This week on MotD we are recognizing the legendary Chita Rivera, a dancer/singer/actress who passed away last week. The first Latino American to ever receive a Kennedy Center Honor, Rivera also won three Tony Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Rivera had a long association with the songwriting duo Kander & Ebb, starring in Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Rink, The Visit, and most famously, Chicago as the vaudeville singer Velma Kelly opposite Gwen Verdon’s Roxie Hart. Both were nominated for Tony Awards for their performances. “My Own Best Friend” is sung by Velma and Roxie at the end of the first act as they realize there is no one they can count on but themselves. The track starts in Ab and features a common tone modulation up to A at 1:53.
“Brandy Clark is one of the names most identified with queer country music,” (CountryQueer.com). “An openly lesbian major-label country artist who sits comfortably in the top tier of Nashville’s finest songwriters, Clark has co-penned radio hits for years, like the groundbreaking ‘Follow Your Arrow’ for Kacey Musgraves, boldly asserting freedom of sexual preference. And Clark has famously channeled other marginalized characters in her own releases. Her influence within mainstream country music has rippled far beyond what’s suggested by mere name recognition.”
“Low-key and wry, Clark is a meticulous songwriter who made hits for Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, LeAnn Rimes and Kacey Musgraves before she put her own name on an album (NPR Tiny Desk Concerts) … But when Clark steps in front of a mic and turns on the charm, her humor pulls the audience right into every single joke … In anyone else’s hands, (‘Daughter’) might have been a bitter revenge fantasy, but Clark’s gently swooping verses and puckered choruses sketch the bemused, from-the-front-porch distance of wronged party who knows that fate is likely to do more damage to a cad than a key would ever do to his car’s glossy paint job.” Clark garnered “eleven (Grammy) nods in previous years. She was up for six trophies at the 2024 Grammy Awards (American Songwriter) … (her) impressive range as an artist landed her in three categories — Americana, country, and theater.” This week, she finally took home her first Grammy.
“Daughter,” from Clark’s 2016 release Big Day in a Small Town, makes great use of her sharp observational wit and top-drawer songcraft. The tune is built in G major overall; a transitional pre-chorus at 0:31 hides all the seams while leading us to a chorus in Bb major in 0:41. At 1:08, the next verse returns in G major and the cycle continues. There are three tunes included in this Tiny Desk concert; “Daughter” is the first, but all of them are worth a listen!
This week on MotD we are recognizing the legendary Chita Rivera, a dancer/singer/actress who passed away last week. The first Latino American to ever receive a Kennedy Center Honor, Rivera also won three Tony Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
One of her Tony-nominated roles was her turn as Rose Alvarez in the 1960 Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie. “Spanish Rose” comes near the end of the show, and there are modulations throughout. The tune begins in C and successively modulates up by half steps, ultimately landing in Eb.
Sagittarius was the “sunshine pop” pet project of songwriter and producer Gary Usher. He was a co-writer of some well-known Beach Boys songs, such as “In My Room” and “409.” He produced the English duo Chad & Jeremy, and later, the group Peanut Butter Conspiracy. Sagittarius released just two albums, Present Tense and The Blue Marble. Sagittarius wasn’t a band as such; its members were studio pros along for the ride, among them Beach Boy Bruce Johnston, his Bruce and Terry partner Terry Melcher, and Glen Campbell. Producer Curt Boettcher was involved with much of the material, although not on this track.
AllMusic describes the song “My World Fell Down” as “totally enthralling”. The lead vocal is by a well-disguised Glen Campbell. The orchestration owes much to the Beach Boys recordings of the Pet Sounds era — the bouncy chorus is awfully close to “Good Vibrations,” and the drum fills could have been copped from “God Only Knows” (in fact, Hal Blaine in both cases!). The song, written by John Carter and Geoff Stephens, was first recorded by the English band The Ivy League. Sagittarius’ single version, released in 1967, reached #70 on the Billboard chart.
After an intro in G# major, the verse shifts to G# minor, then to F# major at 0:25 for the chorus. More shifts continue throughout. A short passage of musique concrète (or psychedelia, if you will) begins at 1:48. Unusually, that snippet appears on the single edit only; it was replaced in the LP edit by an instrumental passage. The next section feels like a direct appropriation from “Good Vibrations”: a subdued vocal passage, to contrast with the ebullient chorus that follows. A keyboard coda takes us full circle to where we began in G# major.
