Stomp Off 1001 - Dickbaker.org

What a Dream (Sidney Bechet)Who’ll Chop Your Suey When I’m Gone (Sidney Bechet-RousseauSimmons)Also: Mon Homme [My Man] (Maurice Yvain-Channing Pollock)Methinks we need some consistency here, but it’s not going to be easy. Wehave most Bechet titles in English, but then come “Dans les rues d’Antibes”and “Ce Mossieu qui parle.” (First, note the capitalization -- that’s howthese titles are capitalized in French.) “Dans les rues" doesn’t bother metoo much, since it’s widely known by its French title, but what of “CeMossieu” (which means “That Man Who Is Talking”)?Lissauer & S&P both list “My Man (Mon Homme).”My instinct is to list foreign tunes (a) by English title only unlessthey’re also known by their foreign title, in which case (b) put foreigntitle in parens. On this list “Autumn Leaves,” a French tune, is anexample of (a); “My Man” probably should be treated as (b). Or list themby their foreign title only if that’s the way they’re known (“Ciribiribin”here is Italian).“Dans les rues” is an easy choice in this category; “Ce Mossieu” is a bittougher.Then there’s “I Remember When” / “Si tu vois ma mère.” Ray Smith claimsthat “I Remember When” is a loose, colloqual equivalent of “Si tu vois mamère,” which translates literally as “If You See My Mother.” That doesn’tappear to be the case. I consulted Charles-Henri Michel, senior editor ofUSIA’s worldwide French-language news and features service. He could thinkof no instance or context in which this interpretation or understandingcould be true.And I consulted my records: I have four recordings of the tune underthe French title (by Bechet with Luter, Jim Buchmann, Jacques Kerrien,Wilber’s Bechet Legacy). The Bechet/Luter record, a curious French recordthat runs at 16 2/3 rpm, has the word “Lonesome” after the French title,but none of the other French titles on the disk has English translations.I have two recordings of it under title “If You See My Mother” (Last ChanceJB, South Frisco JB). I don’t have a single recording as “I RememberWhen.”Aha! Tex Wyndham's liner notes to the newest Last Chance JB CD state thefollowing: “The poignant ‘Si Tu Vois Ma Mere’ appears to have first beenwaxed in Paris in 1952 by its composer Sidney Bechet. The title is mostcommonly translated as ‘If You See My Mother,’ but I have publishededitions of it which show two other English titles: ‘Lonesome’ and ‘IRemember When.’ French lyrics were added by Bechet and Jean Brusolle.”So here's the sum of my wisdom: