Mel Tormé and Robert Wells · First recorded by Tormé in 1946
Born to Be Blue
Mel Tormé and Robert Wells wrote this slow, sad song in 1946, and Tormé recorded it that year. The first part plays twice, a middle part changes the mood, and the first part returns to close. The path runs from Tormé's own 1961 record to Wes Montgomery's guitar and orchestra version of 1964.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Tormé singing his own song in 1961, then follows two jazz singers, Helen Merrill and Ella Fitzgerald. It then turns to instruments: a piano trio, tenor sax with organ, a guitar and sax quintet, a second piano trio, and Wes Montgomery's guitar with an orchestra.
Tormé wrote the song and first recorded it in 1946. He sang it again in July 1961 for the Verve album My Kind of Music, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Tony Osborne on this track.
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Listen for
Tormé sings his own song in 2:55 with Tony Osborne conducting. The first part comes round twice, then a middle part changes the mood, and the first part returns to finish.
Try it on your instrument
Play 5 to 8 of the : for two bars, , then to (the second time through the section, Fm7 to to G7 and then ). Smaller version: play only , and C6 and hum the melody over them.
Helen Merrill with Quincy Jones and His Orchestra · 1954 · Contemporary jazz
Helen Merrill
Helen Merrill recorded it in New York on December 22, 1954, with Clifford Brown on trumpet and Quincy Jones arranging. EmArcy issued it on her 1955 album Helen Merrill.
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Listen for
Merrill sings with Clifford Brown's trumpet and Quincy Jones's arrangement behind her. This record runs 5:15, almost twice as long as Tormé's.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 17 to 24, the middle part that leaves : to for three bars, then . Play slowly and listen for the music lifting away from home. Smaller version: play only those first four bars.
“(I Was) Born to Be Blue”, Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!
Ella Fitzgerald recorded it in Los Angeles in June 1961 with a quartet led by pianist Lou Levy. It is on the Verve album Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!, where it carries the title (I Was) Born to Be Blue.
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Listen for
Ella sings with only piano, guitar, bass and drums behind her, a smaller setting than Tormé's. The linked copy runs 2:45.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the : and , C7 and , and , then and . Play two to the bar, left hand low and right hand light. Smaller version: play only the first chord in each bar.
Wynton Kelly recorded it as a piano trio in New York on July 25, 1951, with Oscar Pettiford on bass and Lee Abrams on drums. Blue Note issued it in 1953 on New Faces - New Sounds.
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Listen for
Piano, bass and drums play the tune without words in 3:24. Kelly's piano carries the melody, so listen for where the first part returns at the end.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole ( 1 to 8) with in your left hand and the melody on top. Smaller version: play bars 1 to 4 only, one chord per bar.
Gene Ammons Sextet with Joe Newman and Jack McDuff · 1961 · Hard bop
Twisting the Jug
Gene Ammons recorded it on tenor sax with Jack McDuff on organ in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on November 28, 1961. Prestige issued it in 1962 on Twisting the Jug.
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Listen for
Ammons plays the tune on tenor sax with McDuff's organ underneath. The linked copy runs 7:19, so count how many times the band goes round the song.
Try it on your instrument
Play the as a looping vamp: 1 to 8, then straight back to bar 1, four times. If you can solo, try a short phrase over the bars (5 and 6). Smaller version: loop only bars 5 to 8.
“Born to Be Blue (Alternate Take)”, Born to Be Blue
Grant Green recorded it with Ike Quebec on tenor sax and Sonny Clark on piano at Van Gelder Studio on March 1, 1962. Blue Note kept it in the vault until the 1985 album Born to Be Blue.
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Listen for
Grant Green plays guitar alongside Ike Quebec's tenor sax, with Sonny Clark on piano. The linked track is the alternate take, 4:41 long.
Try it on your instrument
Play the with a steady, quiet pulse, three or four notes of the melody in each , then the . Smaller version: play only bars 1 to 4 and 17 to 20 and notice how different they feel.
Wes Montgomery recorded it on November 16, 1964, at A&R Studios in New York, with Johnny Pate arranging and conducting. It is on his 1965 Verve album Movin' Wes.
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Listen for
Wes Montgomery plays guitar with Johnny Pate's brass and woodwinds behind him, and the track runs 3:38. Compare this setting with the quiet trio versions.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first by picking single notes of the melody, then add the on beats where the melody holds still. Smaller version: play just 1 and 2 with the melody and a chord.
Chet Baker sings it with Bobby Scott on piano and Kenny Burrell on guitar, recorded in New York on November 20, 1964. It was issued on Baby Breeze in 1965.
Dexter Gordon recorded it on tenor sax with a bass and drums trio in Copenhagen on June 15, 1976. SteepleChase issued it in 1981 on Lullaby for a Monster.
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
C majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
C major → G♭ major → B major → E♭ major → C majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
C
G♭
B
E♭
C
A runs eight and plays twice. It opens on with and in bars 1 and 2, then and in bar 3 and with in bar 4. fills bars 5 and 6, with D♭7♯11 and then F7 inside them. Bar 7 is with the first time, or Fm7, and the second, and bar 8 is to G7 or . B (bars 17 to 24) leaves home: and for three bars, , and , and , Fm7 and , then , Dm7♭5 and G7 lead back to the last A, which ends on C6. The follow the iReal Pro chart; players often vary them.