Welcome to Week 17 of The Definitive Version, a weekly feature of my website. You can read more about the project here and read all past entries here.
Song: “But Not For Me” (1930)
Composer: George Gershwin
Lyricist: Ira Gershwin
Form: ABAB’
Standard Key: E-flat Major.
George and Ira Gershwin wrote “But Not For Me” for the musical Girl Crazy, where it was premiered by Ginger Rogers, in the role that led to her film career. The song has since been recorded numerous times, though many leading vocalists including Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett don’t seem to have ever recorded it. It’s a gem of a song, and a welcome change from the AABA song form – in this case still 32-bars, but ABAB’. The second B section has a brilliant compositional moment where the melody extends – in the first B it leaps upwards to the tonic, but in the second it leaps a step higher, before climbing back down to the low tonic over the next four measures. Unexpected, beautiful, and typical of Gershwin’s clever compositional approach.
Definitive Version: Chet Baker (1956, from Chet Baker Sings)
Form: Trumpet Verse | A | B | A | B’ || | 2-chorus improvisation (trumpet, piano)| A | B | A | B’ |
Feel: light swing
Key: D-flat Major
Instrumentation: Rhythm section & trumpet
Even at the age of 26, Chet Baker embodied a deep melancholy that would only increase with his too-short and tragic life. That melancholy is perfect for “But Not For Me” though, and his understated rendition is, I think, the perfect balance between the upbeat Gershwin melody and the darker lyric.
A few other things stand out in this version. First, Chet smartly does the verse of the song, but does it on trumpet. His voice and instrumental voice are so closely connected, it makes for a smooth transition, and he conveniently doesn’t have to sing the verse lyrics, which are, shall we say, “bananas.” (A common challenge especially in Gershwin lyrics – the verses go awry.) Second, the wonderfully playful extended hemiola after the solos is a great way to keep things fresh as he delivers the same lyrics a second time, while keeping his singing quite close to the melody.
All in all, I think Chet Baker captures the mood of the song with a nice balance, and delivers a definitive version of this classic song.
Also Recommended:
- Ella Fitzgerald (1950, from Ella Sings Gershwin) Ella’s pre-songbook version of this song came on her Gershwin duets album with Ellis Larkins – this captures Ella at her least virtuosic and most intimate.
- Billie Holiday (1958, from All Or Nothing At All) swinging version with great lineup of musicians including Jimmy Rowles, Ben Webster, Harry “Sweets” Edison.
- Ella Fitzgerald (1959, from Ella Sings The Gershwin Songbook) This later version won the 1960 Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Female and features full orchestral arrangements by Nelson Riddle.
- Sarah Vaughan (1958, from Lullaby of Birdland) Sarah, of course, knew how to find the core of the song in her expansive interpretation – here with beautiful orchestral accompaniment including a lovely section with harp and flutes.
- Elaine Stritch (2002, from Elaine Stritch at Liberty) Stritch’s voice would never be described as beautiful, but I’m not sure anyone has gotten more of the drama out of this song. She uses the second set of lyrics and incorporates another great song, “If Love Were All.” Watch the whole film of this performance!
- John Coltrane (1961, from My Favorite Things) Hear as Coltrane transforms the song through his legendary “Coltrane Changes” and virtuosic improvisation. It’s influential enough that in the “Standards Real Book“, Sher Music Co. publishes both the standard chords and the Coltrane chords as separate titles.