“Well, You Needn’t” | Stories of Standards

“Well, You Needn’t” was written in 1944 by Thelonious Monk. According to biographer Robin Kelley, Monk was inspired by singer Charlie Beamon, who, when told the song would be named for him, replied “Well, you need not” or words to that effect.

Tune in to First Take with Lando and Chavis – weekdays from 6-9 am MT – for Stories of Standards to hear our favorite versions of this song all week long!

The movement by semitones of “Well, You Needn’t” produces a sparse and spritely lyric effect that was doubtlessly extremely welcome coming as it did several years into World War II. 

Monk’s family moved from North Carolina to New York City when he was four years old, and he made the city his home for most of the following 50 years.

He taught himself to read music as a five or six-year-old by looking over his older sister’s shoulder as she practiced and had formal lessons as an 11-year-old. By the time Monk was 13, he’d been banned from the Apollo Theater’s amateur contests because he had won so many times.

In 1939, Monk put his first group together, establishing a lifelong practice of playing with small groups rather than big bands.

By 1941 he had become one of the seminal musicians in the creation of be-bop, working alongside Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. His first known recording was with the Coleman Hawkins Quartet in 1944; his first recording under his own name was made three years later, when he led a sextet session for Blue Note.

The early to mid-1950s were difficult times, as authorities responded forcefully to his more unusual behaviors and twice revoked the cabaret license needed to perform in New York City.

The out-of-town gigs that resulted tended to intensify that behavior. The late 1950s, however, saw a resurgence in his popularity and prestige, as he was once again seen as a forerunner of truly modern jazz.

In 1957 the Thelonious Monk Quartet, which included John Coltrane, was playing at the Five Spot in New York City. He signed a contract with Columbia Records by 1961 and in 1964 became one of only five jazz musicians to appear on the cover of Time magazine. The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz was founded in 1986 to honor his memory and contribute to the furthering of jazz in the modern world.

Monk, the Genius of Modern Music, performed his final concert at Carnegie Hall in March 1976. He died of a stroke in 1982.

Sources: jazzstandards.com; biography.com; monkinstitute.org; notablebiographies.com; De Wilde, Laurent. Monk. New York: Marlowe, 1997; Fitterling, Thomas. Thelonious Monk: His Life and Music. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Hills Books, 1997; Giddins, Gary. Rhythm-A-Ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the 80s. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985; Gourse, Leslie. Straight, No Chaser: The Life and Genius of Thelonious Monk. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997; Van der Bliek, Rob, ed. The Thelonious Monk Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. pbs.org; en.wikipedia.org; Thelonious Monk: the Life and Times of an American Original by Robin Kelley