Any label president would have killed to have Bob Dylan or Miles Davis on his company’s roster, but Columbia Records’ legendary Goddard Lieberson had the good fortune to have had both of these groundbreaking artists making their most important music on the red label under its watchful eye logo. Since the advent of the compact disc era, there’s been no shortage of reissued music from these giants, and it’s already clear that 2012 will continue the steady flow.
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has announced two new campaigns dedicated to Mr. Davis and Mr. Dylan. Both of these seminal musicians will see a number of their most beloved albums reissued as both audiophile-quality vinyl and hybrid Super Audio CDs (SACDs) sometime in 2012. (Release dates aren’t yet concrete.) None of these numbered, limited-edition releases contain surround mixes, and the albums are presented in their original sequences only, with no bonus tracks appended. All albums are in stereo unless otherwise noted, and as hybrid SACDs, the discs can be played on all CD players.
The jazz trumpeter’s Mobile Fidelity series takes in highlights from his first decade-plus at Columbia, beginning with his label debut, 1957’s Round About Midnight. 1958’s Milestones appears in mono, capturing the quintet of Davis, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. Kind of Blue (1959, with Davis joined by Adderley, Coltrane, Chambers, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Cobb) has been reissued multiple times on SACD, but has been remastered from the original master tapes for this issue. Sketches of Spain, from 1960, teamed Davis with noted arranger and orchestrator Gil Evans and his 18-piece orchestra; Mobile Fidelity promises that the new edition “digs deep to eradicate a dryness that many critics have found as an anathema to its overall enjoyment.” 1966’s live album Four and More was one of Davis’ final standards-based projects, recorded in New York in 1964 with Ron Carter, Tony Williams, George Coleman and Herbie Hancock. Finally, 1969’s In a Silent Way is a departure from the other titles as Davis’ first excursion into fusion. Williams and Hancock return, and the album also features John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and Dave Holland.
Hit the jump to explore Bob Dylan’s Mobile Fidelity line-up, and also to find track listings for all releases!
Perhaps the biggest surprise about Mobile Fidelity’s commitment to Dylan on SACD is that, save one, each of the titles in this group has previously been released in the format. In 2003, Columbia itself issued many of Dylan’s catalogue titles as hybrid SACDs, and many of those titles also included surround mixes. As with the Davis reissues, Mobile Fidelity assures that the master tapes have been utilized for these definitive stereo remasters. The one new-to-SACD title in the batch is 1975’s double-LP The Basement Tapes, recorded at The Band’s historic Big Pink, during the summer and fall of 1967. While collectors await a full, authorized release of the untouched tapes, this SACD might be the next best thing! The earliest of the remaining titles is 1963’s The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, his second studio album. The series continues with 1964’s Another Side of Bob Dylan and 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home before jumping to 1966’s sprawling Blonde on Blonde and the 1975 “confessional” masterpiece Blood on the Tracks. (Of Dylan’s earliest albums, 1962’s debut Bob Dylan and 1963’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ have still never received SACD releases.)
No release dates have yet been set, but placeholder pages are up at Music Direct for both the Miles Davis and Bob Dylan titles. You’ll find the complete track listings and catalogue numbers below!
