Post 369: 'I'M BLUE AND LONESOME (NOBODY CARES FOR ME)'

I am fond of the song I'm Blue and Lonesome (Nobody Cares For Me), which was composed and recorded in 1938 by the singer Georgia White and her pianist partner Richard Jones.

Why do I like it? Because it has an unusual and interesting structure. It uses familiar chords but in a refreshing way And it has a good melody.

It is a tune of 24 bars - an unusual length for a song chorus. The first 16 are 'standard' and give the feeling that they will lead into a similar second sixteen. They even end, typically, with the chords II7 | II7 | V7 | V7. But then, instead of going into a further 16 bars, the tune is rounded off with just 8 bars, of which the last four reprise the first four of the tune. I make no claim for 100 accuracy with my version, but I have done my best. I have put it into the key of C to suit my own playing:

I like the 4-bar memorable theme that occurs in Bars 1- 4, 5-8 and again at 21-24. I like the climb up through the arpeggio of II7 (D7 in my example) that occurs in Bars 13-14.

Georgia White recorded the song in Bb:
CLICK HERE.
Erika Lewis of Tuba Skinny took it down to G to suit her voice:
CLICK HERE.

Post 311: EXPAND YOUR REPERTOIRE - JUST LIKE TUBA SKINNY

Can you name ANY band that plays five or more of the following twenty-five tunes? Big Chief Battleaxe, Billy Goat Stomp, Cannon Ball Blues, Carpet Alley Breakdown, Chocolate Avenue, Dear Almanzoer, Dreaming The Hours Away, Fourth Street Mess Around, Gladiolus Rag, Good Time Flat Blues, In Harlem's Araby, Jazz Battle, Jubilee Stomp, Kansas City Stomps, Michigander Blues, Minor Drag, New Orleans Bump, Oriental Strut, Perdido Street Blues, Pyramid Strut, Russian Rag, Skid-Dat-De-Dat, Variety Stomp and Wild Man Blues.

I certainly can't - apart from Tuba Skinny.

These are just a few of the tunes - mostly tricky and complicated in structure - that this wonderful band has magnificently mastered in its short existence. Yes, Tuba Skinny plays all twenty-five.

Listen to any programme given by your average traditional jazz band and the chances are that more than 90% of the tunes will be the usual standards structured in 32 bars (measures) or - in the case of blues - 12 bars. Of course a tune may have a short introduction and possibly a coda, but essentially the 32-bar or 12-bar melodies dominate our music.

But - as in so many other respects - the great young band Tuba Skinny is making us re-think this aspect of our playing.

How many bands do you know who play 10-bar tunes? Tuba Skinny do. Think of Frisco Bound.

How many bands do you know who play 11-bar tunes? Absolutely none, I guess. Apart from Tuba Skinny, with Jackson Stomp.

And what about 24-bar tunes? Can you even name one such tune (not counting 12-bar blues with two themes)?

Well, Tuba Skinny play a 24-bar tune: I'm Blue and Lonesome (Nobody Cares for Me). It is in no sense a double 12-bar. It begins with The Sweet Sue Chord Progression and then in bars 17 - 20 incorporates The Magnolia Chord Progression.

They introduced us to Ice Man (8 bars and only two chords!), a fun number with a simple theme.

Then there's Crow Jane - another tune well established in their repertoire. How many bars long is it? It uses both 8-bar and 10-bar lengths.

We have to admire Tuba Skinny for their fearless tackling of these unusually shaped tunes and the enormous range of their material.

They enjoy mastering difficult old classics, such as Fred Rose's Deep Henderson. This tune presents a challenge to any musicians. It is usually played by jazz bands in the key of F, modulating to the key of Db in Theme C (the Trio). Fred Rose's original piano music showed no key change.
Here's how it is structured:

8 BARS : Introduction, with various instruments taking a bar each in Bars 5, 6, 7 and 8.

32 BARS : THEME A. Rapid, tricky work for the reed player and a thrilling free-style middle eight.

32 BARS : THEME B. Interplay between two melodies. With a famous leaping middle eight that has to be played just right.

4 BARS : MODULATION, normally ending on Ab7, neatly leading into the key change to the unusual key of Db.

32 BARS : THEME C (THE TRIO). A super rhythmic riff in the new key. The middle eight is thrilling, with the cornet tearing through eight arpeggios on tricky chords including B7 (that's an awkward C#7 to the Bb instrument player!).

That gives you a total of  108 bars to be mastered and memorised, not counting any repeats or solo choruses that the band chooses to insert. Tuba Skinny play it magnificently. You can see and hear them do so on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqVx9vwt2WM

Post 280: FROM GEORGIA WHITE TO ERIKA LEWIS

Erika Lewis is fond of the recordings made in the 1930s by Georgia White.

There seem to have been several tunes with the title 'Blue and Lonesome'; but the one Tuba Skinny have featured, with Erika Lewis singing, is the song composed in the late 1930s by Georgia White and her pianist Richard M. Jones.

It is a fine song to add to the repertoire of any band with a good singer. And it is somewhat unusual in being a 24-bar tune, so it makes a welcome change from those with a conventional 32-bar a-a-b-a structure.

In fact, I am struggling at the moment to think of any other 24-bar tune performed by traditional jazz bands (apart from 12-bar blues with two themes, and Midnight in Moscow, which is really a 16-bar tune with the second eight repeated). The Chorus of Over in the Gloryland also comprises 24 bars. So does the Chorus of Sing On - and the Chorus of Tailgate Ramble. Also there was a fashion in the first two decades of the Twentieth Century for songs that had VERSES of 24 bars, even though the better-known CHORUS had a conventional 32 bar-structure. Examples are San and I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles.

You can see and hear Tuba Skinny perform I'm Blue and Lonesome on YouTube at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B39L71aPAKk

Or, if you prefer an indoor performance (this is quite something!), with Shaye on piano rather than cornet, go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aysNlCeW50