Straight, No Chaser (Thelonious Monk album)

Straight, No Chaser is the sixth studio album Thelonious Monk recorded for Columbia records, released in 1967. The album was reissued on CD in 1996, including restored versions of previously abridged performances and three additional tracks.

Music and lyrics
"Japanese Folk Song" was based on Kōjō no Tsuki, a Japanese song written in the Meiji period. It can be heard in the 2016 American movie La La Land as one of the main characters tries to memorize and play it.

Track listing
All songs by Thelonious Monk unless otherwise noted

Side One
 * 1) "Locomotive" – 6:38
 * 2) "I Didn't Know About You" (Ellington) – 6:50
 * 3) "Straight, No Chaser" – 10:31

Side Two
 * 1) "Japanese Folk Song" (R. Taki)* – 11:03
 * 2) "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" (Arlen, Koehler) – 7:34
 * 3) "We See" – 8:48


 * On the original LP, the song "Kōjō no Tsuki" by Rentarō Taki was incorrectly identified as a "Japanese folk song" of unknown provenance. This has been corrected on re-issues of the album.

CD Re-issue


 * 1) "Locomotive" – 6:40
 * 2) "I Didn't Know About You" (Duke Ellington) – 6:52
 * 3) "Straight, No Chaser" – 11:28
 * 4) "Japanese Folk Song (Kōjō no Tsuki)" (Rentarō Taki) – 16:42
 * 5) "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" (Harold Arlen) – 7:36
 * 6) "We See" – 11:37
 * 7) "This Is My Story, This Is My Song" (Phoebe Knapp) – 1:42 (better known by the title "Blessed Assurance")
 * 8) "I Didn't Know About You" (D. Ellington) – 6:49
 * 9) "Green Chimneys" (Th. Monk) – 6:34

Personnel

 * Thelonious Monk – piano
 * Charlie Rouse – tenor sax
 * Larry Gales – bass
 * Ben Riley – drums