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“The vocal/guitar
combination on ‘Just One of Those
Things’ lends a heartbreaking air
to the song.” |
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- Sandra Burlingame
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June
Knight and
Charles Walters introduced
“Just One of Those Things” in the
Broadway musical Jubilee,
which opened on October 12, 1935,
at the Imperial Theatre and ran
for 169 performances. Jubilee
was a political satire about a deposed
king and queen forced to go incognito
in their own country.
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Jubilee was one of ten
musicals opening that year, some
of which included Jumbo,
Porgy and Bess, and May
Wine. Not one of these made
a profit. The Great Depression was
partially responsible for the show’s
commercial failure, but more to
blame were the mixed critical reviews
and public reaction to Moss Hart’s
script and Cole Porter’s lyrics
which were full of inside jokes
about their famous friends. This
practice was not unusual for either
writer. With regard to Porter, Robert
Benchley once said that his lyrics
often seemed to have been written
with “an eye to pleasing perhaps
eighteen people.” The end came when
Jubilee’s star, Mary Boland,
left for Hollywood.
Other songs included in Cole
Porter’s score were “The Kling-Kling
Bird on the Divi-Divi Tree,” “When
Love Comes Your Way,” “Me and Marie,”
“A Picture of Me Without You,” “Begin
the Beguine,” “Mr. and Mrs.
Smith,” and “Why Shouldn’t I?”
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Less than two months after the
opening of Jubilee, the recording
of “Just One of Those Things” by
Richard Himber and His Orchestra
(Stuart Allen, vocal) made the record
charts, rising to number ten. Peggy
Lee’s 1952 rendition (accompanied
by The Gordon Jenkins Orchestra)
rose to number fourteen.
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The lyrics to “Just One of Those Things” convey
an attitude of cool sophistication. The verse is
comic, and there is plenty of Porter’s trademark
inner rhyming in the refrain. In fact, this song
of lost love is anything but sentimental. The romance
is over but that’s no reason to show childish emotion:
Why not take the philosophical high road and reduce
the whole affair to a dismissive, colloquial phrase?
Porter’s music reflects the same lack of sentiment
with its up-tempo pace and intermittent bursts of
energy. It begs for a casual delivery. In a review
of the Porter musical, High Society, theater
critic Charles Isherwood comments, “[Daniel] McDonald
does sing pleasantly, but his earnest delivery of
“Just One of Those Things” is a lesson in how not
to handle a Cole Porter song … By contrast, for
a lesson in Porter perfection, there’s the delightful
John McMartin … Like
Fred Astaire, [James] Stewart and others, McMartin
proves with his insouciant, offhand delivery of
“I’m Getting Myself Ready for You” and “Say It With
Gin” that it’s not vocal prowess but ιlan that Porter
tunes require.” - JW
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Musical analysis of
“Just One of Those Things”
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| Original
Key |
D minor;
false key changes to Eb major and Cmajor
during the “B” section |
| Form |
A1 – A2 –
B – A3 |
| Tonality |
“A” is primarily
minor; “B” is primarily major |
| Movement |
“A” is generally
downward, interspersed with occasional upward
leaps. “B” has scale-wise and chromatic
movement upward in different ranges of the
melody with occasional upward leaps. |
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Comments
(assumed
background)
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This is one of the more challenging pieces
in the repertoire, with harmonic substitutions
that never quite resolve in an expected
way until the end. The song starts with
a i – ii7(b5) – V5, but instead of resolving
to the tonic, it goes to the relative major
(to which this song finally resolves at
the end), continuing in this key before
returning to the original key for the second
“A” section.
Modulating to the new key of the “B”
section, this relative major (F major in
the original) turns to parallel minor, becoming
the ii7 of the new key, which is a half-step
up from the initial tonic key (i.e., Eb
in the key of D minor). Eight measures later,
the new key lands on its own vii7 (corresponding
to the initial tonic, but unrecognizable
in this context), or aii7 of the next key
built on the seventh of the initial tonic
(in the original, C major). Porter follows
this with a descending progression that
ends on a common-tone diminished chord built
on the flatted third scale degree of the
key of the moment (Eb in the original).
