Little Buttercup
78 rpm Odeon A 286063 a
Frank Signorelli wrote the tune and recorded it three years earlier with Eddie Lang under its usual name, I’ll Never Be the Same. Later versions with touching lyrics were made by among others Billie Holiday.
This version with Joe Venuti’s Blue Four is from 1931. Signorelli plays the intro on piano and Venuti exposes the theme on violin with elegance, exemplarily accompanied by Lang’s guitar. After a modulation one scale down to the usual key of G major, Jimmy Dorsey plays the verse beautifully on clarinet with Venuti Lang playing obligato and then on the next chorus he takes the double role of playing the melody and answering himself. Eddie Lang is given space in the middle and plays his guitar solo in the upper register.
For the last eight bars, Venuti re-enters to finish this peaceful and meditative performance. The last note comes from the composer’s piano.