Untangling The Myth of FRP Serial of Blue Note Reissues by King Record
You may have remembered that I talked about the mysterious serial FRP of Blue Note reissues by King Record.
I got one last year
Cannonball Adderley Somethin' Else
I got another one this year
John Coltrane Blue Train
Both have the serial FRP...
There is GXF and GXK of Somethin' Else and Blue Train but! I had never seen FRP!
That is what I said in the past. One of our JBJ members, Eric shared a comment saying he knows those FRP series!!
This is what he wrote,
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
Wow...that is it!
I have never seen those box sets in my life!! I also searched for Internet if there is any clue or pictures...but my effort was in vain...
No info, or pictures available...
In addition, there is another funny thing...if you look at the back of the sleeve of the Somethin' Else and Blue Train FRP, the price,
2,300 yen
is printed. Does that mean that King Record sold these FRP individually, not the box sets???
In response to Eric's question, I guess those FRPs are GXK related...
The myth still remains...
I assume...maybe...without any concrete evidence...they pressed these FRP and Box Sets only for promotional purposes, distributing them to the people in the music industry or something.
I don't know...
Eric, thank you so much sharing this!
