Welcome to Week 7 of The Definitive Version, a new weekly feature of my website. You can read more about the project here.
Song: “Pick Yourself Up”
Composer: Jerome Kern
Lyricist: Dorothy Fields
Form: A A’ B A
Standard Key: F Major
Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields wrote this delightful song for the 1936 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movie Swing Time. The movie performance is great, and features multiple verses and back-and-forth that are generally ignored in recordings of the song. That’s actually okay, because the chorus itself is a masterpiece – the lyrics are great, the melody is exceedingly singable, and the form is a straightforward AABA with a Kernian twist: whereas generally the second A is harmonically near-identical in AABA form, Jerome Kern seems to get bored with that. Here, the melody and harmony are exactly identical, but modulated up a whole step. (Compare to his “All The Things You Are”, where he modulates the second A down by a perfect 4th.)
Watch the original film version first:
Definitive Version: Mel Tormé (1996) on A&E Presents an Evening with Mel Tormé Live at the Disney Institute
Form: Verse | Chorus | Verse | Extended improvisation | Half-chorus | Tag
Feel: Swing
Key: F Major
Instrumentation: Rhythm section
Mel Tormé was near the end of his long performing career when he recorded this album, and for me his late live recordings are examples of a master performer. His arrangements are carefully planned out (note the extended JS Bach-inspired section and the long quote of “Give Me The Simple Life” that the band clearly knows is coming) but they remain open for creative freedom and interaction.
I like that Mel uses the verses, and takes advantage of his introduction and narration to give context to the song, making it more than just another swinging standard. His improvisation is virtuosic, swinging, and in control. (Pay close attention to his rhythmic accents at around 2:45-3:00 of the recording). You can also reference several other live recordings of his available on YouTube, to compare and contrast. (Here are four others.)
Also Recommended:
- Nat “King” Cole (1997, from Nat King Cole Songs/George Shearing Plays) – the two great pianists met for this album, with strings and full band. The intro/interlude on this version is iconic.
- Ella Fitzgerald (1962, from Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson) – Great straight-ahead version with arrangement by Nelson Riddle.
- Frank Sinatra (1962, from Sinatra and Swinging’ Brass) – Neal Hefti of Basie Band fame wrote the charts for this cool version. Sinatra swings, and there’s a contrapuntal interlude that may be the inspiration for Tormé’s.
- Mark Murphy (1957 from Let Yourself Go) – From Murphy’s early years, when he was going for a career as a mainstream pop singer. Even so, his edgy tendencies peek through.