John Lewis & S'il vous Plait

[Matthew]

I know, I really, really, need to get me a good discography, but until then (when I have the $$$), I have some questions that, hopefully in people's kindness, I need help with.

1. S'il Vous Plait has been credited as written by John Lewis. However, the Miles Ahead site lists it as S'il vous Plait (W. Mourant-B. Stegmeyer). And when I researched further, I came up with S'il Vous Plait (Stegmeyer, Bill and Mourant, Walter) Empire Music Inc. 1954. Which is interesting, to have a song under copyright in 1954 that was played and recorded on September 4, 1948, @ Royal Roost. So, did Lewis write and arrange the song? The record would seem to indicate that he did.

2. Was this ever recorded other than the September 4, 1948, Royal Roost recording?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[jazztrain]

Mathew:

I think the likely answer is that there's more than one tune with the same title.

I checked All Music Guide (not always reliable but occasionally handy). It shows several songs with that title. The John Lewis composition was recorded by Miles at the Royal Roost and apparently by Ronnie Scott as well.

The tune by Bill Stegmeyer and Walter Mourant has been recorded by Jacques Gauthe.

There appear to be still more tunes by that name, including one by John Pisano.

[Matthew]

Thanks for looking, I completely forgot about AMG. I might be that the Miles Ahead site has it wrong, though that's hard to believe. Not a big question, be interesting none the less.

[jazztrain]

Mathew:

I suspect the Miles Ahead site is wrong. People searching for song composers are often lazy or not sufficiently thorough. BMI lists 11 different compositions with that name, including the John Lewis composition and the Stegmeyer/Mourant composition.

[Matthew]

Mathew:

I suspect the Miles Ahead site is wrong. People searching for song composers are often lazy or not sufficiently thorough. BMI lists 11 different compositions with that name, including the John Lewis composition and the Stegmeyer/Mourant composition.

I agree with you on this, the Birth of the Cool version has to be by Lewis. Interesting that Mulligan didn't do this one for Re-birth of the Cool album.

[brownie]

S'il vous Plait is a John Lewis composition for the Miles Davis nonet. It was played during the Royal Roost appearances of the band but was not among the tunes that were recorded for Capitol.

The other S'il Vous Plait is a New Orleans style composition.

Not sure about the John Pisano S'il Vous Plait

[Matthew]

S'il vous Plait is a John Lewis composition for the Miles Davis nonet. It was played during the Royal Roost appearances of the band but was not among the tunes that were recorded for Capitol.

The other S'il Vous Plait is a New Orleans style composition.

Not sure about the John Pisano S'il Vous Plait

Thanks guys for confirming what I thought was true. I've come to depend on the Miles Ahead Discography so much, I was in a quandary after I read something that I knew was wrong -- thought maybe I was wrong, and I wanted to make sure who actually wrote the song.

Anyone have an opinion about The Sound of Miles Davis: The Discography: A Listing of Records and Tapes, 1945-1991 by Jan Lohmann? Worth getting?

[brownie]

Anyone have an opinion about The Sound of Miles Davis: The Discography: A Listing of Records and Tapes, 1945-1991 by Jan Lohmann? Worth getting?

It is an excellent inprint discography. But with the internet presence of the Miles Ahead site, I would say it tends to be come superfluous.

[bertrand]

What discography were you planning to buy which would give you the composer credits?

Bertrand.

[Matthew]

What discography were you planning to buy which would give you the composer credits?

Bertrand.

Would not Lord's have that? Expensive, I know. I was hoping that Lohmann's would have that for the songs. But still, Miles Ahead, is very good, with all the doodad's I like, and it's free.

[Chas]

What discography were you planning to buy which would give you the composer credits?

Would not Lord's have that?

If the Lord is your shepherd you most certainly shall want.....for composer credits .

[Matthew]

What discography were you planning to buy which would give you the composer credits?

Would not Lord's have that?

If the Lord is your shepherd you most certainly shall want.....for composer credits .

Ah, that would be like walking in the valley of the shadow of death for me....

[JSngry]

Here's a guy I took years to check out because I was prepared to totally hate his guts, for many of the kinds of reasons being mentioned to cut down players like Eric Alexander.