Elise – Page 74

Average White Band | A Love of Your Own

“Their self-effacing name to the contrary, Average White Band are anything but — one of the few white groups to cross the color line and achieve success and credibility playing funk,” AllMusic reports. “With their tight, fiery sound also belying their Scottish heritage, evoking American R&B hotbeds like Detroit, Memphis, and Philadelphia instead.”

Wikipedia details that the band had several soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980: “They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track ‘Pick Up the Pieces’, and for their albums AWB and Cut the Cake … They have influenced others, such as the Brand New Heavies, and been sampled by various musicians, including the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, TLC, Too Short, Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, and Arrested Development, making them the 15th most sampled act in history.” Despite many changes in lineup, as of 2020, the band continues on — 48 years after it was formed.

“A Love of Your Own” (1976) starts in F# minor, shifts to A minor at 0:44, then returns to F# minor at 1:12. The pattern holds through a second verse (through 2:24), where a wholesale shift upwards to G minor kicks in for the balance of the tune — which amounts to an extended 3-minute chorus/outro. Many thanks to stalwart mod wrangler JB for submitting this tune!

Camille Saint-Saëns | Mazurka #1, Op. 21 (Geoffrey Burleson)

From Naxos’ liner notes for its release Camille Saint-Saëns Complete Piano Music 4: Dances and Souvenirs:

“There is a long history of composers writing instrumental dances that were and are intended as ‘concert’ works, initially flourishing in the Baroque era. By the late 18th century, the allemandes, courantes and gigues that were once all the rage were all but outmoded, save for the minuet, which appears copiously in works of Haydn, Mozart and in Beethoven’s early period. By the mid-19th century the fast triple metre of the waltz prevailed, along with the wealth of musical variety and contrast composers brought to its manifestations. Chopin codified the waltz as a stand-alone solo piano genre, as well as the much more vernacular, and resolutely Polish mazurkas and polonaises.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) inhabited all of these eras as a composer of concert music in dance genres, even though his first works didn’t see the light of day until the mid-19th century. Among his many formidable musical feats was as a pioneering editor and advocate for French Baroque music, especially works of Lully and Rameau, spearheading the revival of this music in the late 19th century. More famously to the 19th century public, Saint-Saëns was one of the greatest keyboard prodigies of the past 200 years. When he made his piano recital debut at the age of 10 … he announced to the audience that he would be pleased to perform any of Beethoven’s 32 sonatas as an encore. A good deal later, Liszt referred to him as the greatest organist on earth.”

1892’s Mazurka No. 1, Op. 21 starts in G minor. The “B” section (first heard here at 1:02) is in the parallel major. The French composer’s trademark chromaticism softens the lines between these two primary keys throughout. The pianist featured on this recording is Geoffrey Burleson.

The Hold Steady | Massive Nights

The Hold Steady is “an acclaimed and respected Minneapolis-bred indie rockers who boast a melodic, contemporary take on mid-’70s classic rock,” reports AllMusic. “Craig Finn and Tad Kubler — two N.Y.C. transplants from Minneapolis — decided to blend their punk roots with album-oriented classicism and a frenetic literary sense, winding up with a careening, open-hearted rock & roll that seemed to exist just outside of time.”

The AV Club reviews 2006’s “Massive Nights” as “a hard-partying prom theme … one of The Hold Steady’s fastest and most celebratory-sounding songs … Both in the studio and in concert, that chorus gets an extra reprise with a frenzied key change in the final stretch … though the key changes generally aren’t go-to moves in The Hold Steady’s arsenal … a key change is basically the only thing it can do to kick itself into higher gear before its three minutes are up.”

Careen is exactly what this uptempo 12/8 rocker does, propelled by backing vocals that sound like a hyped-up live crowd proclaiming the hook — even on the studio track. A whole-step key change hits at 2:24.

Todd Rundgren | Hope I’m Around

“In 1970, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Todd Rundgren, fresh off of a successful stint as a co-songwriter and guitarist for rock outfit The Nazz, began experimenting with the additional roles of vocalist and producer. The album Runt, released in 1970 when Rundgren was 22, was perhaps understandably somewhat spare and tentative compared to his later output. AllMusic reports that “such isolationism lends Runt its unique atmosphere — it is the insular work of a fiercely talented artist finally given the opportunity to pursue his off-kilter musical vision … it’s apparent that Rundgren could never have made Runt with the Nazz — and that’s before the introspective ballads or the willfully strange stuff kicks in. Throughout the record, Rundgren reveals himself as a gifted synthesist, blending all manners of musical styles and quirks into a distinctive signature sound …”

That the word finally can be justly applied to Rundgren at 22 gives some idea of his early-career impact. Runt hinted at much of what was to come in Rundgren’s future career (50 years and counting) — not least a sustained refusal of a formulaic approach to songwriting subject matter. “Hope I’m Around” wasn’t included on the initial pressing of the album, but was added to later versions. Hardly a throwaway track, it focuses on the messy/long goodbye phase of an apparently rocky relationship.

