The Most Mysterious Record King Record Ever Made!
This, Tommy Flanagan Lonely Town Blue Note GP 3186 by King Record is
The Most Mysterious Record King Record Ever Made!
That is what I believe, you know.
And, not many collectors know that this title, Lonely Town by King Record is the 1st issue, pressing in the world. This is one of the titles in the 1st series of famous, popular
Blue Note Unissued Master Series by King Record
BUT!! they didn't use the usual GXF or GXK but GP!
Why??
It is a myth why they used GP....I looked for any kind of information in vain...
And this is the only title they used this GP.
In case you know why they used GP, let me know!
By the way, this album, Lonely Town is a beautiful, great album.
Hi Takashi,
This is an interesting record. I don’t have this one but I’ve been aware of it for many years. I do intend to get a copy someday. As for the GP prefix I don’t know specifically why they used it but I suspect that it was because this session was not actually recorded by Blue Note.
If you look at the full GP series which is about twenty titles you will see that it is all material that was not actually recorded by Blue Note. Among that series Lonely Town is about the only straight ahead date – it does not fit in musically with the rest of the GP series.
These were sessions that were owned by the company that owned the Blue Note catalog at the time. These GP dates are distinct from sessions that would have been bought by Blue Note back in the pre-Liberty days such as Louis Smith and several others.
As you well know record companies like to put the Blue Note name on anything they can whether it’s actually Blue Note or not especially in the United States.
Lonely Town reminds me of another Tommy Flannigan album which is titled Over C’s Prestige 7134. This was recorded in Stockholm I think and was leased by Prestige. I don’t have this album either but like Lonely Town I do intend to get it someday.
Leon Levitt once told me that the most he ever got for a single record by auction was for an original copy of Over C’s to a guy in New York. This was back in the late 80’s. He didn’t tell me how much – we would probably laugh at the amount now.
Anyway, if you can get a list of the GP series I think that that will help to explain why this record got the GP prefix as opposed to GXF etc. Look in the Michel Ruppli Blue Note discography, the GP series is listed there.
Peter