Mod of the Day

The Isley Brothers | Love Put Me On the Corner

“Continuing the foray into rock begun on 1971’s Givin’ It Back, The Isley Brothers’ 10th studio album Brother, Brother, Brother serves as yet another advancement in the Cincinnati-founded R&B/soul outfit’s signature sound, which carried it to superstardom on the following year’s 3+3,” (UnderTheRadar). “Though understated and restrained in comparison to their more bombastic masterworks, Brother, Brother, Brother is an important Isley Brothers release, its crisp Midwestern soul backbone providing ample support for the group’s more ambitious rock and funk aspirations.

While less realized than much of The Isley Brothers’ future output, Brother, Brother, Brother serves as a gateway to their ’70s golden age. The following year, the band would release its monumental hit ‘That Lady’ … In retrospect, Brother, Brother, Brother feels like a blueprint of explosive greatness to come, the Isleys joining together to function as an unstoppable whole. After five decades, the album sounds unusually fresh, The Isley Brothers having remained pioneers of their genre.”

“Love Put Me On the Corner,” a ballad track from Brother, Brother, Brother, starts with a piano intro in F# minor, accompanied only by gentle mallet cymbal, that sounds like it could have been part of a Joni Mitchell interlude. At 0:22, there’s a shift to F lydian, then another (0:42) to G major with the addition of a gentle groove and a widely dynamic Hammond organ for the verse. The chorus, arriving at 2:46, pivots through 2:46-3:15 with several pairs of compound chords. The pattern continues from there.

Creedence Clearwater Revival | Lookin’ Out My Back Door

“Before we begin, let’s just take a moment to pay respect to John Fogerty’s voice. It sounds like sunshine through a rusted pipe,” (American Songwriter). “Okay, now that we have that behind us, let’s check out one of Fogerty’s most memorable tunes, ‘Lookin’ Out My Back Door,’ which he wrote with his influential California-born rock band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and released on the group’s 1970 LP, Cosmo’s Factory … The gravelly rock single hit #2 on the Billboard charts.” It’s #1 “in the hearts of many fans of the 1998 cult classic The Big Lebowski, a movie that mixes the mundane with the psychedelic, much like the Creedence song at hand.

Since its release, many have speculated that the lyrics are about drugs … But, if you ask Fogerty, it’s not … In interviews and in Bad Moon Rising: The Unauthorized History of Creedence Clearwater, Fogerty is quoted as saying the song was actually written for his then three-year-old son, Josh. He’s also said that the reference to the parade passing by the door was inspired by the Dr. Seuss story, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street … More than anything, though, it’s just an epic example of Fogerty’s inimitable scratchy-snarly voice that will live forever long past the view out any of our back doors.”

After a start in B major and a mid-song suspension of the tune’s very catchy groove for a few measures, there’s a downward chromatic bass line journey, counterintuitively ending in a higher key — C# major — at 1:46.

Hozier | All Things End

“All Things End” is featured on Irish singer Hozier’s third studio album, Unreal Earth, which was released last year. “Hozier doesn’t just succeed in exploring that dark emotional world,” Rolling Stone said in their review of the record. “His painful ascent makes the listener immediately want to climb with him. Even harder, he successfully delivers a third album that doesn’t shy away from any topic, even when he doesn’t have the answers.”

Hozier draws on folk, blues, and soul influences; his debut single “Take Me To Church” hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013.

This song begins in A minor and shifts up a step to B minor at 2:41.

Elton John | Tower of Babel

“Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, released in 1975, was the culmination of six years’ feverish exertion (PopMatters) … (it) was the first album to ever premiere at number one on the Billboard album charts … (Elton’s) early ’70s run is almost unmatched in the history of pop music. In terms of quality and quantity, his only real peers are the likes of the Beatles, the Stones, and Bowie … The duo of John and (lyricist) Bernie Taupin produced some of the greatest songs and most memorable albums of the rock era, and yet today their prolific career is routinely dismissed, if not forgotten.

The duo’s creative marriage was defined by their marked dissimilarities. While both came from lower middle-class origins, John (born Reginald Dwight), was raised in urban London while Taupin hailed from the rural districts of Lincolnshire, in the far north of the country. Their musical interests were similarly contrasted: John had been raised on a catholic diet of mainstream pop and early rock ‘n’ roll, with a special affection for American soul music, while Taupin was a fan of American folk and country … one of the most influential synergies in the history of pop music … Elton John, the globetrotting Captain Fantastic, and Bernie Taupin, the down-home countrified Brown-Dirt Cowboy, rose out of absolute obscurity to become the most successful songwriting duo since Lennon and McCartney (if you young’uns don’t believe me, just take a gander at the historical record).”