“’Whenever I Call You Friend’ is a song written by Kenny Loggins and Melissa Manchester, which Loggins recorded as a duet with Stevie Nicks for his 1978 album Nightwatch,” (MelissaManchester.com). “‘Kenny and I kept meeting each other at award shows, and he asked if I wanted to write with him, and we met up and we knocked it out. It was great. As a writer, he knows what he wants. I’d rather be in a room with someone like that than not.’
When first released, (co-lead vocalist and Fleetwood Mac frontwoman) Stevie Nicks was not credited on the original 45 single, so this was officially considered Loggins’ first solo Top 40 hit.” The tune reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A brief a cappella intro, completely different from that of the original 1978 version, unexpectedly jumps up two whole steps at 0:16 before the start of the first verse. The tune’s winding path through many modulations is still in place; the key eventually shifts a full perfect fourth overall from the 0:16 mark to the end. A new key change up a half step also makes a prominent appearance at the 3:20 mark. Manchester seems to have the time of her life performing with her co-writer!
Many thanks to Todd B. for bringing this gorgeous cover to our attention — his first contribution to MotD!
Scottish singer Susan Boyle rose to fame as a contestant on the third season of the reality singing competition Britain’s Got Talent singing “I Dreamed a Dream” from the blockbuster musical Les Miserables. Her debut album of the same name, released in 2009, quickly became the UK’s best-selling album of all time, and with over 10 million copies sold is now one of the best-selling records of the 21st century. Boyle has gone on to release seven additional albums.
The tune begins in Eb and dramatically modulates up a whole step to F at 1:44.
“Released in 1969, ‘One Tin Soldier’ became a popular song during the Vietnam War and was often heard as an anti-war anthem,” (CountryThangDaily). “It was first recorded by the Canadian pop group The Original Caste and was later on recorded by various artists,” including the band Coven.
“Interestingly, the song charted every year from 1969 to 1974 on various charts, not only in the United States but also in Canada. It went to #6 on the RPM Magazine charts … and peaked at #34 on the American pop charts in early 1970. The song was even a bigger Adult Contemporary hit, reaching #25 in the United States and #5 in Canada.”
The story-based song features a gentle start and a gradual build which is eventually led by a rich winds section in addition to the traditional rock instrumentation. A half-step modulation kicks in at 1:39. Many thanks to our regular contributor Rob P. for this submission!
“I Say Yeah” is featured on the eponymous 2000 debut album by the American boyband Dream Street. The group, which originally formed in 1999 and broke up in 2002, reunited last year and released a single this past June. It is unclear if or when they will release another full album.
This track begins in D and modulates up to E at 2:14.
“In the 1930s, Lester Young — known as the “President of Jazz” or simply “The Prez” — led a revolution on the tenor saxophone that influenced generations to follow,” (NPR). “He was Billie Holiday’s favorite accompanist, and his robust tenor playing influenced everybody from Charlie Parker to Sonny Rollins. Young was famous for his porkpie hat and his hipster language, but he’ll always be remembered for his remarkable solos.
Young said that even though he became famous with the Count Basie Orchestra, he didn’t like big bands. ‘I don’t like a whole lot of noise — trumpets and trombones … I’m looking for something soft. It’s got to be sweetness, man, you dig?'”
Young’s ideal soft sound was certainly central to this 1942 version of his composition “Body and Soul,” accompanied by an early-career Nat King Cole (billed as just “King Cole” on the recording) on piano and Red Callender on bass. The middle 8, first heard from 0:58 – 1:23, starts a half-step above the home key; its second half is a half-step below it. This is the third version of this jazz standard we’ve featured on MotD, perhaps because the key changes couldn’t be more innovative or distinctive!
“Mary Weiss, who in 1964 was the lead singer of the Shangri-Las’ No. 1 hit, ‘Leader of the Pack,’ extracting every ounce of passion and pathos available in a three-minute adolescent soap opera, died last week at her home in Palm Springs, CA. She was 75.” (New York Times).
“‘Leader of the Pack,’ the Shangri-Las’ second and biggest hit, was narrated by a young woman who falls in love with a motorcycle-riding tough guy without her parents’ approval — ‘They told me he was bad/But I knew he was sad’ — and is then left bereft when he dies in a road accident on a rainy night. Produced and co-written by Shadow Morton, the single featured call-and-response vocals, full-tilt teenage angst and motorcycle sound effects. It was excessive and melodramatic, requiring acting as much as singing, but Ms. Weiss sold it with her yearning performance. She was just 15 when it topped the charts.’
After a dialog intro and the start of the iconic heartbeat groove in a detuned Db major at 0:30, there’s a shift to the relative minor for the spoken bridge at 1:31. The next verse starts in D major at 1:47.
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