THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

288-Lew Stone And His Band (Vocal Chorus by Sam Browne)-I Get Along Without Very Well (Except Sometimes.’)

1939-Has never charted in the UK. There was no UK chart until 1952.

Best Bit-At 0.09. The lyrics were written 15 years before the music was added, and the lyricist died before hearing or seeing the songs success.

‘I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes’) was co-written by Hoagy Carmichael, (music) and Jane Brown Thompson, (lyrics) Carmichael based the main melodic theme on the ‘Fantaisie-Impromptu’ in C sharp minor, by Frederick Chopin (1810-1849.) In 1924 a friend of Carmichael’s showed him a magazine clipping of a poem he thought he might like, Carmichael did, and scribbled it down on the back of an envelope. 15 years later while having a clear out he came across the envelope and this time decided to write music to the words, but he couldn’t release it until tracking down the poems author.

Carmichael asked his friend, the radio presenter Walter Winchell (1897-1972) to broadcast on air a plea to find whoever had written the songs lyrics. Winchell said on air, ‘Attention, poets and songwriters! Hoagy Carmichael, whose songs you love has a new positive hit, but he cannot have it published. Not until the person who inspired the words communicates with him and agrees to become his collaborator. I hope that person is a listener now,’ Winchell then went on to quote some of the lines from the original 1923 poem. Around a month later two former employees of the now disbanded ‘Life’ magazine where the poem had first appeared came forward, and the author who was now a 71 year old widow living in a nursing home was found. Her name was Jane Brown-Thompson (1868-1939) who signed a contract where she would receive 3 cents per copy sold. The sad post-script to the story is that the song made it’s debut on the Dick Powell (1904-1963) radio show on January 19th, 1939, but unfortunately Mrs Thompson died the day before on January 18th, so never knew of her songs great success.
Hoagy Carmichael was born Hoagland Howard Carmichael on November 22nd, 1899, in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, he died of a heart attack on December 27th, 1981, at the age of 82. Carmichael who wrote several hundred songs, is remembered as one of the most gifted songwriters of the 20th Century. Two of his best known compositions are ‘Stardust,’ written in 1927, which is now considered as a standard, and part of the ‘Great American Songbook,’ and ‘Georgia on My Mind,’ (see also best songs 185) a song he wrote the music for in 1930.

‘I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes’) has been covered numerous times over the years, with the best selling recording being by ‘Red Norvo (1908-1999) and his Orchestra, with vocals by Terry Allen (1916-1981) from 1939. The version I have chosen is the 1939 recording by Lew Stone, who was born Louis Stone on June 28th, 1898, in London, England, he died on February 13th, 1969, at the age of 70, Stone is best remembered as one of the most innovative, and imaginative musical arrangers of his era. The vocals on the track were provided by Sam Browne (1898-1972) who recorded over 2000 songs in his career. Browne was a go to vocalist for several of the top bands of the 1930’s, and early 1940’s, including ‘Alfredo, and his Orchestra,’ and ‘Ambrose and his Orchestra.’

The following lyrics are from the original poem written by Jane Brown Thompson in 1923.’
‘I get along without you very well, of course I do
Except sometimes when soft rain falls
And dripping off the trees recalls
How you and I stood deep in mist
One day far in the wood, and kissed
But now I get along without you-well, of course I do’.