Starting in C major, the choruses throughout make ample use of a distinctive bVII – IV – I progression for the title line. That same bVII chord is the substrate for most of the bridge (2:56 – 3:09), ringing out on nearly every beat — oddly static in comparison with the balance of the tune. The piano-driven contemporary pop harmonies are clearly influenced by Rundgren’s Philly-centric youthful listening, as well as his newfound focus on the work of iconic singer / songwriter / pianist Laura Nyro. The country-tinged traditional ballad waltz feel provides an unexpected contrast to the broad harmonic vocabulary. 4:13 brings a vivid transition, lofting us all the way up into A major at 4:17 on our way to the closing measures.

Maria Rita | A História de Lily Braun

Brazilian vocalist Maria Rita began performing at the age of 24. According to her own website, the singer has said “’Finding yourself in the world is a very difficult task.'” The daughter of iconic Brazilian chanteuse Elis Regina and pianist/arranger/composer César Camargo Mariano, Maria Rita was told from early in life that she had “a duty to sing, but resisted for some time. ‘I see life as a big process built by small processes along the way. I always wanted to sing. But the question was not wanting, it was why.'” Shortly after launching her career, she won the 2002 APCA Award for Revelation of the Year from the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte (São Paulo Association of Art Critics).

AllMusic details that for the 2011 album Elo, of which “A História de Lily Braun” is a part, Rita “re-creates the intimate setting of her appearances at Sao Paolo’s Tom Jazz club in 2010, as she is joined only by the trio of pianist Tiago Costa, bassist Sylvinho Mazzuca, and drummer Cuca Teixeira … To put it succinctly, this is a Brazilian nightclub chanteuse album in which Maria Rita offers her take on well-known songs by the likes of Djavan, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, and Rita Lee.” The spare trio accompaniment certainly couldn’t center the vocal an inch more than it does.

Starting in Bb minor, this sultry, funk-inflected acoustic bossa track transitions to C minor with the help of a short instrumental hinge between 1:55 – 2:00.

The Fiery Furnaces | Even In the Rain

Jack White’s Third Man Records provides an overview of The Fiery Furnaces, a duo comprised of siblings Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger. Forming in New York City in 2000, “their debut album Gallowsbird’s Bark was released to critical acclaim in 2003. In the following seven years, they released eight more albums and toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Japan.” The band was active during the 2000s, ceased operations during the 2010s, but apparently is staging a 2020 comeback. AllMusic describes the band’s focus as a “sprawling sound that draws on influences from indie rock to musical theater.” Read the entire AllMusic band bio — it definitely shatters the “quirky” meter!

Describing the sprawl is The AV Club‘s review of the 2009 track “Even In the Rain”: “The Fiery Furnaces’ albums are generally littered with idiosyncratic flourishes that sometimes seem directly designed to alienate the band’s less-patient listeners: backward tracking, tempo shifts, extended keyboard noise solos, and key changes, among others … on stretches of ‘Even In The Rain,’ the song sounds like a relatively straightforward ballad with a strong keyboard hook. But the chorus, which consists only of the words “even in the rain,” slides the song between keys several times, lending a lot of unpredictability to such a short, simple phrase.”

The key changes are unconventional and are wielded casually; the first one hits at 0:26, just before the vocal enters. There’s little sense of directionality or catharsis to the modulations; instead, each one is a page in a short and vivid animation flipbook which seems to advance or reverse the plotline at random.

Superfly | 愛をこめて花束を (A Bouquet with Love)

Rock/Pop artist Superfly, also known as Shiho Ochi, has cranked out several dozen hits in Japan since the late 2000s. But despite being raised on a diet of Japanese pop, she’s intrigued by soulful American rock hits of the 1970s. The Japan Times recounts that “…in 2008, Ochi’s love for Janis Joplin paid off big-time when Japanese TV station Music On! had her front a travelogue show called Following the Steps of Janis, in which she visited the blues-rock queen’s old San Francisco haunts and interviewed Sam Andrew of Joplin’s one-time band Big Brother and the Holding Company.

