Sold Date: June 17, 2023
Start Date: June 10, 2023
Final Price: $334.00 (USD)
Bid Count: 23
Seller Feedback: 3423
Buyer Feedback: 0

'HANK MOBLEY QUINTET'~ RARE ORIGINAL 1957 BLUE NOTE MONO BLP-1550 63rd NYC 23 ~ RVG ~ 'EAR' ~ DEEP GROOVE ~ FLAT EDGES   HANK MOBLEY "HANK MOBLEY QUINTET" LABEL: BLUE NOTE BLP-1550 (MONO) RECORDED: MARCH 8, 1957 ~ VAN GELDER STUDIOS ~ HACKENSACK, NJ RELEASED: AUGUST 1957 EDITION: FIRST US PRESSING DEEP GROOVE, RVG, 'EAR,' FLAT EDGE, 63rd NEW YORK 23 PRESSING: PLASTYLITE CORPORATION PRODUCER: ALFRED LION JACKET PHOTO: FRANCIS WOLFF LINER NOTES: ROBERT LEVIN MATRIX (SIDE A): BLP 1550-A RVG 'EAR' M 9
CONDITION:  BOTH VINYL AND JACKET ARE ONLY "GOOD" BUT PLAY SEE FULL DETAILED DESCRIPTION BELOW.
This week on Ebay we are offering up this rare and elusive 1957 original pressing of Hank Mobley's classic "Hank Mobley Quintet" album. A record that almost never comes up for sale.
This is an original First Pressing with all the 'correct' attributes:
* Original Deep Groove Pressing * Block Font "47 WEST 63rd - NEW YORK 23" LABEL * Original Plastylite "Ear" ('Pretzel') Stamp * Original "9 M" Etching in Deadwax (Plastylite's Code for Blue Note Records) * Original Rudy Van Gelder Hackensack Mastering * Clear 'RVG' mark on both sides of inner groove * Label does NOT have the Registered Trademark Symbol ( ® ) at bottom * 'Flat Edge' Pressing on thick, heavy vinyl * Thick, Sturdy Cardboard Cover with Glossy, Laminated Front
This is an authentic, original, 1957 First US Pressing, NOT a 'Music Matters' Re-Issue, Japanese Import or Counterfeit Copy.  
The Cover photo by Francis Wolff is excellent, as it usually is, and really creates the feeling of Jazz.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'HANK MOBLEY QUINTET'~ RARE 1957 BLUE NOTE MONO BLP-1550 

All of Hank Mobley's Blue Note albums from the late fifties and early sixties are excellent and this one is no exception.
This album "Hank Mobley Quintet" captures Mobley early in his musical journey with Blue Note, not long after leaving Max Roach's group. Hank was in his prime during this period.
The music is pure, straightforward, Hard Bop and the recording really cooks and swings hard. The entire album is great.
I love the sound of these early Blue Notes, especially the 1500 Series. The playing reveals a type of raw energy that comes straight from the gut. Everything has feeling and soul, and they are a real joy to listen to. This album sounds magnificent, thanks to an excellent mono mix by Rudy Van Gelder and his magic touch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The quintet put together for this album is top notch.
Around the time this Album was recorded, 1957, Hank Mobley was an active member of both The Jazz Messengers and the Horace Silver Quintet. Mobley assembled his backing musicians for this album from his close pals in the Jazz Messengers. This quintet is basically the early version of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with the soulful trumpet of Art Farmer replacing Kenny Dorham.
The fantastic musicians that make up the Quintet include:
Tenor Saxophone – Hank Mobley Piano – Horace Silver Drums – Art Blakey Trumpet – Art Farmer Bass – Doug Watkins
The All-star musicians assembled for this 1957 session are nothing short of a Who's Who of the cream of the hard-boppers. All masters of their instruments.
