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Is this Jimmy Smith "Midnight Special" legitimate?


CJ Shearn

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My friend sent me this eBay listing.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/JIMMY-SMITH-Midnight-Special-ORIG-BLUE-NOTE-JAZZ-LP-RED-WAX/124333177622?hash=item1cf2d5bb16:g:YmkAAOSwTyhfWok1  The seller claims this is a DG mono RVG original with the ear and there were only a few copies made.  I don't recall hearing about any "classic" Blue Note on colored vinyl nor have I seen any other than modern day limited edition pressings.  When did Blue Note do this ever in the classic era? Is it a cleverly disguised great market version?

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The LP is mentioned here

https://jazzcollector.com/blue-note/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-and-more-about-blue-note-45-rpm-records/

the relevant passages:

" Though not really all that intentionally, I [Larry Cohn] accumulated a number of colored vinyl Blue Notes in my collecting over the years, treasured by me not for their value or even rarity but rather their aesthetics.  Bob Porter lectured me about this once, long ago, since he auctioned off a few over the years and I do believe his story that the LPs like this were bootleg product produced illicitly in-house at the Plastylite facility in North Plainfield -after hours. [...] My goofy colored LPs (which I consider bootlegs as stated above) include an Art Blakey album with green vinyl, 1507; a red vinyl of Jimmy Smith’s hit 4078.  Porter once auctioned off a Stanley Turrentine with white vinyl but I didn’t win it or ever see it – I think it was 4162."

 

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1 hour ago, Niko said:

The LP is mentioned here

https://jazzcollector.com/blue-note/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-and-more-about-blue-note-45-rpm-records/

the relevant passages:

" Though not really all that intentionally, I [Larry Cohn] accumulated a number of colored vinyl Blue Notes in my collecting over the years, treasured by me not for their value or even rarity but rather their aesthetics.  Bob Porter lectured me about this once, long ago, since he auctioned off a few over the years and I do believe his story that the LPs like this were bootleg product produced illicitly in-house at the Plastylite facility in North Plainfield -after hours. [...] My goofy colored LPs (which I consider bootlegs as stated above) include an Art Blakey album with green vinyl, 1507; a red vinyl of Jimmy Smith’s hit 4078.  Porter once auctioned off a Stanley Turrentine with white vinyl but I didn’t win it or ever see it – I think it was 4162."

 

I think this is reasonable but how did it get out into the wild? Are they true one-offs? Was Plastylite shipping colored vinyl to distributors? Slipping in colored runs in the boxes sent to BN for distribution? Or just ran off a few and workers took them home, to slowly appear in record stores?

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5 hours ago, Niko said:

The LP is mentioned here

https://jazzcollector.com/blue-note/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-and-more-about-blue-note-45-rpm-records/

the relevant passages:

" Though not really all that intentionally, I [Larry Cohn] accumulated a number of colored vinyl Blue Notes in my collecting over the years, treasured by me not for their value or even rarity but rather their aesthetics.  Bob Porter lectured me about this once, long ago, since he auctioned off a few over the years and I do believe his story that the LPs like this were bootleg product produced illicitly in-house at the Plastylite facility in North Plainfield -after hours. [...] My goofy colored LPs (which I consider bootlegs as stated above) include an Art Blakey album with green vinyl, 1507; a red vinyl of Jimmy Smith’s hit 4078.  Porter once auctioned off a Stanley Turrentine with white vinyl but I didn’t win it or ever see it – I think it was 4162."

 

I remember this post on JC. The Smith looks legit and very much a one-off at the pressing plant. Would be fun to have -- part of the crazy game of record collecting, for sure!

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