Ballads (John Coltrane album) explained

Ballads
Type:	studio
Artist:	John Coltrane
Cover:	Coltraneballads.jpg
Recorded:	December 21, 1961; September 18 and November 13, 1962
Studio:	Van Gelder (Englewood Cliffs)
Genre:	Jazz
Length:	32:18
Label:	Impulse! A-32
Producer:	Bob Thiele
Prev Title:	Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
Prev Year:	1963
Next Title:	Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane
Next Year:	1963

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".^[3] In 2008, the album was a recipient of the Grammy Hall of Fame award.^[4]

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

• John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
• McCoy Tyner – piano
• Jimmy Garrison (#1-6, 8), Reggie Workman (#7; Disc 2, #3-14) – bass
• Elvin Jones – drums

Production

• Rudy Van Gelder – recording engineer
• Jim Marshall – photography

Notes and References

1. Book: DeVito, Chris . The John Coltrane Reference . Fujioka . Yasuhiro . Schmaler . Wolf . Wild . David . 2013 . . 2 January 2020 . 9780415634632 . Porter . Lewis . Lewis Porter . New York/Abingdon . 658.
2. News: 13 ABC, 7 Impulse LPs Bow At N.Y. Distrib Meet . 3 May 2020. New York. The Cash Box Publishing Co.. Cash Box. January 5, 1963.
3. Original liner notes by Gene Lees
4. http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame#m Grammy Hall of Fame website