Return to Forever

Recording history and tape provenance

By late 1971, Chick Corea had come through Miles Davis's electric period and the free-improvising collective Circle, and was ready to chart a more structured, melodic direction. He assembled a quintet built around the Brazilian duo of Flora Purim and her husband Airto Moreira, longtime collaborator Joe Farrell, and a young bassist named Stanley Clarke – the only member who would remain constant across every subsequent lineup of the group that took its name from this album's title track. The record leans heavily into Latin and Brazilian rhythmic language: the side-two epic "Sometime Ago–La Fiesta" runs some 23 minutes, built around an extended Corea piano introduction, a fierce Clarke double-bass solo, and a driving groove under Purim's wordless vocals and Farrell's flute.

Manfred Eicher's ECM had a specific, spacious production aesthetic that suited the material – reviewers consistently single out the "vast, intimate, impeccably separated" soundstage, with Corea's Fender Rhodes on "La Fiesta" and Clarke's upright bass captured with unusual texture and presence for a jazz-fusion date. Despite this, ECM held the album back from US release for three years, issuing it only in Europe and Japan in 1972; American listeners didn't get an official pressing until 1975, by which point the Return to Forever name had already become attached to the band's subsequent, more overtly fusion-oriented albums for Polydor. Some critics and fans consider this ECM debut a genuinely different, warmer, more Latin-inflected record than the later Return to Forever albums that made the band famous – closer in spirit to Corea's Crystal Silence duo album with Gary Burton (which reprised the title track that same year) than to the jazz-rock of Where Have I Known You Before or Romantic Warrior.

The master tapes remain with ECM/Universal. A 1987 digital remix was used for CD releases; a later SACD remaster on Japan's Polydor imprint (PROZ-1088) has been favorably reviewed, though as a CD-format release it falls outside the scope of this vinyl guide.

Original pressings (1972)

Cat. ECM 1022 ST, West Germany – the first pressing, lacquer cut and pressed at Phonodisc GmbH. A well-documented issue affects a meaningful number of copies: a static-like noise at the beginning of both sides, described by multiple independent owners (across separate purchases) as sounding "pressed into the vinyl" rather than surface wear, intensifying with louder or more treble-heavy passages (cymbals) and disappearing during quiet sections. Not every copy exhibits this – several owners report dead-quiet pressings after cleaning – but it's frequent enough to warrant inspecting before buying, or buying from a seller who accepts returns. From 1976, some remaining stock carries an additional small distributor sticker reading "2301 022" reflecting a change in ECM's German distribution.

US pressing (1975)

Cat. ECM-1-1022, manufactured and distributed by Polydor Incorporated, pressed at the Columbia Records Pressing Plant in Pitman, New Jersey (identifiable by "CP" etched in the runouts). Reviews are mixed: some owners describe a "beautiful, spacious pressing with tons of air and separation," while others report noticeable pre-echo in quiet passages – a different issue from the German pressing's static noise, and again not universal. Discogs

French pressing

A French pressing exists, confirmed via Discogs ("Imprimé en France" printed on the sleeve). No dedicated sound-quality comparisons against the German or US originals have surfaced, so treat it as a collectible period pressing from the same general era rather than a confirmed audiophile alternative. Discogs

Japanese pressings

Polydor K.K., licensed via Hara Music (1972), catalog MP-2273, comes with obi and Japanese liner notes. Reception is more divided than a quick glance at owner reviews might suggest. Some praise it in strong terms: "The sound of this Japanese pressed vinyl is beyond expectation. It is more natural and beautiful than any other country's pressing," and "dead quiet vinyl, outstanding dynamics, every instrument is clear." But a genuine counter-view exists too: one detailed comparison across six different period copies (three US pressings, one Canadian, one German, one Japanese) found the Japanese pressing "the most disappointing of them all," describing "a weird on-and-off presence on some instruments, very noticeable on the percussions (especially cymbals) and flute on side B, almost like the master cut out the high-end" – not a condition issue, since the reviewer's copies were all NM or close. A second, separate owner similarly found the sound "meh." Treat the Japanese pressing as a legitimate contender worth trying, not an automatic best-in-class pick. A later 1978 Japanese repress (catalog MPF-1136) also circulates. Discogs

Pressings to avoid

No specific bootleg is widely documented. Given the noise/pre-echo issues affecting both the German and US originals in some copies, prioritize sellers with clear photos of the vinyl and a return policy over paying a premium sight-unseen for either pressing.

Buyer's guide by budget

$ (Budget): A clean US 1975 pressing – check seller photos/description for the known pre-echo issue before buying.

$$ (Affordable): The Japanese Polydor pressing with obi – a legitimate contender, though reception is genuinely mixed rather than uniformly best – or a clean German original, checking for the known noise issue first.

Pressing tier summary

References

• Discogs (master): https://www.discogs.com/master/123528-Chick-Corea-Return-To-Forever
• Discogs release and community listings for all pressings referenced in the tier table above (original German ECM 1022 ST, US ECM-1-1022, French pressing, Japanese Polydor MP-2273, later Japanese repress MPF-1136)

Related guides: The Köln Concert