1960s – Page 19

Young Rascals | How Can I Be Sure

The Young Rascals’ “How Can I Be Sure” was a 1967 follow-up to “Groovin‘” and was influenced by The Beatles, for whom The Young Rascals opened their landmark 1965 Shea Stadium concert, the Montgomery News reports: “The only reason we were brave enough to do that (release a ballad in ¾ time as a single) was The Beatles did ‘Michelle’ and ‘Yesterday.’” remembers co-writer Felix Cavaliere.

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die puts the band in context with its era: “Though The Young Rascals started as a down-and-dirty garage-rock band with an R&B fringe, by 1967, bandleaders Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, and Gene Cornish—like the rest of their songwriting generation—were looking to push pop into the psychedelic era, while loading it up with some of the sophisticated elements that had charmed their parents decades earlier.”

The tune reached #4 on the US pop charts and #1 in Canada and is certainly a departure from the band’s harder-edged origins. According to Songfacts, “The Young Rascals’ original version didn’t hit in the UK and the first time it charted was in 1970 when a revival by Dusty Springfield scraped into the charts at #36. Two years later David Cassidy, who was at the time along with The Osmonds the most popular teen idol in the UK, went all the way to the top of the British singles chart with his cover.”

The tune flips back and forth between D major and D minor throughout and pivots to C major briefly at the end of the chorus (for the first time at 0:47 – 0:51).

Ronny + The Daytonas | Little G.T.O.

“Nashville’s greatest contribution to the hot rod and surfing craze of the early ’60s came in the form of Ronny + the Daytonas,” AllMusic reports. The band was “centered around singer-guitarist-songwriter John ‘Bucky’ Wilkin … After writing (“GTO”) in physics class as a senior in high school, Wilkin’s mom pulled a few strings, landed him a publishing deal, and had a session set up with (a) Nashville producer … The record sprang to number four on the national charts.” Nashville session musicians backed Wilkins up on the recording of the track, and he quickly came up with a name for the “band,” which initially was anything but a stable list of personnel.

The band’s accelerated breakthrough story might have been very much of its era. But ClassicCarHistory.com categorizes the 1964 track as timeless, placing the tune on its Top Ten Car Songs list. “The song reached #4 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and sold over one million copies.”

1:46 brings a half-step key change to this classic three-chord surf rocker. Many thanks to regular contributor Rob Penttinen for this submission!

Barbra Streisand | Make Someone Happy

Originally written by Jule Styne (music), Betty Comden and Adolph Green (lyrics) for the 1960 musical Do Re Mi, “Make Someone Happy” subsequently became a jazz standard, and has been recorded by dozens of singers including Perry Como, Aretha Franklin, Judy Garland, and Jamie Cullum among others. Featured here is a live 2009 performance by Barbra Streisand at the Village Vanguard in New York City. Starting in C major, the tune modulates down to B around 3:29 while Streisand is ad-libbing some dialogue and stays there for the final chorus.

The Supremes | Baby Love

Considered to be one of the most popular songs of the second half of the twentieth century, “Baby Love” was recorded in 1964 by The Supremes for their album Where Did Our Love Go. The track, with Diana Ross on lead vocals, was the second of five consecutive #1 hits for the group, and was nominated for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording at the 1965 Grammy Awards. There is a half-step modulation from C to Db at 1:34.

Sergio Mendes | Lapinha

Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66‘s “smash formula,” according to AllMusic, was “cover versions of pop/rock hits backed by lavish strings, a simplified bossa nova rhythm, and the leader’s piano comping.” The group’s covers of the Beatles’ “Fool on the Hill” and Simon and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair” reached #6 and #16 on the US pop charts, respectively. “Even though he had become thoroughly embedded in the consciousness of mainstream America, Mendes still managed to have it three ways: exposing first-class tunes from little-known Brazilian talent, garnering commercial hits, and also making some fine records.”

The San Diego Union Tribune quotes Mendes speaking about his introduction to the USA: “… the idea was to bring a band from Brazil that represented what Brazilian music is — the vitality, the romance, the rhythms, the sensuality. I was not thinking to put a label on it, but to bring Brazilian music to the world.”

The energetic “Lapinha” (1968) alternates between D major and D minor until the groove drops out for a huge shift to Eb major late in the game (2:27).