The album is listed at #158 on Rolling Stone‘s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” John mentioned in an interview: “I’ve always thought (it) was probably my finest album because it wasn’t commercial in any way,” (EltonJohnItaly.com). “We did have songs such as ‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight,’ which is one of the best songs that Bernie and I have ever written together, but whether a song like that could be a single these days, since it’s [more than] six minutes long, is questionable. Captain Fantastic was written from start to finish in running order, as a kind of story about coming to terms with failure—or trying desperately not to be one. We lived that story.”

After starting in C major, “Tower of Babel” falls into a flight of Elton’s trademark inversion-driven fancy at 0:28 before landing once again on the terra firma of Eb major at 0:50. Don’t get too comfortable, though, because 1:40 brings a multi-key instrumental bridge; eventually we’re led back to C major. The shifting pattern continues from there.

Gavin Creel & Aaron Tveit | In His Eyes

Tony-award winning actor and singer Gavin Creel passed away suddenly from cancer last year at age 48. Creel was beloved by the Broadway community, and recognized as one of the best voices in the business. In 2020 he performed Frank Wildhorn’s ballad “In His Eyes” with fellow Broadway actor Aaron Tveit. The track begins in C minor and modulates to Bb at 0:45.

Astral Drive | Dum Dum

“‘Astral Drive’ is the musical vehicle for producer, singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Phil Thornalley,” (GetReadyToRock). The “orange” album, Thornalley’s second under the name Astral Drive, “… explore(s) uplifting psychedelic tinged pop, soul, and rock with beguiling piano chord voicings, lilting melodies, subtle vocal harmonies, and songs that frequently evoke their title. It’s an album rooted in the 70’s – think Rundgren, Wings and 10cc – while on the opening brace of tracks he leapfrogs into the late 90’s alt-pop rock world of Weezer and The New Radicals.

… For those familiar with Thornalley’s musical history (The Thompson Twins, Duran Duran, Prefab Sprout, The Psychedelic Furs, XTC, The Cure, Bryan Adams and even Natalie Imbruglia, etc.), this album makes perfect sense, as it pushes his creativity into new areas … He knows the value of a succinct pop song with a catchy hook. As a result, ‘Orange’ is a creative tour de force with enough originality and diversity not to be be locked into a particular time, place or genre. It’s an album that gives full rein to Thornalley’s pop sensibilities. There’s plenty of feel, lyrical substance, deft harmonies and vibrant hooks, all subtly honed by his own production skills which lead him to a layered, but organic sound.”

“Dum Dum,” a track from the 2021 album, starts with a verse in F major. The chorus flips its emphasis over to its relative Ab major (0:30 – 0:57) before returning to the initial key for the second verse. 1:42 brings a guitar-driven instrumental chorus, pushed upwards into A major. At 2:00, we return back to Ab major for another chorus. The tune’s final measures leave us in an unexpected place: moved via a leading tone into a colorless F# chord.

Bruce Springsteen | Jungleland

“’Jungleland’ is the album-closing track of Bruce Springsteen’s career-making third LP Born to Run,” (American Songwriter). “The album features three of Springsteen’s most iconic songs: the title track, ‘Thunder Road,’ and ‘Jungleland,’ an operatic nine-and-a-half-minute ode to hope and innocence’s attempt to survive the city’s mean streets.

This was an important transition for Springsteen, who had initially built his appeal around the live show. The dramatic, rafter-raising approach was part of the design, to create something memorable but also to attract an audience united by the feelings the music evoked. ‘I had to have songs that could capture audiences who had no idea who I was,’ he wrote in his 2016 autobiography, also called Born to Run. ‘As an opening act then, I didn’t have much time to make an impact. I wrote several long, wild pieces that were basically the soul children of the lengthy prog-rock music I’d written with [early band] Steel Mill. They were arranged to leave the band and the audience exhausted and gasping for breath. Just when you thought the song was over, you’d be surprised by another section, taking the music higher. It was what I’d taken from the finales of the great soul revues. I tried to match their ferocious fervor.'”

(The American Songwriter article is expansive and informative: please read it all if you have a few minutes!)

Starting in C major with a soft-spoken piano accompaniment, the palette grows stronger gradually until Springsteen sings the title word (1:54) and the groove suddenly kicks in. At 3:54, the feel shifts completely as the key moves to Eb major under a Clarence Clemons tenor sax feature. At 7:45, the tune returns to its initial key via an unexpected mid-phrase leap. Casual fans who first tuned in during the 80s “Born in the USA” era might be surprised by the rawness and vulnerability of early-career Springsteen — particularly as seen during his live performances.

