← All Albums
Columbia · 1968

Piano Starts Here

Art Tatum

Recorded: March 1933 & May 1949   Original cat#: CS 9655
Art Tatum — Piano Starts Here album cover

Piano Starts Here is a compilation Columbia assembled in 1968 from two unrelated Art Tatum sources. The first four tracks are his earliest commercial recordings, made for Brunswick in New York in March 1933. The rest come from a Gene Norman "Just Jazz" concert at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in May 1949. Columbia issued the pairing in June 1968 as CS 9655.

Both sources were recorded in mono. Columbia released the LP commercially in rechannelled stereo only, so every shop copy is electronically reprocessed. That single fact shapes the whole buying decision, because no commercial vinyl edition presents this material in its original mono. There is also no audiophile reissue to weigh against the 1968 pressing, so condition and price decide most purchases.

Best early pressing for audiophiles: An original 1968 Columbia CS 9655 two-eye pressing, with the rechannelled-stereo caveat.

Best modern pressing for audiophiles: None. No dedicated audiophile reissue of this compilation was found.

Best-value modern: A later Columbia or CBS pressing under the same catalogue number. Condition matters more than the year.

Recording history and tape provenance

The 1933 Brunswick sides catch Tatum at 23, with his technique already formed. The 1949 Shrine Auditorium material catches him sixteen years later in front of an audience, in a looser setting.

The two sources differ in recording quality, as would be expected of studio sides and a live concert sixteen years apart. This is an anthology rather than a session document.

An Internet Archive uploader suggests the closing medley of "The Man I Love" and Porgy and Bess selections was edited for this release. The suggested reason is royalty costs. That is offered there as a guess, not as a documented fact.

The rechannelled stereo question

The Both Sides Now Columbia discography records that CS 9655 was issued commercially in rechannelled stereo only. Mono copies went to radio stations on white labels, carrying the stereo catalogue number.

A commercial mono pressing therefore does not exist. Any mono copy is a white-label radio promo, which is scarce and not a normal retail alternative.

Electronically reprocessed stereo splits a mono signal across two channels. It adds no separation that was not in the source and can introduce phase artefacts. Collectors generally treat it as a compromise rather than an improvement.

The 1968 original's Discogs entry describes it as the two-eye electronically simulated stereo issue and confirms that the 1933 and 1949 sources were mono. Robert Andrew Parker did the cover art.

Later pressings

Columbia repressed the album as PC 9655, the catalogue number on the Internet Archive's copy. A 1987 vinyl edition also exists.

No published comparison between these pressings has been found, and none is described as a new mastering from the original mono sources. The rechannelling applies across the compilation's vinyl history.

Buyer's guide by budget

$$: Any clean CS 9655 or PC 9655 copy. Price and condition are the only real variables.

$$$$: A white-label radio promo in mono, for anyone who wants this material without rechannelling. These are scarce.

Pressing tier summary

Tier ⇅ Pressing Cat# Year ⇅ Format Source / Mastering Notes Market ⇅
A Columbia original, two-eye label CS 9655 1968 Rechannelled stereo, 33⅓ Columbia lacquer Compiles 1933 Brunswick sides and the 1949 Shrine Auditorium concert, both recorded in mono
24 for sale · from $5
$37VG+
$49NM
$54M
B Columbia repress PC 9655 – Rechannelled stereo, 33⅓ Columbia lacquer Same rechannelled programme –
– Radio station promo, mono CS 9655 1968 Mono, 33⅓ Columbia lacquer Not rated. White labels, stereo number. Not sold commercially –
– 1987 vinyl reissue – 1987 Rechannelled stereo, 33⅓ Not credited Not rated. No published review found –

References

Related guides: In a Silent Way · Bitches Brew · The Inner Mounting Flame

Know something we don't? Spotted an error or have a pressing to add?

Edit this page on GitHub