Tabs/Chords The Cliff Edwards Project

[BigJackBrass]

Something that surprised me when I was looking into these songs is that Am I Blue? was used in four movies in the year it was written! I'm used to finding multiple performances of a song released in a year (simply how things were done back when there was no exclusivity expected for the tunes put out by professional songwriters) but I didn't expect the same level of duplication in film. Early days of talkies, I guess.

 

[BigJackBrass]

Taking advantage of my temporarily rejigged work schedule, I typed up a sheet for Dinah earlier. There's a lovely sequence in the section beginning "Ev'ry night" which you can really make flow with a little thought about the transitions between chords. Only a small thing, but it feels quite rewarding.

 

[BigJackBrass]

My latest songsheet, for Way Down Yonder in New Orleans by Layton and Creamer. Cliff recorded this one a couple of times in the forties, but I don't think it was released until the posthumous LP "Shaking the Blues Away". Because his version isn't commonly encountered I've uploaded it to YouTube. This songsheet features the thrilling inclusion of COLOUR to differentiate the regular and Hawaiian D7 chords.

 

[BigJackBrass]

April is turning into quite a productive month as far as the Cliff Edwards Project goes! Here's another songsheet, this time a number written for and rejected by Al Jolson, then turned into a huge hit by Eddie Cantor: "If You Knew Susie (Like I Know Susie)" by B. G. De Sylva (1925). Cliff recorded it around the same time, but I've based the songsheet off a later performance and Dick Konter's ukulele arrangement.



You probably know the song, but here's that early Cliff performance which is lyrically much like the Eddie Cantor version:

 

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[mountain goat]

thank you for this thread John. great reason for us to show our love for Cliff. cheers mate.

 

[BigJackBrass]

thank you for this thread John. great reason for us to show our love for Cliff. cheers mate.

Thanks for those wonderful performances!

 

[mountain goat]

Thanks for those wonderful performances!

cheers brother xo

 

[BigJackBrass]

Time for a pretty obscure song to step up and join the Cliff Edwards Project! "Down Behind the Counter at Nick's" is one of the saucy "party records" that Cliff made when his career took a dip. It's believed that he wrote it, and probably recorded it in 1936, but details on all of those songs are unsurprisingly scarce. You may notice a degree of similarity to some of his other adult fare, such as "I Like Mount'n Women" and "I'm Going to Give It to Mary with Love".

 

[BigJackBrass]

Starting to pay the price now, but this morning I was in better shape than I have been for ages. As well as doing a couple of chores I typed up three ukulele sheets, feeling in a really good mood. Yeah, obviously I'm now exhausted, but it was worth it to enjoy the feeling.

So, before I slump into unconsciousness, on with the songs!