Tag: 1960s

Redwood | Time to Get Alone

Although also recorded by the Beach Boys, the band Redwood (later to become Three Dog Night) recorded Brian Wilson’s tune “Time to Get Alone” in 1967. Danny Hutton, one of Three Dog Night’s vocalists, recalls the recording session in the book Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson’s Lost Masterpiece:

“‘ … there’s something that sounds like this big, distorted, smooth guitar sound, and it’s just a little piano played through a blown speaker that I had at my house. Then I remember Brian calling in the string section. [Brian’s sister-in-law] Diane Rovell called them in at the last minute, and some of them still had their tuxedos on. Brian was thoroughly in control of those guys … he was sitting there, talking to me, while they were doing a take, and he stops and says, Hold it, Danny. Hey, viola! The second chair … you’re flat on that C. He not only heard a bad note; he knew which guy did it.’”

Redwood’s version and the Beach Boys’ subsequent 1968 version have some similarities and some differences, but anyone who’s heard Three Dog Night will recognize the overall textures of that band immediately. Wilson’s compositional sense, however, is so strong that it remains paramount throughout. At 1:31, there’s a shift from D major to C major.

More detail about the collaboration between Wilson and Redwood/Three Dog Night, directly from Hutton’s recollections:

Petula Clark | Geh in die Stadt (Downtown)

“Downtown,” Petula Clark’s signature song, reached the #1 slot on the Billboard charts in January 1965. In that era, it was common for singers to create cover versions of their own English-language songs in other European languages, often using the same backing track.

Famously, the Beatles recorded German-language versions of “She Loves You” (“Sie Liebt Dich”) and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (“Komm gib mir deine Hand“).  Other German covers of that time include the Honeycombs’ “Have I The Right” (“Hab Ich das Recht“) and Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By” (“Geh’ vorbe“). This German-cover thing, it was a thing.

Besides the version heard here, Clark (a UK native) also recorded French (“Dans le temp”) and Italian (“Ciao ciao”) versions of “Downtown”. She also recorded songs in French, Italian, German, and Spanish that were not covers of her own hits, though some were covers of hits for other artists.

The familiar half-step upward modulation appears at 1:53.

Bunny Sigler | Follow Your Heart

“A veteran singer and composer during the classic period of Philly soul, Bunny Sigler was always capable of making striking, memorable soul/R&B material,”(AllMusic). “Debuting in the ’50s with his own group and as a solo performer, he reached the higher end of the R&B charts several times … Sigler actually earned much more acclaim for his work as a staff writer and producer. One of the major creative forces behind Philadelphia International’s dominance of ’70s soul, Sigler produced and wrote for dozens of major acts, including Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle, the Whispers, Stephanie Mills, Billy Paul, Curtis Mayfield, and Carl Carlton.”

“Follow Your Heart” (1967) starts in G major, but with almost no emphasis on chord color — instead, a distinctive I major / flat-II major (sub V) vamp rings out beneath the verse’s melody. At 0:39, the chorus shifts to Bb major; the less exotic chord progression in this section brings the sound closer to a textbook 1960s pop/soul hit. The pattern continues from there.

The Hollies | Bus Stop

“Bus Stop,” The Hollies’ 1966 hit, “was written by Graham Gouldman, who went on to form the band 10cc, best known for their hit ‘I’m Not In Love,’ (Songfacts). Gouldman was just 19 when he wrote ‘Bus Stop,” but he had already written three Yardbirds songs: ‘For Your Love,’ ‘Heart Full of Soul‘ and ‘Evil Hearted You.’

According to Gouldman, this song’s middle eight was one of the few instances in his songwriting career when he had a sudden inspiration rather than having to resort to hard toil. He explained to Mojo magazine in a 2011 interview: ‘You have to be working to make something happen. Occasionally you can wait for some magic, like McCartney waking up with ‘Yesterday’ already written in his mind, which does happen — it’s like a gift from your own subconscious. Or sometimes, it’s like a tap’s turned on.’ The middle eight section ‘all came to me in one gush, and I couldn’t wait to get home to try it. When that sort of thing happens, it’s really amazing. But that’s rare. Mostly, you have to do the slog.'” The tune reached #5 on the UK Singles chart and was also the band’s first US top ten hit, peaking at #5 on the Billboard charts in September 1966.

After a start in A minor, that lucky middle eight (0:35) shifts to E minor before reverting back to the A minor at 1:03. During that section, the melody shifts from a lower, smaller range to a more emphatic, higher one, while the melody’s compelling syncopation continues throughout. From 1:31 – 1:45, there’s an instrumental interlude which ends in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it piccardy third before the transition into another middle eight.

Mary Hopkin | Those Were the Days

“Who could possibly predict that a five-minute recording of a Russian romance song composed in the early 1900s with English lyrics written in the early ’60s, recorded in July 1968 by a green 17-year-old Welsh folk artist, produced by a Beatle, and arranged by a jazz nerd with unlikely instrumentation would result in a Number 2 on the Billboard charts? (MixOnline) Engineer Geoff Emerick says ‘Those Were the Days,’ produced by Paul McCartney and sung by artist Mary Hopkin, appealed to the public because of those unique qualities. ‘It was so different for the time,’ Emerick says. ‘Everyone loved it … Who knows about these things? We were always looking for something different, something spectacular every time we worked.’

(Arranger) Richard Hewson and McCartney spoke about what the producer had in mind for the arrangement, which only amounted to an instrument called the cymbalum. Interestingly, the percussion teacher with whom Hewson had been studying had a cymbalum. ‘It’s a Hungarian instrument that is like a piano without the lid on, hit with hammers,’ Hewson explains … As Emerick recalls, ‘I think we took a day out of the Beatles’ schedule so Paul could do this. We did it in Studio Number 3, Abbey Road.'”

The klezmer-style clarinet and rubato feel of the verse lend the tune its antique feel right off the bat, although the chorus picks up a consistent groove. At 3:12, Hopkin is joined by a children’s choir for a wordless trip through the chorus, followed by a brass-driven mixed-meter interlude which unexpectedly pushes us into the new key at 3:42.

The Capitols | Soul Brother, Soul Sister

“The Capitols, an R&B doo-wop trio originally known as the Three Caps, was formed in Detroit in 1962,” (BlackPast.org). “… The group primarily recorded dance-themed songs in the Detroit area.” After struggling for several years, “in 1966 they released the top ten hit, ‘Cool Jerk.’ The song composed by Don Storball and recorded at Golden World Studios in Detroit with the legendary Motown house band, The Funk Brothers, became their biggest hit. It was the lead single from their first album, Dance the Cool Jerk, and peaked at #2 on the Billboard R&B and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

During their limited career, the Capitols released 6 albums and 19 singles … The group finished the decade in 1969 with the single ‘Soul Brother, Soul Sister’ that peaked at no. 42 on the Billboard R&B chart.” Very little additional information about this track is available online, but the trio’s signature sound is as clear here as it was on the smash hit single ‘Cool Jerk.”

After a short break in the groove, the tune shifts up a whole step at 1:26.

Shelby Flint | Cast Your Fate to the Wind

In 1962, pianist Vince Guaraldi created that rare thing, a hit jazz instrumental, “Cast Your Fate to the Wind”, which reached #22 on the Billboard chart. The recording won a 1963 Grammy for Best Original Jazz Composition. A few years later, Guaraldi enshrined himself in American popular culture as the composer of the songs for the Peanuts TV specials.

On their first date, lyricist Carel Werber went with her future husband Frank, then manager for the Kingston Trio, to a club in Sausalito, where Guaraldi played the song for her. She loved it, and wrote the lyrics during trips over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Singer Shelby Flint had her own Billboard #22 hit, “Angel on My Shoulder”, which she wrote, in 1962. Her vocal version of Guaraldi’s song was released in 1966, reaching #61 on the Billboard charts.

The song starts in Db major, with a modulation to D in the instrumental section at 0:51, closing with another half-step shift up at 1:14. The verse then resumes in D-flat.

Here’s Guaraldi’s instrumental original:

UB40 (feat. Chrissie Hynde) | I Got You Babe

“It is a testament either to reggae’s amazing elasticity, the sunny music’s universal appeal, or the efficacy of its modern pop co-option that UB40, a racially integrated octet from Birmingham, England, would — in the wake of Bob Marley — become reggae’s longest-running hit machine,” (TrouserPress). “Not to put too fine a point on it: Marley lived only eight years after making the landmark Catch a Fire album; UB40 is already in its third decade of successful employment.

