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CTI · 1970

Red Clay

Freddie Hubbard

Recorded: January 27–29, 1970   Original cat#: CTI 6001
Freddie Hubbard — Red Clay album cover

Red Clay was recorded on January 27, 28 and 29, 1970 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Creed Taylor produced and Van Gelder engineered. It was Freddie Hubbard's first album for Taylor's newly independent CTI label, after seven years on Blue Note and a spell on Atlantic.

The record mixes electric and acoustic instruments. A muddy copy smears Hancock's electric piano into the rhythm section instead of placing it beside Carter's bass and White's kick drum. Original copies vary audibly by pressing plant, which matters more here than the 1970 date on the label. Streaming credits for this album are also misleading, for a reason the vinyl buyer can ignore.

Best early pressing for audiophiles: CTI 6001, the 1970 original, Terre Haute plant, orange labels.

Best modern pressing for audiophiles: ORG Music ORGM-2000 (2014), cut by Bernie Grundman at 45rpm and pressed at Pallas.

Best-value modern: ORG Music ORGM-1085, the single-LP 33⅓ reissue, also cut by Grundman.

Recording history and tape provenance

The quintet is Hubbard on trumpet and Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone and flute. Herbie Hancock plays Fender Rhodes and organ, Ron Carter electric and acoustic bass, and Lenny White drums. Hancock and Carter had just come out of Miles Davis's second quintet.

Hubbard reportedly wanted Tony Williams on drums as well. Williams turned the date down, and White got the call on the strength of his work on the Bitches Brew sessions.

White brought a homemade 16-inch bass drum built from an oil drum. It caused a resonance problem with Carter's bass, so Van Gelder swapped in a 28-inch drum mid-session, nearly twice the diameter White was used to.

Taylor liked the result. White reportedly disliked it for years. The prominent, slightly ungainly kick drum on the title track comes from that swap, not from any pressing or mastering decision.

The title track became a standard and one of the most sampled sources in golden-era hip-hop, most famously by A Tribe Called Quest.

The Stanley Turrentine credit

Some streaming descriptions list Stanley Turrentine as a performer, which is not in the original LP credits. The expanded CD explains it.

A Tower Records listing for the remastered CD gives personnel including Turrentine, George Benson, Johnny Hammond, Billy Cobham and Airto Moreira. Its recording dates run from January 27, 1970 to July 19, 1971, with a second location at Southgate Palace in Los Angeles.

Those extra names belong to the bonus tracks from later CTI sessions, not to the 1970 album. Streaming services carry the expanded credits across the whole release. No vinyl pressing of the original LP includes that material.

Original CTI pressings (1970)

CTI 6001 came in a glossy gatefold, with cover photography by Price Givens and design by Tony Lane.

The catalogue number covers many plant and label variants. US copies came from Terre Haute, Santa Maria and Carrollton, and European copies appeared on orange, blue and grey Epic labels. Collector reports describe audible differences between plants on this title.

The Terre Haute pressing on orange labels is the one generally sought. One experienced collector reports a UK pressing sounding crisper, though the label and plant details could not be confirmed here.

Original gatefolds shipped with at least three interior art treatments, a red-clay-toned photo, a gold-toned version and a white version with different photography. All are legitimate CTI 6001 pressings. CTI later reissued the album itself as CTI 8016 with the same content.

ORG Music reissues

ORGM-2000 (2014) splits the album across four 45rpm sides. Bernie Grundman mastered it from the original analog tapes, and it was pressed at Pallas in Germany in a Stoughton gatefold.

Owner reviews rate it a top-tier pressing. One recurring note is mild background hiss on "Delphia," which appears to be a tape characteristic rather than a fault of this reissue.

ORGM-1085 is the single-LP version at 33⅓, also all-analog from the original tapes by Grundman. Owner reviews describe it as flat, centred and dynamic, with Van Gelder's room sound intact.

It was repackaged in 2017 as a Barnes & Noble exclusive on red vinyl, with identical content and mastering per that pressing's Discogs entry.

Buyer's guide by budget

$$: The ORGM-1085 33⅓ reissue, including the 2017 red vinyl repackaging.

$$$: A clean CTI 6001 original, with the Terre Haute plant and orange labels confirmed.

$$$$: The ORGM-2000 45rpm set.

Pressing tier summary

Tier ⇅ Pressing Cat# Year ⇅ Format Source / Mastering Notes Market ⇅
S ORG Music 45rpm ORGM-2000 2014 Stereo, 45rpm, 2×180g Bernie Grundman, from the original tapes. Pressed at Pallas Stoughton gatefold, limited. Mild hiss on "Delphia" is in the tape
none currently listed
—VG+
—NM
—M
A CTI original, Terre Haute pressing CTI 6001 1970 Stereo, 33⅓, gatefold Rudy Van Gelder / CTI lacquer First pressing. Three documented interior art treatments
2 for sale · from $100
$158VG+
$207NM
$231M
B ORG Music 33⅓ ORGM-1085 – Stereo, 33⅓ Bernie Grundman, all-analog Repackaged in 2017 as a Barnes & Noble red vinyl edition
3 for sale · from $140
$160VG+
$210NM
$234M
– CTI original, other US plants CTI 6001 1970 Stereo, 33⅓ CTI lacquer Not rated. Santa Maria and Carrollton pressings, reported to differ –
– CTI reissue CTI 8016 – Stereo, 33⅓ CTI lacquer Not rated. Same content under a later number –
– European pressings CTI 6001 1970s Stereo, 33⅓ Not credited Not rated. Orange, blue and grey Epic labels –

References

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

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