-releasing old jazz classics from their back catalogue, letting loose all this juicy material to a new generation, and so needless to say, I ended up buying a few from the series.
The LP above is one such reissue from back then - Bobby Hutcherson & Harold Land's "San Francisco", which originally came out in 1970.
The thing is, when I was listening to it whilst reading the sleeve notes (written by Ira Gilter), I couldn't help notice that what I was seeing, wasn't matching what I was hearing.
For instance, it says "The journey of Goin' Down South is begun with simple electric bass figure and cowbell rhythm before Land's tenor develops the theme". Well, this didn't describe that track at all, this was how the tune Prints Tie sounded.
Then about the Prints Tie track the sleeve says "...showcases the flute-vibes sound in front of an active bossa beat". Nope, that's a description of A Night In Barcelona..!!
And the same kind of thing with the others.
That meant that either the track titles on the LP were wrong, or Ira's details were in a muddle.
So not knowing which way it was, I boldly wrote off to Blue Note in the States in '94 highlighting this inconsistency.
Much to my amazement, I actually got a reply, and it was from main man Michael Cuscuna too!
That is what the letter above is.
Strange to think that these sleeve notes by Ira had been kept in their mixed-up condition for quarter of a century, and yet still nobody at Blue Note noticed until after the re-release, when it was then too late to correct them second time out!

1 comment:

  1. Check out the hat Bobby Hutcherson is wearing.
    It's the same as the one Madlib is wearing on his album cover in the previous post!
    Curt.

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