Significantly, UB40 (the official name for a British unemployment form) has built its empire on laid-back covers of soul and pop classics and gentle love songs, not religion and revolution; there isn’t a single item in the UB40 archive with the international social significance of ‘Redemption Song’ or ‘Get Up Stand Up.’ Ultimately, UB40 is loyal not to a culture but to a beat … the band’s formula is mighty steady: recent albums sound enough like early ones that it would be impossible to guess their order of release.”

In 1985, UB40 and The Pretenders’ frontwoman Chrissie Hynde covered Sonny and Cher’s original 1965 original of “I Got You Babe.” The original was Sonny and Cher’s best-performing single, spending three weeks at #1 on the pop charts; the tune went on to become a worldwide smash hit, achieving top 10 chart positions in Europe, Canada, Africa, and Asia. The UB40 cover reached #1 in the UK, but only #28 in the US. It traded the original’s sturdy 12/8 for a effervescent reggae groove that focused on all of the 16th notes in a measure, shot through with electronic percussion. A half-step key change hits at 1:22.

Many thanks to regular contributor Rob P. for submitting this tune!

Lamont Dozier | Reach Out, I’ll Be There (feat. Jo Harman)

Lamont Dozier, who died earlier this month at the age of 81, “played his part in many of the songs that built the Motown legend and which now seem as impervious to the ravages of time as those of Rodgers and Hart or Lennon and McCartney,” (The Guardian). As Dozier worked with the songwriting team of brothers Eddie and Brian Holland, the “Holland-Dozier-Holland” catalog grew to include classics such as “‘Heat Wave’ and ‘Nowhere to Run’ (with Martha and the Vandellas), ‘Can I Get a Witness’ (Marvin Gaye), ‘Baby I Need Your Loving,’ ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ and ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ (Four Tops), ‘This Old Heart of Mine’ (Isley Brothers), ‘Take Me in Your Arms’ (Kim Weston) and a record-breaking string of #1 hits in the US charts for the Supremes, starting with ‘Where Did Our Love Go’ in 1964 and including ‘Baby Love,’ ‘Stop! In the Name of Love,’ ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ and ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On.'”

The Guardian continues: “Long after their original radio and chart success had faded away, many of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s million-sellers turned out to have embedded themselves so deeply in the public consciousness that they enjoyed second lives, reimagined for new audiences in cover versions by non-Motown artists. Rod Stewart’s ‘This Old Heart of Mine,’ Kim Wilde’s ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’ and Phil Collins’ ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ were among the many reinterpretations that kept a smile on the faces of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s song publishers as the years went by … In later years he provided songs for Alison Moyet, Debbie Gibson, Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle, wrote with Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall … Phil Collins, and Kelly Rowland. Dozier and the Hollands were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.”

Dozier released the album Reimagination in 2018, “a collection of twelve tracks previously written for other artists while at Motown, but Dozier performs them in a way that will make you forget the original,” (BlackGrooves.org). For a rendition of the Four Tops’ uptempo 1967 hit, “Reach Out, I’ll Be There,” Dozier and British vocalist Jo Harman have transformed the up-tempo classic into a gospel-tinged ballad. After a start in E major, 1:59 brings a shift to C# major. At 2:40, we revert to the original key for a piano solo before the arrangement beautifully unfolds into a full gospel texture. The cover is so earnest and so self-assured that yes, the distinctive original is indeed forgotten, at least for a time!

For reference, here’s the original:

Connie Stevens | Hey, Good Lookin’

In the early 1960s, Connie Stevens was a superstar, playing
photographer and nightclub singer Cricket Blake on the TV series
“Hawaiian Eye” and scoring on the pop charts with songs like “Sixteen
Reasons.” Later on, she worked as an actual nightclub singer in Las
Vegas, and continued to work in TV and film well into the 2000s. In
the early 1970s, she recorded some sides with famed producer Thom
Bell, making the first version of “Betcha By Golly Wow” (released
under the more sensible title “Keep Growing Strong”), and covering the
Delfonics hit “La La Means I Love You” (which Bell had co-produced).

The country classic “Hey, Good Lookin'”, was the lead track on her 1962 Warner Bros. album, The Hank Williams Songbook. The big band arrangement chugs along merrily in G major until a cute, unexpected, just under-the-wire modulation to Ab major at 1:44 during the end tag/turnaround.