Just a memory
Just a Memory is a pop song written by Ray Henderson (music), Buddy DeSylva and Lew Brown (lyrics) and released in 1927.
background
The songwriting team Henderson, DeSlyva and Brown wrote Just a Memory for a show called Manhattan Mary, starring comedian Ed Wynn , which premiered on September 26, 1927 at New York's Apollo Theater . The song verse is in ⁴ / ₄ time , while the chorus is written on an ascending scale and with the unusual length of 47 bars, in ² / ₄ time. The nostalgic song, written in F major in the form AABA ' , became known in the United States through the recording of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra on August 19, 1927 (Victor 20881).
First recordings and later cover versions
The musicians who covered the song from 1927 onwards included Vincent Lopez (for Brunswick Records ), The New York Syncopators, The Savoy Orpheans, Harold Leonard Orchestra (vocals Elliott Shaw; Columbia 1105), Nat Shilkret (Victor), Charles Hart ( Diva) and Joe Candullo and His Club Madrid Philadelphians, the recording of which, however, remained unpublished. Lud Gluskin recorded the song in Paris and René Dumont in Berlin.
The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 18 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , including a. by Sonny Dunham , Tommy Reynolds , Bert Howell , Peanuts Hucko , Herb Jeffries , Jackie Gleason and Johnny Hodges / Duke Ellington ( Side by Side , 1958). Just a Memory has also found use in several films, Look for the Silver Lining (1949, directed by David Butler ) and The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956, directed by Michael Curtiz ), where Eileen Wilson was singing double for Sheree North . Gogi Grant doubled Ann Blyth in The Helen Morgan Story (1957, directed by Michael Curtiz).
Notes and individual references
- ^ A b c Marvin E. Paymer, Don E. Post: Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs . 1999, p. 114
- ↑ Okeh Records 40885 (81285D) recorded August 29, 1927. This is probably the Sam Lanin Orchestra, the Jack Albin's Orchestra or the Justin Ring House Band
- ^ English dance orchestra under the direction of Reginald Batten
- ↑ a b Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)