Mercer Ellington, music · Ted Persons, lyrics · First recorded by Johnny Hodges and His Orchestra, Hollywood, 1941
Things Ain't What They Used to Be
Mercer Ellington wrote this blues in 1941, when a radio dispute kept his father's songs off the air. Duke Ellington's band kept it in the nightly show for decades, often with a Johnny Hodges solo. You can hear it from Johnny Hodges, Charlie Barnet, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Johnny Hodges's 1941 recording and Charlie Barnet's 1942 dance-band record. It then moves through a long saxophone session, a festival stage, a bass player's band, a piano trio, a singer and a modern trio.
1950sFrank Wess, John Coltrane, Paul Quinichette1957 · Hard bop
The Dave Brubeck Quartet1958 · Cool jazz
Charles Mingus and His Jazz Groups1959 · Post-bop
1960sThe Oscar Peterson Trio1962 · Bebop
Ella Fitzgerald1969
1970s
1980s
1990sKeith Jarrett Trio1990 · Contemporary jazz
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Hear the first recording
Johnny Hodges and His Orchestra · 1941
Bluebird single, with Squaty Roo on the other side
Johnny Hodges, alto saxophonist in the Ellington band, led a small group of Ellington players in Hollywood on July 3, 1941, and made the first recording of the song. Bluebird issued it in 1942.
Small group from the Ellington band
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Listen for
Johnny Hodges leads on alto saxophone, with Duke Ellington on piano and Jimmy Blanton on bass. The song is a blues, so the same short pattern comes round again and again.
Try it on your instrument
Play the twelve in the usual of D♭, one per bar, and loop them: , , D♭7, D♭7, G♭7, G♭7, D♭7, D♭7, , , then D♭7 and in bar 11, and E♭m7 and A♭7 in bar 12. If you know the tune, play it over the loop.
Charlie Barnet and his orchestra recorded it for Decca in July 1942. According to Wikipedia, this version reached number eight on the Harlem Hit Parade.
Big band
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This is a dance-band record of about two minutes forty seconds. Compare it with the small group from step 1: now a whole orchestra, led by Charlie Barnet, plays the song.
Try it on your instrument
Play the same twelve again, and this time feel the quicker in bars 11 and 12: then , then then . They carry the pattern back to the top.
Frank Wess, John Coltrane, Paul Quinichette · 1957 · Hard bop
“Things Ain't What They Used To Be”, Wheelin' & Dealin'
Frank Wess, John Coltrane and Paul Quinichette recorded it for Prestige at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, on September 20, 1957. Prestige released it on the LP Wheelin' & Dealin' in 1958 and as a two-part single.
Saxophone sextet
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At over eight minutes, this is the longest studio recording on the path. The record credits Frank Wess, John Coltrane and Paul Quinichette together, with Mal Waldron on piano, Doug Watkins on bass and Art Taylor on drums.
Try it on your instrument
Count the rounds out loud with the recording and write down the bar where a new player takes over. That needs only careful listening, no instrument.
Dave Brubeck's quartet played it at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 3, 1958, with Paul Desmond on alto saxophone. Columbia released the set in 1959 as the LP Newport 1958.
Live at a festival
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This is a live festival recording of about seven minutes. Paul Desmond plays alto saxophone, Dave Brubeck piano, Joe Benjamin bass and Joe Morello drums.
Try it on your instrument
Play just the last four of the twelve on a loop: , , then with , then E♭m7 with A♭7. Keep going until the turn back to the start feels easy.
Charles Mingus and His Jazz Groups · 1959 · Post-bop
Mingus Dynasty
Charles Mingus recorded it with a seven-piece band at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York on November 13, 1959. Columbia released it in 1960 on the LP Mingus Dynasty.
Seven-piece band
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Charles Mingus leads on bass. The is Don Ellis on trumpet, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, John Handy on alto saxophone and Booker Ervin on tenor saxophone.
