Gerry Mulligan on Crown Records

[ajf67]

I picked up a Gerry Mulligan LP today and I'm curious if anyone here knows anything about it. Nothing on it is listed in any of my Penguin Guides or in the All Music guide.

It's Crown Records CLP 5411. The cover just has "Gerry Mulligan" in big red letters over a drawing of him with the sidemen listed in smaller green type on the side. They are: Chet Baker, Chico Hamilton, Buddy Collette and Gerald Wiggins. There is no other info about dates or anything else on it.

The tunes are:

X-15

Joggin

Criss Cross

Gray Skies

Gerald's Train

Lights Out

Knights of the Square Table

I know from the Mulligan/Baker Mosaic that he played with Baker and Hamilton in 52 and 53 at least, but none of these tunes appear on the Mosaic. And given the presence of the piano the sound is different from most of the Mosaic set, which is almost all pianoless. Does anyone know the story behind this or Crown Records?

Edited August 11, 2004 by ajf67

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Criss Cross, Gray Skies, X-15, Gerald's Train, Lights Out are by Gerald Wiggins (2/24/56) recorded for Ember.

Knights of the Squaretable is really Nights at the Turntable by Mulligan (10/15-16/52) recorded for Pacific Jazz.

Joggin' is by Buddy Collette (c.1959-60) recorded for Crown.

A mess to be sure.

Info on Crown here:

http://www.bsnpubs.com/modern/crown.html

Mike

[ajf67]

Thanks!

[ajf67]

From the link supplied by Michael Fitzgerald: "Crown Records was a budget label for the Bahari Brothers, who ran Modern and RPM labels. It started in 1957 and continued for about a dozen years, earning itself the reputation of the king of the junk record labels. Aside from endlessly reissuing the legitimate hits that were on Modern and RPM, and the B.B. King material, what Crown had to offer was musical junk food on plastic plates. The covers and the vinyl were cheaply made, fell apart almost instantly, and the records sounded worn out right out of the package. Crown was much too cheap to issue special promotional copies; in fact, it's doubtful they ever gave away promotional copies, special labels or not. "

Very true regarding the packaging, but the sound is actually fairly good, although a little too bright.

[Guest ariceffron]

mike:

is there any more info. to the crown story the bsn pages leave out? somehow i believe there is more story there to be told.

[Phenomena]

mike:

is there any more info. to the crown story the bsn pages leave out? somehow i believe there is more story there to be told.

Remember the 1974 flick "The Conversation" with Gene Hackman? Well, early in the movie (13:10 - 13:54), you can hear a medium-tempo Bb blues being played while Gene Hackman "plays" the saxophone in the scene. The circa mid-60s Gerry Mulligan record cover (Crown 5411) can be scene in the background behind Gene. However, the vinyl spinning track 3 (probably "Criss Cross" or "Lights Out?") on the turntable clearly states the light green label as Ember. (The catalog number is 811 under the title "The West Coast Jazz of Gerry Mulligan; "Knights of the Square Table" is AKA "Nights at the Turntable.")

Source: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/natlib/ihas/warehous...003721/0001.pdf

This recording is live apparently?