I Remember Clifford by Benny Golson

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 35 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro

• A♭maj7 – B♭7♭9 – G7 – Cm7 – B♭m7 – A♭m7 – G♭m7 – Fm7 – Fm7/B♭ – B♭7♭9
  IVmaj7 – V7b9 – III7 – vi7 – v7 – iv7 – biii7 – ii7 – ii7 (bass B♭) – V7b9

A Section 1

• E♭maj7 – Gaug7 – A♭maj7 – Adim7 – B♭7 – Bdim7 – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – Gm7/F – Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭7♭9
  Imaj7 – III+7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – V7 – #v°7 – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii7 – iii⁴₂ – #iø7 – #IV7b9 – ii7 – V7b9

A Section 2

• E♭maj7 – Gaug7 – A♭maj7 – Adim7 – B♭7 – Bdim7 – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭aug7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7
  Imaj7 – III+7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – V7 – #v°7 – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iiiø7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V+7 – iii7 – IVmaj7

B Section 1

• Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – C7♭9 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7♭9 – E♭maj7 – E♭maj7/E♭ – Dm7♭5 – G7♭9 – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – C7♭5 – Fm7 – B♭7♭5
  #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii7 – VI7b9 – VI7 – ii7 – V7b9 – Imaj7 – Imaj7 – viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii7 – VI7♭5 – ii7 – V7♭5

A Section 3

• E♭maj7 – Gaug7 – A♭maj7 – Adim7 – B♭7 – Bdim7 – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭7♭9 – G♭m7 – G♭m7/G♭ – Fm7 – Fm7/F – B♭7♭9 – B♭7♭9/B♭
  Imaj7 – III+7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – V7 – #v°7 – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iiiø7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7b9 – biii7 – biii7 – ii7 – ii7 – V7b9 – V7b9

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 4

• E♭maj7 – Gaug7 – A♭maj7 – Adim7 – B♭7 – Bdim7 – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭7♭9 – E♭maj7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – Gm7 – G♭m11 – Fm7 – B♭7♭9 – G7 – Cm7 – B♭m7 – A♭m7 – G♭m7 – Fm7 – Fm7/B♭ – B♭7♭9 – E♭maj9
  Imaj7 – III+7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – V7 – #v°7 – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iiiø7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7b9 – Imaj7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – biii11 – ii7 – V7b9 – III7 – vi7 – v7 – iv7 – biii7 – ii7 – ii7 (bass B♭) – V7b9 – Imaj9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Intro, A Section
B♭7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section, B Section
G7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Intro, A Section
Cm7	vi7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
B♭m7	v7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section
A♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section
G♭m7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
Fm7/B♭	ii7 (bass B♭)	In the key	Intro, A Section
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
Gaug7	III+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Adim7	#iv°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	A Section
Bdim7	#v°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cm7/B♭	vi⁴₂	In the key	A Section, B Section
Am7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
D7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	A Section, B Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Gm7/F	iii⁴₂	In the key	A Section
Em7♭5	#iø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A7♭9	#IV7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gm7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, B Section
B♭aug7	V+7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
C7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	B Section
E♭maj7/E♭	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	B Section
Dm7♭5	viiø7	In the key	B Section
G7♭9	III7b9	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section
C7♭5	VI7♭5	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B♭7♭5	V7♭5	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
G♭m7/G♭	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fm7/F	ii7	In the key	A Section
B♭7♭9/B♭	V7b9	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
G♭m11	biii11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭maj9	Imaj9	Home chord (tonic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• B♭7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭m7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭aug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭7♭9/B♭ (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• G7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm7.
• D7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Gm7.
• C7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.
• C7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.
• G7♭9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Remember Clifford (Morgan)” (credited “Golson Benny”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Remember Clifford” (credited “Golson Benny”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 93%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.