Sammy Fain, music · Paul Francis Webster, lyrics · From the film Calamity Jane, 1953
Secret Love
Secret Love comes from the 1953 film Calamity Jane, where Doris Day sings it. It won the Oscar for Best Song and was a number one hit for Day. Dinah Washington, Art Blakey, Donald Byrd and Dexter Gordon later made it a jazz tune.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the song as Doris Day sang it for the film. It then hears a singer with a big orchestra, two piano trios, Art Blakey's live quintet, Donald Byrd's quintet, a long tenor sax version by Dexter Gordon and a London session with Chet Baker's trumpet.
Doris Day recorded it in one take on August 5, 1953, at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, with the studio orchestra under Ray Heindorf. Columbia issued the single in October 1953, three weeks before the film Calamity Jane opened.
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Listen for
Day sings the melody from the first note to the end at 3:40, with the studio orchestra behind her. Learn the tune here, then hear how each later player changes it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first , 1 to 8, in E♭: in bars 1 and 2, in bar 3, in bars 4 to 7 and B♭7 in bar 8. Smaller version: play E♭maj7 for bars 1 to 3, Fm7 for bars 4 to 7 and E♭6 for bar 8.
Dinah Washington recorded it in New York on August 16, 1961, with The Dells and an orchestra directed by Quincy Jones. Mercury issued it in 1962 on Tears and Laughter.
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Listen for
Washington's voice leads, with The Dells and a big orchestra behind her. The track lasts 2:51, so you can hear it twice in a row and compare it with Doris Day's.
Try it on your instrument
Play the short middle part, section B in 17 to 20: , , , . Smaller version: play only B♭maj7 for bar 18 and A♭maj7 for bar 20.
The Three Sounds recorded it at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs on March 7, 1962. Blue Note issued it in April 1964 on Black Orchid.
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Listen for
Gene Harris plays piano, with Andrew Simpkins on bass and Bill Dowdy on drums, for 5:43. Listen to the piano for the tune you heard in Doris Day's voice.
Try it on your instrument
Play the closing , 21 to 24: , , , B♭7. Smaller version: play E♭maj7 for bar 21, Gm7♭5 for bar 22, Fm7 for bar 23 and E♭6 for bar 24.
Hampton Hawes recorded it with Monk Montgomery and Steve Ellington on February 17, 1964, at the Contemporary studio in Los Angeles. It came out that spring on The Green Leaves of Summer.
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Listen for
Hampton Hawes plays piano with Monk Montgomery on bass and Steve Ellington on drums. At 5:35 the track is close to the Three Sounds' length, so you can compare the two pianists.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole once at a slow tempo. Bar 8 ends on , which leads back into the repeat, and bar 16 ends on E♭6 , which leads into section B. Smaller version: play only bars 16 and 17, E♭6 Dm7♭5 G7 into .
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · 1966 · Hard bop
Buttercorn Lady
Art Blakey's group recorded this live at The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California, in January 1966. Limelight released the album Buttercorn Lady in March 1966.
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Listen for
The band is Chuck Mangione on trumpet, Frank Mitchell on tenor sax, Keith Jarrett on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass and Blakey on drums. The track runs 9:11, more than twice as long as Doris Day's.
Try it on your instrument
Soloing over takes more experience than a first try. Smaller version: play along with the track and play only the root of each in the first : E♭ in 1 and 2, E♭ A♭ G C in bar 3, F and B♭ in bars 4 to 7, E♭ B♭ in bar 8.
Donald Byrd's quintet recorded it at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs on May 12, 1967. Blue Note issued it in 1968 on Slow Drag.
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Listen for
Byrd's trumpet and Sonny Red's alto sax are the two horns, with Cedar Walton on piano, Walter Booker on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. At 3:58 it is close to the length of Doris Day's record.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with the track, starting at the top of section A, and count the so you know where each return of section A falls. Smaller version: count only the first 8 bars, then start again.
Dexter Gordon played it live at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 7, 1973, with Hampton Hawes, Bob Cranshaw and Kenny Clarke. Prestige issued it in 1974 on Blues à la Suisse.
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Listen for
Gordon's tenor sax leads for 14:33, with Hampton Hawes, the pianist from the earlier trio track, in the band. Use the long track to count how many times the band goes around the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Play the twice in a row and keep count of the 24 . Smaller version: loop only the closing , bars 21 to 24 ( , , , B♭7), until it sounds smooth.
Chet Baker recorded it in London on September 4 and 5, 1979, with Henry and Jean Paul Florens, Jim Richardson and Tony Mann. The session produced the album Round' Midnight 79.
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Listen for
Baker plays trumpet in a quintet with Henry Florens on piano, Jean Paul Florens on guitar, Jim Richardson on bass and Tony Mann on drums. At 4:53 it is shorter than the Blakey and Gordon tracks.
Try it on your instrument
Play section B, 17 to 20 ( , , , ), then the closing , bars 21 to 24, as one phrase. Smaller version: play only B♭maj7, then A♭maj7, then .
Doris Day sings it in the 1953 film Calamity Jane, and it wins the Oscar for Best Song. Ahmad Jamal's trio plays it live at the Spotlight Club in 1958.
1960s
Dinah Washington sings it with The Dells and an orchestra in 1961. Piano trios record it in 1962 and 1964, and Art Blakey's quintet plays it live for more than nine minutes in 1966.
1970s
Dexter Gordon plays it for more than fourteen minutes at the 1973 Montreux festival, with Hampton Hawes at the piano. Chet Baker records it with a quintet in London in 1979.
More great versions
2 more, from 1962 to 1978. Tap a cover to play it here.
1960sEddie Harris1962
1970sDexter Gordon1978 · Post-bop
Eddie Harris
1962
Gone With the Wind & Other Favorites
Eddie Harris plays a short, 2:10 version of it on the compilation Gone With the Wind & Other Favorites.
Dexter Gordon's quartet with George Cables, Rufus Reid and Eddie Gladden plays it for 10:44 as a bonus track on the 2005 CD reissue of Manhattan Symphonie.
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
24 barsA · A · B · A form
E♭ major → Passes through B♭ major and A♭ major → E♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B4 bars
A4 bars
E♭
Passes through B♭ major and A♭
E♭
The chart runs 24 . Section A takes 8 bars and repeats, then a short 4-bar section B leads into a closing 4-bar A. It stays in , except that section B passes through and before it comes home. Section A, bars 1 to 8, plays in bars 1 and 2, in bar 3, in bars 4 to 7 and B♭7 in bar 8. On the repeat, bar 16 ends on E♭6 instead. Section B, bars 17 to 20, plays , , E♭7 and . The closing A, bars 21 to 24, plays E♭maj7 B♭7sus, , Fm7 B♭7 and E♭6 B♭7. These follow the iReal Pro chart; other lead sheets may count the bars or spell some differently.