“Loosely based on the chords of ‘After You’ve Gone,’ Art Pepper’s signature tune ‘Straight Life’ is the title he would eventually use for his autobiography.” - JW

Rank 34 Words and Music Henry Creamer Turner Layton   Creamer and Layton’s “After You’ve Gone,” joins “St. Louis Blues” (1914) and “Indiana” (1917) as the top three pre-1920s jazz standards. Few compositions of the early 20th century endured the transition to the smooth swing sound of the 1930s and beyond.     More on Henry Creamer       More on Turner Layton   Al Jolson introduced “After You’ve Gone” to the vaudeville audience at the Wintergarden Theater in 1918. Within a year several other artists had recorded the song, but it was Marion Harris’s rendition that became the most popular, rising to number one for three weeks in 1919.     More on Al Jolson       More on Marion Harris   “After You’ve Gone” appeared on the charts: Henry Burr and Albert Campbell (1918, #2) Marion Harris (1919, with Rosario Bourdon’s Orchestra, #1) Billy Murray and “Rachel Grant” (Gladys Rice) (1919, #9) Bessie Smith (1927, Fletcher Henderson, piano, #7) Sophie Tucker (1927, with Miff Mole’s Molers, #10) Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra (1930, Bing Crosby, vocal, #14) Louis Armstrong (1932, #15) Benny Goodman Trio (1935, instrumental, #20) Lionel Hampton (1937, Lionel Hampton, vocal, #6) Quintet of the Hot Club of France (1937, instrumental featuring Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, #20)   Chart information used by permission from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954

More information on this tune... Alec Wilder American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950 Oxford University Press; Reprint edition Hardcover: 576 pages (In his definitive book on American popular song, Wilder devotes a page to his musical analysis of “After You’ve Gone.”) - Jeremy Wilson

This section suggests definitive or otherwise significant recordings that will help jazz students get acquainted with “After You've Gone.” These recordings have been selected from the Jazz History and CD Recommendations sections.

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“After You’ve Gone” was at its most prominent as a tune in the years before the bebop era, so it is not surprising to find definitive versions created by giants of the early jazz and swing eras. Blues diva Bessie Smith offered a performance for the ages in 1927 (The Essential Bessie Smith), interacting effortlessly with an all-star band for a thoroughly assured performance. As for instrumental versions, Gene Krupa’s classic performance from 1941 (Uptown) features Roy Eldridge in a career-defining moment that ranks among the swing era’s most breathtaking displays of virtuosity. Meanwhile, James P. Johnson’s intergenerational group was responsible for a classic 1944 performance (Blue Note Jazzmen) that successfully bridges the gap between early jazz and swing.

Noah Baerman - Jazz Pianist and Educator

Written with a verse and a remarkably short 20-bar chorus, “After You’ve Gone” is typically diagrammed with an A(4)-B(4)-A(4)-C(4) form, which leaves the last four bars as an extension.

In terms of the lyrics, the verse sets the stage for the refrain questioning,

“How could you tell me that you’re goin’ away?”

closing with,

“Oh! honey baby, can’t you see my tears? Listen while I say:”

While not in the traditional blues form, the refrain for “After You’ve Gone” has a “call-response” blues feeling. Each A section has two, 2-bar “call” phrases

After you’ve gone and left me cryin’
After you’ve gone there’s no denyin’

followed by a 4-bar “response” phrase

You’ll feel blue, you’ll feel sad
You’ll miss the dearest pal you’ve ever had

- JW

Musical analysis of “After You’ve Gone”
Original Key	Bb major
Form	A1 – A2 w/four measure extension; alternatively,  A1 – B – A1 – C – A2 if broken down into 4 –measure phrases
Tonality	Primarily major
Movement	A rising pentatonic figure, repeated a fourth lower, followed by two leaps (a fifth and a fourth) and a brief neighbor-note figure. This  alternates with an upward jump,  later descending from the highest note with leaps and chromatic embellishing tones.
Comments     (assumed background)
A combination of a fairly busy melody with a slow-moving harmonic rhythm (which picks up briefly in mm.7-8 and 15-16). The initial chord progression is similar to the opening measures of “Just Friends” and “I’ll See You In My Dreams” (IV – iv – I), but after the I chord, it drops to VI7 for the circle of fifths before returning to the tonic. Toward the end, the resolution of this progression is delayed by turning the II7 into a minor ii7, going to iv before returning to I. The I (in measure 17) is followed by III7, resolving to vi, but then returns to I by route of a common-tone diminished chord, ending with an unequivocal I – V7 –I.
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com

This tune’s original concept was as a ballad, but it can also be played uptempo. Johnny Dodds, the New Orleans blues master of the clarinet, recorded a slow version in 1927. Earlier that year, a studio band of all-stars led by Red Nichols, the Charleston Chasers, recorded an uptempo version that features a very advanced alto saxophone solo by Jimmy Dorsey (he was a favorite of Charlie Parker) and abounds with breaks (the tune has a two-bar break in the middle and can have a similar break at the end). Seventeen years later, another all-star group led by pianist James P. Johnson (including clarinetist Edmond Hall, trumpeter Sidney DeParis, tenor saxophonist Ben Webster and drummer Sid Catlett), waxed a version that’s considered a swing classic.

Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian

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Charleston Chasers Charleston Chasers, Vol. 1 Timeless 40 Edmond Hall Blue Note Jazzmen Blue Note Records 21262

“After You've Gone” was included in these films:

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• For Me And My Gal (1942, Judy Garland)
• Jolson Sings Again (1949, Larry Parks dubbed by Al Jolson)
• Some Came Running (1958, Shirley MacLaine)

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