Miles Davis, Four and More (Columbia, 1966 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2087/180G LP: LMF376, 2012)
- So What
- Walkin’
- Joshua
- Go-Go
- Four
- Seven Steps to Heaven
- There Is No Greater Love
- Go-Go
Miles Davis, In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2088/180G LP: LMF377, 2012)
- Shhh/Peaceful
- In a Silent Way/It’s About That Time
Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959 – reissued Mobile Fidelity Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2085/180G 45RPM 2LP: LMF45010, 2012)
- So What
- Freddie Freeloader
- Blue in Green
- All Blues
- Flamenco Sketches
Miles Davis, Milestones (Columbia, 1958 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid Mono SACD: CMFSA2084/180G Mono LP: LMF374, 2012)
- Dr. Jackle
- Sid’s Ahead
- Two Bass Hit
- Milestones
- Billy Boy
- Straight, No Chaser
Miles Davis, Round About Midnight (Columbia, 1957 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2083/180G LP: LMF373, 2012)
- ‘Round Midnight
- Ah-Leu-Cha
- All of You
- Bye Bye Blackbird
- Tadd’s Delight
- Dear Old Stockholm
Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain (Columbia, 1960 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2086/180G LP: LMF375, 2012)
- Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)
- Will O’ the Wisp
- The Pan Piper
- Saeta
- Solea
Bob Dylan, Another Side of Bob Dylan (Columbia, 1964 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2095/180G 45RPM 2LP: LMF379, 2012)
- All I Really Want to Do
- Black Crow Blues
- Spanish Harlem Incident
- Chimes of Freedom
- I Shall Be Free, No. 10
- To Ramona
- Motorpsycho Nightmare
- My Back Pages
- I Don’t Believe You
- Ballad in Plain D
- It Ain’t Me Babe
Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde (Columbia, 1966 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2097/180G 45RPM 4LP: LMF45009, 2012)
- Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
- Pledging My Time
- Visions of Johanna
- One of Must Know (Sooner or Later)
- I Want You
- Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again
- Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
- Just Like a Woman
- Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)
- Temporary Like Achilles
- Absolutely Sweet Marie
- 4th Time Around
- Obviously 5 Believers
- Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks (Columbia, 1975 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2098/180G LP: LMF381, 2012)
- Tangled Up in Blue
- Simple Twist of Fate
- You’re A Big Girl Now
- Idiot Wind
- You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
- Meet Me in the Morning
- Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
- If You See Her, Say Hello
- Shelter From the Storm
- Buckets of Rain
Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home (Columbia, 1965 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2096/180G 45RPM 2LP: LMF380, 2012)
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- She Belongs To Me
- Maggie’s Farm
- Love Minus Zero/No Limit
- Outlaw Blues
- On the Road Again
- Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Gates of Eden
- It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (Columbia, 1963 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA2081/180G 45RPM 2LP: LMF378, 2012)
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- Girl From the North Country
- Masters of War
- Down the Highway
- Bob Dylan’s Blues
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Bob Dylan’s Dream
- Oxford Town
- Talking World War III Blues
- Corrina, Corrina
- Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
- I Shall Be Free
Bob Dylan and The Band, The Basement Tapes (Columbia, 1975 – reissued Mobile Fidelity, Hybrid SACD: CMFSA20082/180G 2LP: LMF382, 2012)
- Odds and Ends
- Orange Juice Blues (Blues for Breakfast)
- Million Dollar Bash
- Yazoo Street Scandal
- Goin’ to Acapulco
- Katie’s Been Gone
- Lo and Behold
- Bessie Smith
- Clothes Line Saga
- Apple Suckling Tree
- Please Mrs. Henry
- Tears of Rage
- Too Much of Nothing
- Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
- Ain’t No More Cane
- Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)
- Ruben Remus
- Tiny Montgomery
- You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
- Don’t Ya Tell Henry
- Nothing Was Delivered
- Open the Door, Homer
- Long Distance Operator
- This Wheel’s on Fire
Eddie says
Re the Dylan SACDs, apart from the Basement Tapes - which are a welcome if unlikely candidate for such a release - what's the point? (unless the 2003 issues are out of print)
Joe Marchese says
Many of the 2003 SACDS are, indeed, out of print, including ANOTHER SIDE, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS and BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME. (FREEWHEELIN' and BLONDE ON BLONDE still seem to be ready available.) I suspect these will prove attractive to those fans who missed out in '03, as well as for those audiophiles interested in Mobile Fidelity's remaster. Either way, they should sound terrific!
Jason Michael says
Thanks for the info on these releases. I've been following news of them on various message boards for a few weeks but there hasn't been much in the way of concrete detail. I am really looking forward to the mono mix of Milestones. The current Legacy release is in stereo, and the original Columbia Jazz Masterpieces CD had the first two tracks in stereo with the rest in mono that was shoved just to the left of the centre of the soundstage. Everytime I listen to it, my head drifts to that side of the sweet spot! Plus it just sounds thin and anemic. I'd be very happy if MFSL released all of Miles' mono mixes on CD eventually, though I doubt that will happen. I believe all the titles they are releasing on this list save In A Silent Way were mixed to mono. Round About Midnight has only ever been available in mono, and though it's not mentioned in your article, I am sure this version will be mono as well.
Now I just want MFSL to set release dates for these!
Joe Marchese says
Hey Jason! Mobile Fidelity didn't specifically mention mono in its information for ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT, but I, too, suspect it will indeed be heard that way. I also can't wait for MILESTONES!
Jason Michael says
I understand that the "Basement Tapes" LP has now been released from this series. Has anyone here picked it up? How is it? I am tempted to get it, but it's unfortunate that the first release from this program is probably the worst recorded of all the albums. It won't really give us much of an idea what improvement we can expect in the sound.