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Ballads (John Coltrane album)

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Ballads
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 1963 (1963-01)[1][2]
RecordedDecember 21, 1961; September 18 and November 13, 1962
StudioVan Gelder (Englewood Cliffs)
GenreJazz
Length32:18
LabelsImpulse!
A-32
ProducerBob Thiele
John Coltrane chronology
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
(1963)
Ballads
(1963)
Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane
(1963)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[3]
DownBeat
(Original Lp release)
StarStar[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular MusicStarStarStarStar[5]
New Record MirrorStarStarStar[6]
The Penguin Guide to JazzStarStarStarHalf star[7]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record GuideStarStarStar[8]

Ballads is a jazz album by American saxophonist John Coltrane released in January 1963 by Impulse! Records.[1][2] It was recorded in December 1961 and 1962, and released with catalogue number A-32 (mono) and AS-32 (stereo). Critic Gene Lees stated that the quartet had never played the tunes before. "They arrived with music-store sheet music of the songs" and just before the recordings, they "would discuss each tune, write out copies of the changes they'd use, semi-rehearse for a half hour and then do it". Each piece was recorded in one take, except for "All or Nothing at All".[9]

In 2008, the album was a recipient of the Grammy Hall of Fame award.[10]

Track listing

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Original

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  1. "Say It (Over and Over Again)" (Jimmy McHugh)– 4:18
  2. "You Don't Know What Love Is" (Gene DePaul)– 5:15
  3. "Too Young to Go Steady" (Jimmy McHugh)– 4:23
  4. "All or Nothing at All" (Arthur Altman)– 3:39
  5. "I Wish I Knew" (Harry Warren)– 4:54
  6. "What's New?" (Bob Haggart)– 3:47
  7. "It's Easy to Remember" (Richard Rodgers)– 2:49
  8. "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" (Jimmy Van Heusen)– 3:10

2002 deluxe edition

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Disc two

  1. "They Say It's Wonderful"
  2. "All or Nothing at All" - Alternate take
  3. "Greensleeves" - Alternate take
  4. "Greensleeves" - Alternate take
  5. "Greensleeves" - Alternate take
  6. "Greensleeves" - Master take
  7. "Greensleeves" - Alternate take
  8. "It's Easy to Remember" - Alternate take
  9. "It's Easy to Remember" - Alternate take
  10. "It's Easy to Remember" - Alternate take
  11. "It's Easy to Remember" - Alternate take
  12. "It's Easy to Remember" - Alternate take
  13. "It's Easy to Remember" - Alternate take
  14. "It's Easy to Remember" - Alternate take

Personnel

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Production

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References

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  1. 1 2 DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Schmaler, Wolf; Wild, David (2013). Porter, Lewis (ed.). The John Coltrane Reference. New York/Abingdon: Routledge. p. 658. ISBN 9780415634632. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "13 ABC, 7 Impulse LPs Bow At N.Y. Distrib Meet" (PDF). Cash Box. New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. January 5, 1963. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  3. Sam Samuelson, AllMusic review.
  4. DownBeat: March 28, 1963, vol. 30, no. 8.
  5. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  6. Watson, Jimmy (July 13, 1963). "John Coltrane Quartet: Ballads" (PDF). New Record Mirror. No. 122. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 1, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  7. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  8. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 46. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  9. Original liner notes by Gene Lees.
  10. Grammy Hall of Fame website. Archived February 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.Retrieved 9 November 2013.