MY OLD FLAME
(Sam Coslow / Arthur Johnston)

Recorded by:

Jamey Aebersold; Manny Albam; Ambrose; Ivie Anderson; Chet Baker; 
Charlie Barnet; Count Basie; Tony Bennett; Rosemary Clooney; 
Nat King Cole; Ray Conniff; Sam Coslow; James Darren; 
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis; Miles Davis; Billy Eckstine; 
Duke Ellington; Ella Fitzgerald; Erroll Garner; Stan Getz; 
Dizzy Gillespie;  Benny Goodman; Billy Holiday; Etta James; 
Harry James; Arthur Johnston; Salena Jones; Spike Jones; 
Stan Kenton; Barney Kessel; Lee Konitz; Gene Krupa; Frankie Laine; 
Peggy Lee; Ted Lewis; Enoch Light; Guy Lombardo; Shelly Manne; 
Carmen McRae; Gerry Mulligan; Rick Nelson; Charlie Parker; 
Oscar Peterson; The Platters; Bud Powell; Louis Prima; Max Roach; 
Sonny Rollins; Linda Ronstadt; Zoot Sims; Jeri Southern; 
Nino Tempo & April Stevens; Sarah Vaughan; Dinah Washington; 
Mae West; Cootie Williams; ..... and many more.



My old flame
I can't even think of his name
But it's funny now and then
How my thoughts go flashing back again
To my old flame
My old flame
My new lovers all seem so tame
For I haven't met a gent

So innocent or elegant
As my old flame

I've met so many men
With fascinating ways
A fascinating gaze in their eyes
Some who sent me up to the skies
But their attempts at love
Were only imitations of
My old flame
I can't even think of his name
But I'll never be the same
Until I discover what became
Of my old flame

I've met so many men
With fascinating ways
A fascinating gaze in their eyes
Some who sent me up to the skies
But their attempts at love
Were only imitations of
My old flame
I can't even think of his name
But I'll never be the same
Until I discover what became
Of my old flame



(Contributed by Bette Carl - November 2002)


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As recorded by:

Spike Jones & his City Slickers (vocal: Paul Judson & Paul Frees) - 1947



My old flame
I can't even think of her name
But it's funny now and then
How my thoughts go flashing back again
To my old flame

I've met so many who had fascinating ways
A fascinating gaze in their eyes
Some who took me up to the skies
But their attempts at love
Were only imitations of

My old flame
I can't even think of her name
But I'll never be the same
Until I discover what became
Of my old flame

(In the voice of Peter Lorre)
My old flame
I can't even think of her name
(I'll have to look through my collection of human heads)
But it's funny now and then
How my thoughts go flashing back again
To my old flame

My old flame
My - my new lovers all seem so tame
(They won't even let me strangle them!)
For I haven't met a girl
So magnificent or elegant
As my old flame

I've met so many who had fascinating ways
A fascinating gaze in their eye
(I saw this eye! So I remove the other eye,
that eye that kept winking and blinking at other men!)
Some who took me up to the skies
But their attempts at love
Were only imitations of

My old flame
I can't even think of her name
What was – what was her name?
(Doris, Laura, Chloe, Mannie, Moe, Jack?
No, it couldn't have been Moe...
I can't stand it, I tell you! This is driving me sane!)
She would always treat me mean
So I poured a can of gasoline
And struck a match to...
My old flame



(Contributed/Transcribed by Bill Huntley - October 2005)


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