Memories of You was composed by Eubie Blake with lyrics by Andy Razaf in 1930 for the Broadway revue Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1930, which opened at the Eltinge Theatre in New York and ran for 57 performances. The song was introduced onstage by singer Minto Cato and first recorded by Ethel Waters that same year. Blake, already celebrated for the groundbreaking all-African American musical Shuffle Along with Noble Sissle in 1921, acknowledged that the melody drew inspiration from Edward MacDowell's To a Wild Rose, particularly in its opening pattern of repeated notes and curving contour, though he described this as writing around the classical piece rather than borrowing directly. The composition is a nostalgic ballad with a flowing melody spanning an octave and a fifth, distinguished by its harmonic restraint and wistful elegance. It became a widely recorded jazz standard and Great American Songbook entry, with over 700 known versions. Louis Armstrong's 1930 recording, notable as one of the first to feature Lionel Hampton on vibraphone, charted at number eighteen. Benny Goodman's clarinet version helped cement the tune as a hit standard, and Clifford Brown's trumpet interpretation highlighted its improvisational potential. Marcus Roberts's piano solo on Wynton Marsalis's Marsalis Standard Time Vol. I from 1986 is featured on AllSolos.
