Infinite Possibilities, As Time Goes By

The chord changes to 1931 Herman Hupfeld's "As Time Goes By" are still up for grabs in 2011.  Usually, for the modern-day free lance musician trying to navigate the tune by ear, there is a frightening series of crash and burn situations given that there are dozens of ways to convincingly navigate the song  -- the first crash usually occurs in bar 2 which is where I begin and end with this little study.  The music was prominent in the 1942 movie Casablanca but was initially released some 11 years before in the movie "Everybody's Welcome" and was released most notably as a single recording by Rudy Vallee that same year and re-released after Casablanca.   To look at how arrangers have dealt with the song, I go back to that Rudy Vallee recording and a number of recordings after 1931 to get a clear picture of the song's evolution, and more importantly, the origins.
  The original 1931 Rudy Vallee recording ( the one in the image above is 1944 or so) is surprisingly odd:
                  Fm7      Bb7       Gm7(b5)        Bb7/F
  The original version from Casablanca (see graphic) is surprisingly simple, but effective - I'm still unclear on Hupfeld's original intent.  My favorite version above is the Jimmy Durante - good bass motion and interesting inner motion.  The progression I often use on gigs, though it tends to take bass players by surprise, is:
               Fm7       Bb7       Abm6/Cb        Bb7
This progression also has good bass motion and internal motion and sounds a bit more contemporary than many of the others.
  The song begins with a beautiful verse in some of the older versions, particularly Vallee which people generally don't sing these days.
 Here's a disco version    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKoE37p64hw

Of the dozens of versions I listened to ( there are hundreds!) these stand out and are definitely worth hearing:
Margie Day
Nancy Wilson
Harry Nilsson  ( yes, you read that right)
Chet Baker
Jessica Williams
Billie Holiday
Andre Previn
Jimmy Durante
     these are all available to hear on Rhapsody.com       enjoy.