All By Myself

According to his biographer Berlin wrote the song the year before his mother died as a meditation on solitude and the misery of growing old alone. It was introduced in The Music Box Revue of 1922. The song is now in the public domain.

Vocal & Arrangement - Janice Merritt
Vocal recording and song mastering - Bud Merritt
Arrangement and guitar solo - me.

The horns were altered in Melodyne and the strings were produced using the midi chord track rather than a RT.

The Band:
RealTracks in style: ~~481:Bass, Acoustic, Jazz Ballad Sw 085
RealTracks in style: ~~557:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm Jazz Ballad Freddie Sw 085 ('B' only)
RealTracks in style: 2593:Horn Section, Background CroonerBigBand9-Part Sw 110
RealTracks in song: ~487:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Jazz Ballad Sw 085
RealDrums in style:JazzTerryClarke^01-a,b:Cross Stick Tom 1


All By Myself

All by myself in the morning
All by myself in the night;
I sit alone in a cosy Morris chair,
So unhappy there playing solitaire

All by myself I get lonely
Watching the clock on the shelf
I'd like to rest my weary head on somebody's shoulder
I hate to grow older all by myself.

Lovely.
The tempo, phrasing and inflections of the vocal are wonderful and the guitar is a terrific example of taste.

The best thing I've heard on the forum in quite a while. Just perfect. Great vocal, great song, great production. Guitar was perfect, too. I wasn't familiar with this song by Berlin, but it's a winner. I can just see him sweating out the details of it (as he was wont to do) over his transposing upright piano, working those black keys.

Oh, man, Peter. I heard this yesterday. Really outstanding vocal. Can you guys do a whole album, Janice Songs Gershwin? Professional all the way, Peter. You are so good at playng the perfect part in any style. Very versatile and quite accomplished. Excellent production.

Thank you Ray!

Janice

Peter, Janice & Bud,

This is absolutely one of my favorite collaborations that the three of you have done.

The production on this is simply outstanding... It sounds like an old recording, but with nuance and polish.

I don't think anyone's phrasing or delivery on this song could be better than what Janice has done here - I could listen to this over and over again. Superb...

Love Peter's guitar - flashes of Barney Kessel. Just a perfect solo for this piece.

Bob

That clock on the shelf may be from some other era, but you guys knocked this out of the park.
Very well arranged and performed, great job and kudos to all.

Hello Peter and of course Janice and Bud
Very impressive song
Everything is at the highest level
This song can't be done much better.
Congratulations
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

Although this is not our kind of music, it is done very well.
Well sung by Janice and great guitar solo!

Rob and Anne-Marie

Wow. Thank you so much for your very kind words and thank you Peter for inviting me in on this production!

Janice

Thanks Ray appreciate the comments.

Peter

Lovely song. So cool that you are bringing these masterpieces back to life. Beautiful vocal Janice. Peter your guitar was excellent. Really well done..

Janice - Goosebumps! Could not be done better. Stunning.

Nice guitar work, Peter.

Nice arrangement.
(not a fan of the BIAB ride. But you know that...)

Very cool horns!
(a bit too-up-front, I think, for the genre. Would rather hear them "underneath" and less "bright".)

Beautiful work, y'all.

fj

Thanks Marty. It was a favorite “old movie” song of mine!

Janice

You'll knocked this one out of the park!

Great vocal - as usual

Great guitar - as usual

Great arrangement and mix - as usual

Loved it

Wow!
I should probably stop there

Fantastic rendition. Such a cool blend of old flavored horns, strings & piano infused with modern Janice vocals with Peter's guitar. Love Bud mixes. Every instrument is very well situated. Easy listen. Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Janice's interpretation is very cool, as is the guitar.

Melodyne seems the perfect tool for working with those BiaB brass parts!

And of course, a nice clear mix.

I enjoyed listening through this a couple of time!

Thanks a lot for the kind words.

Peter

Thanks Marty we appreciate the comments.

Peter

Nice!

Love the arrangement, especially the way it builds towards the end, and interesting to read how you manipulated the BIAB horns.

Janice knocked it out of the park with this one, couldn't possibly be better! Just perfect tone and phrasing.

Sounding good, Peter, very tasteful playing throughout, and love that fast little lick you used to end the solo.

You three have a knack for taking an old song and making it your own, well done.

Bob, I am humbled by your kind and supportive comments.
Thank you so much!

Janice

Even though it's 100% not my preferred genre, it's really well done, great arrangement and of course the vocals.
Good work from all involved

Bob
Thanks for the very supportive review - very much appreciated.

Peter

Thanks we appreciate the comments.
Peter

That's simply top-shelf people, all around

Janice, golly, your performance is perfect. The emotion and control, technique and artistry - superb.

Hat's off to the band and production staff as well:)

Standing ovation!

A super excellent version of this classic!

Such wonderful, warm, soothing sounds all around, great production, and great performances by everyone.

Haha, we have a clock on top of a Victrola - definitely another era.

Thank you so much!

J&B

Superb. Absolutely superb. Congratulations!!! Special congratulations to Janice - each song even better than the last.

Thanks Andi
Peter

Peter, Janice & Bud,

It's really good.
The vocals are great and the guitar solo is very nice.
Irvine Berlin is famous in Japan for songs such as ”White Christmas” and "What'll I do."
"What'll I do" is one of my favorite songs, so if I get the chance, I'd definitely like to listen to the performance by this collaboration.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Thank you Andi!

