John Klenner, music · Sam M. Lewis, lyrics · Introduced by Red McKenzie and His Orchestra, October 1931
Just Friends
Just Friends is a 1931 song written as a ballad, now often played at medium or faster tempos. Slow chord changes leave room for substitutions, and the tune opens on the IV chord, away from home. You hear it from Charlie Parker with strings, Chet Baker's vocal, Pat Martino's guitar and many later versions.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Hear the song enter jazz Charlie Parker with Strings✓
- 2 Hear the first recording Red McKenzie✓
- 3 Hear a classic sung version Chet Baker✓
- 4 Hear a vocal with a jazz band Tony Bennett with Stan Getz✓
- 5 Hear two tenor saxophones Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins✓
- 6 Hear a guitar and organ version Pat Martino✓
- 7 Hear the tune as a piano trio Oscar Peterson Trio✓
- 8 Hear a current voice-and-trio version Michael Mayo✓
How the tune works
Four eight-bar strains in the pattern A B A C, 32 bars in all. The two A strains match, and the last eight bars end differently from bars 9 to 16, which jazzstandards.com writes as A, B1, A, B2. The tune starts away from its home key. In the chart on this page, which sits in F, the first chord is B♭maj7, the IV chord, held for two bars. B♭m7 to E♭7 follows, and Fmaj7 arrives in bar 5, the first time the tune lands on home. Sources describe this opening as IV, then minor iv, then the tonic. In G, the original key, the same moves are Cmaj7, Cm7, F7 and Gmaj7. Bars 7 and 8 use A♭m7 and D♭7. Bars 9 to 12 go Gm7, C7, Am7, Dm7: a ii-V that resolves deceptively and settles for a moment in the relative minor, D minor. Bars 13 and 14 sit on G7, and bars 15 and 16 (Gm7, C7, with B7 as a passing chord) lead back to B♭maj7. The last eight bars run Gm7, C7, Em7♭5 and A7 to Dm7 in bar 28, then G7, Gm7 and C7, and settle on F6 in bar 31, with Cm7 and F7 in bar 32 turning back to the top.
The changes under Benny Carter's alto saxophone solo on Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson (1986), transcribed in the Weimar Jazz Database. Fake books differ in places.
Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path opens with the Parker record that brought the song into jazz, then steps back to its 1931 debut. It goes on through two sung jazz readings, two tenors, a guitar and organ group, a piano trio and a recent voice-and-trio version. Each step gives you one thing to hear and one thing to play.
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Step 1 · Hear the song enter jazz Now playing
Charlie Parker with Strings 1949
Charlie Parker With Strings
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- Listen for
- Parker's alto sax sits over strings, harp and oboe, with piano, bass and drums underneath. Educators call this a ballad reading, and the song is now usually played faster.
- Try this
- Play the melody and chords slowly, holding most chords for two bars. Then play along with the recording and follow where the chords change.
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Step 2 · Hear the first recording Now playing
Red McKenzie and His Orchestra 1931
Original 78 rpm record
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- Listen for
- This is the song as first released in October 1931, on a record that runs just under three minutes. Listen to the tune in its original setting as a popular song, before jazz players took it up.
- Try this
- Sing or hum the melody with the record while you play the chords slowly. Then play only the root of each chord to hear how the harmony moves.
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Step 3 · Hear a classic sung version Now playing
Chet Baker 1955
Chet Baker Sings and Plays
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- Listen for
- Baker both sings and plays trumpet, at a swinging medium tempo, with piano, bass and drums behind him.
- Try this
- Sing the melody with Baker, then play the chords you know at the same medium swing. For a smaller step, play just the opening IV chord and the minor iv chord that follows it, over and over.
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Step 4 · Hear a vocal with a jazz band Now playing
Tony Bennett with Stan Getz 1964
Jazz
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- Listen for
- Bennett's voice sits beside Getz's tenor sax, with piano, bass and drums. At about two and a half minutes, the track is short enough to hear several times in a row.
- Try this
- Sing the melody along with Bennett, then play the chords you know under it. For a smaller step, play only the chord roots on a piano or bass.
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Step 5 · Hear two tenor saxophones Now playing
Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins 1963
Sonny Meets Hawk!
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- Listen for
- Two tenor saxophones, Hawkins and Rollins, play over a piano, bass and drums rhythm section. The track runs just under five minutes.
- Try this
- Play the melody along with the recording, then play only the chord roots through one chorus while the tenors play. Soloing over the changes is a bigger step, so treat it as optional.
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Step 6 · Hear a guitar and organ version Now playing
Pat Martino 1967
El Hombre
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- Listen for
- Martino's guitar leads over organ, with flute, drums, conga and bongo around it. Teachers describe the tempo as medium up or up-tempo.
- Try this
- Play the melody with the recording, then play only the chord roots through one 32-bar chorus. Soloing at this tempo is a larger step, so start with the roots.
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Step 7 · Hear the tune as a piano trio Now playing
Oscar Peterson Trio 1970
Walking the Line
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- Listen for
- Three players only: Peterson on piano, Mraz on bass and Price on drums. The track runs 3:54.
- Try this
- On a piano, play the chords with your left hand and the melody with your right through one chorus. For a smaller step, play only the chord roots in your left hand.
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Step 8 · Hear a current voice-and-trio version Now playing
Michael Mayo 2024
Fly
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- Listen for
- Mayo's voice with piano, Rhodes and synthesizer sounds, electric bass, drums and snaps. The track runs about five minutes.
- Try this
- Hum the melody with the track and clap the beat. Then play the chords of the first eight bars, holding each chord for its full length.
More great versions
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Russ Columbo with Leonard Joy's Orchestra 1932
Victor 78 rpm record
Russ Columbo's version with Leonard Joy's Orchestra reached the charts in February 1932 and peaked at number fourteen, the first hit for the song.
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Sarah Vaughan 1949
Columbia single
Sarah Vaughan sang it for Columbia in 1949 with a small band of piano, guitar, bass, drums and saxophone, arranged and conducted by Joe Lippman.
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Richie Kamuca Quartet 1957
The Richie Kamuca Quartet
A 1957 tenor sax quartet with pianist Carl Perkins, taken up-tempo.
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The Cecil Taylor Quintet (with John Coltrane and Kenny Dorham) 1958
Hard Driving Jazz
The only recorded session with John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor, with Kenny Dorham on trumpet.
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Frank Sinatra 1959
No One Cares
Frank Sinatra sings it on the 1959 Capitol album No One Cares, with Gordon Jenkins arranging and conducting.
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Benny Carter and Oscar Peterson 1986
Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson
Benny Carter's alto sax solo on this track is the transcription behind the chord chart on this page.