Recorded October 26, 1964 Label Blue Note Language English | Genre Jazz, hard bop Composer(s) Horace Silver Producer(s) Alfred Lion | |
"Song for My Father" is a composition by Horace Silver. The original version, by Silver's quintet, was recorded on October 26, 1964. It has become a jazz standard and is probably Silver's best-known composition.
Contents
Composition
"Song for My Father" has a 24-bar AAB construction and is in 4/4 time. It was composed in F minor. It has a bossa nova feel and features a bass ostinato. "It contains only four chords: Fm9 - E♭9 - D♭9 - C♭9. The piece uses even eighth notes throughout, not swing eighths."
Original recording
The original version featured Silver on piano, with Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone), Carmell Jones (trumpet), Teddy Smith (bass), and Roger Humphries (drums). It was recorded in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on October 26, 1964. It was first released on the album of the same name.
The opening vamp [...] leads to one of Silver's most affecting themes, and then to perfect solos by, respectively, the leader and Joe Henderson. Henderson's is one of the great motivically based solos in recorded jazz; all derived from his three opening notes.
In his improvisations on the track,
Silver evokes historical precedents in his use of blue notes, blues scale, and the use of mixolydian modal concepts on the dominant chord, and a swinging rhythm punctuated with silence. He also uses a blues scale on the dominant and tonic (F) chords, and flat thirds, fifths and sevenths.
In the second chorus, from the twenty-fifth bar, "Silver changes from harmony in thirds to harmony in fourths".
Two aspects of the accompaniment are just as important as the melody itself. First, the bassist plays only roots and fifths of the chords [...] Second, the rhythm section breaks at measure 6 in every section. Both the bass pattern and the one-measure break occur consistently during the solos as well as the theme choruses, and provide an extra degree of continuity that helps tie the whole performance together.
Later versions and use
As of 2014, more than 180 versions of the song had been recorded.
The opening bass piano notes were borrowed by Steely Dan for their song "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", while the opening horn riff was borrowed by Stevie Wonder for his song "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing". Earth Wind & Fire also borrowed the opening bass notes for their song "Clover". In the booklet of their box set, Paul Weller noted that he "nicked 'the chords for The Style Council's 1984 song 'Me Ship Came In!'"