John Coltrane wrote A Love Supreme as his gift to God. After a spiritual awakening in 1957 he kicked his nine year heroin addiction and difficulties with alcohol to “lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music." The music which followed this change was more focussed than it had been in the past and the playing was better.
It’s hard to dissect this album. It really is a single piece, regardless of how the movements are split up on the album. The two most notable movements are the bookends of the record, Acknowledgement and Psalm. Acknowledgement features Coltrane double tracked chanting “A love supreme” over and over hypnotically and Psalm is a musical reading of the poem/prayer in the liner notes. One hasn’t heard the record until they’ve listened to that piece and read the poem as lyrics.
Acknowledgement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=558bTG0D-xg
Psalm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjKI9mQJ97Q (the poem is easy enough to find)
No comments:
Post a Comment