Elise – Page 40

Jim Scott | Song for Rainbow Bridge

Massachusetts-based composer, guitarist, and vocalist Jim Scott co-wrote “Missa Gaia / Earth Mass” and other pieces with the Paul Winter Consort (JimScottMusic.com). He has recorded many albums of original music and is the curator and arranger of The Earth and Spirit Songbook, an anthology of 110 songs of earth and peace by contemporary songwriters. Scott has performed in all 50 states, much of Europe, Australia, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Canada and in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Newport Jazz Festival.

Scott has shared the stage with Pete Seeger, Peter Yarrow, Paul Horn, Holly Near, John Denver, Tracy Chapman, Joan Baez, 10,000 Maniacs, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Dan Fogelberg, Odetta, Steve Gadd, Tony Levin, Nelson Rangell, and many other artists. His compositions would be familiar to anyone who’s spent time with a Unitarian Universalist congregation, starting with the contemporary hymn “Gather the Spirit.”

Of the instrumental piece “Song for Rainbow Bridge,” originally released on the 1981 album Hands On, Scott writes: “It’s just 40 years since I went into a studio and recorded a bunch of instrumental guitar pieces. I had recorded before. I’d been on recordings for other people, particularly with the Winter Consort, but this felt different. I’d always been hired to do a job; this time I was paying for it myself … My repertoire of vocal songs was small at that point, only a few. I thought of myself as a guitar player who sometimes sang. In the ensuing years, as I wrote more songs and so many went in an activist direction, I found my identity to grow into … I’d gone from classical guitarist to jazz (and any style music in bars) electric guitar, and then evolved to use the classical guitar on gigs, and then of course with the Winter Consort. This was my statement on the nylon string classical guitar that, ‘I’m here.'”

Built in E major overall, the tune features a bridge (1:51 – 2:25) in E minor.

Scritti Politti | Perfect Way

“Scritti Politti is … an act that’s had almost more of an interesting life outside of the spotlight as in it,” (Treblezine). “Green Gartside, a stage name for Paul Strohmeyer, was a politically-minded art school student who became inspired by the punk movement, started his own band, and gained the attention of enough people through his own philosophical and politically charged songs to gain a spot on a tour with Joy Division and Gang of Four. Unfortunately, Green … had massive stage fright … couldn’t perform, and had his first heart attack at the age of 23 … He eventually put together a series of singles which became the landmark Cupid & Psyche 85.

This album was a breakthrough at the time, but … every song still holds up today as one of the best pop records ever produced. Green … has a voice that one critic has stated is ‘eternally 14 years old.’ … Add to that some of the first sampling ever to be used in popular music, and you’ve got a recipe for an innovative record. ‘Perfect Way’ was the huge hit in the US, and it’s easy to hear why. Various loops and studio wizardry add to a sonically dense and exciting mix, but it is Green’s vocals, way with words, and delivery that make this song stunning.” The tune was so ornate that it created yet another barrier to performance: “… it became apparent pretty immediately that we couldn’t reproduce the sound of Cupid & Psyche live … The current Scritti line-up figured out a way to play ‘Perfect Way’ live, so we debuted it in Japan 30 years, or more, after it was recorded,” (Green’s comment on the YouTube video page).

After “Perfect Way” unwinds an intro in F# major, the leadup to the first verse shifts to A# major at 0:12. The pre-chorus starts at 0:49, featuring a restless melody and a wandering tonality as well. The chorus returns to F# major. At 1:18, the pattern starts over again with verse 2. An interlude follows, starting with a quick scene change smoothed over by tiny percussion breaks at both ends, where a simple, prominent piano solo unfolds in C major (2:25 – 2:43). There is likely no better example of the chaotic mid-80s MTV fast-cut video style — which quite possibly helped to make this track the hit that it became. Its top chart positions were UK #48 and Canada #32; in the US, #11 Pop, #6 Hot Dance/Disco, and #85 on the Hot Black Singles chart!

Wilson Phillips | You’re in Love

Wilson Phillips, a vocal trio of daughters of 1960s/1970s musical royalty Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys) and John and Michelle Phillips (The Mamas & The Papas), were suddenly ubiquitous on the pop charts in 1990. Although mostly remembered now for their international smash hit “Hold On,” the trio’s followup single “You’re in Love” (1991) did well too, briefly hitting #1 in the US and Canada.

“SBK Records founder Charles Koppelman … basically bet the label’s entire future on Wilson Phillips: ‘I always say, if they were racehorses, I would syndicate them. I believe they are SBK Records’ George Michael, our Madonna. They are the future.’ … But Wilson Phillips were not the future. ‘You’re In Love’ would be their last top-10 hit.” (Stereogum).

