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“The definitive
version of the song. Holiday’s
reverence for not only the
song but the sentiment is
unmistakable.” |
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- Ben
Maycock
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In
her 1956 autobiography,
Lady Sings the Blues,
Billie Holiday recounts
that “Jimmy [Davis] was
in the Army when he wrote
’Lover Man’ and brought
it straight to me.” Unfortunately,
before she could record
the song, Davis was shipped
back to Europe and Holiday
never saw him again. While
the singer does not mention
Jimmy Sherman she does lament
“Ram Ramirez gets all of
the credit for ‘Lover Man,’
but that’s only part of
the story.”
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“Lover Man” was originally
published in 1942, but,
because of a dispute between
the musician’s union and
the recording companies,
the song was not recorded
by Holiday until 1944. In
August of 1942, the president
of the American Federation
of Musicians called for
a recording ban, demanding
the studios pay royalties
instead of flat fees for
nearly all recording by
AFM member musicians and
orchestras. Holiday’s primary
label at the time, Columbia,
was a hold-out and, subsequently,
one of the last to sign
the AFM agreement late in
1944.
Holiday was anxious to
start recording again. Her
friend Milt Gabler had taken
a job with Decca (a company
that signed the AFM agreement
in October of 1943) and
was head of Commodore Records.
Holiday had recorded a number
of songs including “Strange
Fruit” with Gabler,
recordings Holiday insisted
that “got Gabler in solid
at Decca.” She approached
Gabler with “Lover Man.”
“I went on my knees to him,
I loved it so. I didn’t
want to do it with the ordinary
six pieces. I begged Milt
and told him I had to have
strings behind me.”
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Gabler championed her
cause and after a long struggle
with Decca management, he
fulfilled her wish.
Holiday recorded “Lover
Man” on October 4, 1944,
with Toots Camerata and
His Orchestra (Decca 23391).
Camerata would later recount,
“When she walked in and
saw the string ensemble
she was so overwhelmed she
turned right around and
walked out.” It wasn’t until
seven months later the recording
went onto the pop charts
for only one week, in sixteenth
place.
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Thomas S. Hischak, in
The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia,
suggests that “Lover Man” “...is musically
very simple and has a narrow range but manages
to seem complex and textured because of
the rich harmony.” Alec Wilder agrees. In
American Popular Song: The Great Innovators,
1900-1950 he says of “Lover Man,”
“It’s a song of narrow range and needs the
harmony to bring out its character.” He
goes on to say that it has a “curious reminiscence”
of a slow tempo “Fascinating
Rhythm.”
“Lover Man” has been called the bluest
of ballads. With its low-down, slangy lyrics
the song suited
Billie Holiday’s voice, which at that
point in her career projected sadness and
dejection. There is scarcely an optimistic
line in the song until the semi-hopeful
bridge, which ends with: “I go to bed with
a prayer, That you’ll make love to me, Strange
as it seems.” Then, as the song closes,
a wishful fantasy is expressed for five
lines, only to be tempered on the sixth
with a return to reality, “Lover man, oh,
where can you be?” -JW
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Musical analysis
of “Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You
Be)”
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Original Key |
Five
flats, starting in Bb minor and
migrating to the relative major
key |
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Form |
A
– A – B – A |
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Tonality |
Even
mixture of major and minor; some
key center ambiguity |
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Movement |
Series
of upward leaps from an embellished
note; followed by scale-like patterns
that rise and fall. |
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Comments
(assumed
background)
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Not a “blues” in the strict sense,
this tune is certainly suggestive
of blues. The composer plays with
a series of ii7– V7 cadences that,
while resolving normally, often
play tricks on the ear. The piece
starts on the minor tonic of Bb
minor, but because of the melodic
contour and the fact that it is
followed by an Eb7, one might hear
it as a ii7 – V7 in Ab. However,
the Eb7 turns minor and alternates
with Ab7, now suddenly giving the
aural impression of ii7 – V7 in
Db. Because it resolves to Db minor
followed by a Gb7, this does not
really sound like the tonic, giving
the sound of ii7 – V7 in the key
of B (Cb). From the Gb7, the harmonic
progression goes to A7, which turns
out to be an augmented sixth chord
– a +6/V7 in the key of Db. Section
“B” also consists of a chain of
ii7 – V7 cadences, starting on Fm7,
going through the circle of fifths
until it arrives at F7 – V7 in the
key of Bb minor as it transitions
back into the final “A” section. |
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com
Check out K. J. McElrath's book of Jazz Standards Guide Tone Lines at his web site (www.bardicle.com). |
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The universality of a lyric
is one of the premiere elements that makes
up any great song, and this opening line,
“I don’t know why I’m feeling so sad,” immediately
delivers that lonely perspective that everyone
can identify with. I switch the song to
third person, and still the identification
with “she” (instead of “I”) gets that imagery
across.
