The nearness of you - Carmichael, Washington - Ukulele chord-melody w. pdf

The nearness of you - H. Carmichael, N. Washington (1937, published 1940). A monstrously famous song, originally intended for an unproduced film “Romance in the Rough.” First recording: Chris Bullock & Orchestra. Other early discs: Glenn Miller (1940, vocal Ray Eberle), also Kay Kyser, Dinah Shore, Eddy Howard. Like a lot of other songs, this one dropped off the radar for a few years, with later covers by George Shearing, Sarah Vaughan, Woody Herman, Charlie Parker. There was also a treacly but commercially successful version in 1953 by Bob Manning, but a lot of the interest was coming from the jazz community. See: Bing Crosby, Connee Boswell, Paul Weston (Jo Stafford), Joe Pass, Johnny Hartman, Joshua Redman, Keely Smith, Rolling Stones (pretty bad, but when you’re that rich, whose gonna say anything?), Willie Nelson, Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Bob Brookmeyer, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, Louis Armstrong + Ella Fitzgerald 1956, Johnny Hodges, Warne Marsh, Steve Turre, Norah Jones, Michael Brecker w. James Taylor, others. Second Hand Songs has ca. 800 entries.

Ted Gioia emphasizes the natural quality of the melody and the perfect fit of the lyrics, and I can only agree. The uke key = C. Most people will be familiar with the chorus, but lo and behold, there’s also an 8-bar verse (included here) and even a short intro. Actually, I had to invent the intro, because Carmichael’s intro wasn’t suitable for the uke. The chorus is AABA (8+8+8+10), with the melody sailing up to the high G right at the start, and then gradually drifting downward. The harmony in the A section starts on a C chord, but then moves to F major, and follows the downward trajectory of the tune on its way to a V chord and a turnaround in the last two bars. The bridge hints at C minor, then passes through F and D minor, hitting the highest note, A, at “wildest dreams come true,” before coming back to the home key. The final A section adds a couple of bars by side-stepping the cadence, using the detour to return to the high A (“And to feel in the night”). I added four bars to make the ending more of an ending.

pdf
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OEVUb6OfN9ckJtXv9wTwdA7Imw8iIRBr/view?usp=sharing