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Never Let Me Go · Bill Evans
Sheet music:
Lyrics
Never let me go,
Love me much too much,
If you let me go
Life would lose its touch.
What would I be without you?
There’s no place for me without you!
Never let me go,
I’d be lost if you went away;
There would be
A thousand hours a day,
Without you, I know.
Because of one caress
My world was overturned,
At the very start
All my bridges burned
By my flaming heart!
You’d never leave me, would you?
You couldn’t hurt me, could you?
Never let me go,
Never never never let me go!
What would I be without you?
There’s no place for me without you!
Never let me go,
I’d be so lost if you went away;
There would be
A thousand hours in a day,
Without you, I know.
Because of one caress
My world was overturned,
At the very start
All my bridges burned
By my flaming heart!
You’d never leave me, would you?
You couldn’t hurt me, could you?
Never let me go,
Never let me go,
Never never never never never let me go!
NEVER LET ME GO (Music by Jay Livingston Lyrics by Ray Evans) was written for the 1956 Paramount Pictures film “The Scarlet Hour”, starring Carol Ohmart, Tom Tryon, Jody Lawrance and Elaine Stritch, directed by Michael Curtiz.
In this little-known gem of a film noir, a woman and her lover plan her husband’s untimely demise. Widely considered to be the last example of a classic film noir film, this production was a relatively bold experiment for a mid-1950’s Paramount release, mainly for the way Curtiz used a series of experimental Fujinon lenses which allowed for filming at reduced light levels given their larger than normal apertures.
This was Elaine Stritch’s film debut. Another cast member, Tom Tryon, later became a writer and wrote several science fiction, horror and mystery novels of note.
Nat King Cole performs this song in the film during a nightclub scene.
Music by Jay Livingston & Lyrics by Ray Evans
RECORDING HISTORY
Nat ‘King’ Cole, from soundtrack of Paramount Pictures THE SCARLET HOUR.
Carol Ohmart, from soundtrack of Paramount Pictures THE SCARLET HOUR.
Bill Evans, Alone, Verve 833 801-2.
Cleo Laine, Cleo At Carnegie The 10th Anniversary Concert, DRG CDXP 2101.
Dinah Washington, Blue Gardenia, UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nancy Wilson, Ballads, Blues & Big Bands, The Best of Nancy Wilson, Capitol, CDP 7243 8 34886 2 9.
Wynton Marsalis, Standard Time Vol. 3 The Resolution of Romance, Columbia CK 46143.
Shirley Horn, May The Music Never End, UMG Recordings, Inc.
Boz Scaggs, But Beautiful – Jazz Standards Vol.1, Gray Cat Records.
Charlie Watts
Corky Hale, Corky Hale, Lass-Hale Productions, CD 28064.
Roy Hargrove Quintet, With The Tenors of Our Time,
Bobby Hutcherson, The Most Relaxing Jazz Standards In The Universe, Denon Records.
Al Foster and McCoy Tyner
Ahmad Jamal, I Remember Duke, Hoagy and Strayhorn, Telarc International, Inc.
Diane Schur
Elvin Jones
Melissa Manchester, 2002 Concord Records, Inc. # FCD-3101-2 Livingston & Evans Songbook.
Philly Joe Jones and Red Garland
Jon Weber, Plays The Songs of Livingston & Evans, MD-1111.
And many others……….
FILM HISTORY
THE SCARLET HOUR, (Paramount Pictures, 1956 Nat Cole and Carol Ohmart)
Download the best Jazz sheet music and transcriptions here.
L I S T E N T O M O R E V E R S I O N S
Ahmad Jamal
Al Foster and McCoy Tyner
Audre Cooper
Bill Evans
Bobby Hutcherson
Boz Scaggs
Carol Ohmart
Carol Robbins
Charlie Watts
Cleo Laine
Corky Hale
David Evans
Diane Schur
Dinah Washington
Elvin Jones
Jacky Terrasson
Jay Livingston demo
Jazz Male Voc with trio and sax
Jon Weber
Michael Feinstein
Michael Hackett
Nancy Wilson
Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole from Soundtrack
Philly Joe Jones and Red Garland
Roy Hargrove Quintet
Sherry Williams
Shirley Horn
William Ash
Wynton Marsalis