Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

The John Coltrane Quartette

Coltrane

c. 1965-1966 · Impulse! A-21-A / A-21-B · Mono · US · LP, gatefold · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Impulse!
Catalogue number	A-21-A / A-21-B
Year	c. 1965-1966
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	US
Format	LP, gatefold
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Modal/Hard Bop
Producer	Bob Thiele
Musicians	John Coltrane (tenor sax), McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), Elvin Jones (drums), Roy Haynes (drums, "Out of This World")

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  A21-A LW VAN GELDER
Side B:  A21-B LW VAN GELDER

Condition

Cover: EX
Vinyl: VG

Variant chronology

1962 - US Am-Par mono first pressing, no -A/-B suffix
1965-1966 - US ABC-Paramount mono repress, -A/-B suffix, same Van Gelder/LW stampers  <- this copy
1967 - US ABC Records mono repress, -A/-B suffix, re-set label wording

This Pressing

Mono repress (c.1965-66) - ABC-Paramount Impulse! label with -A/-B suffix; matrix A-21-A/-B LW, Van Gelder stamped.

The Album

Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio across sessions in April and June 1962, Coltrane arrived as the saxophonist's regular working quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones was solidifying into one of jazz's defining bands, with Roy Haynes sitting in on drums for the epic reworking of "Out of This World." The album balances Coltrane originals like the modal showcase "Miles' Mode" and the African-inflected "Tunji" against standards and show tunes - "Soul Eyes," "The Inch Worm" and the Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer title that opens the record - stretched into extended, sheets-of-sound explorations. It sits at a pivotal point in Coltrane's Impulse! years, bridging the harmonic density of his Atlantic period with the freer, more modal and spiritually searching music that would culminate in A Love Supreme two years later. The record is widely regarded by critics and historians as an important transitional statement, showing Coltrane's quartet mastering long-form modal improvisation while still rooted in the American songbook. It remains a touchstone of his catalog and a favorite among listeners tracing the evolution of his sound through the early-to-mid 1960s.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Out Of This World (H. Arlen-J. Mercer) (14:02)
2. Soul Eyes (Mal Waldron) (5:22)

Side 2

1. The Inch Worm (F. Loesser) (6:14)
2. Tunji (Toon-gee) (J. Coltrane) (6:33)
3. Miles' Mode (Coltrane) (7:30)

The Label

The orange centre label carries a grey/black perimeter band with the "impulse!" wordmark repeated four times (alternating upright/inverted) around four white "step" logo blocks, catalogue numbers printed as "A-21-A"/"A-21-B" with "Side 1"/"Side 2", and small print reading "A PRODUCT OF ABC-PARAMOUNT RECORDS, INC. / PRINTED IN U.S.A." - the back cover carries the identical ABC-Paramount wording. Impulse mono labels carry this ABC-Paramount wording from 1963 through 1966/67, before the label was reset to read "ABC RECORDS INC, New York, N.Y. 10019" for 1967-68. This copy's ABC-Paramount wording together with the -A/-B side suffix places it as a mid-1960s (c.1965-66) mono repress, later than the original 1962 Am-Par first pressing, which prints "Am-Par Record Corp." with no -A/-B suffix, and earlier than the 1967 ABC Records relabelling. Deep groove is not evident on this pressing.

Fidelity

Van Gelder's original tape and lacquer work underlies this pressing, and the LW-stamped, Van Gelder-etched runout matches the marks found on the earliest Am-Par lacquers, indicating no remastering occurred for this later label run. Collectors on the forums generally rate any Van Gelder-stamped mono Impulse pressing of this title well above the later ABC/MCA reissues and well above the 1997 Ron McMaster remaster. Within the album's own fidelity hierarchy this ABC-Paramount-label repress sits just below a true first-pressing Am-Par copy (same stampers, later label print only) and above the 1967 ABC Records repress, the 1970s ABC Impulse reissues, and the digitally sourced later reissues; it also predates and generally outranks the mono-to-stereo era's rechanneled pressings.

Notes

The label and back-cover text read "A PRODUCT OF ABC-PARAMOUNT RECORDS, INC." with the -A/-B suffix on the catalogue number, placing this copy in the 1965-66 mono repress window - later than the 1962 Am-Par first pressing and earlier than the 1967 ABC Records relabel, whose labels read "ABC RECORDS INC, New York, N.Y. 10019." The runout (A21-A/A21-B LW, Van Gelder stamped) carries the same etched "LW" and stamped Van Gelder marks as the original lacquers, indicating the same stampers/mother continued to be used for this later label run.

Documenting collections

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