Funny and Mysterious Reissue of Blue Train John Coltrane by King Record
I have never seen this serial, really...with Blue Train John Coltrane reissue by King Record.
FRP 5-4
What??
Basically King Record has 2 serials for Blue Train, GXF and GXK but not FRP!
I once obtained Cannonball Adderley Somethin' Else with FRP serial too. I have searched for a clue why King Record issued this funny serial of FRP. BUT...nothing was ther on the Internet.
If you look at the back side of the sleeve, the price 2,300 yen was printed. And the insert looks identical to GXK series. I believe, this FRP was manufactured at the same period as GXK in the early 80's.
In anyway, the myth remains...why?
You know any info about this FRP?
Hello Takashi
Yes, I do know about those rare King FRP issues! During the mid-1980’s, when I was living and working in Singapore, I used to visit Tokyo every 3 months or so in order to attend boring business meetings. On every visit, I carried with me an empty suitcase which I would bring back home full of lovely King (and, sometimes, Toshiba-EMI) Blue Note Lp’s purchased at Wave and/or Ishimaru.
On one of those trips, I came across – in Wave – a couple of Blue Note boxed sets manufactured by King Record Co., called “Blue Note Jazz Best Collection Vols. 1 and 2”. Each box held 7 Lp’s. I didn’t buy the sets because, as it happened, I already owned the Lp’s they contained – which, apart from the FRP code and not having an OBI, seemed to me to be identical to the same King GXK BN’s (most with OBI) that were on sale in that same shop. Besides, the boxes were not very attractive – plain black with a single photo on the front…
Also, why did some guy at King Record Co. choose that unique ‘one-off’ FRP code? My guess is “Famous Recorded Performances”. Maybe. Who knows?
In any case, those King FRP sets are not listed in my reference Cuscuna-Ruppli BN Discography – nor anywhere else as far as I know. However, as it happens, at the time I did list the LP titles they contained (I added the GXF, GXK and equivalent BLP code just today) so my list now reads as follows:
FRP-5, Vol. 1, Blue Note Jazz Best Collection
FRP-5-1 Cannonball Adderley, Something Else GXF-3001 (GXK-8042) (BLP1595)
FRP-5-2 Art Blakey, Moanin’ GXF-3002 (GXK-8044) (BLP4003)
FRP-5-3 Sonny Clark Trio GXF-3005 (GXK-8051) (BLP1579)
FRP-5-4 John Coltrane, Blue Train GXF-3010 (GXK-8055) (BLP1577)
FRP-5-5 Miles Davis Volume 1 GXF-3011 (GXK-8056) (BLP1501)
FRP-5-6 Horace Silver, Song for My Father GXF-3017 (GXK-8047) (BLP4185)
FRP-5-7 Wayne Shorter, Super Nova GXF-3019 (GXK-8048) (BST84332)
FRP-6, Vol.2, Blue Note Jazz Best Collection
FRP-6-1 Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’ GXF-3004 (GXK-8043) (BLP1588)
FRP-6-2 Sonny Rollins, Live at The Village Vanguard GXF-3007 (GXK-8101) (BLP1581)
FRP-6-3 Eric Dolphy, Out to Lunch, GXF-3009 (GXK-8046) (BLP4163)
FRP-6-4 Bud Powell, The Scene Changes, GXF-3013(GXK-8075) (BLP4009)
FRP-6-5 Thelonious Monk, Genius… Vol 1, GXF-3014 (GXK-8058) (BLP1510)
FRP-6-6 Lee Morgan, The Sidewinder GXF-3015 (GXK-8045) (BLP4157)
FRP-6-7 Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage GXF-3020 (GXK-8050) (BLP4195)
One question (important to us collectors at any rate) remains: were the issues in those boxes GXF or GXK? I suspect that they may be the later-issued GXK (if so, of less collector value than the earlier GXF) but I don’t know for sure… perhaps someone else does? In any case, it’s all good FUN finding out!
Kind regards, Eric
Eric
Sorry about the late response! I was blown away by the comment of yours and did a research on my side as well. But…nothing was found…really mysterious pressings, really. I just shot a video on this and really appreciate that you shared this!