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Article: From "Alabama" to 'A Love Supreme': the evolution of the John Coltrane poem.
- Article from:
- The Southern Review
- Article date:
- March 22, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Louisiana State University. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On September 15, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, a Klansman known as "Dynamite Bob" detonated several sticks of dynamite in a local church. The explosion wounded several parishioners and killed four girls. Three of them were fourteen years old, the fourth only eleven. In response to this tragedy, the tenor saxophonist John Coltrane composed "Alabama" and recorded it on November 18, just two months after the bombing. According to biographers, Coltrane incorporated not only his emotional response but the rhythms in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s eulogy for the girls. While this tune might be considered overtly political, Coltrane throughout his career made no direct statements ...