August 27, 2008

"Don't Take Your Love From Me"

The tune "Don't Take Your Love From Me" was written by Henry Nemo in 1944. Nemo was a musician, songwriter, and actor who was known as being a hipster and was sometimes credited as the creator of jive talk. Gotta love that. He had a very small part in Song of the Thin Man (1947) as "The Neem" in which he displayed his affinity for jive. As there is not a single picture to be found of Nemo on the vast Interwebs (I challenge you to find one), I am assuming in this clip from Song of the Thin Man he is one of the guys in the scene wherein they discuss classy, refined dames' "cultured tomatoes." Incidentally, this video features the lovely (even by today's standards) Gloria Grahame (she played the blonde "bad girl" in It's a Wonderful Life) singing "You're Not So Easy to Forget":


...What was this post about?....Oh yeah, "Don't Take Your Love From Me." Here is a slower, ballad version Sinatra recorded in 1961, which I've never heard. It's a bit too somnambulant for my liking, as I far prefer the recording of it he did (also in '61) for the great Come Swing with Me! album, but this at least gives you a sense of the fantastic melody:


And this is the nine minute version John Coltrane recorded in 1958 for his The Stardust Sessions album, so be sure to watch every second:

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