What Would You Do with a Sealed, 1st Press Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"?
I would invite a few friends over who can truly appreciate it, and listen to a piece of history. Ask them to bring over a few bottles of a 59 Bordeaux. Sadly I am all out of 59s, but it takes a discerning palate to appreciate that the 59s are often better than the highly touted 61s. Wonder if the same holds true for LPs...... ;-) |
You have an EARLY pressing, NOT a first pressing. 1D / 1AD SD-1 1D indicates this side was pressed from one of the first 4 pressing stampers sent to Columbia record plants SD-2 1AD indicates this side was pressed from a MUCH LATER pressing stamper sent to Columbia record plants Given the matrix information and difference between the 2 sides, I would suspect that your side 1 was pressed near the end of the useful life of this stamper and probably does not sound as good as true first pressing. A first pressing of KOB would have matrix information for both sides showing some combination of 1A 1B 1C 1D....no higher. 1E or 1F represents an early repressing of this title. Columbia LPs of the period DID use thin clear sealed inner sleeves as described. I have purchased several first and early pressing Columbia titles from this period with sealed inner sleeves. These sleeves were not air tight, and the gauge of the material was very thin. It is possible for mold spores to have settled on the LP surface, even though the inner sleeve is "sealed". Value ? Whatever someone would pay. List it on EBAY with large clear pictures of the SEALED inner sleeve. Last 2 SEALED inner sleeve copies sold for $400+ https://gripsweat.com/search/?query=sealed+kind+of+blue+1355&button= |
Columbia CL1355 "Kind of Blue" Miles Davis: What you have is a Columbia "Record Club" version of this famous record. The record is the same as the standard version but was in a sealed plastic inner sleeve with a tear edge instead of the standard paper inner sleeve which would have advertisements for current releases with photos of the record covers on one side and advertisements for Columbia high fidelity" hi-fi's on the other side. It would be a six eyed Columbia (the Columbia logo repeated in small black boxes three per side with "LP" in a circle on the bottom). Many had a grey label and not the standard red label. It is hard to tell the age of the pressing since this record was available for many years in the record club catalog. It is hard to estimate the value since it is probably one of the most pressed and sold jazz records of all times (like Brubeck's "Take Five" also on Columbia) and cannot be considered a first pressing since it was available for at least ten years in the record club after its original pressing in 1959. I would open it up, relax, sit back, have a martini, and play it on some vintage hi-fi mono equipment (like a Thorens 124 with a wood Grado arm, Shure MD3 cart, McIntosh C8 pre, MC30 amp, an Altec 604 speaker) and enjoy. |
Speaking of Miles Davis, I am going nuts over his recordings lately. The traditional material is sensational, BUT the more modern records leading up to Bitches Brew are mind-blowing. His playing fits right in with keyboards, electric guitars, etc. hand-in-glove. I listened to a lot of Coltrane and Monk, etc. but didn't spend nearly enough time with M.Davis, especially with all the emphasis on how good KOB was, etc. Which it is- a marvelous record, but he's responsible for a lot of musical evolution into fusion groups as well (i.e.- Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, etc.). Someone told me he had a really nasty personality, but with the horn in his mouth he accomplishes something no one else does. |
