Thank you, Quincy Jones

In honor of Quincy Jones, the singular musician, performer, producer, educator, and mentor, we’re bringing back a post from 2022 which sheds a bright light on his extraordinary gifts. Jones passed away yesterday at the age of 91. Given that his career spanned the worlds of jazz, R+B, funk, and pop over many decades, it’s likely impossible to describe its full impact. But many of our posts here on MotD featured his work as a producer, even though the names of the artists and bands in question accompanied the songs’ titles.

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“‘Quincy Jones was looking for artists for his new label, Qwest Records,” jazz/pop vocalist and guitarist George Benson remembered in a Guardian interview). ‘I’d started to cross over from jazz and Quincy asked: Do you want to make the world’s greatest jazz record – or go for the throat? I laughed and said: Go for the throat! … He said: George, put yourself in my hands. I know more about you than you do yourself. I was insulted at first, but calmed down, and things started happening.’

George was under pressure to have a crossover hit. Nobody yelled at each other but there was tension, because he wouldn’t always do what Quincy told him to. (The sessions for 1980’s ‘Give Me the Night’ were) a clash of the titans at first. ‘I asked for the same musicians he’d used on (Michael Jackson’s) Off the Wall. The sound they made inspired me. Quincy also brought in Rod Temperton, formerly of the band Heatwave … Rod was always in the background except for when something went wrong. He didn’t mind saying: George, you’re singing in the wrong key.” Patti Austin, now known for her own R+B, jazz, and pop material, was the accomplished background singer Jones hired. Austin remembers: “‘When I went into the studio, the tracks were already recorded. I used to be a jingle singer; you have to be able to walk in, sight-read, and make whatever product the jingle is plugging sound orgasmic. So I worked very quickly.'”

Built in F minor overall, the tune shifts to Ab minor for the chorus at 1:19 – 1:42, later repeating the pattern. The track crossed over with a vengeance; it wasn’t a smash hit, but managed to become a solid global presence (see below) while hitting top five on the US Pop, Soul, and Disco charts.

Petula Clark | Don’t Sleep In the Subway

“Although nominally part of the British Invasion, Petula Clark’s age and pre-rock career history gave her a different perspective from the beat groups and girl singers who emerged in the early-to-mid ’60s … ” (ReBeat). “Unlike the heightened emotions of most youth-oriented pop, Clark’s best ’60s singles are decidedly human in scale, dealing with ordinary adult challenges like stressful jobs, limited prospects, and domestic discord … Because she frankly acknowledges the difficulty of these problems, her entreaties to keep your chin up and make your own happiness carry real weight.

… Clark’s 1967 hit ‘Don’t Sleep in the Subway’ is the epitome of this sort of celebration of small successes. Clark inhabits the role of a woman who, inadvertently or not, bruised her partner’s ego and now has to persuade him not to leave. There’s no outsized dramatics — she’s not pleading with him, or immolating herself before him, or trying to win him over through sheer vocal willpower. There’s even a touch of humor in Clark’s voice as if she is recognizing the ridiculousness of her partner’s huffy threats to spend the night riding the rails …

Songwriter Tony Hatch … was clearly inspired by the Beach Boys’ experimental teenage symphonies, both in terms of the immaculate, yearning melody (the chorus hints at ‘God Only Knows’) and the affinity for crossing rock with orchestral music.” After a start in G major and a rhapsodic pre-chorus, the chorus arrives in Bb major (0:50 – 1:13), complete with a gentler groove. The pattern continues from there.

Jon Batiste | Für Elise

“Für Elise” is the first single released singer/songwriter/bandleader Jon Batiste’s solo piano album Beethoven Blues, which will be released next month. Batiste, who cites Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Django Reinhardt among his musical influences, has been nominated for 20 Grammy Awards and last year was featured in the documentary American Symphony, which explores his relationship with his wife, Suleika Jaouad, and his debut at Carnegie Hall.

We have featured Für Elise on the site before, but Batiste has a very different take than the version you typically hear at an intermediate piano recital. The piece, which has a rondo ABACA form, starts in A minor and modulates briefly to F major at 1:30 before returning to A minor at 2:14.

Champaign | How ‘Bout Us

“When Champaign burst on the scene in 1981, it appeared to be a group that was going to be around for quite awhile,” (SoulTracks). “With strong lead vocalists Pauli Carman and Rene Jones … great production by Leo Graham, and a crossover smash hit in “How ‘Bout Us,” the group’s debut album won critical acclaim and sold well.” The septet was named for the band’s hometown of Champaign, Illinois (WBSSMedia). The track’s songwriter was Dana Walden, the band’s keyboardist.

The track, from an album of the same name, reached #5 in the UK, #4 on the US Billboard R&B chart, and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. “It was a wonderful debut — one of the best complete albums of that year. Unfortunately, that debut album would be the commercial high point for the group.”

The mid-tempo funk-infused tune starts in Bb major; the bridge (2:22 – 2:35) then shifts to the relative G minor before a final transition into Db major for the final verses.

