Herman Hupfeld, music and lyrics · Introduced in the Broadway revue Everybody's Welcome, 1931
As Time Goes By
Herman Hupfeld wrote this song in 1931 for the Broadway revue Everybody's Welcome. Singers and jazz players, from Billie Holiday to Dexter Gordon and Chet Baker, have kept recording it. Dooley Wilson sang it at the piano as Sam in the 1942 film Casablanca.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Rudy Vallée's 1931 record and Billie Holiday with a small band in 1944. It then moves through a piano trio, two pianists, Frank Sinatra with an orchestra, another trio, a nearly nine-minute version by tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon and, last, a quartet led by trumpeter Chet Baker.
Rudy Vallée and His Connecticut Yankees recorded the song for Victor on July 25, 1931, before the Broadway revue it came from opened. After the film Casablanca made it famous, his record was reissued, and according to JazzStandards.com it spent four weeks at number one on Your Hit Parade.
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Rudy Vallée sings with his band, and the whole record runs 3:35. Dexter Gordon's version later on the path runs almost nine minutes, so this is the song at its most compact.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 4 of the in E♭ as : and in bar 1, the same in bar 2, with in bar 3, then E♭maj7 in bar 4. Add the melody over them if you can.
Billie Holiday with Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra · 1944
Embraceable You / As Time Goes By
Billie Holiday recorded the song in New York on April 1, 1944, with Eddie Heywood and his orchestra, for Commodore. According to JazzStandards.com, Commodore owner Milt Gabler had her record it after the success of Casablanca.
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Billie Holiday sings, with a trumpet, a trombone and an alto saxophone behind her and piano, bass and drums underneath. The record runs 3:14.
Try it on your instrument
Play 5 to 8 of the first in E♭ as : with in bar 5, with in bar 6, with Fm7 in bar 7, then with in bar 8, which leads back to the top.
Teddy Wilson recorded the song in Chicago on March 5, 1956, with bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Jo Jones. It came out in 1957 on the Verve album I Got Rhythm.
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Teddy Wilson plays piano with bass and drums as the only other instruments. At 3:07 it is a little shorter than the 1931 record.
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Play the melody with your right hand and one per with your left, using the first chord of each bar for bars 1 to 8: , Fm7, , E♭maj7, , Fm7, E♭maj7, .
Bob Brookmeyer and Bill Evans recorded the song at Olmsted Sound Studios in New York on March 12, 1959, both on piano, with Percy Heath on bass and Connie Kay on drums. It came out the same year on The Ivory Hunters.
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Two pianists play together here, Bob Brookmeyer and Bill Evans, with bass and drums behind them. At 6:56 the record runs about twice as long as the 1944 and 1956 versions.
Try it on your instrument
Play the eight of the in E♭ as , one per bar until the last two: , , , , , , then Fm7 with C7♭9, and Fm7 with and .
Frank Sinatra recorded the song at Capitol Studio A in Hollywood on September 11 or 12, 1961, with Axel Stordahl conducting. It came out in March 1962 on his album Point of No Return.
B♭ major
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Frank Sinatra sings with an orchestra conducted by Axel Stordahl, and the record runs 3:18.
Try it on your instrument
Wikipedia gives Sinatra's as , so try 1 to 4 there: and in bars 1 and 2, with in bar 3, then B♭maj7 in bar 4. If transposing is too much, play the same bars in E♭ as in the first step.
Now Playing! Erroll Garner - A Night at the Movies
Erroll Garner recorded the song in New York on August 5, 1964, with bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer Kelly Martin. It came out in 1965 on MGM, on the album Now Playing! A Night at the Movies.
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Erroll Garner's trio is piano, bass and drums, and at 2:52 this is the shortest record on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last four of the form, bars 29 to 32, as : with , with , with , then with C7♭9. Hold the last chord and listen for the song to settle.
Dexter Gordon recorded the song in New York on May 4, 1978, with pianist George Cables, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Eddie Gladden. It came out that year on Columbia's Manhattan Symphonie.