This resolves to a ii7 – V7 in what the
ear expects to be F major (relative major
of the initial key). Instead, Porter surprises
us yet again by going directly back to the
initial key of D minor. (Some theorists
might regard the C major chord at this point
as a substitution for V7 or v.) The three
“A” sections are all subtly different; they
are identical except for the penultimate
phrases: “one of those bells,” followed
by “a trip to the moon,” and ending
with “it was great fun”. In each
case, each italicized word comes at a higher
pitch than its predecessor.
This all may seem intimidating at first
and may be part of the reason that bebop
pioneers were the first artists to explore
the possibilities of this piece in a jazz
context. Nevertheless, careful study of
this tune shows that the harmonic progression
does, indeed, follow most of the orthodox
“rules” of voice leading. The serious jazz
player should learn the head thoroughly,
analyze the changes for the strong guide-tone
lines present, and trust his/her aural sensibilities
of what sounds right.
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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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“Just One of Those Things”
was included in these films:
- Panama Hattie (1942, Lena
Horne)
- Night and Day (1945,
Ginny Simms)
- Lullaby Of Broadway (1951,
Doris Day)
- The Jazz Singer (1953, Peggy
Lee)
- Young at Heart (1955,
Frank Sinatra)
- Can-Can (1960, Maurice Chevalier)
- At Long Last Love (1975, Burt
Reynolds)
- De-Lovely (2004, Diana Krall)
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Click on a CD for more details
at Amazon.com
Randy Weston
Solo, Duo & Trio featuring Art Blakey &
Sam Gill
2000, Milestone
Original recording, 1954
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| These recently reissued, early recordings
show the influence of Thelonious Monk and
the Africanisms that Weston would develop
fully during his years in Nigeria. “Just
One of Those Things” is light as feather
in tandem with bassist Gill. |
Joanne Brackeen
Havin’ Fun
1990, Concord 280
Original recording, 1985
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| In a wildly uptempo version with
Cecil McBee (bass) and Al Foster (drums)
Brackeen clusters chords and runs up and
down the keys with abandon. She’s havin’
fun. A small complaint concerns the way
several of the cuts fade out instead of
coming to completion. |
Susannah McCorkle
Easy to Love: Songs of Cole Porter
1996, Concord 4696
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| The vocal/guitar combination on
“Just One of Those Things” lends a heartbreaking
air to the song. McCorkle sings straight-ahead
and with wonderful accompaniment throughout. |
Rosemary Clooney ...
Sings the Music of Cole Porter
1992, Concord 4185
Original recording, 1985
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| Ms. Clooney shows a deep understanding
of Porter’s music, both his rollicking sense
of humor and his tender emotion. Backing
the vocalist are Scott Hamilton (ts), Warren
Vache (t), Jake Hanna (d), Nat Pierce (p),
and Cal Tjader on vibes. |
Ella Fitzgerald
…Sings The Cole Porter Songbook, Vol. 1
1990, Polygram 821989
Original recording, 1956
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| Porter was one of the best songwriters
and Ella was one of the best jazz singers,
making this a match made in heaven. Buddy
Bregman conducts the orchestra. |
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Pianist Garland Wilson (1909-1954) was not a
well-known figure in jazz, but his 1936 recording
of “Just One of Those Things,” made in London, shows
he was well-versed in the Harlem stride piano style
as he rips through the tune.
A splendid 1944 recording features the great
pianist
Teddy Wilson along with Coleman Hawkins (tenor
sax), John Kirby (bass) and Sid Catlett on drums---an
all-star group that gives Cole Porter’s song a first-class
treatment.
Wilson was on hand again for a session by the
Benny Goodman Sextet, including vibraphonist
Red Norvo, in 1945, and the following year Teddy
recorded the number with his own all-star octet.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
Coleman Hawkins
1944
Classic 842
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Teddy Wilson
1946
Classic 997
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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 “Just One of Those Things” may be found in:
1 paragraph including the following types of information: history and performers.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: summary.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: history and performers.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: history.
Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.
Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: lyric analysis.
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