[Dixielandjazz] St Louis Blues - Why do bands play it diffrently from the original?

[dwlit at cpcug.org]

I have Handy's "Blues: an anthology" in front of me. Seems to be the
original sheet music.

1. Intro 8 bars, only 4 of which have the tango rhythm. Sheet Music
usually has an intro, so I would discount its significance.
2. The usual A melody (I hate to see) 24 bars, which are 2 identical
12-bar segments, except bar 24 has the pickups for the
3. B section we think of as the Latin segment. 16 bars, of which only 8
have the tango rhythm. No double bars to separate the 2 sections.
4. the usual C section 12 bars with repeats.

The 24-bar A section has 3 24-bar lyric verses.
B has 3 verses
C has 5 verses

--Sheik

> on 10/11/07 12:41 AM, Gluetje1 at aol.com at Gluetje1 at aol.com wrote:
>
> Thanks, Steve, and all who responded.  The original question was not about
> the sheet music, but about when and how did it happen that Dixieland jazz
> bands usually do not follow the sheet music, instead do 16 bars of the
> "Spanish" tinge as the beginning (not 8).  And actually, that has not been
> answered.
> Ginny
>
>
> I hear you, Ginny, and will guess.
>
> When the tune was written in 1914, most jazz bands did not read music, but
> rather copied it from hearing it played, and or just followed the lead of
> the trumpet or clarinet which was playing the melody. Differences crept in
> from the very beginning. Like Band A hears Handy do it, Band B hears Band
> A
> do it, Band C hears band B do it. By the time it gets to Band C, it is a
> different tune and you can imagine how it changes with a few more links in
> the chain.
>
> Or in Bessie Smith's case she eliminates the intro and just sings it from
> Verse start, to Chorus Finish. It takes 3 minutes and 7 seconds, the time
> limit for the tune on record. That was in the 1920s.
>
> And Glenn Miller does it as a March to make it fit the times. (WW 2)
>
> Or in our cases today, many of us "ear" the tunes we play rather than
> following the original sheet music. And/or we use a handed down copy of a
> lead sheet which is often different from the original sheet music. (Years
> ago, when I suggested that folks buy the original sheet music rather than
> send out second hand copies of lead sheets I was roundly booed on the DJML
> <grin>) Or we use a fake book.
>
> I checked all four fake books I use. One has no intro, like the Bessie
> Smith
> version. The other three, including the venerable Sheik's fake book show a
> 16 bar A section which is the Spanish Tinge, rather than the 8 bar intro
> as
> shown in the original sheet music. So, if learning from a fake book, bands
> would most likely use a song form which differs from the original. Its
> like
> the blind leading the blind.
>
> Barbone Street does it with 16 bars of Spanish Tinge first. Because that's
> the way our trumpet guy learned it. As a sideman, I've played it correctly
> in one band, with no intro (like Bessie Smith) in another, and with with
> 16
> bars of Spanish Tinge intro in another.
>
> Same for lots of music, like Richard Rodgers telling Peggy Lee when she
> asked him how he liked her version of "Lover". (up tempo 4/4)  "Peggy
> dear,
> I wrote it as a Waltz."
>
> How long have variations from the original been going on? Since the
> beginning. Because few Dixieland Bands worked from original sheet music in
> the past, and fewer still do so today.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
> on 10/11/07 12:41 AM, Gluetje1 at aol.com at Gluetje1 at aol.com wrote:
>
> Thanks, Steve, and all who responded.  The original question was not about
> the sheet music, but about when and how did it happen that Dixieland jazz
> bands usually do not follow the sheet music, instead do 16 bars of the
> "Spanish" tinge as the beginning (not 8).  And actually, that has not been
> aswered.
> Ginny
>
>
>
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