Dear Lord is a contemplative ballad by John Coltrane, recorded in 1965 during the Van Gelder sessions that produced the album Transition and featuring Roy Haynes on drums in place of Elvin Jones. It appears on Transition, a posthumous 1970 Impulse! release that acts as a bridge between Coltrane's classic quartet and his later, more avant-garde explorations. The track runs about 5 minutes and 32 seconds and showcases a lyrical, spiritual mood within the album’s broader mix of blues, ballads, and free jazz. Transition was recorded on May 26 and June 10, 1965 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and is credited as an avant-garde jazz work produced by Alice Coltrane. In some CD editions Dear Lord was replaced by Welcome, but later releases restored the original track lineup.
