John Coltrane Ballads
Limited 180gm colored vinyl LP pressing. Ballads was recorded in December 1961 and 1962, and released on the Impulse! Label in 1963. 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".