Allie Wrubel, music · Herb Magidson, lyrics · Inspired by Margaret Mitchell's novel, 1937
Gone with the Wind
Allie Wrubel wrote the music and Herb Magidson the words in 1937, inspired by Margaret Mitchell's novel. Each half of the tune lifts into a brighter partway through, then drops back home. Horace Heidt's 1937 record was a No. 1 song, and Billie Holiday and Wes Montgomery recorded it later.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the 1937 dance-band hit, then follows the song through a saxophone quartet, a singer with a small band, and a piano and tenor saxophone pairing. A live piano trio, the Dave Brubeck Quartet and Wes Montgomery's guitar quartet come next, and Sun Ra's large group in 1988 closes it.
Horace Heidt and His Brigadiers (vocal: Larry Cotton) · 1937
Heidt's band recorded it on 16 June 1937 with Larry Cotton singing, and Brunswick issued it that August. According to Wikipedia, this version was a No. 1 song in 1937.
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Listen for
Larry Cotton sings the song with the dance band playing behind him, and the whole record is over in under three minutes (2:58).
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 4 with two in a bar: , , Fm7 B♭7, E♭maj7. If that is too many shapes, play only E♭ and B♭7 and sing or play the melody over them.
Getz recorded it in New York on 17 May 1950 with Al Haig, Tommy Potter and Roy Haynes. Roost issued it as a 78 with “Hershey Bar” on the other side.
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Listen for
Getz's tenor saxophone leads, with Al Haig's piano, Tommy Potter's bass and Roy Haynes's drums behind him. At 2:57 it is the shortest take on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play 5 to 8, where the tune lifts into : , , Am7 D7, . Then play bar 4 () straight into bar 5 and listen to the change. If those shapes are new, use G and D7 alone.
Recorded in Los Angeles on 23 August 1955 for Norman Granz's Clef label, with a six-piece band behind her. It came out that October on Music for Torching, her first 12-inch LP for the label.
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Listen for
Holiday's voice is out front, with a band of Sweets Edison's trumpet, Benny Carter's alto saxophone, Jimmy Rowles's piano, Barney Kessel's guitar, bass and drums behind her.
Try it on your instrument
Play 9 to 12 with a bass note under each : , , , . If F♯°7 is new, play Gm, then Fm7, then B♭7.
Recorded in Los Angeles on 11 September 1956 and issued by Verve in 1958, with Norman Granz producing. Pablo reissued the album in 1975 as The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight.
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Listen for
Art Tatum on piano and Ben Webster on tenor saxophone play as a quartet with Red Callender on bass and Bill Douglass on drums. At 4:47 it runs longer than the earlier takes on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play 13 to 16, the way the first half closes: , , , . If D7♯5 and C7♭9 are new, play plain and .
Recorded live at the Pershing Lounge in Chicago in January 1958, with Israel Crosby on bass and Vernel Fournier on drums. It appears on the 2007 set Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958.
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Listen for
The trio is Ahmad Jamal on piano, Israel Crosby on bass and Vernel Fournier on drums, recorded live in a Chicago club. The track runs 3:25.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 on piano with the from iReal Pro, two chords to a bar where the chart shows two. The smaller version is bars 1 to 4 only.
Recorded in Los Angeles on 22 April 1959 and used as the title track of the Quartet's Columbia album. The rest of the album, recorded over that day and the next, includes Swanee River, Georgia On My Mind and Camptown Races.
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Listen for
The quartet is Paul Desmond on alto saxophone, Dave Brubeck on piano, Gene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on drums. At 6:21 it is among the longest takes on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last eight of the B part: , , Fm7 , , Fm7, B♭7, , Gm7♭5 . If the half-diminished shapes are new, use and C7.
Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios in New York on 26 and 28 January 1960 and issued by Riverside that April. Orrin Keepnews produced the album, and Gone with the Wind closes it.
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Listen for
Wes Montgomery's guitar leads a quartet with Tommy Flanagan on piano, Percy Heath on bass and Albert Heath on drums. At 6:25 it is the longest take on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Soloing over needs more experience. A smaller version: play the roots for 1 to 4 (F and B♭, E♭ and C, F and B♭, E♭) and play the melody over them.
Recorded in New York on 5 December 1988 by a 19-piece group that included Arkestra members and veterans. A&M issued it in 1989 on Blue Delight, the first album of Sun Ra's short deal with the label.
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Listen for
A 19-piece group plays it under Sun Ra's name, and the track runs 5:51. After the small bands earlier on the path, this is the biggest group.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 4 in E♭, then bars 5 to 8 in G ( , , Am7 D7, ), and listen to how the color changes. Playing the whole form freely needs more experience; the eight bars are the smaller version.
Allie Wrubel and Herb Magidson publish the song in 1937, inspired by Margaret Mitchell's novel. Horace Heidt's band records it that June with singer Larry Cotton, and Wikipedia lists the record as a No. 1 song that year.
1950s
Stan Getz's quartet records it in New York in 1950. Billie Holiday sings it with a small band in 1955, and in 1958 Ahmad Jamal's trio plays it live in Chicago.
1960s
Wes Montgomery records it in New York in January 1960 with a piano, bass and drums trio. Art Pepper's quartet records it in Los Angeles that November, and Bill Evans's trio plays it at the Village Vanguard in 1967.
1980s
Sun Ra records it in New York in December 1988 with a 19-piece group, and A&M issues it on Blue Delight in 1989.
2000s
Derek Bailey plays it on guitar for his 2002 Tzadik album Ballads.
More great versions
2 more, from 1959 to 2002. Tap a cover to play it here.
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 · B form
E♭ → G → E♭ → G → E♭key centers
A16 bars
B16 bars
E♭
G
E♭
E♭
G
E♭
The chart in iReal Pro has two parts of 16 , 32 in all, in . Both parts open with the same 8 bars. Bars 1 to 4 are , , Fm7 B♭7, E♭maj7, all in the . Bars 5 to 8 move up to : , , Am7 D7, . A continues with , , Fm7, B♭7 in bars 9 to 12, then E♭maj7 , , Fm7, B♭7 in bars 13 to 16. B repeats bars 1 to 8, then runs Fm7, , Fm7 B♭7, C7♭9 in bars 9 to 12 and Fm7, B♭7, E♭maj7, Gm7♭5 C7 in bars 13 to 16, which leads back to the top.