"Left Alone" is a jazz song written by singer Billie Holiday and pianist/composer Mal Waldron, and published by E.B. Marks.
| "Left Alone" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Mal Waldron | |
| Composer(s) | Mal Waldron |
| Lyricist(s) | Billie Holiday |
This is one of seven songs written by or co-written by Holiday that she never recorded.[1][2] According to Waldron, Holiday "came up with the lyrics and sang them to him on a cross-country flight; when the plane landed the song was done."[3]
Mal Waldron began working as pianist for Holiday in mid-1953. Holiday had intended to record the song a number of times but "always forget the damned sheet music."[4] However, Waldron himself recorded the song on his 1959 album Left Alone, and near the end of the LP discusses the origin of the song.[5]
Waldron frequently performed the song for albums, often with tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin (who also played on the Left Alone album). Versions are included in Mal: Live 4 to 1 (1971), Like Old Times (1976), Left Alone '86 (1986), Into the Light (1989), My Dear Family (1993), and Left Alone Revisited (2002).
Other jazz performers who've recorded the song include:
An instrumental version of the song appeared on Joe Satriani's Time Machine in 1993. The Satriani version, titled "All Alone", was released as a single, reached No. 21 on Billboard'sMainstream Rock chart[7] and received a nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1995 Grammy Awards.[8]