Blue Note jazz first-press
identification.

A canonical Blue Note first-press from the deep-groove era (1955–1966) carries five physical identifiers. Original copies have most or all; reissues have none or only one.

1. Label address. The original Blue Note label has the company address printed at the bottom edge. Two addresses matter: “Lexington Ave”(used 1939–1956) is the earliest; “47 West 63rd St NYC” (1957–1962) is the next era; “43 West 61st St”(1962–1966) is the late deep-groove era. Reissue labels show different addresses or no address at all.

2. Deep groove. A pronounced raised circle pressed into the label area, visible by tilting the record under light. The deep groove came from the pressing process and was largely phased out by 1966. Reissues from the 70s onward don't have it.

3. Flat edge. Original Blue Note pressings have a slightly flat-edged disc profile rather than the rounded-edge profile most other pressings used. Subtle but consistent.

4. Ear etching. The original pressings were mastered by Rudy Van Gelder at his studio in Hackensack (and later Englewood Cliffs), New Jersey. His matrix runout etching is small and tight, often with “VAN GELDER” spelled out or with a distinctive curving “ear”-shape glyph. Later reissues either lack the marking or use machine-stamped initials.

5. RVG matrix runout. The runout code on original Blue Note pressings combines the catalog number with the RVG initials and a small cut-number suffix. A first-press RVG-cut LP on the Lexington Ave or 47 W. 63rd label is the canonical Blue Note collector item.

Recent sold-listing ranges for original Blue Note first-press copies in NM condition with all five identifiers. Mono is the canonical format; stereo pressings from 1958 onward exist and trade slightly lower.

Sources: Discogs sold listings (90-day window), Popsike.com auction archive, Heritage Auctions comparables. Hank Mobley BLP 1568 is one of the most valuable jazz LPs in existence.

Lexington Ave label. The 1939–1956 address. Anything with Lexington Ave label and deep-groove pressing is by definition first-press. A small subset of these is highly sought regardless of the artist.

Mono pressing with RVG ear. The Hackensack/Englewood Cliffs masters by Rudy Van Gelder are the audiophile reference for the catalog. His curving ear-shaped etching in the dead wax is a first-press signal collectors recognize on sight.

Original Reid Miles cover design. Most canonical Blue Note covers were designed by Reid Miles using Francis Wolff photographs. Original covers from the 1956–1965 era used specific typography and paper stocks. Reissue covers often used similar art but with different print quality and paper weight.

Two reissue series consistently fool casual buyers. Worth knowing both by name.

Liberty / United Artists era (1966–1979). After Lion and Wolff sold Blue Note in 1966, the catalog passed through Liberty and then United Artists. These reissues used the Blue Note name and often similar artwork but different mastering and no deep groove. They're collectible in their own right but trade at a fraction of the originals.

Toshiba-EMI Japanese reissues (1970s onward). The Toshiba-EMI Japanese pressings have a strong reputation for quiet, well-mastered audiophile quality, but they are not original first-presses. NM copies of the Japanese reissues trade at $50–200, significantly below the US originals.

Music Matters and Analog Productions reissues (2000s+). Modern audiophile-label reissues cut from original tapes by mastering engineers like Kevin Gray. These are excellent listening copies and worth their cost (typically $30–60 new), but they are not Blue Note originals.

Pull the record. Check the label address first (Lexington Ave, 47 W. 63rd, or 43 W. 61st). Then look for the deep groove pressed into the label area. Then check the dead wax for RVG's ear-shaped matrix etching. All three on the same record is the first-press confirmation.

Or scan with Crown Vinyl. The app reads the label address, catalog number, and matrix runout from a single photograph, returns the exact pressing era, and pulls a current value estimate. Free on the App Store.