Harold Arlen, music · Johnny Mercer, lyrics · Introduced by Ruby Hill and Harold Nicholas in St. Louis Woman
Come Rain or Come Shine is a 1946 Arlen and Mercer ballad, usually played in . Its harmony is rich and its melody repeats one note many times, which leaves room for improvisers. You will hear it from Ray Charles, Art Blakey, Bill Evans, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.
The path starts with Margaret Whiting's 1946 record and two later ballad vocals, by Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra. It then moves to Art Blakey's swinging quintet, the Evans and Kelly piano trios, Wes Montgomery's live quintet and McCoy Tyner's 2003 quintet.
8 recordings, 1946 to 2003 · Play all 8 on YouTube ↗
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Margaret Whiting · 1946
Capitol single 78247
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Play the first eight of the chart, one per bar: , , , Dm7, , , Fmaj7, . Sing or play the melody over them.
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Ray Charles · 1959 · Soul jazz, Big band
The Genius of Ray Charles
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Play the as a slow ballad, one per : , , B♭m7, , , , Am7♭5 D7♭9, Gm7 C7.
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Frank Sinatra · 1961 · Vocal
Sinatra & Strings
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Play the whole chart as a ballad, holding one per and two chords where the chart shows two. Start at the , to , and keep going through all 32 bars.
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Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · 1958 · Hard bop
Moanin'
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Play the chart through once with a steady swing feel, one per and two where the chart shows two. If that is too much, loop only the first eight bars: , , , Dm7, , , Fmaj7, .
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Bill Evans Trio · 1959 · Post-bop, Modal jazz
Portrait in Jazz
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Play the roots and thirds of the chain from the second A: , , , A7, , D7, , , one per .
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Wynton Kelly Trio · 1961 · Hard bop
Wynton Kelly!
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Play the with roots and thirds only: , D7, , , , A7♭9, , . Notice where the settles on before Gm7 C7 turns back to the top.
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Wes Montgomery Quintet · 1962 · Hard bop
“Come Rain or Come Shine (take 2)”, Full House
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Count the while the track plays, and write down the bar count where the tenor saxophone and the guitar each start. A smaller version is to clap on beat one of each for the first two choruses.
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McCoy Tyner · 2003 · Post-bop
Illuminations
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Play only the roots of the first : F, E A, D, D, G, C, F, C F. Then add a seventh to each root to make the on the chart.
4 more, from 1950 to 1961. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950
Originally issued 1950
Sarah Vaughan recorded the song in 1950 for Columbia, with guitarist Mundell Lowe and tenor saxophonist Budd Johnson credited on the upload.
1954 · Bebop, Vocal
Dinah Jams
Dinah Washington sings the song with Clifford Brown on Dinah Jams, a live album recorded in Los Angeles on August 15, 1954.
1959
Oscar Peterson Plays the Harold Arlen Song Book
Oscar Peterson's trio plays the song in under three minutes on a 1959 album of Harold Arlen songs.
1961 · Big band
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book
Ella Fitzgerald sings the song with a Billy May orchestra on her 1961 Harold Arlen Song Book.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
The runs 32 in four sections of eight bars, . JazzStandards.com gives the form as A1, B, A2, C with a four-bar introduction and no , and the iReal Pro chart agrees once its two 16-bar halves are split at bar 8 and bar 24. The first A moves from through and to , then and lead back to Fmaj7, and closes the section. The is in the parallel minor, : it opens on and , then passes through toward and and ends on and C7. The second A repeats the first four bars, then runs , , and A7 into a that stays in . The continues the chain with and G7, turns to and A7♭9, and settles in for the last four bars (, Em7♭5 A7♭9, , Gm7 C7). The closing Gm7 and C7 lead back to the top in F major. JazzStandards.com describes the as starting in F major and ending in D minor.
Chart from iReal Pro's Jazz 1460 playlist, contributed by its users.