Transcription Page:     Memories of You   –  22 November 1939  (master take)

C&A:

Five different versions of Memories of You were recorded – all within a three-month period;  and all with the 1939 sextet in NYC, same personnel (Smack was reinstated as the sextet pianist for the concert) and routine:  one radio studio broadcast, one at a Waldorf-Astoria Hotel gig, two in the Columbia recording studio for possible commercial release, and one in concert at Carnegie Hall on Christmas Eve.  Goodman’s forte was playing the melody on ballads – his contributions to this tune are exemplary.

Charles’ usual method is to employ eighth notes in his solos.  On slower tunes he would use sixteenth notes in parts of his solos.  Memories of You is unique in that he applies sixteenth notes exclusively on all five versions.  And he plays much of the rhythm straight (not syncopated) on all five of his solos usually holding the swingin’ till the last bar.

Each and every one of Charlie Christian’s solos is beautifully put together.  Like whiffs of fresh air.  They arrive, exhilarate, and are quickly gone.

Of the five editions, this Charlie Christian solo is clearly the most adventurous in regard to the guitar picking.  At the same time, it seems the most formally constructed – as if purposely wrapped up and presented for permanent pressing.

Erudite reviews:

Jan Evensmo in The Guitars of Charlie Christian… (1976):
“The studio versions of Memories… are well played and quite dexterous to be held in slow tempo.  They are also remarkably different, although I think I find other versions, like the Oct 23, 1939 one, more exciting.”

Claude Carrière in Charlie Christian, Vol. 2 (1992) MJCD 29 liner notes:
“The short eight bars from Charlie on the bridge of Memories differs significantly from one take to the other:  the first restrained, the second adventurous.  The brevity of Charlie’s intervention is all the more regrettable in that the earlier version of this ideal showcase also denied him a complete chorus.”