Miles Davis — Kind of Blue: How to Identify a First Pressing

• Label: On the first pressing and early commercial copies, the two Side Two tracks were printed on the label in the wrong order: some copies swap the printed order of 'All Blues' and 'Flamenco Sketches'; this error was corrected on commercial copies from around November 1959 onward.
• Other: When first released in 1959, the album was issued in both stereo and mono vinyl editions simultaneously, and has since been reissued and remastered many times.

• Other: A remaster was released in 1982 by CBS/Sony Japan under catalog number 35DP 62, one of the earliest well-known high-quality remastered reissues, distinct from the original 1959 US master.

• The 1992 remaster corrected a speed deviation affecting Side One of the original recording — every previous edition (including the 1959 original and all reissues up to that point) had a slightly sharp pitch caused by this speed deviation; the 1992 edition was the first to fix it, and can be used to separate 'every edition before 1992' from 'editions from 1992 onward' based on pitch.

• Side Two tracklist misprint: Some early labels printed the order of 'All Blues' and 'Flamenco Sketches' reversed; commercial copies from around November 1959 onward corrected this, giving a rough way to date a copy. The task brief asked about a 'Side One' misprint, but the sources that could be verified this time clearly record the misprint as occurring on Side Two, and this correction is stated honestly here.

discogs.com returned a 403 this time and could not be accessed; the English Wikipedia entry was used instead, cross-referenced with a feature article on the vinyl-collecting blog londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com. Important correction: both Wikipedia and londonjazzcollector record the tracklist misprint as occurring on Side Two ('All Blues'/'Flamenco Sketches'), not 'Side One' as stated in the original task brief; this entry records it as Side Two per the sources that could actually be verified — please note this discrepancy with the task brief's wording.

• Read the runout (the smooth area between the last groove and the label) with the disc tilted under a lamp: matrix numbers, stamper codes and mastering initials are the strongest evidence.
• Label details change between pressing plants and years: rim text, logo style, address, "Manufactured by" wording.
• Cover printing shows the plant and era: printer credit, catalog number position, barcode presence.
• Match all three. A first-press disc in a later cover, or the reverse, is common.

Shoot the label straight on in even light, then the runout with the disc tilted so the etched text catches the light (a phone torch from the side works). Add the front and back cover, the spine, and any inner sleeve or insert. The app reads the label and cover; the runout photo is what confirms the pressing.