‘Since he knew I was a singer, he suggested I play a song for him, so I did. And then he told me that there would be a festival called Heroes of Woodstock in 12 months’ time and asked if I would like to perform (with Big Brother). I thought he was joking, but sure enough, a year later the invitation came.'” Although she speaks no English and learned Joplin’s tune by ear only, she “sang two Joplin covers (‘Down on Me’ and ‘Piece of My Heart’) with Big Brother on the New York State site of the original 1969 event, for an appreciative if unacquainted audience of mostly older Americans.”

Superfly’s “A Bouquet With Love” (a rough translation of the Japanese title), released in 2011, features a mammoth instrumentation, easily matched by some sturdy belting by Ochi. The tune builds to a whole-step key change at 3:56 before closing with a punchy, syncopated vamp built around I major -> v minor — the same one we first heard whispered in the intro.

Nancy Wilson | When October Goes

After his death in 1976, the estate of Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Mercer revealed several unfinished lyrics. Singer/songwriter, accompanist, and music director Barry Manilow, who’d befriended Mercer in his final years, was gifted some of these lyrics by Mercer’s widow, Ginger. Mercer’s estate details that one of these lyrics was for “When October Goes.” After setting the words to music, Manilow released the resulting ballad in 1984; the track reached #6 on the US Adult Contemporary charts that year. The tune has since been covered by Rebecca Paris, Kevin Mahogany, Rosemary Clooney, and many more.

AllMusic reports “Diva Nancy Wilson was among contemporary music’s most stylish and sultry vocalists; while often crossing over into the pop and R&B markets … she remained best known as a jazz performer, renowned for her work alongside figures including Cannonball Adderley and George Shearing … By the 1990s, she was a favorite among the ‘new adult contemporary’ market, her style ideally suited to the format’s penchant for lush, romantic ballads; she also hosted the Jazz Profiles series on National Public Radio.” From the JazzIz 2018 posthumous tribute to Wilson: “(her) supple voice, natural ability as a storyteller and willingness to cross musical boundaries made her a sensation in the jazz and pop worlds … (she received) three Grammy Awards during the course of her life — the first in 1965, the last in 2007 … “

Wilson’s version of the tune was released in 1991. It starts in C minor and shifts to Bb minor at 1:51.

Swing Out Sister | Break Out

“… Swing Out Sister‘s music is unashamedly commercial pop,” AllMusic notes. The UK group’s “jazz-tinged arrangements and knack for clever hooks move them closer to the indie dance territory of St. Etienne or late period Everything But the Girl than to the cookie-cutter dance-pop of Kylie Minogue or Paula Abdul.” “Breakout” was the stand-out single from the band’s 1987 debut album, It’s Better to Travel, which AllMusic calls “a dreamy collection of mostly electronic pop songs that manages to sound warmly organic through the judicious use of real strings and horns and Corinne Drewery’s lovely voice, which recalls the throaty purr of vintage Dusty Springfield … ‘Breakout’ (was) one of the finest U.K. pop singles of the late ’80s.”

This unapologetically bouncy pop tune somehow seemed to know upfront that it would become an international smash hit, scoring top 5 chart positions in the UK, US, Canada, and New Zealand as well as prominent chart performance throughout Europe. The track swung for the fences and succeeded in nearly single-handedly establishing the band as late-80s sophistipop royalty. A whole-step modulation at 3:02 is announced by the boisterous horn section.

Many thanks to not one but two of our regular contributors, Chris L. and JB, who suggested this tune completely independently of one another!

The Platters | Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

“One of the leading R&B vocal groups of the ’50s, The Platters were the first black group to be accepted as a major chart act,” reports Oldies.com. “For a short time, were the most successful vocal group in the world. The Platters were formed in Los Angeles in 1953. ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,’ which was an international number 1 hit single in 1958-59, highlighted their smooth delivery and arguably remains the group’s best-loved release…They were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1990.”

The tune was written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the ill-fated 1933 musical Roberta. Playbill reports that the Depression-era production was hamstrung from the start: “The biggest problem was the director, one Jerome Kern. That’s right, Kern — with no directing experience — directed the thing himself; Gordon, recovering from a flop musical which culminated in a nervous breakdown with a suicide attempt, gave in to Kern’s desire in order to get the rights. The show, which opened in Philadelphia — under the title Gowns by Roberta — was so poor that Gordon went ahead and fired Kern as director, although the latter remained on hand to work on the score. But a happy time was not had by anyone.”

Fortunately, the show yielded a wonderfully enduring tune. Starting in Eb major, the track modulates to the bridge, largely in B major (or more properly, Cb major), at 1:17. At 1:50, we return to Eb major. A leap of a major third: truly unusual!