Monk: Handwritten Manuscripts Of "Little Rootie Tootie" and "Well You Needn't"

Robin Kelley’s massive biography of Thelonious Monk is incredibly thorough. Kelley is a distinguished historian, and he covered just about every angle in his research. For example, he describes the original manuscripts of many Monk compositions that were mailed to the Library of Congress in order to register the copyright of each one. (U.S.A. law protects composers and authors, but registering with the Library provides additional benefits and protections.) But, other than Kelley, few people have actually seen those manuscripts. Among my Monk essays to date (see the Index), you previously looked at “‘Round Midnight” as Monk originally wrote it, with the music in his own handwriting. Most of these early sheets do not have chord symbols.

Today we will look at two more Monk manuscripts. They were both stamped “received” on February 5, 1944 at the Library of Congress, and both list saxophonist Teddy McRae, evidently a friend of Monk, as the first author, even though it is certain that McRae did not compose any part of them. As we previously saw, Monk had already submitted “‘Round Midnight,” under its original name of “I Need You So.” So why did he now need McRae’s help? Well, Monk was submitting his pieces in handwritten, unpublished form (they are stamped “unpub”), but he wanted to be represented by a publisher, which was, in those days, the way to further one’s career and income as a composer. After all, one could say “I’m publishing it myself,” but how on earth would you get others to perform and record it? A publisher could typeset the song professionally and market it.

As Kelley explains (pages 93-4), McRae was able to get both pieces published by Regent Music Corporation. McRae’s fee for this service was to be listed as the first composer and, as a result, to collect half of any royalties. Still, Teddy McRae (1908-1999) was a very accomplished saxophonist and composer, and a good person to help Monk move ahead in the publishing business. During the late ‘30s, McRae was associated largely with the Chick Webb band, and after Webb died in 1939 he had served as its musical director behind Ella Fitzgerald until late 1941. And at the very time that he and Monk were associated, he was musical director of Louis Armstrong’s big band. Besides, McRae was already a published composer who had written hits for Artie Shaw—Shaw’s name was on them, but that too may have been another case of the “leader’s prerogative,” in that case working against McRae and benefiting Shaw.

On February 5, when Monk‘s pieces were received, the Library also received three of McRae’s own, and one more that he coauthored with someone else, all published with Regent as well. Since they were all received the same day, and all except one of the registration numbers are sequential, Teddy must have mailed them all in one big envelope. More significant, they all have the exact same music handwriting. Some of Monk’s later pieces were written out by a copyist—he even signed his work “R. Decelle”—but the music notation of his manuscripts from the 1940s is in a variety of handwritings. For example, in this case, the writing is different from “Midnight” in my previous post. For one thing, the earlier one looked like pencil writing, whereas these look like they were done with ink, perhaps one of the Osmiroid pens that were standard among musicians for many years. That is a very different look from pencil, with thicker lines.

Since they all have the same handwriting for the music, it’s clear that McRae said to Monk, “Before I submit your music, let me have my copyist write them out as well—they will look better.” And the copyist, Joseph Laurino, has stamped his name on the bottom right of every piece filed that day. (On the lower left the Library wrote a catalog number.) However, as with “Midnight,” the words are in different hands. Look at this excerpt from one of McRae’s pieces and compare with Monk’s pieces below. First, the words: The title at the top is a little like “The Pump,” but totally different from “You Need’Na.” McRae’s name is exactly the same on each one, suggesting that he may have written it himself. On the two sheets below, “T. Monk” looks similar to “McRae” but in a lighter ink or in pencil, and it exactly matches a manuscript that Monk did without McRae in 1945, so it might be Monk’s writing. Now, let’s compare the music notation: The treble clefs, flat signs and meter signs all match, as do the note styles. Please look at this, and then at Monk below:

(By the way, McRae’s piece is unrelated to Chu Berry’s 1941 recording of the same name, which was not released until later in 1944. Berry’s is a jam on “Rhythm changes,” and McRae’s is a blues riff.)

Monk was able to revise these pieces and publish them again under their new names, with himself listed as sole composer. As far as I can ascertain, Regents Music Corporation today still owns “You Need’Na,” coauthored by McRae, but also owns “Well You Needn’t,” credited to Monk alone (sometimes with a lyricist added, for vocal versions). And they own “The Pump,” with McRae, but also Monk’s “Little Rootie Tootie.” And nobody has ever recorded the two that bear McRae’s name.

Although “The Pump” was copyrighted in 1945, it was first recorded at Monk’s debut session for Prestige Records session with bassist Gary Mapp and Art Blakey, on October 15, 1952. In fact, it was the first number that Monk recorded that day. Monk’s son, known to us today as the drummer and bandleader Thelonious Sphere Jr. or T.S., was born in December 1949. So Monk named it for him, using his nickname “Toot.” (See the guest post by Jerry Suls for insights into some of Monk’s other song titles.) But here is “The Pump” in its original form. It’s exactly the same as “..Rootie..” except that he doesn’t play the “train whistle sounds,” and there are two notational errors: In the sixth line, second measure, the next-to-last note must be an F. And right under that, in the seventh line, second measure, the next-to-last note must be G-natural:

Below, I play what is on the above page, with those two notes corrected, so you can hear that it’s the same as “Little Rootie Tootie.” I skipped the repeat of the first A section to save time. Also, I added the “train chords” just for fun:

You can compare it to the Prestige Records performance by Monk here.

“You Need’Na,” as Kelley explains, is a kind of joke on “You Need Not.“ But each phrase ends with four notes, so when Monk called it “Well You Needn’t,” it fits that phrase’s ending better. In fact that four-note idea becomes the end of the A section and the basis of the entire bridge. This idea of naming a tune after its main motive is something that Monk also used in “I Mean You” and a few other pieces. In “I Mean You,” he even follows the same procedure of basing the bridge on the main motive as well.

Now, here’s “You Need’Na.” The only real difference between the page below and “…Needn’t” is the extra two notes at the very end:

Below, I play what is on the above page so you can hear that it’s the same as “Well You Needn’t.” I skipped the repeat of the first A section to save time:

You can compare it to this performance by Monk.

All the best,
Lewis

P.S. For help with this essay, I owe many thanks to T.S. Monk and Peter Nevraumont, and to Morgan Davis at the Library of Congress.