The Real McCoy

Recording history and tape provenance

McCoy Tyner spent five years as the pianist in John Coltrane's classic quartet, helping define the modal vocabulary that shaped 1960s jazz. He left in late 1965, reportedly uncomfortable with the direction Coltrane's music was taking into denser free-jazz territory, and spent the next two years in genuine professional uncertainty – Tyner has spoken candidly about considering leaving music altogether and driving a cab. The Real McCoy, his first Blue Note session as a leader, marked his return to visibility, and Alfred Lion recalled it simply as "a pure jazz session... a deep, passionate love for the music embedded in each of the selections."

All five tracks are Tyner originals, and several have become among his most enduringly covered compositions. "Passion Dance" opens the album at full intensity – Tyner's rhythmic upheaval and Jones's polyrhythmic drumming create what one reviewer called "an obstacle course" for Henderson's tenor to navigate. "Contemplation" and "Search for Peace" are the album's two ballads – reflective, spacious pieces that Tyner has described in explicitly spiritual terms, the latter concerned with "a man's submission to God" and "giving over of the self to the universe." "Four by Five" is a knotty, near-fusion excursion in 5/4, and the closing "Blues on the Corner" is a loose-limbed, blues-inflected tribute to Tyner's Philadelphia childhood. Carter, on loan from the Miles Davis Quintet, and Jones, reunited with his former Coltrane bandmate, give the session a level of chemistry critics have singled out repeatedly – Ethan Iverson called it simply "a band of giants, everyone on the top of their game."

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected the album for its Core Collection, calling it a key album in Tyner's discography; AllMusic's Scott Yanow called it easily recommended. It's widely regarded, alongside Herbie Hancock's contemporaneous Blue Note work, as one of the defining post-bop records of the late 1960s.

Original pressings (1967)

Catalogue: BLP 4264 (mono) / BST 84264 (stereo). The true first pressing carries blue-and-white labels reading "A Division of Liberty Records, Inc." rather than the earlier Blue Note "New York, USA" design – Liberty had acquired Blue Note in 1965–66, and by the time this session was recorded and released in 1967, the Liberty label design was already standard. Matrix reads BNST-84264-A VAN GELDER / BNST-84264-B VAN GELDER, confirming Rudy Van Gelder's original lacquer cut. A pressing-plant variant exists with "114" etched in the runout, indicating an All Disc pressing from the same metalwork rather than a distinct later pressing.

The important collector point: because this Liberty-label design is the genuine 1967 original for this title, it should not be discounted the way a true later reissue would be. As one longtime collector puts it, this is "a Blue Note in everything but the Liberty label" – Van Gelder-cut, first-generation metalwork, simply carrying the label design Blue Note was using company-wide by 1967. NM copies are genuinely collectible.

Japanese pressings

King Records (Blue Note GXF-3008, 1977) – a licensed Japanese pressing from King's Blue Note series. As with other King-era Japan Blue Note licenses, expect quiet vinyl and a period-correct obi. Discogs

The reissue hierarchy

Music Matters 45rpm 2LP (2011) – the audiophile benchmark

Cat. MMBST-84264 | Format: 2×180g LP, 45rpm, gatefold. Remastered by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at AcousTech Mastering, from the original Rudy Van Gelder stereo session tapes, pressed at RTI. This 2011 release predates Music Matters' move to Kevin Gray's own Cohearent Audio facility, so credit both engineers. Owners consistently praise the "clarity and precision" typical of the Music Matters series applied to this session – Elvin Jones's drums and cymbal work in particular come through with the kind of separation the format is known for. Out of print.

Blue Note Classic Vinyl – the accessible modern option, with real QC caveats

Cat. BST 84264 | Format: 180g LP, 33⅓. Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, from the original master tapes. Discogs reviews are a genuine mixed bag: several owners report flat, silent, punchy copies and call it "an audiophile bargain" at the price, while a comparable number describe dished (bowl-shaped) vinyl, visible dirt on arrival, and audible pops and clicks, particularly on side two. One reviewer bluntly notes this is a "budget" release in construction – simple paper inner sleeve, no tip-on jacket – even where the mastering itself draws praise. Buy from a seller with an easy return policy.

Note: unlike other Tyner titles such as Time For Tyner, Expansions, and Extensions, The Real McCoy has not been issued as part of Blue Note's Tone Poet series as of this writing. Blue Note president Don Was confirmed this title as one of the two launch albums (alongside Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder) for the Classic Vinyl series when it debuted December 4, as an extension of the label's 80th anniversary vinyl reissue program – confirming the Kevin Gray/Optimal chain directly from label leadership, and framing the series as an ongoing one rather than a one-off.

Pressings to avoid

No specific bootleg or notably compromised pressing of this title is widely documented beyond the QC variance noted above for the Classic Vinyl series, which is a manufacturing consistency issue rather than a distinct bad pressing to identify and avoid.

Buyer's guide by budget

$ (Budget): The Blue Note Classic Vinyl – Kevin Gray mastering; buy with a return policy given documented QC variance.

$$ (Affordable): A Japanese King pressing (GXF-3008) with obi, for a well-regarded vintage alternative.

$$$$ (Premium): The Music Matters 45rpm 2LP on the secondary market, for the definitive modern listening experience.

$$$$ (Premium): An original Liberty-label first pressing in honest condition – remember, this label design is the true original for this specific title, not a later pressing.

Pressing tier summary

References

• Discogs (master): https://www.discogs.com/master/92930-McCoy-Tyner-The-Real-McCoy
• Discogs release and community listings for all pressings referenced in the tier table above (original BLP 4264/BST 84264 Liberty-label first pressing, Music Matters 45rpm, Blue Note Classic Vinyl, Japanese King GXF-3008, 1970s–80s later pressings including 1987 DMM Europadisk)
• YouTube, Blue Note Records, "The Real McCoy: Don Was & Nduduzo Makhathini On A McCoy Tyner Classic": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWx30qQXc_c

Related guides: Speak No Evil · Song for My Father · Maiden Voyage