The melody itself is haunting. It begins
with a minor feeling and then shifts back
and forth to major, back to minor--occasions
of hopefulness then doubt, if you will.
The bridge is conflicted as well with a
clear shift to a relative major harmony,
then descent back into the minor. And the
lyric on the final A section is always a
direct assault on anyone’s senses--“whisper
sweet little things in my ear...” --whew!
Then, of course, it ends with the both hopeful
and simultaneously desperate plea, “Oh Lover
Man, where can you be?” ending on the major
harmony!
That complexity is one of the reasons
jazz players like working on this song--the
almost unidentifiable shifts back and forth
between the minor and major. As well, I
have recently taken the song into a rather
funk (hip-hop beat actually) groove, and
it works fantastically--another mark of
a great composition, i.e., that it can be
retranslated and still be effective in mediums
and styles other than its original.
Robert Moore, vocalist, trumpeter,
harmonica player, songwriter
www.romomusic.net
Are you a published Vocalist or Instrumentalist?
Add a comment and we'll credit you with
a link to your site.
(more...)
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“Lover Man (Oh,
Where Can You Be)” was included
in these films:
- Lady Sings the Blues
(1972, Diana Ross)
- Lady Day: The Many Faces Of
Billie Holiday (1991,
Billie Holiday)
- Little Voice (1998,
Billie Holiday)
And on the small screen,
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Click on a CD for more
details at Amazon.com
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Meets Hawk
1999, RCA 63479
Original recording, 1963
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| Saxophonist Rollins does
what he does best, taking “Lover
Man” to some intriguing new heights.
His solo is highly creative but
never disrespectful of the song’s
original spirit. |
Benny Carter
A Gentleman and His Music
1990, Concord 4285
Original recording, 1985
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| The alto saxist gives “Lover
Man” a gentle touch in great company:
Scott Hamilton (ts), Gene Harris
(p), Joe Wilder (t & flug), Ed Bickert
(g), John Clayton (b), and Jimmie
Smith (d). Happily the seldom heard
“Idaho” is included on the CD. |
Ella Fitzgerald
Whisper Not
2002, Universal
Original recording, 1966, Verve
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| Fitzgerald gives “Lover
Man” elegance without detracting
from its honest despair. |
Jimmy Smith
House Party
2000, Blue Note
Original recording, 1957
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| Hammond organist Jimmy Smith
gives the song some funk to go with
the blues on a track that features
drummer Art Blakey. |
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It’s interesting to find two versions
of a piece, recorded months apart, that
seem to be separated by light years.
Eddie Heywood, a fine swing style pianist,
laid down a version of “Lover Man” with
his sextet in December, 1944. Heywood’s
group had accompanied
Billie Holiday on a series of recordings
a few months earlier and was to have recorded
“Lover Man.” But Holiday wanted a group
with strings to back her on the tune.
In stark contrast,
Dizzy Gillespie’s rendition of “Lover
Man” with vocalist
Sarah Vaughan is a bebop classic, featuring
Gillespie’s trumpet and the great alto saxophonist
Charlie Parker. It no doubt had more to
do in making the tune a standard than Heywood’s
swing version.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
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| This section shows the
jazz standards written by the same writing
team. Click on a name to see all
of a writer's jazz standards.
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Additional
information on “Lover Man (Oh, Where Can
You Be)” may be found in:
1 paragraph including
the following types of information:
Broadway productions, film productions,
history, performers and style discussion.
1 paragraph including
the following types of information:
anecdotal.
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