The Definitive Version: All Of Me

Welcome to Week 18 of The Definitive Version, a regular feature of my website. You can read more about the project here and read all past entries here.

Song: “All Of Me” (1931)
Composers/Lyricists: Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons
Form: ABAC
Standard Key: C Major.

Marks & Simons were both successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters with multiple collaborative partners over their careers. They belong in the second tier of composers form that era (both were born around the turn of the 20th Century). They each wrote or co-wrote hundreds of songs, but none achieved even a portion of the popularity of “All of Me.”

Of course, almost no composers have written a song as popular as “All of Me.” It’s been recorded more than two thousand times, by virtually every interpreter of popular song over the last 90 years. Frank Sinatra alone recorded four different versions of the song. And this is to say nothing of its prevalence as a song on live sets for gigging musicians, and the contrafacts composed on the chords of “All of Me,” which are an excellent vehicle for improvisation.

One postscript – “All of Me” is on a list of jazz standards (alongside “Time After Time” and “Cry Me A River”) that comes with a caveat. When I make the list now, I write “All of Me” (not John Legend).

Definitive Version: Sarah Vaughan (1957, from Swingin’ Easy) AND (1973, from Live In Japan)
Form: (1957) Intro | Full chorus melody || Full chorus vocal improv || Full chorus improv on text | tag ||
(1973) Intro | Full chorus improv on text || Full-chorus vocal improv || fade
Feel: medium swing
Key:
G Major / A-flat Major
Instrumentation: Rhythm section

I selected two versions from Sarah Vaughan, separated by 16 years of further development as a singer. For me, the first version is brilliant, and the second version is her coming back into the room for an encore, and destroying the song with her virtuosity.

At 33, Sarah Vaughan is a self-assured vocalist with her trademark style firmly in place. She sings across her wide range, always with a sense of seeking something new – once a melodic line has been stated, it’s off the table. She swings, she flirts, and she improvises fluently.

At 49, Sarah Vaughan is among the greatest jazz singers of all time, and she pays no attention to the melody, as she improvises the entire performance. Her voice has matured, and so has her virtuosity – she leaves nothing behind as she delivers her acrobatics. There’s also more of a sense of humor in this interpretation – humor that comes with the confidence to be silly in her improv.

I had a hard time selecting the definitive version of this song – there are many great versions – but I think that improvisation ought to be a core component of “All of Me,” and that is what tipped the scales in favor of Sassy’s brilliant recordings.

Also Recommended:

  • Billie Holiday (1945, from At Jazz At The Philharmonic) Billie’s version, not surprisingly, finds the melancholy in the song. In the best possible way.
  • Frank Sinatra (1954, from Swing Easy!) The first album Sinatra did with Nelson Riddle’s arrangements. Sinatra swings hard in this middle era, my favorite of Sinatra’s stages.
  • Frank Sinatra (1959, from Live with the Red Norvo Quintet) And I can’t resist Sinatra, live, with this great quintet. He’s loose, fun, and swings. What more can you ask for?
  • Ella Fitzgerald (1962, from Twelve Nights in Hollywood) One of my favorite compilations, this box set chronicles Ella recording vast swaths of her live book at the peak of her powers.
  • Louis Armstrong (1932, single) Louis had an early hit with his version, one of the earliest recorded. And of course, his phrasing, note choices, and improvisation is stellar.