Barbara Mandrell | The Midnight Oil

“The most important thing to understand about Barbara Mandrell is that she was a musical prodigy,” (UDiscoverMusic). “Prodigy is, after all, the term most people would use to describe an 11-year-old who played pedal steel guitar (hardly a forgiving instrument) alongside adult professional musicians. Within a few years, she was joining Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline onstage to flaunt her skills.

Mandrell’s musical ability tends to get ignored because of just how commercially successful she was in the 1970s and 1980s, making songs that decidedly leaned toward the pop side of the country-pop spectrum … Her skill and casual, agile voice made it easy for Mandrell to dabble in several different pop styles. But she never abandoned playing music … she played not just pedal steel, but banjo, dobro, mandolin, and even saxophone. In light of that versatility and her seemingly unstoppable run of hit songs, it’s no surprise that she became the first artist to win the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year award in back-to-back years.”

Her 1973 release, “Midnight Oil,” was “a liberated woman’s anthem – not only is the narrator in this Barbara Mandrell song working late instead of running home to her beau, but she’s also actually lying about working late to continue a torrid workplace affair. A gentle, almost folksy instrumental backs Mandrell as she croons some (fairly risqué) sweet nothings to her unsuspecting partner. The song was a hit on the country charts …” An early half-step modulation hits as the second verse begins at 0:51. Many thanks to Rob P. for yet another great submission!

The Eagles | The Last Resort

“The Eagles achieved stratospheric success in the 1970s, effectively bridging the country rock and soft rock styles that were popular in the early 1970s,” (Aphoristic Album Reviews). “Songwriting team Don Henley and Glenn Frey pumped out a ton of popular singles, and their Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is one of the highest-selling albums of all time.”

In Rolling Stone, the group’s lead vocalist and drummer Don Henley reflects: “‘The Last Resort’, on Hotel California (1976), is still one of my favorite songs… That’s because I care more about the environment than about writing songs about drugs or love affairs or excesses of any kind. The gist of the song was that when we find something good, we destroy it by our presence — by the very fact that man is the only animal on earth that is capable of destroying his environment … ‘ The song begins in Providence, Rhode Island, and goes all the way across America, wrapping up in the Hawaiian town of Lahaina. Along the way, it chronicles how Americans have exploited and destroyed their own land. ‘We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds,’ Henley sings. ‘In the name of destiny and the name of God.'”

After a gentle solo piano starts the tune in E major, the track gradually grows in intensity over time. At 3:24, an instrumental bridge starts with a shift upwards to G major before the the next verse begins.

Many thanks to our devoted reader Scott R. for this submission — his first!

Bobby Bare | Detroit City

“In his current book ‘The Philosophy of Modern Song,’ the revered musical artist Bob Dylan critiques 66 popular recordings to explain how music reveals the character of a culture,” (Detroit Free Press). “Wouldn’t you know it, Page 1 of Chapter 1 presents ‘Detroit City,’ Bobby Bare’s 1963 crossover country classic about a disillusioned Southern white man who comes north to the Motor City. Bare recorded and released the song (61 years ago). On the Billboard charts, it reached sixth on the country-western list, 16th on the pop list, and launched his successful career. ‘It wasn’t till Detroit City came along that I realized I was never going to have to get a real job, which was a big relief for a guitar picker,’ Bare told the website All Access Pass.

Bobby Sr.’s big hit came early in a musical decade best remembered in Detroit for Motown’s assembly-line brilliance; for the raucous rock-and-roll concerts at the Grande Ballroom; and for young Canadian artists like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young clubbing their way to fame around the Motor City. In addition, Dylan’s essay cites “Detroit, the home of Motown and Fortune Records, birthplace of Hank Ballard, Mitch Ryder, Jackie Wilson, Jack White, Iggy Pop, and the MC5.”

The song was originally titled ‘I Want to Go Home,’ a phrase that dominates the chorus. The record found little success when first recorded and released by Billy Grammer in 1962, but Bare loved it. ‘I heard Billy Grammer’s record of Detroit City while I was driving down the street one day and I damn near wrecked my car,” Bare said on his website bobbybare.com. ‘I thought it was the greatest song I ever heard in my life.’” The tune makes a distinctive shift from E major down to B major at 1:19. Many thanks to our regular contributoro Rob P. for this tune!