“Long before teenagers like LeAnn Rimes and Taylor Swift were taking over the country charts, a 13-year-old Tanya Tucker was mixing it up with all the heavyweights,” (Holler Country). “Included on her debut album in 1972, “The Jamestown Ferry,” (a) funky little slice of countrypolitan, was everything the 13-year-old Tanya Tucker was becoming synonymous with in the early 70s.
With a lyric presumably way beyond her experience and a deep soulful vocal that belied her age, ‘The Jamestown Ferry’ tells the story of a woman wandering the honky tonks and bars and sadly reminiscing about how her lover used to treat her before he left her to catch a ferry.”
Tucker’s solo vocal verses alternate with a multi-part vocal arrangement for the choruses. 1:38 brings a half-step key change. Many thanks to regular contributor Rob P. for this submission!
Sandie Shaw, the “Barefoot Pop Princess,” had three UK number one hits, “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me” (1964), “Long Live Love” (1965), and “Puppet On a String” (1967), as well as several other charting singles from the 1960s through the 1990s. Her version of “Your Time Is Gonna Come” from the album Reviewing the Situation (1969) was the first-ever Led Zeppelin cover. She was the first-ever British winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, when “Puppet On a String” topped the UK charts made her the first British female singer ever to have three number one records (Express.co.uk).
“Wight is Wight” was a French-language hit (1969), written and performed by Michel Delpech. The song title alludes to the Isle of Wight music festival, and makes a sly reference to “Black Is Black,” the 1966 hit by the Spanish beat group Los Bravos.
Sandie Shaw sang the song with its original lyrics and, using the same backing track, the English-language version here was released as a single in 1970, and included as a bonus track on a CD reissue of Reviewing the Situation. We’re unable to find the source of the English lyrics; they may well have been written by Sandie Shaw. Shaw’s tightly-controlled vibrato is on full display here. A whole-step bump awaits at 2:08.
“There was a lot riding on this album (Smokin‘, 1972). After the general economical failure of (UK band Humble Pie’s) first two albums released in the States, Humble Pie and Rock On, their live album, Rockin’ the Filmore shot them up to top-billing across the country and into a major name,” (TheUncool). “So, when Smokin’ hit the racks it would provide exposure of the studio side to a band that became famous on their live side. The reception would be significant …
Actually there is nothing extremely original about the band. They play a brand of rock ‘n roll that is definitely not unique to them. So…just what is it about Humble Pie, or for that matter Smokin’, that in actuality puts them in a class above so many others? … Humble Pie is a confident band. They don’t bashfully kick around a number of styles and techniques … Humble Pie is a band that works with the bare essentials of rock ‘n roll. Performance Rockin’ the Fillmore proved them as a great live band. Smokin’ proves them as a great band. Anywhere.” (Courtesy of the Door [aka San Diego Door] – Cameron Crowe)
After beginning in A minor, “Sweet Peace and Time” shifts up to B minor at 0:45, then hangs out in E minor for an instrumental section from 1:09 – 1:39. At 1:39, the same A minor pattern from the intro and first verse is once again in effect. The pattern continues from there.
“Vocalist Dionne Warwick had already established something of a reputation as a chanteuse of unrequited love by the time ‘You’ll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)’ was released in 1964,” (JazzIz). “The song evokes the wit and delight of Great American Songbook standards. It also benefits from the contrast created by the dream-pop orchestration, complete with tinkling chimes and bells, and the lyrics, where Warwick essentially threatens her loved one with eternal damnation should he wrong or hurt her.
(The tune) was another collaboration between Warwick and the legendary songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It also marked a departure from their previous, bossa nova-influenced hits, although subtle yet significant Latin influences are still heard throughout. In addition, the song is noted for solidifying her fame and status in Europe, where it was particularly successful. In fact, shortly after the single’s release, Warwick would embark on a four-month tour of the Old Continent.”
The track features a half-step key change at 1:56, which hits at an unexpected spot just before the start of a verse.
Special mention must also be made of the Stylistics’ 1972 cover of the tune, which is arguably the better known of the two versions (also posted below). While different from the original, its arrangement also managed to sound thoroughly Bacharach-ian. Its modulation hits at 2:10.
“It was Aretha Franklin who made Don Cornelius realise he had hit the big time,’ (The Guardian). “Just two years earlier, the impresario’s show Soul Trainhad been a Chicago thing, broadcasting local talent to local viewers. Now it was a national sensation and even the choosiest stars wanted to get on board. Franklin told him: ‘My kids love the show and I want to be a part of it.’ Stevie Wonder improvised an ode to Soul Train. James Brown, convinced that somebody, probably a white somebody, must be behind such a slick operation, looked around its Los Angeles studio and kept asking Cornelius: ‘Brother, who’s backing you on this?’ Each time Cornelius replied: ‘Well, James, it’s just me.’
He wasn’t bragging. As the host (or ‘conductor’) of Soul Train from 1970 to 1993, Cornelius was an avatar of cool, with his glorious afro, wide-lapelled suits and avuncular baritone, signing off each episode with a funky benediction: ‘I’m Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace … and soul!‘ Billed as ‘the hippest trip in America,’ Soul Train didn’t just beam the latest sounds from black America into millions of homes, but – with amateur dancers who became as integral to the show as the performers – the fashions, hairstyles and dance moves too.”
