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about
One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the 1943 film musical The Sky's the Limit, in which it is performed by Fred Astaire. It was also recorded by many of the leading vocalists of the mid-Twentieth Century but for me, it found its perfect expression in recordings by that greatest of all popular singers Frank Sinatra.
This version is a bit of a vanity project for me and an unmissable opportunity to create something with two fine jazz musicians. It features Rustom Battiwalla on piano / keys and Bill Crowther on tenor sax.
I first met Bill at Bath University, where one of us laid the foundations for a glittering academic career, while the other drank and talked too much on subjects he knew very little about.
We played in various bands together and Bill introduced me to the joy of jazz when he asked me to play drums in his bebop band – So What? That band, which still convenes from time to time to this day, has probably taught me more about music and working with other musicians than anything else ever has.
Today, Bill Crowther is Professor of Aerospace Engineering at University of Manchester. I still talk too much (sometimes in bars) and generally know too little.
I didn’t meet Rustom Battiwalla until the day he recorded this piano part for me, though he is the brother of a good friend and I’d often heard his playing and his musical arrangements.
Rustom studied piano, jazz piano and double bass at the Guildhall School of Music. He graduated with a First, as well as an Associate Diploma with honours from the Royal College of Music. Although a professional career beckoned, Rustom made the decision to remain an amateur musician, and instead fulfilled his other childhood ambition by working as a train driver. Alongside his job, Rustom continues to give frequent solo, duet and chamber music recitals around the UK
lyrics
it's quarter to three
There's no one in the place except you and me
So, set 'em up, Joe
I’ve got a little story
I think you should know
We're drinking, my friend,
to the end of a brief episode
Make it one for my baby
One more for the road
I’ve got a routine,
Put another nickel in the machine
Feeling so bad
Won’t you make the music easy and sad
I could tell you a lot,
But you've got to be true to your code
Let’s make it one for my baby
One more for the road
You'd never know it
But buddy, I'm a kind of poet
And I got a lot of things I'd like to say
And when I'm gloomy, won't you listen to me?
'Til it's talked away
Well…
…that's how it goes
and Joe I know you're getting anxious to close
So, thanks for the cheer, I hope you didn't mind my bending your ear
But this torch that I found it’s gotta be drowned or it soon might explode
Let’s make it one for my baby
One more for the road
The long, it's so long
So long
credits
released March 24, 2023
Music by Harold Arlen.
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
From the 1943 film musical The Sky's the Limit
This version
Sung by Boo Sutcliffe
Piano / keys: Rustom Battiwalla
Tenor sax: Bill Crowther
Mixed and mastered by Carl Rosamond
Thanks to Steve Longbottom at Vibrations Studios, Huddersfield for recording the keys and guide vocal for this.
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