After a start in D major, the tune shifts its emphasis to the vi chord (B minor) for the pre-chorus (0:54), then deftly flips over to a sunny B major for the chorus (1:04) before returning to D major for the next verse. The pattern continues from there.

Kenny Loggins | Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong

“Co-written by two of the most brilliant pop composers, Richard Page and Kenny Loggins, ‘Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong,’ is a masterpiece of West Coast music,” (FozFan.com). “This smooth, jazzy ballad was first recorded in 1979 by the group Pages on their stunning album, Future Street. Loggins, who was a guest on Pages’ take, included it on his 1979 album Keep The Fire with Michael Jackson and Page on backing vocals.” From a Rolling Stone review: “the new sound of Southern California: a sophisticated, diffuse, jazz-inflected pop rock performed by an augmented rock band in which guitar and keyboards share equal prominence” and “churning romantic atmosphere constructed around a matinee idol’s voice.”

Page, perhaps best known as the lead vocalist and bassist for Mr. Mister, lends plenty of supple, melodic bass lines to the track. Michael McDonald played keys and provided backup vocals; Paulinho da Costa was a contributor to the almost constantly varying percussion; Michael Brecker’s signature tenor sax sound was central to the track. But it was Michael Jackson — a few years before the mega-stardom of Thriller and contemporaneously with his breakthrough 1979 solo album Off the Wall — who might have been the track’s most surprising contributor. Loggins sings the verses, but outsources the choruses to Jackson, elevating MJ’s role to something closer to that of a co-lead vocalist.

After a start in G major, 0:44 brings a shift to Bb major; the chorus, starting at 1:12, is in D major. Many other shifts follow, including a big key change at 3:26, where vocals re-enter at the end Brecker’s solo section. The arrangement is so polished in some spots — particularly the instrumental sections (intro, solo, and outro) — that the sound seems somehow reminiscent of the legendary Steely Dan tune “Aja.”

Bee Gees | Saw a New Morning

” … from their transition period in the early 70s … this was a period in the Bee Gees’ career the brothers themselves have described as their commercial and creative nadir,” (Roxborough Report). “It was in between the first wave of orchestra-backed, Beatle-esque success that produced countless hits like ‘To Love Somebody’ and ‘Massachusetts’ and before the even bigger second wave of R&B-infused pop, beginning in 1975 with ‘Jive Talkin’‘.

But those in-between years of 1972-1974 were simultaneously more artistically and commercially fruitful than the Bee Gees may have realized …. during this period they were still having #1 hits in South East Asia and top 20 hits in Australasia, Canada, as well as parts of Europe … The oft-told tale of the stint at the Batley Variety Club in England in 1973 (where Maurice met his second wife Yvonne) is where the brothers said: ‘Right! This is the low-point, we will never be reduced to playing supper clubs again!’ And indeed, they were right … within a couple of years they were back to being one of the biggest bands on the planet and within five years, they probably were the biggest band on the planet.”

“Saw a New Morning,” from 1973’s Life In a Tin Can, features a short and simple melodic idea which wends its way through multiple key changes; the first shift is at the 0:34 mark.

Billy Joel | You’re Only Human (Second Wind)

“(When) Billy Joel attempted suicide back in 1970 (by drinking furniture polish), it failed to kill him and he wrote the song “Tomorrow Is Today” as the suicide note,” (Songfacts). “Later on, he was asked if he could write a song that could help prevent teenage suicide. Joel agreed, but the first recording concerned him because it had a dreary and depressing tone that he thought might give troubled teens the wrong message. So, he created a new version, ‘You’re Only Human (Second Wind),’ with bouncy, joyous beats and lyrics about personal forgiveness and optimism for life.

… Joel noticeably hesitates with one of the verse lines and laughs after it. He decided to keep this mistake … because it seemed to be proof of his personal fallibility, as in the line ‘You probably don’t want to hear advice from someone else, but I wouldn’t be telling you if I hadn’t been there myself.'” The track was released on Joel’s 1985 album Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.

Built in Bb overall, the track features a short chorus in Db major (first heard at 0:59 – 1:14), but it seems that the lyrics-packed verses and energetic groove are very much the main drivers here.

kd lang | Love is Everything (Jane Siberry cover)

“The title of Canadian singer-songwriter Jane Siberry’s 1984 breakthrough sophomore LP also still serves as her mission statement: No Borders Here,” (Tone Glow). “As one of Toronto’s most prolific tone poets and troubadours, her work has long ridden the divide between pop form and sonic abstraction, carefully dodging any traps of easy definition through detail and duration.

