I guess he gets as much as he can fit in….it can perhaps all be endless and editing is gonna happen at some point.
I listened to Side A of both versions just now. TL;DR: Both sound fantastic. It basically comes down to the basic mono vs stereo choice - if you want punchier, go with the mono. If you want a wider (and for me fuller) sound stage, go with the stereo. There's not really a "bad" choice here. I'll second the earlier comment that at least in the mono Paul Chambers is given his due - he's given a prominence that was lost on an earlier Japanese pressing I had. The stereo version in turn really does justice to Philly Joe Jones. I like them both. If you put a gun to my head I'd take the stereo. In my system the mono is almost a little too tight, soundstage-wise, but that's just a small nitpicking. Listening to this album again, I think another thing that really sets it apart is the polish on songs. I think this is probably the first Coltrane album I can think of where the songs are both predominantly by him and quite memorable. Again, I'd chalk that up to both his increased musically maturity and the fact that Blue Note allowed rehearsals and Alfred Lion was more hands-on in some respects. I have only glanced at the Ashley Kahn book - the music keeps drawing my attention away from the page - but I did see a comment where Lion would butt in if he didn't think a song like "Locomotion" was swinging enough on a particular take.
My favorite Burns is the Vietnam series….that really got it all across very well narratively w all the details and feeling for the era.
All I know is his current documentary about the Holocaust is essential viewing. But yeah, his "Jazz" one was like reading a Cliff's Notes book for a class.
I want to say most of them are from around 2010? Here’s a few: John Coltrane - My Favorite Things John Coltrane - Coltrane Jazz John Coltrane - Coltrane's Sound All are excellent IMO…
I actually have a Piros cut of Coltrane's Sound. Kind of an odd one but really good. It's going on the platter next. Ok, the outtakes are cool, but I like them mainly because I can hear BT repeat without getting up. Like most, it's an unnecessary addition but cool anyway. Would have preferred to just include a mono cut instead but that wasn't the business plan. LoL
A lot of the Rhino Coltranes are very well done. His Atlantic-era stuff is one of those times I suggest people for the later issues - the Grundman and Kevin Gray pressings. I used to have a number of early pressings on those albums and sold them off because Tom Dowd just did not do Coltrane any favors sonically. The Kevin Gray and Bernie Grundman pressings are much, much better.
I’ve got a later Piros pressing of Ole’ Coltrane…I’m sure the 45rpm BG licks it sound-wise, but I just can’t deal with the title track being split up. Really wish Bernie had done a 33 of that one back in 2010…
We can expect a KG Ole soonish though, right? I really hope this was next in queue right after he did My Favorite Things...
Wonder if Rhino or ORG? Slight rotation change tonight. BNCs Big Beat and Blues Walk were already ahead of Coltrane's Sound. Amazon had both below $20 this week. Coltrane's Sound nightcap it is. Probably wait to spin Blue Train again until tomorrow when family leaves. I want to put some crank on the volume knob. First spin was a jaw drop. I love mono but ST is in the driver's seat here.
I thought long & hard about getting the KG twofer…being more a fan of stereo (if a good version is available), I decided to stick with the BG. And the tip-on jacket is pretty. Agree the KG is a steal tho…
I prefer the mono presentation on that one but certainly get more detail from the stereo. It's amazing to be able to compare for the price they were offered. It was my first copy, too, so I didn't even have to deal with a dilemma of buy or don't buy
I'm really enjoying all this Coltrane talk...........It compelled me to pull out the Red Garland session on Prestige from 1958 "All Mornin Long" with Coltrane and Byrd on the front line. It's been a while since I reached for this record and I quickly recalled how much I've enjoyed it over the years. This album I believe was recorded just two months after Blue Train and features Coltrane stretching out on a twenty-minute version of the title track............the gloomy album cover is one of my favorites, not sure what that says about me.
Getting back to Blue Train. Every inch of detail from jackets to the vinyl appears to be 100% correct quality wise. So any other labels crying out we shouldn't expect perfection with vinyl have a bar to look at now. No jacket splits, vinyl scratches, ticks, pops, whistling bungholes, spleen spliters, whisker biscuits, honkey lighters, hoosker doos, hoosker donts, cherry bombs, nipsy daisers, with or without the scooter stick, or one single whistling kitty chaser, etc... Preface: I do a thorough clean cycle on all my records including new.
In the U.S., certainly. They seem to have distributed the vast majority of copies in the U.S. There is a famous youtuber record store owner who appeared to secure more copies of it than in the whole of the UK. That is, it is still impossible to get a copy of it at RRP in the UK. RSD is a terrible way to distribute records.
Thats a nice link, thanks! It actually makes sense I think. At the conservatory we had exams in playing ‘Coltrane changes’; these are modulations major thirds down at fast harmonic rhythm (2 bars) and were first used in Giant Steps. He used these changes a lot later in standards where he substituted them like Satellite (which is ‘How high the moon with Coltrane changes), Countdown (‘Tune up’), body and soul and night has a thousand eyes on his great album Coltrane’s sound and I’m sure some more. However, lady bird (Dameron) itself already has a modulation a major third away as has the standard Have you met miss Jones in the bridge. So it’s almost impossible to trace where it all started, there are so many different substitutions in all kinds of experiments that lead to one another. However i’d think that what became known as ‘Coltrane changes’ really took off with Giant Steps.