Janice


Favorite genre, or sort of favorite genre or not favorite genre we are glad folks think it was done well. Thanks you two!

Janice

Howdy Folks ...

One word in particular comes to mind - PRISTINE!

My mother was a wonderful singer and she would sing all the old classics as she cleaned house. I was privileged to hear that almost every day for years. This was one in here repretiore. She grew up in the Big Band era. She was born in 1923. We also watched all the old classic black and white movies that featureed big Bnd Muisc. I miss hearing her sing.

But ... Janice sure knows how to get the best out of everything she sings. It's kind of like an ice cream sundae. The basic ingredient (ice cream) is rich and smooth, the topping (cherries, pineapples, strawberries, etc.) brings a new element and texture to the treat that is exciting and ingratiating to the ice cream; the whipped cream is so smooth and satisfying; and the cherry on top says this is special. And yeah, that's pretty close to describing Janets vocals.

Peter, your guitar work is always superb, but you took it to the next level with this one.

I could go on and on, but I think I've adequately made my point. This was truly a treat! Nicely done, everyone.

Alan

Thanks Scott!

Janice

Thanis we appreciate the comments.

Peter

Thanks a lot Scott much appreciated.

Peter

Thanks floyd I actually thought the horns were a bit far back after listening to Bobby Darin's version which is certainly worth a spin.
First time I've ever really tried to use the big band horns. They were a bit temperamental and needed some work to get them to play nicely.

Peter

What a voice! Such a solid delivery of the lyric. The subtle inflections make this recording special.

Thanks big brother!

Janice

Enjoyable arrangement that evolves from simple to full power nicely. Great vocals by Janice, she really makes the loneliness in growing older tangible. To me, the story would work better in slower tempo (like Bing Crosby version), but then the nice arrangement wouldn't reveal its full beauty, so the length and tempo are in good balance now.

Janne

Excellent rendition of a classic. I am most familiar with the Bobby Darin version.
Janice shines and makes it her own.
Love the instrumentation arrangement.
I arranged some tracks for this song a couple years ago but never recorded a vocal. I don't need to after hearing this one.

Thank you Mario!

Janice

Hi PeterF

Very sweet song. The sound of the guitar well chosen. Well done.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Wow so lovely everything is so well done vocal is super good mix excellent guitar work spot on on everything thanks for sharing Eric

Thank you Misha! You are very kind.

Bud wanted me to mention that the mix was Peter’s.

Much appreciated by us all!

Janice

Thanks Mario.
Janice certainly shines on this.
Peter

Thanks a lot Misha.
Peter

Thanks David. Melodyne allowed me to alter the parts without having to do frequent regenerations.

Peter

Thank you!

Janice

Wow! Thank you Dave. I very much appreciate your encouraging vocal comments!

Janice

Thanks a lot Dave.

Peter

Thanks.

Peter

We appreciate the comments and I agree with all your comments about the vocals.

Peter

Hi, I listened to this whilst I was in Thailand on holidays last week but thought I’d wait until I got home before commenting.

I was sitting there in Thailand thinking how sultry it was outside then I heard Janice sing this beautifully done song and thought “boy you don’t know what “sultry” is.”

This was sung beautifully, produced as well as I would have expected from Bud and Peter’s guitar makes me proud to be an Aussie. I don’t comment often but this was well worth it.

Well done to all concerned.

Tony

Dave, Janice and Bud...you guys have certainly found your nitch here...Janice has the perfect timbre and classic vocal ability to deliver Gershwin in such a gorgeous...Dave your solo was so tasteful and fitting...the production was excellent...the horn section has an old recording texture to it that enhances the total appeal...so well done!

Aw shucks. I wish we could’ve at least made it to 99% not favorite!

But we all do appreciate your listen and nice comments.

Thanks!

Janice

Thank you so much. It was a pleasure to record this with Peter!

Janice



Thanks for the kind words!

Janice

Thank you!
Janice



Thank you! I love many of his songs and the old movies they appear in.

Janice

⁸

Thanks David

Thanks a lot

Peter

I

Thanks Shigeki

Peter

Thank you Al. My mother and father were also born around that time (early 20’s) so I learned from them the joy of such music and old movies.

I appreciate very much what you wrote!

Janice

Thanks Alan glad you enjoyed our efforts.

Peter

Thanks Fred
Peter

Thanks Janne - I'll have to listen to Bing's version.

Peter

We appreciate the review, thanks Scott.

Peter

Thank you.

Peter

Thank you!

Janice



Thank you Janne. I have loved this song for decades and much appreciate your vocal comment!

Janice

Your familiarity with the song makes your positive comments very special. Thank you!

Janice

Peter, Janice and Bud,

This is a really nice treatment of this old tune! Good performances by all! These songs from many years ago deserve to be resurrected and preserved by the next generations!

Thanks, Torrey

Thanks guys!

Janice

Wow! That is so nice of you to say that Tony about my vocal.

I very much appreciate every word of it!

Janice

Thank you so much! I have so long loved but rarely recorded this style.

Janice



Thanks Torrey and yes it it is fun to work with these PD classics!

Janice