I’ll Never Be the Same

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page originally published on 26 January 2014; revised on 26 August 2020

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I’ll Never Be the Same (m. Frank Signorelli, Matty Malneck, w. Gus Kahn)

According to JazzStandards.com and Arthur Jackson (in a Malneck biography published at the Robert Farnon Society website), Matty Malneck and Frank Signorelli co-wrote the instrumental “Little Buttercup.”

Jazzstandards.com indicates that the Gus Kahn lyric was added to the number for a 1932 recording by vocalist Mildred Bailey (with Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra), AND that this is when the title “I’ll Never Be the Same” was introduced. However, the Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) suggests that when Eddie Lang and Frank Signorelli recorded the number as an instrumental in New York on 27 September 1928 (see details below) the title was already “I’ll Never Be the Same.”

Eddie Lang — guitar solo, accompanied by Frank Signorelli, piano — recorded on 27 September 1928

The Discography of American Historical Recordings indicates that “I’ll Never Be the Same” was recorded by Lang and Signorelli on 27 September 1928. Take A (the only take listed by DAHR) was mastered as OKeh matrix W401161, which used on the singles (UK) Parlophone R 1778 and (Australia) Parlophone A 3560. The B-side of (UK) Parlophone R 1778 is “Add a Little Wiggle.”

Release date of (UK) Parlophone R 1778:

45Worlds.com – March 1934
Discogs.com – 1934
Rateyourmusic.com – 1934
SecondHandSongs.com – ca. 1934

(above, l. to r.) Tommy Rockwell (head of operations at Okeh Records), Eddie Lang, Frank Trumbauer, and Joe Venuti, 1929

Joe Venuti’s Blue Four — recorded as “Little Buttercup” on 10 June 1931, New York; issued on Okeh 4 1506 as the B-side of “Pardon Me Pretty Baby”

audio file, VBR MP3 (2.2 MB), from the Joe Venuti: 1930-1933 collection at archive.org:

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Recordings under the title I’ll Never Be the Same, featuring Gus Kahn lyric:

Ruth Etting — recorded on 26 July 1932; issued as Conqueror 7997-B, the flip side of “It Was So Beautiful”

Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, vocal: Carmen Lombardo — recorded on 27 July 1932; issued as the A-side of Brunswick 6350, b/w “We Just Couldn’t Say Good-bye” (Harry Woods)

Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, vocal: Mildred Bailey — recorded on 11 August 1932; issued as Victor 24088-A, b/w “We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye” (Harry Woods)

Lew Stone & the Monseigneur Band, vocal: Al Bowlly — recorded on 2 December 1932, and issued on Decca (UK) F-3314

Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra, vocal: Billie Holiday — recorded on 1 June 1937; issued on Brunswick 7926, b/w “I’ve Found a New Baby”

Personnel: Buck Clayton (tp) Buster Bailey (cl) Lester Young (ts) Teddy Wilson (p) Freddie Green (g) Walter Page (b) Jo Jones (d) Billie Holiday (v)

Ziggy Ellman and his Orchestra — recorded on 8 June 1939; issued on Bluebird 10342, c/w “Let’s Fall in Love”

See Pete Kelly’s piece on the Ziggy Ellman Bluebird sessions

Buddy Clark with Mitchell Ayres and his Orchestra — from the 1948 LP For You Alone, Columbia CL 6007 (10″, Mono)

Video presently unavailable

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Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli — recorded at RAI Studios in Rome, January or February 1949

Django Reinhardt (g)
Stéphane Grappelli* (vln)
Gianni Safred (p)
Marco Pecori (b)
Aurelio de Carolis (dm)

Nat King Cole — from his debut studio album King Cole At the Piano, all tracks recorded on 13 August 1947 — The album was released in 1949 as Capitol Records CC 135, a set of four 78 rpm discs, and reissued in 1950 as the 10″ LP H-156.

King Cole Trio:

Nat King Cole – piano, arranger
Oscar Moore – guitar
Johnny Miller – bass

Lee Morgan — recorded on 28 April 1967, at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ; this was the second of two sessions the results of which were finally released in 1979 on the Blue Note album Sonic Boom, LT 987