asaxman said:
It's nice to see the CORRECT chart on this tune! As easy as it is- I've heard it played wrong, hundreds of time in the last 30 years! Sax players, note that sometimes the tenor plays higher than the alto.
I agree it is good to know the original for any tune. However, if you change the arrangement or play it slightly differently, that's ok,
as long as it still sounds good! It's not a matter or it being right or wrong; it's a matter of how well it's played and how good it sounds.
In jazz of course, no one plays a tune exactly like the original or the same way as "so and so" played it. I realize that as you move more into the pop field, the expectation is to hear a cover tune played exactly like the original. I think this is one of the problems with pop music. A tune like "Pick Up the Pieces" is somewhere in between. I would say it's a good idea to at least play the head melody correctly, but from there do what you want on the overall arrangement, and on the solos. There are many versions of this tune, and if all of them were exactly the same, what would be the point?