Blues & Roots

Recording history and tape provenance

Mingus described his reaction in the liner notes, quoted by the Charles Mingus estate. He had grown up swinging and felt he had moved on, but decided blues could do more than swing, so he agreed.

The band had Jackie McLean and John Handy on alto saxophone, Booker Ervin on tenor and Pepper Adams on baritone. Jimmy Knepper and Willie Dennis played trombone. Horace Parlan and Mal Waldron shared piano, with Mingus on bass and Dannie Richmond on drums.

All six tracks are Mingus compositions, including "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" and "Moanin'." This "Moanin'" is built on Pepper Adams's baritone riff. It is a different tune from the Bobby Timmons piece of the same name. The album was recorded before Mingus Ah Um but released after it.

A 1998 Rhino CD added four alternate takes not on the original six-track LP.

Original Atlantic pressings (1960)

Atlantic SD 1305 is the US stereo first pressing, identified by the green and blue bullseye label with the fan logo. Condition and price vary widely. The SD 1305 number should appear on the front cover, labels and back liner.

Atlantic 1305 is the US mono pressing from the same month, on a red and purple bullseye label with the fan logo. Its Discogs entry gives the runouts as 11641-A AT. and 11642-A AT., with lacquers cut at Atlantic Studios. Lee Friedlander took the cover photograph.

Given how divided listeners are over the hard-panned stereo mix, an original mono copy is worth considering alongside the stereo. No published comparison of the two 1960 pressings has been found.

The London Atlantic UK stereo pressing, catalogue SAH-K 6087, was made in England by Decca. It has a blue label with silver print in a flipback sleeve. Owner reports on its Discogs page describe it as sounding very good. It is a reasonable alternative when a clean US original is hard to find.

London also issued a UK mono, catalogue LTZ-K.15194. Atlantic issued the stereo album in Canada and a mono edition in France as 332.020 S, both in 1960.

Atlantic reissues under the original number

Atlantic kept the album in print for decades under SD 1305, with the label design dating a copy. Green and orange labels carrying the 1841 Broadway address came in from about 1968.

One Presswell pressing of that era has "PR" in the label matrices, a gold embossed "Stereo" on the front cover and a ZIP-coded back liner. The catalogue number appears three ways across the package. It reads 1305 on the front and spine, SD 1305 on the labels and SD-1305 on the back.

A 1973 Presswell reissue draws a positive owner review, which calls it a great pressing with lively bass on "My Jelly Roll Soul". A 1970 pressing is also documented.

A Scorpio reissue from the late 1990s or early 2000s divides owners. Two call it a nice, quiet pressing, while another describes it as flat and CD-like.

Rhino reissues

The Rhino vinyl reissue from the 2000s carries the four alternate takes from the 1998 CD. They are "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting," "Tensions," "My Jelly Roll Soul" and "E's Flat Ah's Flat Too." It was pressed at Rainbo Records. The lacquer cut is credited only by the initials "DC," so the engineer is unconfirmed.

Rhino Reserve RES1 1305 is a 180g mono LP released on January 9, 2026, in Rhino's "Start Your Ear Off Right" series. Rhino's product copy states it was cut from the original mono tapes by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. It was pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in Oxnard, California.

Analogue Productions reissue

Analogue Productions APA 001-45 (2023) is a stereo 2×180g 45rpm set in the label's Atlantic 75th-anniversary series. Acoustic Sounds credits the mastering to Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tape. Michael Fremer rated it 9 for music and 9 for sound, as quoted by Elusive Disc.

The first 2,000 copies are numbered, pressed at Quality Record Pressings, in a Stoughton tip-on gatefold. A later unnumbered run was pressed at RTI (Record Technology Inc.) with the same mastering. Discogs lists the two runs as separate releases under one catalogue number.

Sound quality by pressing

One owner review on the Rhino Reserve Discogs page compares it directly with the Analogue Productions set. The reviewer preferred the Analogue Productions packaging and found its stereo mix clearer on Mingus's bass. Overall, the reviewer preferred the Rhino Reserve mono mix and heard a lower noise floor than on the Quality Record Pressings copy.

That Shelf reviews the Rhino Reserve edition favorably. For stereo, the Analogue Productions set remains the reference. For mono and the lowest surface noise, Rhino Reserve is a strong alternative.

Buyer's guide by budget

$$: The London Atlantic UK pressing, a later Atlantic pressing on green and orange labels, or the Rhino vinyl reissue for the four alternate takes.

$$$: A clean Atlantic SD 1305 stereo original, or the mono 1305, both priced on condition.

$$$$$: The Analogue Productions APA 001-45 45rpm stereo set, or the Rhino Reserve mono LP. The choice is mainly stereo against mono.

Pressing tier summary

References

• Discogs (master, all versions): https://www.discogs.com/master/176882-Charlie-Mingus-Blues-Roots
• Charles Mingus official site, "Record Re-Release: Blues and Roots (Rhino Reserve series)": https://www.charlesmingus.com/blog/record-re-release-blues-and-roots-rhino-reserve-series
• Acoustic Sounds, "Charles Mingus – Blues & Roots – 45 RPM Vinyl Record": https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/164126/Charles_Mingus-Blues__Roots-45_RPM_Vinyl_Record
• That Shelf, "Charles Mingus - Blues & Roots Rhino Reserve Audiophile Vinyl": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd28FjdJ3j8

Related guides: Mingus Ah Um · The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady · Giant Steps