I must be losing my marbles or something.  How in blazes did both Ed
Sprankle and Matthew Caulfield identify Ray Henderson's "Just A Memory"
as a waltz?

It just so happens that this tune is one of my favorites, and it is
no more a waltz than "White Christmas" or "God Bless America".  Both Ed
and Matthew are very intelligent and experienced collectors, and if one
of them says something is true, I would tend to believe it -- and if
both of them say the same thing then it is almost certainly true.  But
here I am disagreeing with both of them.  How can this be?

My first roll of it is the Duo-Art version with Constance Mering
performing.  It is an exquisite and perfect arrangement of a pop tune,
but not a waltz.  I liked the song so much that when I found out
Duo-Art issued a second version as a ballad, played by Robert
Armbruster, I bought a copy of it.  It is totally different from
Mering's arrangement, but it is an excellent roll and still nothing
like a waltz.

My third version is the Ampico played by J. Milton Delcamp.  I don't
like it as much as the other two -- I generally do not like Ampico pop
arrangements -- but it still is not a waltz.  As a matter of fact,
Delcamp plays the last chorus as a snappy fox trot and that is
certainly no waltz either.

What is going on here?  Now I know that songs can be arranged as a
waltz, but if three rolls from the biggest reproducing piano makers are
not a waltz, then why did all of them change it?  Does anybody have any
ideas?

Randolph Herr

 [ These song attributes cause much confusion:
 [
 [ 1. A song title cannot be copyrighted;
 [ 2. The copyright deposition might say "waltz" in error;
 [ 3. The artist can perform the tune in any style he wants.
 [
 [ The best way to settle this debate is to cite specific performances,
 [ like you have cited above, and play the renditions for the opinions
 [ of experienced dancers.  After all, the style of a music performance
 [ is closely related to the dance possibilities.  :-)   -- Robbie