Blue Note Are These Japanese Pressings? or US Pressings?
Recently I got a bunch of Blue Note reissues and all of them have Japanese inserts or OBI. Obviously, if you see those in Japanese, you would think these are the Japanese reissues/pressings right?
BUT!!
All of these pressings are the US PRESSINGS!
Actually, I received a question from some of the buyers saying...
Hey Takashi, I see you listed some Blue Note albums indicated US RVG but...they have OBI or Japanese inserts. Are these some kind of special Japanese pressings or US pressings?
Look at this picture,
This is a popular tirle of Freddie Hubbard Blue Spirits, Blue Note Liberty Blue White Label RVG Pressing. But it has OBI!!
If you look at the top of OBI, it says
DIRECT IMPORTED ALBUM
in Japanese. That means this album was imported from the US.
As you can see the label and deadwax, it is the US Pressing, Blue Note Liberty Blue White Label RVG Copy.
Going back to the history of Blue Note Reissue and Releases here in Japan, Blue Note US never allowed the license to press/reissue the Blue Note albums outside of US until 70's. I believe, Toshiba EMI in the 60's DID apprach Blue Note US to reissue/press their great albums but they were refused...but somehow, they got a license to import the US pressings and sold here in Japan.
When Toshiba EMI imported Blue Note albums, they didn't resell them as they are. In stead, they repackaged them so that the potential Japanese buyers would understand the greatness of those albums that they imported. That is why they put OBI, Japanese inserts or stickers.
We Japanese know this fact, but...foreigners see those OBI, inserts or stickers in Japanese, they might get confused. But they are the genuine US pressings.
Toshiba EMI did continue importing Blue Note US pressings until they gave up the Blue Note License to King Record in the mid 70's.
After King Record got the license, they NEVER IMPORTED US PRESSINSG any more...the rason? myth again!