The lineup is perfect. They sound like they had been playing together forever, which, to some extent, they had. The group plays like a well-oiled machine. They all knew each other, and understood each other's respective styles. Their inherent cohesiveness elevates this album to be one of Hank Mobley's best sessions. This 1957 Quintet release is among his finest albums.
Art Blakey holds down the beat, but is slightly less ferocious on this session than on the Messenger's sessions. Here he is like a quiet storm. He plays great, holding the groove, and always propulsive, but adds more press rolls and cymbal crashes than he normally does.
Helping anchor the rhythm section, Doug Watkins, a long-time partner of Mobley's, keeps a solid, bouncy groove. A few short years after this session Watkins would die in a car crash.
Horace Silver plays with his classic, tasty, sparse style. He adds brilliant blues-based jazz colors to the songs and performs full, solid, but light, solos with plenty of space and air for the others to fill.
Art Farmer is an excellent choice to replace Kenny Dorham. His playing is fantastic, full of Hard Bop chops, and he alternates between open horn and mute depending on the song's needs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When this was recorded, Hank Mobley was at the helm of the hard bop movement along with his buddies Art Blakey and Horace Silver. 
Mobley was the epitome of a hard bop tenor saxophone player. A quintessential tenor player and one of the best. Mobley had great Tone on the Tenor. Hank himself called his sound "Round".
He had a unique sense of rhythm and smooth phrasing. He had a laidback, unhurried, coolness to his playing. Relaxed, but driving at the same time. Mobley played with a sense of elegance and sophistication, laying down amazing, smooth, flowing, lyrical lines.
Mobley was a gifted player, and a fantastic writer. This album has 6 great originals on it proving he could write clever and catchy tunes.
The Six original Hank Mobley penned tracks on this album include:
Funk In Deep Freeze Wham And They're Off  Fin De L'affaire Startin' From Scratch Stella-Wise Base On Balls
~~~~~~~~~~~~ All the tunes are first rate and feature fantastic riffs and melodies.
The album kicks off with the wonderfully titled "Funk in Deep Freeze". This is one of Mobley's better known songs and a fan favorite.
It's an upbeat groove with a twisty-turny melody. The band is amazingly tight, demonstrating that they know each other inside out.
Farmer's tone is perfect on his solo and like Mobley, he's an expert at conveying emotion with a minimum number of notes. I love the beginning of his solo at the beginning of the song. Silver’s piano playing and solo is perfect as is Watkin's Bass part.
"Wham and They're Off" begins as advertised, with Blakey leading the charge out of the gate before the horns take over. The song sizzles, boils and bubbles along. It's a great vehicle for Art Farmer to show his hard bop chops and Horace Silver's solo also shows his mastering of bop chords.
"Stella-Wise" is classic mid-tempo groove Bop that Mobley does so well. Hank and Blakey are off on a tear until Farmer takes over and brings to mind the sound of a young Lee Morgan, who was just coming onto the scene at this time.
"Startin' from Scratch" is a quick paced blowing session. Classic.
 Mobley didn't just blow. He also knew how to handle ballads. 'Fin De l’Affaire' is an atmospheric, smooth ballad, with a beautiful melody. Mobley's melancholy bluesy tenor and Farmer's muted trumpet sound great together.
The album closes with the bluesy "Base on Balls," perfectly named as it features Doug Watkins cool bass playing, which certainly has balls.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Overall, a fantastic album and one of Hank Mobley's greatest sessions as a leader. This is a quite rare album to find, especially an original 1957 First Pressing.
This album is in rather rough condition. Some significant scuffs, scratches and scrapes to the vinyl and the jacket has seam splits, writing and tape remnants.
I'm always amazed at these early Blue Note pressings. They were built like a tank, cut deep and hot, and despite heavy wear and damage, they still play.
I didn't dare play this one on my sensitive high-end turntable, but I did play it on my 'regular' turntable and it amazingly played thru with lots of pops and clicks, but no skips.
