The Classic Quartet: The Complete Impulse! Recordings

Coltrane’s classic quartet recorded 11 albums for Impulse!:

• Ballads (1962)
• Coltrane (1962)
• Live at Birdland (1963)
• Crescent (1964)
• A Love Supreme (1964)
• The John Coltrane Quartet Plays (1965)
• Living Space (1965)
• Transition (1965)
• Sun Ship (1965)
• First Meditations (1965)
• Kulu Sé Mama (1965) (Side 2 is by the Quartet; side 1 by a larger group)

Some of the Impulse! albums not included (as they did not cover material by the Classic Quartet but by different lineups)

• Africa/Brass (1961)
• Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (1962)
• John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963)
• Ascension (1965)
• Interstellar Space (1967)
• Expression (1967)

Original CD release The Classic Quartet – The Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings , 1998 (Impulse!)

(The LP each song originally appeared on is listed in parentheses)

Disc 1

1. "Greensleeves" (3:41)
2. "It's Easy to Remember" (2:45) (Ballads)
3. "The Inch Worm" (6:15) (Coltrane)
4. "Big Nick" (4:05) (Coltrane)
5. "Out of This World (14:02) (Coltrane)
6. "Soul Eyes" (5:23) (Coltrane)
7. "Miles' Mode" (7:31) (Coltrane)
8. "Tunji" (6:32) (Coltrane)
9. "Nancy (with the Laughing Face) (3:10) (Ballads)
10. "What's New?" (3:44) (Ballads)
11. "Up ‘Gainst the Wall" (3:13) (Impressions) and (Coltrane)
12. “Too Young to Go Steady" (4:20) (Ballads)
13. “All or Nothing at All" (3:35) (Ballads)
14. I Wish I Knew (4:51) (Ballads)

Disc 2

1. "You Don't Know What Love Is" (5:12) (Ballads)
2. "Say It (Over and Over Again)" (4:15) (Ballads)
3. "Vilia" (4:36) (Live at Birdland)
4. "After the Rain" (4:09) (Impressions) and (Dear Old Stockholm)
5. "Dear Old Stockholm" (10:40) (Dear Old Stockholm)
6. "Your Lady" (6:39) (Live at Birdland)
7. "Alabama (Take 4&5)" (5:08) (Live at Birdland)
8. "Lonnie's Lament" (11:45) (Crescent)
9. "The Drum Thing" (7:22) (Crescent)
10. "Wise One" (9:01) (Crescent)

Disc 3

1. "Crescent" (8:42) (Crescent)
2. "Bessie's Blues" (3:32) (Crescent)
3. "A Love Supreme, Part I: Acknowledgement" (7:47) (A Love Supreme)
4. "A Love Supreme, Part II: Resolution" (7:22) (A Love Supreme)
5. "A Love Supreme, Part III: Pursuance" (10:45) (A Love Supreme)
6. "A Love Supreme, Part IV: Psalm" (7:05) (A Love Supreme)
7. "Nature Boy (first version)" (7:03)
8. "Nature Boy" (8:01) (The John Coltrane Quartet Plays)
9. "Feeling Good" (6:22) (The John Coltrane Quartet Plays)
10. "Chim Chim Cheree" (6:56) (The John Coltrane Quartet Plays)

Disc 4

1. "Brasilia" (12:54) (The John Coltrane Quartet Plays)
2. "Song of Praise" (9:51) (The John Coltrane Quartet Plays)
3. "After the Crescent" (13:40) (Dear Old Stockholm)
4. "Dear Lord" (5:34) (Dear Old Stockholm)
5. "One Down, One Up" (15:28) (Dear Old Stockholm)
6. "Welcome" (5:25) (Transition) and (Kulu Sé Mama)
7. "The Last Blues" (4:22) (Living Space)

Disc 5

1. "Untitled Original 90314" (14:45) (Living Space)
2. "Transition" (15:27) (Transition)
3. "Suite" (21:17) (Transition)
4. "Living Space" (10:21) (Living Space)
5. "Dusk Dawn" (10:48) (Living Space)

Disc 6

1. "Vigil" (9:50) (Transition) and (Kulu Sé Mama)
2. "Untitled Original 90320" (10:44) (Living Space)
3. "Dearly Beloved" (6:27) (Sun Ship)
4. "Attaining" (11:24) (Sun Ship)
5. "Sun Ship" (6:12) (Sun Ship)
6. "Ascent" (10:05) (Sun Ship)
7. "Amen" (8:14) (Sun Ship)

Disc 7

1. "Love" (8:04) (First Meditations)
2. "Compassion" (9:34) (First Meditations)
3. "Joy" (8:48) (First Meditations)
4. "Consequences" (7:20) (First Meditations)
5. "Serenity" (6:11) (First Meditations)
6. "Joy (second version)" (12:21)

Disc 8

1. "Crescent (first version) (10:04)
2. "Bessie's Blues (first version – incomplete) (2:58)
3. "Song of Praise (first version)" (2:41)
4. "A Love Supreme, Part II: Resolution (alternate take)" (7:21)
5. "Feeling Good (alternate take)" (6:16)
6. "Dear Lord (breakdowns and alternate take)" (7:41)
7. "Living Space (breakdown and alternate take)" (14:02)

Recorded between 1961 and 1965 in New York City.

The Classic Quartet:

• John Coltrane — tenor saxophone/soprano saxophone
• McCoy Tyner — piano
• Jimmy Garrison — bass
• Elvin Jones — drums (all tracks except Dear Old Stockholm recordings)

Additional Performers:

• Art Davis — bass (only appears on disc 3: tracks 7,8,9)
• Roy Haynes — drums (only appears on disc 2: tracks 4,5 and disc 4: tracks 3,4,5)