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John Coltrane|Ballads

Ballads

John Coltrane Quartet

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Throughout John Coltrane's discography there are a handful of decisive and controversial albums that split his listening camp into factions. Generally, these occur in his later-period works such as Om and Ascension, which push into some pretty heady blowing. As a contrast, Ballads is often criticized as too easy and as too much of a compromise between Coltrane and Impulse! (the two had just entered into the first year of label representation). Seen as an answer to critics who found his work complicated with too many notes and too thin a concept, Ballads has even been accused of being a record that Coltrane didn't want to make. These conspiracy theories (and there are more) really just get in the way of enjoying a perfectly fine album of Coltrane doing what he always did -- exploring new avenues and modes in an inexhaustible search for personal and artistic enlightenment. With Ballads he looks into the warmer side of things, a path he would take with both Johnny Hartman (on John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman) and with Duke Ellington (on Duke Ellington and John Coltrane). Here he lays out for McCoy Tyner mostly, and the results positively shimmer at times. He's not aggressive, and he's not outwardly. Instead he's introspective and at times even predictable, but that is precisely Ballads' draw.

© Sam Samuelson /TiVo

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Ballads

John Coltrane

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1
Say It (Over And Over Again) (Album Version)
John Coltrane Quartet
00:04:20

FRANK LOESSER, Author - Rudy Van Gelder, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy McHugh, Composer - Bob Thiele, Producer - John Coltrane Quartet, MainArtist

℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.

2
You Don't Know What Love Is (Album Version)
John Coltrane Quartet
00:05:16

Gene DePaul, ComposerLyricist - Rudy Van Gelder, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Don Raye, ComposerLyricist - Bob Thiele, Producer - John Coltrane Quartet, MainArtist

℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.

3
Too Young To Go Steady (Album Version)
John Coltrane Quartet
00:04:24

Rudy Van Gelder, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy McHugh, ComposerLyricist - Harold Adamson, ComposerLyricist - Bob Thiele, Producer - John Coltrane Quartet, MainArtist

℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.

4
All Or Nothing At All (Album Version)
John Coltrane Quartet
00:03:41

Arthur Altman, Composer - Jack Lawrence, Author - Rudy Van Gelder, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Bob Thiele, Producer - John Coltrane Quartet, MainArtist

℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.

5
I Wish I Knew (Album Version)
John Coltrane Quartet
00:04:56

Harry Warren, Composer - Mack Gordon, Author - Rudy Van Gelder, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - George Douglas, Producer - Bob Thiele, Producer - John Coltrane Quartet, MainArtist

℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.

6
What's New (Album Version)
John Coltrane Quartet
00:03:48

Robert Haggart, Composer - John Coltrane, Producer - Rudy Van Gelder, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Johnny Burke, Author - Bob Thiele, Producer - John Coltrane Quartet, MainArtist

℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.

7
It's Easy To Remember (Album Version)
John Coltrane Quartet
00:02:50

Richard Rodgers, Composer - Lorenz Hart, Author - Rudy Van Gelder, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Bob Thiele, Producer - John Coltrane Quartet, MainArtist

℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.

8
Nancy (With The Laughing Face) (Album Version)
John Coltrane Quartet
00:03:14

John Coltrane, Producer - Phil Silvers, ComposerLyricist - Rudy Van Gelder, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Van Heusen, ComposerLyricist - Bob Thiele, Producer - John Coltrane Quartet, MainArtist

℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.

Album review

Throughout John Coltrane's discography there are a handful of decisive and controversial albums that split his listening camp into factions. Generally, these occur in his later-period works such as Om and Ascension, which push into some pretty heady blowing. As a contrast, Ballads is often criticized as too easy and as too much of a compromise between Coltrane and Impulse! (the two had just entered into the first year of label representation). Seen as an answer to critics who found his work complicated with too many notes and too thin a concept, Ballads has even been accused of being a record that Coltrane didn't want to make. These conspiracy theories (and there are more) really just get in the way of enjoying a perfectly fine album of Coltrane doing what he always did -- exploring new avenues and modes in an inexhaustible search for personal and artistic enlightenment. With Ballads he looks into the warmer side of things, a path he would take with both Johnny Hartman (on John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman) and with Duke Ellington (on Duke Ellington and John Coltrane). Here he lays out for McCoy Tyner mostly, and the results positively shimmer at times. He's not aggressive, and he's not outwardly. Instead he's introspective and at times even predictable, but that is precisely Ballads' draw.

© Sam Samuelson /TiVo

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