Blue Note · in the Kissa Kissa racks
The Freedom Rider
| Recorded | Feb 18 & May 27, 1961 |
|---|---|
| Label | Blue Note |
| Catalog | BLP 4156 |
| Released | 1961 |
| Personnel | 5 credited players |
| Discogs | master 62543 |
The record
This early-60s Messengers lineup -- Morgan and Shorter locking horns over Timmons' gospel-soaked chords -- caught the group at its hard bop peak, with the title track's civil rights allusion giving the date real social weight. Blakey's press rolls drive it all with the usual thunder.
Session personnel
- Jymie Merritt — bass
- Art Blakey — drums
- Bobby Timmons — piano
- Wayne Shorter — tenor saxophone
- Lee Morgan — trumpet
Contemporary reception
No period review located yet. The vintage-press pipeline searches DownBeat, Cash Box, and Billboard for this session.
Pressings
Both 1964 US issues are on file and both carry a Plastylite ear, an RVG stamp and a laminated sleeve -- mono BLP 4156 with a deep groove, stereo BST 84156 without one, and a second mono with the groove on side one only. From 1966 you are into Liberty-era repressings of 84156, still RVG-stamped, one of them still eared, so check the sleeve and label as well as the stamp. The current option is a 2015 European 180 gram, ST-84156.
Showing the first pressing, audiophile reissues and copies carrying a collector marker, out of 28 pressings on file.
| 1964 | Blue Note · BLP 4156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono earliest on file · deep groove; RVG stamp; Plastylite ear; laminated sleeve |
|---|---|
| 1964 | Blue Note · BST 84156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo · RVG stamp; Plastylite ear; laminated sleeve |
| 1964 | Blue Note · BST 84156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo · deep groove; Plastylite ear |
| 1964 | Blue Note · BLP 4156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, DG side 1 · deep groove (one side); RVG stamp; Plastylite ear |
| 1964 | Blue Note · BLP 4156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono · deep groove; RVG stamp; Plastylite ear; laminated sleeve |
| 1966 | Blue Note · BST 84156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, Liberty · RVG stamp |
| 1966 | Blue Note · 4156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Mono, All Disc Pressing · Plastylite ear |
| 1966 | Blue Note · BST 84156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Stereo · RVG stamp; Plastylite ear |
| 1966 | Blue Note · BLP-4156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono · RVG stamp |
| 1966 | Blue Note · BST-84156 — Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Stereo, Liberty · RVG stamp |
| 1970 | Blue Note · BST 84156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, Liberty UA · RVG stamp |
| 1974 | Blue Note · BST- 84156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo · RVG stamp |
| 1974 | Blue Note · BST- 84156 K — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo · RVG stamp |
| 1974 | Blue Note · BST- 84156 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo · RVG stamp |
Follow the players
Jymie Merritt also plays on
Art Blakey also plays on
Bobby Timmons also plays on