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| Sheet music front |
'After You've Gone' is a 1918 popular song composed by
Turner Layton, with lyrics written by
Henry Creamer. It was recorded by
Marion Harris on July 22, 1918 and released on Victor 18509. '
After You’ve Gone,' joins
'St. Louis Blues' (1914) and
'Indiana' (1917) as the top three pre-1920s jazz standards. Few compositions of the early 20th century endured the transition to the smooth swing sound of the 1930s and beyond. -
Al Jolson introduced
'After You’ve Gone' to the vaudeville audience in 1918. Within a year several other artists had recorded the song, but it was Marion Harris’s rendition that became the most popular.
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In the early 1920s Harris was a popular singer in vaudeville and Broadway shows. One of the first white women to sing blues and jazz songs, she favored songs by African-American writers.
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| Marion Harris |
Marion Harris explained her preference by saying, “
You usually do best what comes naturally, so I just naturally started singing Southern dialect songs and the modern blues songs.” Harris recorded
'After You’ve Gone' for the Victor Record label, but in 1920 when that label refused to allow her to record W.C. Handy’s '
St. Louis Blues,' she left the label and moved over to Columbia Records, where she did record
'St. Louis Blues,' which became a hit.
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| Bessie Smith |
Another female singer,
Bessie Smith -
The Empress of The Blues - recorded
'After You've Gone' in 1927, and this version adds the true blues feeling to the tune, a magnificent example of how a natural talent transforms the lyrics of the song to a personal statement - the core experience of blues as well as jazz, I think
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| Benny Goodman Trio |
As mentioned above, '
After You've Gone' was one of the pre-1920s tunes that endured the transition to the swing sound of the 1930s. Many jazz artists and bands recorded the tune in the 1930s and made it a part of the standard repertoire. One of the recordings since hailed as a classic was made by the
Benny Goodman Trio in July 1935. Enjoy this swinging version featuring
Benny Goodman (clarinet),
Teddy Wilson (piano) and
Gene Krupa (drums)
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| Freddy Taylor |
One of the famous European recordings of '
After You've Gone' was made on May 4th 1936 by
Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France featuring
Freddy Taylor as vocalist. Personnel featured are:
Stéphane Grappelli (v);
Django Reinhardt (g solo);
Joseph Reinhardt,
Pierre "Baro" Ferret (g);
Lucien Simoens (b);
Freddy Taylor (vo)
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| Despues de haberte ido ( =After You've Gone) |
Oscar Alemán y su Conjunto de Jazz recorded '
After You've Gone' for Odeon on October 29th 1955, and only Alemán's great guitar solo in this recording rescues the tune from the syrupy strings in the accompaniment, - an example of a jazz standard almost being spoiled by the usual expectations of record producers and a public only interested in pop ditties. However, mind Alemán's excellent playing and timing that exposes the tune on the edge of swing jazz and pop
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Jo
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