Somebody Stole My Gal

Here are two transcriptions of the same song from the same year (1935) that are similar yet unique.

The Associated Transcription performance of Somebody Stole My Gal is one of my all-time favourite performances of Fats.

The propulsive, bouncy swing and momentum that he achieves is just breathtaking plus the intimate format of only him and his piano playing leaves everything clearly on display. What amazes me is, that after his piano solo and he resumes singing, he is STILL playing the most wonderful stride accompaniment underneath! At a certain point, this stops and he resumes a more vamp-style accompaniment for the rest of his vocal performance.

I used this moment to cut straight to the performance with His Rhythm which swings even faster! N. B. There's a wonderful moment near the end of his solo where he sets up a rhythmic "lick" that is essentially in 3/4 time against his 4/4 stride left hand!

These are the "notes" to the best of my ability but always refer to the actual recordings for the ultimate audio reference.



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