The Very Thought of You
Jan 12th, 2009 by oldfogey
This is Ray Noble’s classic, and deceptively simple, arrangement of his own tune, recorded on 21 April 1934. The melody is played three times. First played successively by the piano, answered by strings, then by the saxophone, answered by the piano, then muted horns followed by the saxophone once more. The second time it is sung - perfectly - by Al Bowlly. In the thirties he was the nearest to equal Bing Crosby in singing ballads, and in some songs, like this one, was without equal. He sings the song straight, but he gives slight additional emphasis to some words ‘thought’, ‘very’, and is just shy of the beat, which adds to the aching quality of the vocal. The third time it is played by the whole band, a heart tugging mini crescendo, followed by a little violin interlude at the end, vocal again for the last four bars, over piano, and out.
It is incomparable.
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Al Bowlly is good, no doubt about it. Nevertheless, he falls far short of Bing Crosby’s unique voice and ability to put over a song — any song!
William - Thank you. I too am a great Bing Crosby fan - see my earlier post on his version of Goodnight Sweetheart - which is better than Bowlly’s. And I agree about his voice and way with a song. Bing’s version of The Very Thought of You is good, and typical of him - but it lacks the timeless quality of Ray Noble’s version. Perhaps Bing dominates the song, using it as vehicle for his expression. Al Bowlly doesn’t dominate the song - he allows Noble’s conception to shine through, his vocal taking its place among the other instruments, as the servant of the song, and at the same time adding something unique from the quality of his voice. No other version of this song - none - matches it. Regards OF