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Teddy Wilson &
His Orchestra, with vocalist Billie
Holiday, saw their rendition on
the charts for four weeks. Their
version can be heard on Musical
Romance (Billie Holiday and
Lester Young). |
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- JW
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Ruth
Etting introduced this Ahlert/Turk
torch song in 1929. “Mean to Me”
had on its flip side the B.G. DeSylva/Lew
Brown song “Button Up Your Overcoat”
(from the 1929 Broadway musical
comedy about championship golf,
Follow Through).
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The record sold over a million
copies and both songs hit the charts:
“Mean to Me” rising to number three
and “Button Up Your Overcoat” peaking
at number fifteen. Also in 1929,
Helen Morgan’s recording reached
number eleven, and in 1937
Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra,
with vocalist
Billie Holiday, saw their rendition
rise to number seven for four weeks.
Their version can be heard on
The Quintessential Billie Holiday,
Vol. 4 or on the compilation
CD,
Musical Romance (Billie
Holiday and Lester Young).
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Diana Ross sang this and other
standards in the film
Lady Sings the Blues (1972),
and, according to Clive Hirschhorn
in
Hollywood Musicals, she
sounded “more like Motown than Harlem.”
While Ross’s version of the song
may have sounded less than genuine
to some, “Mean to Me” is far more
convincing coming from the person
to whom
Lady Sings the Blues is
a tribute, namely
Billie Holiday. It was a staple
of Holiday’s repertoire and came
to symbolize the personal relationships
which she brought to the song.
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“Mean to Me” has stood the test of time well
and might even have been ahead of its time. In
American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950,
Alec Wilder says, “I find the bass line unusually
inventive for 1929.”
And the lyrics are novel, using the phrase “Mean
to Me” first to imply unkindness, “Why must you
be mean to me?” and then concern, “Can’t you see
what you mean to me?” Philip Furia comments in
The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's
Great Lyricists that “Sometimes lyricists
undercut both musical and lyrical repetition by
taking the standard Alley gimmick of repeating the
title phrase at the beginning and end of the chorus
but using it to give the phrase different meaning.”
-JW
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Musical analysis of
“Mean to Me”
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| Original
Key |
G major with
some C major and A minor tonaility in the
bridge |
| Form |
A1 – A2 –
B – A3 |
| Tonality |
Primarily
major |
| Movement |
Leap down
and step up through most of the song; everything
else either steps or arpeggiates. |
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Comments
(assumed
background)
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Section “A” of this piece uses three different
common chord progressions – I – vi7(b9)
– ii7 – V7 (“Sweet
Lorraine”), I –I7(V7/IV) – IV – iv (“I
Got A Gal In Kalamazoo”) and I – iv – ii7
– V7 (“Blue
Moon”). Section “B” starts off in major
with a I - ii7 – V7 turnaround, then cleverly
shifts to minor by turning the IV into a
+6/V7 of the new minor key. The minor sequence
goes though the i - +6(bVI7) – V7 once before
turning into a II7 of the original key on
its way back to 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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“Mean to Me” is based on the most common song
form, known as A-A-B-A. The A section features a
common chord progression (also found in “Easy Living,”
“Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and “Witchcraft”) which has
a natural rise and fall. The bass line moves up
in half steps from C to F, then back down from F
to C.
The melodic contour follows the same arch form.
The three-note shape applied to the words “mean
to me” is repeated slightly higher (“why must you
be”), then higher (“mean to me”), and higher still
(“gee, honey”) before the melody begins to descend
(“seems to me”) in parallel with the harmony. This
harmonic and melodic arch form creates a natural
tension and release that is attractive to composers,
improvisers, and listeners alike.
The eight-bar bridge consists of two parallel
four-bar phrases, one in F (“You treat me coldly
each day in the year”) and one in D minor (“You
always scold me whenever somebody is near, dear”).
It’s very “user-friendly”: if you understand the
first half, the second half is easy to follow.
Randy
Halberstadt, jazz pianist and professor
www.randyhalberstadt.com
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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“Mean to Me”
was included in these films:
- Love Me or Leave Me (1955,
Doris Day)
- Lady Sings the Blues (1972,
Diana Ross)
- Stepping Out (1991, Liza Minnelli)
- Made (2001, Dean Martin)
- Bukowski: Born into This (2004,
Diane Schuur)
And on stage:
- Ain't Misbehavin' (1978, Nell
Carter) Broadway musical
- Ain't Misbehavin' (1988, Nell
Carter) Broadway revival
- Ain't Misbehavin' (1995, Anita
Pointer) touring revival
And on television:
- Ain't Misbehavin' (1982, Nell
Carter) NBC production
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Click on a CD for more details
at Amazon.com
Barney Kessel
Poll Winners
2000, Contemporary
Original recording, 1957
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| Guitarist Kessel, bassist Ray Brown,
and drummer Shelly Manne all placed first
on their instruments in the three major
jazz polls in 1956. Here they cover eight
standards and one Kessel composition, and
the performances are perfection. |
Nat Adderley
Work Song
1991, Orig. Jazz Classics 363
Original recording, 1960
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| This is one of those classic albums
that belongs in every jazz lover’s collection.
Cornetist Adderley and guitarist Wes Montgomery
work their way through nine selections with
alternating personnel. On this gently swinging
number they are joined by Keter Betts on
bass and Louis Hayes on drums. |
Helen Humes
The Songs I Like to Sing
1991, Orig. Jazz Classics 171
Original recording, 1960
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| The singers’ singer could sing any
style of music and did. She had perfect
intonation and personalized phrasing that
has been examined closely by many great
singers. Here she is featured with Art Pepper,
Ben Webster, and Jack Sheldon, to just skim
the surface, and an equally prestigious
rhythm section with arrangements by Marty
Paich. |
Betty Carter
I Can’t Help It
1992, GRP 114
Original recording, 1958
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| A young Betty displays the idiosyncratic
style which she refused to compromise and
on which she built her reputation. This
is a creative version of “Mean to Me,” and
the CD is a great introduction to the vocalist. |
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The musical Dorsey Brothers--Tommy (trombone
and trumpet) and Jimmy (clarinet and alto saxophone)--are
featured prominently on several of the earliest
jazz versions of this tune from 1929: one, by their
own group (Dorsey Brothers Orchestra), then with
trumpeter Phil Napoleon’s Emperors, and another
accompanying vocalist Annette Hanshaw.
Some standards seem to fade in and out of popularity.
No doubt
Billie Holiday’s version in 1937 created some
interest for a short time, but the tune takes another
hiatus until it resurfaces with tenor saxophonist
Lester Young’s stellar version with Nat “King” Cole
and Buddy Rich in 1946.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
The Dorsey Brothers
Vol. 2
Jazz Oracle 8005
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Red Nichols-Phil Napoleon
1923-1931
Epm Musique 157452
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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 “Mean to Me” may be found in:
1 paragraph including the following types of information: history and performers.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: film productions, performers and style discussion.
Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.
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