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

Ballads is a jazz album by 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

Original

  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

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

Production

References

  1. ^ a b 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 2 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b "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 3 May 2020.
  3. ^ Down Beat: March 28, 1963 vol. 30, no. 8
  4. ^ AllMusic review
  5. ^ Watson, Jimmy (13 July 1963). "John Coltrane Quartet: Ballads" (PDF). New Record Mirror. No. 122. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  6. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  7. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 46. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  8. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  9. ^ Original liner notes by Gene Lees
  10. ^ Grammy Hall of Fame website, retrieved 9 November 2013.


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