Lee, Horace, Hank

[Dan Gould]

It occured to me that in the last 10 or 12 years of Alfred Lion's stewardship of Blue Note, the core artists throughout the entire time were really Horace Silver, Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley, and maybe Jackie McLean and Donald Byrd. What I'm wondering about is their relative contributions to BN's bottom line (am I missing any others who were on the label throughout the last 10 or 12 years before Alfred left? Obviously Jimmy Smith and the Sounds were critical to sales, but they didn't stay til the end).

I'm curious because in that period, Lee had his big hit, and Horace had a few hits leading up to his big one, but Hank never did. I'm comfortable in assuming that Hank stayed with the label because Alfred liked him and his music-there are few artists with more BN credits than Mobley.

So, for those who remember (Bill, Chuck): How much of a seller was Mobley during those 12 years of his steady BN recordings?

[brownie]

Art Blakey would be the first name to add to that Horace Silver/Lee Morgan/Donald Byrd/Jimmy Smith list.

From what I remember from that era (roughly 1955-1967), those were the most visible BN names around.

Not Hank Mobley. I would guess Mobley's albums sold enough to justify Lion and Wolf being able to keep him with the label but none of his albums was a commercial hit which is why these rare original vinyls are so much in demand now that Mobley's talent is at long last recognized to its true value!

A good indication of what was selling at BN are the list of 45s that Lion/Wolf put out. Most BN artists from that time had 45s published, right up to Tina Brooks and Fred Jackson. A BN catalogue from 1967 I have singles out Art Blakey Jazz Messengers, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith and The Three Sounds with the most 45s released. Each had a couple dozen singles, Mobley only three!

Edited February 8, 2005 by brownie

[Dan Gould]

Art Blakey would be the first name to add to that Horace Silver/Lee Morgan/Donald Byrd/Jimmy Smith list.

From what I remember from that era (roughly 1955-1967), those were the most visible BN names around.

Not Hank Mobley. I would guess Mobley's albums sold enough to justify Lion and Wolf being able to keep him with the label but none of his albums was a commercial hit which is why these rare original vinyls are so much in demand now that Mobley's talent is at long last recognized to its true value!

A good indication of what was selling at BN are the list of 45s that Lion/Wolf put out. Most BN artists from that time had 45s published, right up to Tina Brooks and Fred Jackson. A BN catalogue from 1967 I have singles out Art Blakey Jazz Messengers, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith and The Three Sounds with the most 45s released. Each had a couple dozen singles, Mobley only three!

I didn't include Blakey because he wasn't there through the end of the Lion era.

We should certainly be thankful that Alred liked Hank and kept recording him. Certainly, the sales of Smith and the Sounds and the hits that Horace and Lee had allowed a lot of other, equally great but not as popular music to be recorded.

[JSngry]

Completely anecdotal evidence - every, and I do mean every, African-American jazz fan and jazz musician I've met who was around during those days has/had a fair sampling of 60s Hank in their collection. So my guess is that he was a steady, if not spectacular, seller. Seems that he probably had a reliable sales base.

[sidewinder]

Yes, I think you are right about Hank having a steady, loyal 'customer' base. Especially amongst musicians - it was certainly true of the 50s/60s UK musicians such as Ronnie Scott (who had just about every Mobley album apparently).

[Chuck Nessa]

I think everyone has stated Hanks "station" in the BN stable. I'm sure he "paid for himself" but not a bunch more. Blakey and Smith might not have been recording for Alfred after '64 but they still had a regular stream of new releases coming from the vault.