The Paris Review: On Writing a Life of Coltrane

[bluesoul]

An Absolute Truth: On Writing a Life of Coltrane

Interesting article on the man who wrote Coltrane: A Biography.

[Leeway]

Quite interesting Thanks. Simpkins reminds me a little bit of Sam Greenlee, author of The Spook Who Sat by the Door.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/books/sam-greenlee-author-producer-and-ex-government-agent-dies-at-83.html?_r=0

Edited June 3, 2014 by Leeway

[Leeway]

Greenlee's book is "The Spook Who Sat by the Door."

Thanks, I'll fix that typo.

Edited June 3, 2014 by Leeway

[gvopedz]

_{Some used and inexpensive copies of the Simpkins book appear every few years. About 2-3 months ago, I found a used paperback copy of the book at a Half-Price Bookstore in Austin, TX. I bought it for only about $10.}

Edited June 3, 2014 by gvopedz

[Eric]

_{Some used and inexpensive copies of the Simpkins book appear every few years. About 2-3 months ago, I found a used paperback copy of the book at a Half-Price Bookstore in Austin, TX. I bought it for only about $10.}

Amazon has some "good" copies as well in that range.

[Deepak]

The Simpkins' book was the first Coltrane bio I'd read. It still holds a special place for me.

[medjuck]

Great article. I'll look for the book.

[ghost of miles]

Written by my next-door neighbor! (Came across this again while searching previous threads about Coltrane.)  I lucked into a copy of the Simpkins book many, many years ago at a local used bookstore.  

[Shrdlu]

Is there anything in it that is not in the earlier books? (That question is not meant sarcastically.)

[JSngry]

Yes. Simpkins provided a few of Coltrane's manuscripts, among other things. It is a very worthwhile read, although it was criticized in its time (by white, mainstream reviewers) for not being more "scholarly"). And yet, decades later, Lewis Porter praises it unreservedly.

And keep in mind that at the time, there was only one "earlier" book (at most two) - those by J.C. Thomas & Bill Cole. English language books, anyway.

I just lucked into it back in the day. Time, place, paperback, hey. But it was evident even then that this was not a typical "jazz biography" in either style or intent.