Please don't talk about me when I'm gone

[Mikeo1938]

I was playing around with Please don't talk about me when I'm gone when, all of a sudden, 'Five foot two eyes of blue' popped up out of nowhere.
When I look at the chords I see that they run in the same way:
C - E7 - A7 - D7 - G7+ - C
I believe this can be expressed as I - III - VI - II - V7+
(BTW, I find the left hand fingering, with various inversions, quite neat in the above.)
What's more, the chords are much the same in All of Me
And they all have a Trad Jazz / Charlestony feel to them.
So is the above progression typical of this kind of music?
I've been looking through song books for the same progression in other keys but have not found much.
I'd be interested in comments - thanks in advance.
M

 

[tjw]

"All of Me" has a slight difference, in that the diatonic Dm (ii) appears. When I started to reply I was thinking I might come up with another example, but one escapes me just now. It seems to me this is a common progression and probably can be found in many tunes.

 

[tjw]

One occurred to me: "Lazy River" - old jazz classic....

 

[Mikeo1938]

Thanks for pointing me towards Up a lazy river.
I remember this was a favourite of Ken Colyer - spent many an evening at his club in Great Newport Street in the 1950s.
Looking at the single flat in the key signature I would suppose it's in F but perhaps it's in Dm?
In the latter case, I guess I should be learning the Dm blues scale. (Or not?)
I'm a bit lost with this one!
Thanks in advance.
M

 

[Rayblewit]

I was playing "sleepwalk" just a few days ago. My wife did not recognize it and asked me "is that Born Free"?

I can see how she got it wrong . . maybe it was just that my playing was off.

But look at the similarities at the start.. . . Both start with C and G in first bar. Chord change is C to F compare C to Am, Fm, . .

Ray

 

[Mikeo1938]

Thanks for your comment, Ray. I don't know Sleepwalk but can see what you mean from the examples.

I once heard George Shearing ... don't remember what he was playing ... some standard or other ... but all of a sudden it changed to Get me to the church on time. He went on for a few bars and everyone laughed. Then he slid back into the original piece.

In my original post to this thread I mentioned that Five foot two, eyes of blue popped up out of nowhere. When I'm fiddling around with a series of chord symbols I find that fragments of various songs will pop up. And another thing: if I've been playing a particular number for a while ... stopping and starting ... and then I turn the page and start playing something else ... I'll try to play the first piece to the new chords! This tends to happen if I'm feeling tired and am not concentrating.

M

 

[tjw]

Up a lazy river.
Looking at the single flat in the key signature I would suppose it's in F but perhaps it's in Dm?

No, it's in F. Look at the phrase resolution bars 7 and 8. The preceding dominant "signal chord" is C7 in bars 5 and 6.
If the key were Dm, this would likely be A7, and the resolve would be to Dm.

In the latter case, I guess I should be learning the Dm blues scale. (Or not?)

Yes..... if you're interested in composition or improvisation. For playing-by-note, you won't gain much by studying them alone, the better study, in my mind, would be to recite some pieces in minor keys and hear them work. For "blues", try improvising "blue" notes into the melody for yourself.

 

[Rayblewit]

I don't know Sleepwalk

You would know it if you heard it. It is a beauitful sweet sounding melodic tune. I have posted it here before but you can youtube it yourself and if you do, listen to the santo and johny original version.

Another tune in similar vein to your dilemma is Macarther Park. I love playing this tune because it feels good playing it and the chord changes are smooth and mellow. Just a pleasure to play and quite easy. But, I often get popping into my head . .Raindops Keep Falling On My Head . .

Compare . .
1. Maccarther Park is melting in the rain.
2. Raindrops keep falling on my head.

I don't particularly like Raindrops but I do have the music to it. I will dig both out later and compare.

Ray

 

[tjw]

Here's a 16-bar blues which is definitely in A minor......

Note the modal accompaniments bar 23 and at ending. F natural in the end bar sounds really exotic, I'm wondering if an accidental was missed on transcription. Maybe I'm just too much of a country boy

I found a performance by a youth quartet of cello-violin-flute-flute playing this arrangement:

Listen Here

They didn't play the last two bars - drat, I wanted to hear if I was right or wrong

 

[Mikeo1938]

Things to catch up on.
Thanks, Ray, for directing me to YouTube, where I found Sleepwalk. And yes, I recognised it at once.

With regard to Lazy River I bought the download from Musicnotes this morning but it doesn't include the lyrics. I do like to see the lyrics because they help me to read the notes. But an old friend in the UK (and I do mean 'old'!) came to the rescue and gave me a copy that includes both. (Thanks Tony!)

Now, turning to the progression in Lazy River 'tjw' mentioned that it goes the same way as Please don't talk about me when I'm gone and Five foot two, eyes of blue. Perhaps I'm wrong but it does seems to be different; not I - III - VI - II - V7+ as is the case in those two.

Thanks for reminding me of Summertime - I love that! BTW, I once read a whole article, devoted to that song. The writer commented that it's got a sad sound but the words are all 'good news'! 'Your mama's rich and your daddy's good looking ... 'the cotton is high' ... 'the living is easy' ... and so on.

Another great bluesy standard is Can't help lovin that man of mine. Just go to

I'd never heard of LaChanze before I chanced on the above. Wow, what a performance! But the poor old pianist doesn't get a credit. Can't count how many times I've watched that. I find that I can play the melody but wouldn't have a clue how to play an accompaniment. But that pianist is brilliant.

M