Cuthbert Simpkins Interviews on John Coltrane, 1971-1974

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Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. In addition, Box 1 (containing original audiocassettes) is CLOSED to patron use. CD use copies for...
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Summary

Creator:
Simpkins, Cuthbert Ormond, 1947-
Abstract:
Author and medical doctor Cuthbert O. Simpkins (b. 1947) wrote the first biography of jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (1926-1967), titled Coltrane: A Biography (Perth Amboy, NJ: Herndon House Publishers, 1975). The collection contains audio recordings of interviews Simpkins conducted with various family members, friends, and colleagues of Coltrane between 1971-1974 as a part of his research.
Extent:
3 Linear Feet
65 original audiocassettes (with CD use copies for patron access)
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.01194

Background

Scope and content:

The Cuthbert Simpkins Interviews on John Coltrane comprises 65 audio cassettes of interviews conducted by Simpkins between 1971-1974 while researching his 1975 biography of Coltrane. Simpkins interviewed family members, friends, musicians, and other associates from throughout Coltrane's career. The interviews address such topics as: Coltrane's family history, his childhood in North Carolina, the development of his musical style, his influence on other musicians, and his personality. Many also contain personal anecdotes related to Coltrane from throughout his life. The materials include multiple interviews with Calvin Massey, Jimmy Garrison, Larry Young (Khalid Yasin), Ornette Coleman, and others. The audiocassettes have been digitized for patron access, and portions of some interviews have been transcribed, with the transcriptions included in the collection.

Biographical / historical:

Author and medical doctor Cuthbert O. Simpkins (b. 1947) wrote the first biography of jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (1926-1967), titled Coltrane: A Biography (Perth Amboy, NJ: Herndon House Publishers, 1975). Coltrane was born in Hamlet, N.C., and his family moved to High Point in 1927, where he lived until 1943. Beginning in the mid-1940s, he regularly performed on tenor saxophone as a sideman, including stints in bands led by Jimmy Heath, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk. By the early 1960s, Coltrane was leading his own ensembles, including an influential quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. As a saxophonist, he brought renewed attention to the soprano saxophone in the 1960s, and as a composer and an improviser, Coltrane contributed to a number of harmonic and melodic innovations in jazz.

Acquisition information:
The Cuthbert Simpkins Interviews on John Coltrane were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in December 2008.
Processing information:

Processed by Jeremy Smith, April 2009

Encoded by Jeremy Smith, April 2009

Accession 2008-0299 is described in this finding aid.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

In addition, Box 1 (containing original audiocassettes) is CLOSED to patron use. CD use copies for all original audio material in the collection are located in Box 2 and are open to patron use.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Cuthbert Simpkins Interviews on John Coltrane, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University