Jack Jones | I’ve Got a Lot of Livin’ To Do

Grammy-award winning singer Jack Jones included “I’ve Got A Lot of Livin’ To Do,” from the 1960 musical Bye Bye Birdie, on his 1968 album Curtain Time, comprised entirely of Broadway covers. Jones appeared on many variety shows throughout his career and released dozens of records. He passed away from leukemia last week at age 86.

The track begins in Db and shifts up to D at 2:01.

Linda Ronstadt + the Nelson Riddle Orchestra | What’ll I Do

“While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has inexplicably remained immune to her charms, few artists have had the career of Linda Ronstadt,” (The Second Disc). ” She’s racked up 38 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including ten that went Top Ten. On the album chart, she’s placed 36 entries, including ten that reached the Top Ten there too (her magic number!) and three that hit pole position.  And consider this: after playing a vital role in the country-rock scene with the Stone Poneys and their hit recording of Mike Nesmith’s ‘Different Drum’ on which she sang lead, Ronstadt embarked on a solo career definitively interpreting some of the greatest songs of the California rock genre. 

Ronstadt never could stay in one place for long, though, which may account for her great longevity as a vital artist and performer.  While she kept racking up hits from both her contemporaries and the voices of an early generation – think of “When Will I Be Loved,” “It’s So Easy,” “You’re No Good” or “That’ll Be The Day,” and chances are you might think of Ronstadt over those songs’ originators – she was looking for new directions and new challenges … In 1983, Linda Ronstadt teamed with Nelson Riddle, the man responsible for many of Frank Sinatra’s most famous orchestrations, for What’s New … It spent 81 weeks on the Billboard chart … In any format, What’s New is a classy excursion into timeless pop teaming one of the most familiar voices of all time with arguably the greatest arranger of them all.”

Ronstadt and Riddle’s version of Irving Berlin’s classic 1923 waltz ballad “What’ll I Do?” begins with a brief string intro leading to a short additional vocal section. The tune begins in earnest at 0:57, launching into a textbook AABA form built in Ab major overall. The B section (1:37 – 1:58) shifts up to Db major. The piece modulates wholesale up into A major at 2:18 with two instrumental A sections; Ronstadt rejoins the band on the B section at 2:59. The rubato outro spirals out of the otherwise measured arrangement, its closing bars off-kilter and unresolved.

Commodores | Funny Feelings

“Known as Zoom in the UK, the Commodores’ eponymous fifth LP (1977) was … very much a transitional work, highlighting the greasy southern funk that the group so ably practiced before pianist and saxophonist Lionel Richie firmly took centre stage,” (BBC). “The album was a huge hit in the US, setting the Commodores up for their chart-topping scene stealing as the 70s became the 80s. In the UK, the reaction was a little more muted. However, ‘Easy’ paved the way for ‘Three Times a Lady’ and ‘Still,’ and Lionel Richie’s unshakeable place as a favourite artist of millions.”

Another track from the album, the midtempo “Funny Feelings,” features an intro in F# minor. At 0:15, however, the first verse settles in with B minor. At 1:01, the chorus shifts to E major. From 1:22 – 1:36, an instrumental interlude mirrors the intro; the cycle continues from there, keeping a laser focus on the funk groove throughout.

Carole King | Tapestry

“Tapestry” is the title track from singer-songwriter Carole King’s second studio album, released in 1971 and one of the best-selling albums of all time. In 2020, the record ranked 25th on Rolling Stone’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

The track, for which King wrote the music and lyrics, begins in F and modulates up a half step at 2:15.

Thomas Dolby | Urban Tribal

“London-born Thomas Morgan Robertson had already made a bit of a name for himself as a synth wiz for hire – working with Bruce Woolley/The Camera Club, Joan Armatrading, Thompson Twins, Lene Lovich and Foreigner – before embarking on his debut solo album in late summer 1981,” (MovingTheRiver). “But, as he once said, he knew ‘too many chords’ to get any regular employment in the punk and new-wave bands of the era, so was pretty much forced to go it alone.

… Lyrically, The Golden Age Of Wireless (1982) … seemed to be a Janus-like vision of England – looking back to its WW2 past and forward to the kinds of urban dystopias explored by novelist JG Ballard.” Its international smash hit single, “She Blinded Me with Science,” became “a signature tune of the Second British Invasion” but was “somewhat of an anomaly. Much of Wireless is downbeat, enigmatic and haunting. Dolby proves himself a brilliant producer and arranger, a master of painting pictures with sound.” His retrofuturistic palette included passages of shortwave radio and marine shipping weather forecasts undergirding the music.

A bonus track from the album,”Urban Tribal,” is certainly a song in the haunting category. The modulations are solidly in the enigmatic mode, too: they don’t announce themselves clearly or proudly. Instead, they pivot smoothly and quietly underneath the gathering stormclouds of Dolby’s storytelling. The lead vocal is prominent enough that a synopsis of the song’s ultimately sad plot is likely unnecessary, but please take a moment to refer here if there’s any doubt. This live performance features a few sudden changes in volume, so please don’t adjust your set. The instrumental intro, featuring the chorus’ rangy melody, is in Eb minor. Just in advance of the verse (0:29), the tonality shifts to D minor. At 1:24, the chorus reverts to Eb minor; the pattern continues from there.