Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone

Sam Stept and Sydney Clare — the composer and lyricist, respectively, of this classic jazz number — were both born in the 1890's, got their start on Tin Pan Alley and the vaudeville circuit, and eventually made their way out to Hollywood to write for films in the '30's. The song was a big hit in 1931 for the first of that era's great crooners, Gene Austin (shown right). We'll include that recording in its entirety here because of two features that may interest you: first, it includes the opening verse, which one seldom hears in later versions (including ours), and it also has a nice chord melody solo (by Carl Kress?) that is typical of jazz guitar from that era. This solo was likely played on tenor guitar but you could come up with something similar on a six-stringer in standard tuning. (This version is in Eb.)

Audio clip: Gene Austin on Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone

Since then Please Don't Talk has been recorded by Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Sydney Bechet, Billie Holiday, Mose Allison and many others. Ella Fitzgerald performed it with the Count Basie Orchestra at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 1979. Here's a bit of that live performance:

Audio Clip: Ella Fitgerald and Count Basie on Please Don't Talk

Speaking of Count Basie, next up is a trumpeter known for his work with Basie in the late 1930's and early '40's, Buck Clayton. Greatly influenced by Louis Armstrong, Clayton was what some came to call a "mainstream" jazz player, which is to say, a player whose career and musical stylings straddled both the Swing and Bebop eras. Not antique jazz, but not too hip and heady for mere mortals to groc, Clayton's career took him not only around the US, but from Shanghai to stints throughout Europe. He is the improviser of a solo we learn and study as part of our Level 3 curriculum. Here's that solo from a 1953 recording in Paris:

Audio Clip: Buck Clayton soloing on Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone

Amid all the jazz and pop versions of this song, there are a number of contemporary takes on it from a more eclectic mix of guitarist/vocalists. As any fan of Leon Redbone knows, he's a great interpreter of music from this era, so here's a clip of him on Please Don't Talk at a solo club date. The fingerstyle guitar accompaniment is a study in restraint.

Audio Clip: Leon Redbone on Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone

Somewhat less expected would be a recording by folky singer-songwriter Greg Brown. But here you have one from a live concert in 2005 released as Yellow Dog in '07. We'll include a bit of his inimitable (and instantly recognizable) vocal and then Seth Bernard's guitar solo on the first A section. That solo, by the way, is playable by anyone participating in a Level 2 or 3 Community Guitar class. See what you can figure out by ear:

Audio Clip: Greg Brown on Please Don't Talk About Me Whe I'm Gone

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