The Overtones | Groovin’

“Groovin'” was written and first released in 1967 by the American rock band The Rascals (formerly known as The Young Rascals.) Its Afro-Cuban groove and relaxed vibe quickly led to the tune becoming one of the band’s signature songs, and it has since been covered by numerous other artists. This performance, by the British/Irish boy band The Overtones, was featured on the 2012 album Higher. Key change at 2:16.

Herb Alpert + The Tijuana Brass | Theme from “Casino Royale”

AllMusic reports on the theme from Casino Royale: “Burt Bacharach appropriately comes up with a rambunctious soundtrack for the 1967 James Bond spoof, Casino Royale. Things get underway with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass‘ performance of the fast-paced main title, which features the usual Bacharach mix of pop phrasing and complex arrangements.”

Jazz.FM adds more detail about the impact of Bacharach’s iconic sound. Dusty Springfield’s “The Look of Love” was also a cornerstone of the soundtrack: “The story goes something like this: Driving home from ice hockey practice, (comedian) Mike Myers flipped on the radio and heard ‘The Look of Love’ … When it was finished, the comedian said to himself, ‘Where have all the swingers gone?’ He also must have realized that the movie it was from, Casino Royale, was a jape of the James Bond series. Then and there he conceived the Austin Powers character. Enamored by the song’s composer, Myers cast Bacharach in each of his three Austin Powers films — not as a character, but as a performer playing his own music to set the scene.”

A boisterous half-step modulation announces itself at 1:14. Many thanks to the late Chris Larkosh, a faithful supporter of MotD over the years, for this submission!

The Walker Brothers | I Can’t Let It Happen to You

“They weren’t British, they weren’t brothers, and their real names weren’t Walker, but Californians Scott Engel, John Maus, and Gary Leeds were briefly huge stars in England (and small ones in their native land) at the peak of the British Invasion,” reports AllMusic. “…They favored orchestrated ballads that were a studied attempt to emulate the success of another brother act who weren’t really brothers: the Righteous Brothers.”

The tune appeared in the recent TV series Master of None in 2017, part of a soundtrack that was nothing if not eclectic. “I Can’t Let it Happen to You” wasn’t a single for the Walker Brothers, but the album track, released in 1967, fit the quirky series perfectly. Pitchfork quotes the show’s music supervisor, Zach Cowie, speaking about the series’ star and co-writer, Aziz Ansari: “‘We’re both record collectors that are kind of always looking for crate-digging kind of deeper stuff. That sort of becomes a sound that unifies the whole series. A lot of it is just mixed up sort of records, and it does fit well with the character.'”

The Righteous Brothers’ influence is strong on this track, complete with a leisurely, behind-the-beat delivery, the lead vocal’s casual approach to pitch, and the spacious, reverb-soaked production. Starting in E major, the tune shifts to F major at 1:55 at the start of a brief instrumental bridge.

Theme from “Jeopardy!”

Alex Trebek, the beloved host of the game show Jeopardy! for 35 years, announced in 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He continued to work throughout his treatment, often in excruciating pain. “I’m not afraid of dying,” he said. “I’ve lived a good life, a full life, and I’m nearing the end of that life. If it happens, why should I be afraid of that?”

Trebek taped his final episode on October 29, 2020, and passed away at age 80 on November 8. In honor of the airing of that episode tonight, we are bringing back our 2012 post of the Jeopardy! theme song. Key change about halfway through.

Bill Evans | Danny Boy

The New York Festival of Song reviewed jazz pianist Bill Evans‘ “Danny Boy” in 2018. The album on which it appeared, Time Remembered, was recorded in 1963 but not released for two decades — several years after his death in 1980.

“ … It marks Evans’ return to the recording studio after a year spent grieving the death of Scott LaFaro, his trio bassist, who was killed in a car accident. Evans showed up to the studio alone, played four tunes, and walked out – or so the story goes.

I share the notion with many of you that time is money, but the 11-minute price tag on this song seems like nothing if you’re willing to sit with him as he musically figures out how to breathe again. The space, sparseness, and tender hesitation of every note he plays in the beginning unravel the knots of my heart every time, and in doing so, remind me of why I do what I do.”

Unexpected modulations — which seem nothing short of inevitable after they’ve gone by — are all over this tune.