I thought that somebody out there would want this copy as a 'Spot Saver' until a better copy comes along. Clean, crisp First Pressings of this album are impossible to find, and will cost you a fortune if you do find one. I'm starting this album with a very low, reasonable, opening bid as I thought someone would like it as an OG rather than the inferior re-pressings that are out there.
I gave lots of details about the condition below. The album is in 'rough' condition, but did play when tested this morning. (A great album by the way!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
VINYL: This is pressed on very thick, heavy vinyl. It has the early original flat edges, not the later beaded edge. (see pics). The vinyl is rough. Lots of scratches and cosmetic issues. It's never been cleaned in the 20+ years I've owned it and may improve with a good deep cleaning, but that won't remove the scratches. There are several large scratches and lots of smaller ones. Nothing seems Deep, despite how it looks in my pictures. I'm not sure I could call this anything other than "good", but it did play through, both sides, twice, on my system, although with pops and clicks. I was listening while writing this.
LABELS: This has the original Deep Groove, W. 63rd Street, New York 23 labels, with no 'registered' symbol. Block Text. The labels have some evidence of play, but actually look pretty good. Clean and bright.
The Matrix has all the First Pressing hallmarks: RVG both sides, the Plastylite 'ear', and the '9 M' early Plastylite code for Blue Note. I showed a picture of the Deadwax in my photos.
JACKET: The Jacket is as rough as the vinyl, maybe worse. The front of the jacket actually looks pretty good, considering. This album's cover, which is mostly black on the front, and mostly white on the back, is notorious for showing significant Ring Wear. This copy has minimal ring wear but does have other issues.
The jacket has significant, almost complete, seam splits on the left and upper seam. The bottom seam, the side that usually has seam issues, is pretty solid. 
The front cover still has decent lamination, as you can see in my photos.
The back has several issues. First, there is lots of evidence of old tape. That tape has fallen off long ago, but the tape marks are still present. There is an old record store label in the top left and the prior owner's name written in the top right. There's some overall 'darkening' and a few black spots as well. That all sounds horrible, but it's not that bad. Robert Levin's cool liner notes are still fully readable.
The corners are slightly bumped, but not too bad.
The biggest issues are major seam splits and the tape residue. Maybe some of the tape residue can be removed with chemicals or an erasure, but I never messed with it. I'll leave that up to the new owner.
So, here's your chance to own an original 1957 OG of this very rare and scarce Hank Mobley Blue Note album. As mentioned, it's quite beat up, but when put it into a snug clear sleeve, it presents pretty well. As I said, I thought someone might like to have it until that elusive clean copy comes along.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described above, and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it. A true Blue Note rarity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
My grading is fair and honest. I have had over 3,400 happy and satisfied EBay customers over the years, with 100% positive feedback, and I have been buying/selling on EBay for well over 20 years, so please bid with confidence!
I'm a 0ne-man operation, this is a hobby, not my job. I do this for fun. I do this because I love music, love collecting vinyl and want others to share in that same experience. I take my time listening, researching, grading, listing and packaging. I will NOT sell any record that I personally would not want in my collection.
As you well know, packing and shipping rare records requires special care and attention, therefore, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $5.00 on this item. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Media/Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!
I will gladly combine multiple records, or other items on my page, and make the shipping much less for you. I don’t inflate the shipping costs; they are what they are. I strive to keep them as low as possible. See my feedback for comments on my quality packing and shipping.
All items are packaged with sturdy cardboard mailers and appropriate padding. I take pride in my packaging and shipping and package all my records as if I were sending them to myself. I refuse to use cheap flimsy packaging material when sending my vinyl. I treat them as if they were my own and mail them the same way. 
All orders are processed and shipped within 2 business days of receipt. We package and ship our vinyl records with the greatest care, using proper packaging to ensure that your rare and collectible vinyl records arrive in pristine condition.
Payments can be made by any of the multiple options that Ebay offers.
I will be happy to exchange feedback with anyone I complete a transaction with.
THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN