BLUE NOTE
RECORDS

 American; a label revered by enthusiasts of the modern forms of Jazz. Blue Note was started in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. At first the company concentrated on traditional 'Hot' Jazz and Boogie Woogie, but during the late '40s and early 50s it embraced Be-Bop with enthusiasm, making many historically important recordings by the likes of Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey and Miles Davis. Producer Rudy van Gelder was responsible for the sound of much of the company's output in the late '50s and the '60s; his engineering is reported to be as important and revolutionary as the music. That period featured records by such luminaries as Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Horace Silver, Dexter Gordon, and many more.  Herbie Hancock, who was to have considerable chart success in the Jazz/Rock/Funk area later in his career, joined the label in the mid-'60s. By this time Blue Note was providing more commercial jazz, aimed at a wider audience, but it also provided for lovers of Avant-Garde and Free-Form Jazz via LPs by Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor, among others.  Blue Note was acquired by Liberty in 1965; Lion retired in 1967, and Wolff died in 1971. United Artists bought Liberty in 1969, and with it Blue Note; a further change of ownership took place in 1978, when the United Artists companies were snapped up by EMI. Blue Note languished until 1985, at which point it was relaunched as part of EMI Manhattan, for new recordings as well as reissues. In Britain Blue Note was mainly an albums label; it did however release a few singles. 'Last Tango In Paris' by Marlena Shaw, and Donald Byrd's, 'Black Byrd', appeared in 1973 with a blue-and-white-halved label; their catalogue numbers were taken from the United Artists series.  Another couple of blue-and-white-labelled singles came out in 1975, with a catalogue numbers in the BNX W-600s); presumably their numbers were the original American ones. In October 1975 Blue Note singles were given their own BNXW-7000 series and a new all-blue label in 1975; from mid '76, while keeping the same label design, they went back to sharing a UP-36000 catalogue sequence with those of United Artists. When Blue Note was revived in the mid '80s its label design imitated that of the 78 r.p.m. era.   Manufacture and distribution in the '70s were mainly by EMI, over here, though the style of the matrix number of the Bobbi Humphrey single indicates a Phonogram pressing.  Thanks to Robert Lyons For The Info.

 

70

Donaldson Lou

Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky

BLUE NOTE

SBN

1956

 

73	Marlena Shaw	Last Tango In Paris	BLUE NOTE	UP	35517
73	Donald Byrd	Black Byrd	BLUE NOTE	UP	35564

 

76	Marlena Shaw	It'S Better Then Walking Out	BLUE NOTE	UP	36125
76	Marlena Shaw	Love Has Gon Away	BLUE NOTE	UP	36163
76	Klugh Earl	I Heard It Through The Grapevine	BLUE NOTE	UP	36251
76	Klugh Earl	Cry A Little While	BLUE NOTE	UP	36441
76	Laws Ronnie	All For You	BLUE NOTE	UP	36481
79	Laws Ronnie	Always There	BLUE NOTE	UP	36497
79	Sidney Bechet	Summertime	BLUE NOTE	UP	36535

74	Byrd Donald	Flight Time	BLUE NOTE	BNXW	623
74	Humphrey Bobbi	Fun House	BLUE NOTE	BNXW	624

73	Byrd Donald	Blackbird	BLUE NOTE	BNXW	7001
76	Mcrae Carmen	Who Gave You Permission	BLUE NOTE	BNXW	7002
76	Byrd Donald	Changes Makes You Want To Hustle	BLUE NOTE	BNXW	7003
76	Laws Ronnie	Always There	BLUE NOTE	BNXW	7004

76

Marlena Shaw

It'S Better Then Walking Out

BLUE NOTE

UPS

10