Try it on your instrument
Play only the root of each , one note a , the way a bass player would: D♭, G♭, D♭, D♭, G♭, G♭, D♭, D♭, E♭, A♭, then D♭ and B♭, then E♭ and A♭.
The Oscar Peterson Trio recorded it for Verve in Los Angeles on December 15 and 16, 1962, with Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. It is on the 1963 album Night Train.
Piano trio
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Oscar Peterson plays piano with only bass and drums behind him, so each instrument is easy to pick out. The track runs about four and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the twelve with your left hand, one per , and hum the tune above them. Keep the beat steady and let the last two bars lead you back to the top.
Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song in Hollywood in late May 1969 with an orchestra conducted by Gerald Wilson. The album takes its title from the song and was her last for Reprise.
Voice with orchestra
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Ella Fitzgerald sings it with an orchestra behind her, and the track runs a little over three minutes. Hear how a singer, rather than a horn, carries the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Hum the tune over the twelve-chord loop. For words, look up Ted Persons's lyrics and sing them over the same loop.
Keith Jarrett's trio, with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, played it at Town Hall in New York on April 21, 1990. ECM released the concert album The Cure in 1991.
Piano trio
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A live piano trio gives the old blues over nine minutes. Keith Jarrett plays piano, Gary Peacock bass and Jack DeJohnette drums.
Try it on your instrument
Play the twelve slowly, one a bar, and let the last two bars ring before you start again. Then hum the tune over the top.
Mercer Ellington writes the song in 1941, during a radio licensing dispute. Johnny Hodges leads the first recording, and Charlie Barnet's 1942 version reaches number eight on the Harlem Hit Parade.
1950s
In 1957 Frank Wess, John Coltrane and Paul Quinichette record a long version for Prestige, and Dave Brubeck's quartet plays it at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958. In 1959 Charles Mingus records it with a seven-piece band.
1960s
Oscar Peterson's trio records it in Los Angeles in 1962 for the album Night Train. In 1965 Joya Sherrill sings it on an album produced by Mercer Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald records it in 1969 with Gerald Wilson's orchestra.
1970s
Duke Ellington and bassist Ray Brown record it as a duet in 1972, on the album This One's for Blanton. Paul Desmond's quartet plays it live at a Toronto club in 1975.
1980s
McCoy Tyner plays it at the piano at Merkin Hall in New York in 1989, and Blue Note releases the concert on an album named for the song.
1990s
Keith Jarrett's trio, with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, plays it at Town Hall in New York in April 1990. ECM releases the concert in 1991 on The Cure.
More great versions
5 more, from 1965 to 1989. Tap a cover to play it here.
1960sJoya Sherrill1965 · Bebop
The Dave Brubeck Trio featuring Gerry Mulligan1968
Dave Brubeck's trio with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan recorded it in New York on October 4, 1968. Columbia released it in 1969 on the album Blues Roots.
Duke Ellington and bassist Ray Brown recorded it as a duet on the album This One's for Blanton. Jimmy Blanton had played bass on Johnny Hodges's 1941 recording.
“Things Ain't What They Used To Be”, Like Someone in Love
Paul Desmond's quartet, with guitarist Ed Bickert, bassist Don Thompson and drummer Jerry Fuller, played it live at the Bourbon Street club in Toronto on March 29, 1975. Telarc issued the recording in 1992 on Like Someone in Love.
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
D♭ majorusual key
12 barsA form
D♭key centers
A12 bars
D♭
A is twelve long, and the whole tune stays in . holds bar 1, takes bar 2, and D♭7 comes back for bars 3 and 4. G♭7 holds bars 5 and 6, then D♭7 covers bars 7 and 8. sits in bar 9 and in bar 10. Bar 11 plays D♭7 and then , and bar 12 plays E♭m7 and then A♭7, which sets up the next chorus. JazzStandards.com describes the melody as two riffs over the standard twelve-bar blues and gives the original as , while the iReal Pro chart used here is in D♭.