Erstwhile music critics often compared the ethereal leanings of her stretch of records for Reprise as Canada’s answer to the likes of Kate Bush or Laurie Anderson, but even these ties are somewhat of a slight. Her genre-agnostic innovation is fully drawn from intuition—a record like her retrospectively celebrated 1988’s The Walking merged koan-like lyrical hooks with thick vocal arrangements and impressionistic textures. Over the years, she’s collaborated with Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, k.d. lang, Michael Brook and Mary Margaret O’Hara.”

Under the affectionate care of Siberry’s intermittent collaborator, fellow Canadian kd lang, “Love is Everything” (originally released by Siberry in 1993) is a showcase for lang’s stunning palette of vocal colors. Fully immersed in the lyrical sweep of Siberry’s lyrics, lang’s voice ranges from a soft breeziness to the power of her trademark belt — which for all of its impact, always seems to leave a bit more in reserve. The tune’s intro and verses are in D major; the chorus, first heard at 1:21, is in A major. But the shift to A major, in addition to being closely related to D major, is perhaps further obscured by voicing all of the A chords with D major’s leading tone, C#, in the bass. The next verse returns to D major at 2:11.

Many thanks to Mandy D. for calling our attention to this 2005 performance of the tune — her second contribution to MotD!

Bob Kuban + the In-Men | The Cheater

Bob Kuban and the In-Men were an “eight-piece rock ‘n’ roll band from St. Louis, Missouri … (They) were a classic one-hit-wonder Top 40 group, with ‘The Cheater,’ which reached number 12 in the US pop charts in 1966, (AllMusic). Also in 1966, the group scraped the bottom of the charts with two follow-ups, ‘The Teaser’ (number 70) and a cover of the Beatles’ ‘Drive My Car’ (number 93). ‘The Cheater’ had something of a blue-eyed soul flavor with the vibrant horn arrangements and Scott’s almost black vocal approach.

The In-Men were formed in 1964 and made their first record in 1965 … Kuban continued to perform in St. Louis for weddings and other social affairs with his band, the Bob Kuban Brass.”

After starting in F# major, there’s an half-step upward shift after the bridge (1:23 – 1:38). As the track nears its end (2:17), there’s another half-step modulation for the final verse.

Rufus Wainwright | Zing Went the Strings of My Heart

In 2006, “Rufus Wainwright did something extraordinary – even bizarre: he performed a cover version of an entire concert,” (The Guardian). “Judy Garland’s 1961 performance at Carnegie Hall is a legendary night in showbiz, marking a comeback after a period of ill-health and addiction in order to claim her crown as the world’s greatest entertainer.

Wainwright, who had his own crystal-meth-afflicted dark night of the soul in the late 90s, decided to sing the whole thing from beginning to end, including the parts where Garland forgets the words (in You Go to My Head), on the very boards the resurgent diva trod. Part homage, part exorcism, part formidable technical exercise, it was also an experiment: what would happen when the voice of the present sings the songs and evokes the spirits of the past?”

One of the most energetic tunes of the show, “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart,” shows off the big band accompaniment beautifully. Wainwright turns in a rock solid vocal performance; freed from his usual self-accompaniment duties on piano or guitar, his energy is channeled into belting his vocals in a manner worthy of Garland’s memory. To say he’s not much of a hoofer would be a huge understatement, but Wainwright is in on the joke as he tosses off a goofy dance break during the tune’s midsection. The tune shifts up a half step at 2:26.

Garland’s original 1961 Carnegie Hall performance:

Duane Eddy | Rebel Rouser

“Duane Eddy, a pioneering guitar hero whose reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as ‘Rebel Rouser’ and ‘Peter Gunn’ helped put the twang in early rock ‘n’ roll and influenced George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and countless other musicians,” died last month, (NPR). “With his raucous rhythms, and backing hollers and hand claps, Eddy sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and mastered a distinctive sound based on the premise that a guitar’s bass strings sounded better on tape than the high ones.

‘I had a distinctive sound that people could recognize and I stuck pretty much with that. I’m not one of the best technical players by any means; I just sell the best,’ he told The Associated Press in a 1986 interview. ‘A lot of guys are more skillful than I am with the guitar. A lot of it is over my head. But some of it is not what I want to hear out of the guitar.’ He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Eddy was not a vocalist, saying in 1986, ‘One of my biggest contributions to the music business is not singing.'”

“Rebel Rouser” (1958) rose to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, #8 on the Canadian pop chart, and #8 on the R+B Best Sellers chart. Starting in E major, the tune shifts up a half step at 1:01, 1:19, and 1:37.