The theme for the show, “‘TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)’ is a 1974 recording by MFSB featuring vocals by The Three Degrees,” (Billboard). “It was written by Gamble and Huff … (and) was the first television theme song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.” The track also went to #1 on Billboard‘s Easy Listening chart and Hot Soul Singles chart, as well as reaching top 20 positions in many countries worldwide.
After a start in C major, the tune shifts to C minor from 0:33 – 1:07 before returning to original key. The track continues to alternate between the two parallel keys throughout, keeping the groove front and center at all times.
“It’s every bit as cheesy and tinkling as you might expect. It soars, it swoops, it blinds you with the whiteness of its teeth,” (Number1sBlog.com). “Suddenly the UK charts sound(ed) very ‘American’ (in 1974), with three glossy, shining number ones in a row. But while George McCrae and The Three Degrees were pretty cool… this one really ain’t …” The track didn’t do quite as well in the States, hitting #8 on the Pop chart and #8 on the (wow … just wow) Easy Listening chart. “Don’t love me for fun girl, Let me be the one, girl… Love me for a reason, Let the reason be love…If love ever-lasting, Isn’t what you’re asking… I’ll have to pass, girl, And be proud to take a stand… The Osmonds were good ol’ Mormon boys that needed more than just physical attraction (their words). All of which culminates in the spectacular line: My initial reaction is, Honey give me love, Not a facsimile of…
Any song that can crowbar the word ‘facsimile’ into its lyrics cannot be all bad and, to tell the truth, this is a decent pop song with a highly sing-alongable chorus … The band would go on releasing albums until the end of the 70s, before splitting up and moving into different ventures. Donny would be the most successful, with his sister Marie. But this (was) it for them, in terms of topping the charts as a group.”
The track is backed by a strings-drenched orchestral accompaniment with plenty of on-demand harp filigree for the occasional spots where the Osmond lads take brief breaks from singing. The orchestration starts off big, backs off a bit during the verses, then winds up again at the modulation (3:15), which glides up a minor third (from A major to C major) as the tune nears its end. Standout Osmond star Donny seems content to sing backup for a change, letting big brother Merrill cover the lead vocal duties.
Many thanks to regular contributor Rob P. for submitting this track!
“There are many iconic songs in the history of country music,” (SavingCountryMusic.com). “But there are only a small handful that have gone on to define what it means when someone says ‘country music’ to millions of people. The song ‘Behind Closed Doors,’ written by Kenny O’Dell and performed by Charlie Rich, is definitely one of those songs … For years Charlie Rich struggled as a performer since he wasn’t dirty enough for rockabilly or country, and not distinctive enough to make it in the world of pop. But when the Countrypolitan sound became all the rage in country music, it gave Charlie Rich an opening. Where some more hard country artists struggled to perfect the more genteel Countrypolitan approach, Charlie Rich’s balladeer style and smoothness fit the era perfectly.
‘Behind Closed Doors’ wasn’t just Charlie Rich’s breakout single … Songwriter Kenny O’Dell wrote the song specifically for Rich, with Sherrill tinkering with a few lines to get it dialed in perfectly. Released in April of 1973, the lyric was a little racy for the time, and some radio stations refused to play it initially, or outright banned it from playlists … But ‘Behind Closed Doors’ didn’t just hit #1 in country and #15 in pop, the song eventually won both Single of the Year and Song of the Year from both the CMA and ACM Awards. It won the Grammy for Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance for a Male. Rich also won Best Male Vocalist from the CMAs in 1973, and the album Behind Closed Doors won for Album of the Year.”
After the first verse and chorus pass, the groove stops entirely for a split second. An unprepared modulation, led by what amounts to a reprise of the intro from the piano, hits at 1:22 before verse 2 starts at 1:32.
“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.”
” … 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.
“Leon Russell became part of an elite group of studio musicians called the Wrecking Crew and played on hundreds of hit records in the 1960s,” (LeonRussell.com). In addition to serving as a session player for dozens of artists, “as a songwriter, Leon’s songs have hit the charts across all genres and have been covered by a diverse range of artists. Ray Charles recorded ‘A Song For You,’ B.B. King had a hit with ‘Hummingbird,’ The Carpenters with ‘Superstar,’ and Joe Cocker with ‘Delta Lady.’ The Carpenter’s cover of “Superstar,” written by Leon and Bonnie Bramlett, went to #2 on the pop music charts. George Benson won the ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy in 1976 for his cover of Leon’s song, ‘This Marquerade,’ and it became the first song in music history to hit #1 on the jazz, pop, and R&B charts.”
Billboard reviewed Leon Russell’s album Will o’ the Wisp in 1975: “… with the vocals moving back toward the drawling, bluesy style most fans prefer but at the same time showing a sophistication he never displayed before. The same may be said for the songs, which are ballads or mid-tempo for the most part, though there is some fine blues rocking. Basically, the material here is what makes the set exceptional, including several cuts that rival the intensity of his brilliant ‘Song For You.’ There’s lots of help from Mary McCreary on backup vocals and some fine Memphis musicians. Key here, however, is that Russell seems to have taken himself seriously … he can write with the best when he tries. This time he’s trying.”
Built in F major overall, the mid-tempo track shifts at 1:38 into a brief bridge. The key shifts up to G major and there’s a subtle shift in the groove as well. At 2:01, the original key returns.
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