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Dexter Gordon plays tenor saxophone with piano, bass and drums, and the record runs nearly nine minutes. Compare that with the three-minute records earlier on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Soloing over these changes takes real practice. The smaller version: play the of the first slowly, and over each chord hold one note from it for a whole .
Chet Baker's quartet recorded the song in Monster, Holland, in December 1986, with pianist Harold Danko, bassist Jon Burr and drummer Ben Riley. The album named after the song came out on Timeless in 1990.
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Chet Baker plays trumpet in a quartet with piano, bass and drums, and the record runs 6:50. That sits between the three-minute records and Dexter Gordon's nearly nine minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the two endings of the first and hear how they differ. The first time, 7 and 8 are with , then with . The second time, bars 15 and 16 are E♭maj7, then with , which leads into the .
Herman Hupfeld writes the song for the Broadway revue Everybody's Welcome in 1931. Rudy Vallée records it for Victor that July, before the show opens.
1940s
Dooley Wilson sings it as Sam in the film Casablanca in 1942. Billie Holiday records it for Commodore in New York in 1944.
1950s
Woody Herman sings it with Erroll Garner's trio in Detroit in 1954. Teddy Wilson's trio records it in Chicago in 1956.
1960s
Frank Sinatra records it in Hollywood in 1961 with Axel Stordahl conducting. Erroll Garner's trio plays it in New York in 1964.
1970s
Ella Fitzgerald sings it live in Budapest in 1970. Dexter Gordon records it in New York in 1978, and his quartet plays it live in San Francisco in 1979.
1980s
Chet Baker's quartet records it in Holland in December 1986, with Harold Danko on piano. It gives its name to the album that Timeless issues in 1990.
1990s
Bryan Ferry releases a studio album named As Time Goes By on Virgin in October 1999.
More great versions
6 more, from 1942 to 1999. Tap a cover to play it here.
1940sDooley Wilson1942
1950sErroll Garner Trio with Woody Herman1954
1960s
1970sElla Fitzgerald1970
Tony Bennett1975 · Vocal
Dexter Gordon Quartet1979
1980s
1990sBryan Ferry1999 · Easy listening
Dooley Wilson
1942
“As Time Goes By (from Casablanca)”, Casablanca
Dooley Wilson sang the song as the piano player Sam in the 1942 film Casablanca. According to Wikipedia, the piano was played by studio pianist Jean Vincent Plummer, and the musicians' strike of 1942 to 1944 kept Wilson from making a commercial record at the time.
“As Time Goes By (live in Budapest)”, Ella in Budapest
Ella Fitzgerald sang the song live in Budapest on May 20, 1970, with Tommy Flanagan on piano, Frank De La Rosa on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. The concert came out in 1999 as Ella in Budapest.
“As Time Goes By (live at the Keystone Korner)”, Nights at the Keystone, Volume 3
Dexter Gordon's quartet played the song at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco on March 24, 1979, with George Cables, Rufus Reid and Eddie Gladden. The live version runs more than eighteen minutes and is on Nights at the Keystone, Volume 3.
Bryan Ferry released a studio album called As Time Goes By on Virgin in October 1999. The song is on it, recorded at Lansdowne in London according to Wikipedia.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
E♭ majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
E♭ major → A♭ major to F minor → E♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
E♭
A♭ major to F m
E♭
Four sections of eight run A, A, B, A. A opens with and sharing bar 1 and again bar 2, then with in bar 3 and E♭maj7 in bar 4. Bar 5 is with and bar 6 is Fm7 with B♭7. Bars 7 and 8 differ between the two : the first time they are E♭maj7 with Fm7, then with , which sends you back to the top; the second time (bars 15 and 16) they are E♭maj7, then with , which leads into B. B starts on in bar 17, then C7♭9, Fm7, F♯°7, and F7 in bars 18 to 22, Fm7 with C7♭9 in bar 23, and Fm7 with B♭7 and in bar 24. The last A repeats the opening for four bars, then runs F7 with F♯°7 in bar 29, Gm7 with C7♭9 in bar 30, Fm7 with B♭7 in bar 31, and with C7♭9 in bar 32. The follow the iReal Pro chart, in E♭; players vary them.