Harry Ruby, music · Bert Kalmar, lyrics · From the film Check and Double Check, 1930
Three Little Words
Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar wrote Three Little Words for the 1930 film Check and Double Check. Its 32 are easy to follow, with a main part that returns and a short contrasting middle. Duke Ellington's 1930 record reached number one, and Lester Young, Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins recorded it later.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the 1930 film-song record by the Rhythm Boys and Duke Ellington's band, then follows the song through Lester Young's small group, Stan Getz with a trio and Sarah Vaughan live in Chicago. It ends with a vibes-and-tenor meeting, an alto sax quartet, Sonny Rollins and a live set with two basses.
1930sDuke Ellington and His Orchestra with the Rhythm Boys1930 · Big band
1940sLester Young and the Kansas City Six1944 · Swing
1950sStan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio1957 · Cool jazz
Sarah Vaughan1958 · Swing
Milt Jackson and John Coltrane1959 · Hard bop
Lou Donaldson with the Three Sounds1959 · Bebop
1960sSonny Rollins1965 · Post-bop
1970sRon Carter Quartet1977 · Post-bop
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Hear where it started
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with the Rhythm Boys · 1930 · Big band
Three Little Words / Ring Dem Bells
Recorded in Hollywood on August 26, 1930, for the film Check and Double Check. The Rhythm Boys, including Bing Crosby, sing with Ellington's orchestra, and Victor released the record that October.
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Listen for
Three voices sing the song together while Ellington's band plays behind them. At 3:06 it is the shortest version on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first 8 on piano, one to a bar: , Cmaj7, Cmaj7, (two beats each), , , Dm7, G7. Smaller version: hold Cmaj7 for bars 1 to 3, then alternate Dm7 and G7.
Lester Young and the Kansas City Six · 1944 · Swing
“Three Little Words (Take 2)”, The "Kansas City" Sessions
Lester Young led a small group for Commodore Records in March 1944. The session made two takes of the song, and take 2, linked here, was left unissued at first.
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Listen for
Young's tenor sax plays a new tune of his own on top of the song's . The trumpet, trombone and piano each take a solo, and the trombone comes in right after Young.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first 8 , then make up a short tune of your own over them: , Cmaj7, Cmaj7, , , , Dm7, G7. Making up a tune takes practice; the smaller version is to play the and hum a new melody.
Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio · 1957 · Cool jazz
Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan / Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio
Recorded in Los Angeles on October 10, 1957, by Stan Getz with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis and Ray Brown. According to JazzDisco, this take first came out on a 1960 Verve LP that paired the date with a Getz and Gerry Mulligan session.
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Listen for
Getz plays a long tenor solo that includes a stop-time , where the trio plays only short accents behind him. Peterson takes a piano solo of his own.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 17 to 24: , , Gm7, C7, , Fmaj7, (two beats each), (two beats each). Smaller version: Gm7 and C7 for four bars, Fmaj7 for two, then G7.
“Three Little Words (Live at the London House, Chicago, 1958)”, After Hours at the London House
Recorded live at the London House club in Chicago on March 7, 1958, with Ronnell Bright, Richard Davis and Roy Haynes. Mercury issued the album in 1959.
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Listen for
Vaughan's voice leads while a piano, bass and drums trio stays behind her. The room is a live club, and the track runs 3:40.
Try it on your instrument
Sing the melody while you play the first 8 of : , Cmaj7, Cmaj7, , , , Dm7, G7. If you do not sing, play the melody on your instrument over the same chords.
Milt Jackson and John Coltrane recorded Bags & Trane in New York on January 15, 1959. Atlantic issued the album in 1961.
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Listen for
Vibraphone and tenor sax share the lead, with piano, bass and drums behind them. According to JazzStandards.com, this version puts the song in a faster setting.
Try it on your instrument
Count the 32 along with the track: 8 bars of A, 8 more of A, the 8-bar , and a last A. Try to tap out each new section as it starts.
Lou Donaldson with the Three Sounds · 1959 · Bebop
LD+3
Lou Donaldson recorded LD+3 with the Three Sounds trio at the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, in February 1959. Blue Note issued it that year.
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Listen for
The alto sax leads with the Three Sounds, a piano, bass and drums trio, behind it. The track runs 6:19.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last , 25 to 32: , Cmaj7, Cmaj7, , , , , Dm7 G7. Smaller version: Cmaj7 for four bars, then Dm7, G7, and C.
Sonny Rollins recorded On Impulse! at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on July 8, 1965, with Ray Bryant, Walter Booker and Mickey Roker.
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Listen for
Rollins's tenor sax leads a quartet with piano, bass and drums. The track runs almost seven minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Learn the melody well enough to hum it, then play it twice and change the rhythm the second time. Soloing over takes much more practice; this is the smaller version.
Recorded live at the Sweet Basil club in Greenwich Village in March 1977 and issued that year on Milestone as the album Piccolo.
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Listen for
Two basses are in the band: Carter on piccolo bass and Buster Williams on bass, with Kenny Barron on piano. At 8:44 it is the longest version on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the bass line for 1 to 8, one note per : C for three bars, then E♭ and A♭ in bar 4, then D, G, D, G. Smaller version: play only C, D and G.
According to JazzStandards.com, the Rhythm Boys and Duke Ellington's orchestra introduced the song in the film Check and Double Check, and Ellington's record became his first number one.
1940s
In March 1944 Lester Young records it for Commodore with a small group that includes Bill Coleman, Dicky Wells and Joe Bushkin. The session makes two takes, and the second stays unissued at first.
1950s
Stan Getz records it twice in 1957, with a quartet in August and with the Oscar Peterson Trio in October. Sarah Vaughan sings it live at the London House club in Chicago in 1958.
1960s
Nat King Cole sings it on L-O-V-E, recorded in 1964 and released in 1965. Sonny Rollins plays it with a quartet in July 1965, and Impulse! puts it on the album On Impulse!, issued that year.
1970s
Ron Carter's quartet plays it at the Sweet Basil club in New York in March 1977, and Milestone issues it on the album Piccolo.
1980s
Pepper Adams records it on September 30, 1981, with Jimmy Rowles on piano. It runs over seven minutes on his album Urban Dreams.
2010s
Cyrille Aimée sings it on her 2016 album Let's Get Lost, released on Mack Avenue.
More great versions
2 more, from 1957 to 1964. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sStan Getz Quartet1957
1960sNat King Cole1964 · Easy listening
Stan Getz Quartet
1957
Award Winner
Getz recorded this quartet version in Los Angeles on August 2, 1957, two months before his session with the Oscar Peterson trio.
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 → F → Ckey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
C
F
C
The chart in iReal Pro has 32 in , in the shape . Each A starts with three bars of , then in bar 4, then and in bars 5 and 6. The first A ends with Dm7 and G7 again, and the last A ends on followed by Dm7 G7 to lead back to the top. The (bars 17 to 24) plays twice, which points toward F, rests on for two bars, then slides , A♭7 G7 back to the final A.