1990s – Page 12

Marc Cohn | Walk Through This World

Asked in an interview with Goldmine about the origins of his music career, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Marc Cohn answered: “I didn’t have any other choice. I just didn’t have a choice. This is what connected with me from the time I was 7 or 8 years old, when I first heard The Beatles and The Stones, and Van Morrison and The Band. It wasn’t just that I liked it. I was obsessed with it. And I had an older brother who played piano and had a band that practiced in our basement, so I got to hear what Motown sounded like, and what Burt Bacharach sounded like, three feet away. My brother had a great ear, and he got most of the chords right, and it was just an obsession from the very beginning. And it was also an escape. And I had some ability. I could always sing, and I found I could write some words, too. It was just to be, I guess. I wouldn’t know what the hell else I’d do. It’s the thing that I was obsessed with for as long as I can remember — making records and writing songs.”

Best known for his top-40 hit “Walking in Memphis” (1991) from his platinum-selling eponymous debut album, Cohn won a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1992. Utica, NY’s Observer-Dispatch describes Cohn’s material: “emotionally stirring compositions, deeply personal yet universal, and his easy, husky voice [have] earned him a devoted following and a reputation as a musician’s musician.”

Built in C major overall, “Walk Through This World” (1993) features an instrumental break (2:35 -2:56) which modulates to Bb major before reverting to the original key.

Celine Dion | That’s The Way It Is

“That’s The Way It Is” is one of Dion’s biggest hits, and was heralded by Billboard as one of the greatest songs of 1999. “‘That’s The Way It Is’ doesn’t sound like it’s trying to be Britney Spears,” said the website Can’t Stop The Pop. “It sounds like the authentic evolution of a superstar – this is a Celine Dion song through and through – and it’s hard to imagine it being performed by anyone else.”

Dion has performed the song on the Rosie O’Donnell show, twice on the Today Show, as well as on multiple tours. Beginning in E major, the track dramatically modulates up a third to Ab coming out of the bridge at 2:50.

Thanks to MotD contributor Gus Connelly for this submission!

Mike Stern | What I Meant to Say

Voted Jazz Guitarist of the Year in 1993 by Guitar Player and one of DownBeat Magazine’s “75 Great Guitarists,” Mike Stern has released 20+ albums of his own as well as collaborating with Miles Davis, Blood Sweat and Tears, Steps Ahead, Michael Brecker, The Brecker Brothers, Jim Hall, and many others.

A lot of work and preparation have set the stage for Stern’s versatility. “‘There are so many different things to get into and study,’ (RivetingRiffs). ‘I check out a lot of horn players, a lot of saxophone players and trumpet players, and Miles, I check his stuff out. I write it out, I transcribe stuff like that. Piano players, like McCoy Tyner and Herbie, I try to get some of those ideas on the guitar … You can arrange everything to a certain point and you can rehearse it to a certain point, but it doesn’t all have to be Pro Tooled to death and everything lined up perfectly. It’s got to have some rough edges … with Miles, there was an edge, but I’ve always liked a kind of a vocal sound, like a horn. I use a little chorus and two amps to try and make it sound a little more vocal, like Jimi Hendrix, because he sang, and the blues guys I grew up with, BB King, Albert King, they bent the strings and sounded very vocal and I’ve always been a fan of that style. I want the guitar to sound more legato and more singing like. I want air in the sound.’”

Although Stern is well known for tunes that fit into a more uptempo rock/blues/funk/fusion vein, “What I Meant to Say,” from his Grammy-nominated 1994 album Is What It Is, embodies the legato, lyrical style he detailed in the interview. Verse 1 starts in Ab major; after a surprisingly smooth side step into D major at 0:34, we return to Ab major for verse 2 (0:42). A shift to E major hits at 1:21, then C major at 1:38, and a sustained solo section in Ab at 2:12. Stern re-visits many of the sections until the verse is re-stated in the original key at 4:25.

Linda Eder | Someone Like You

“Someone Like You” is from the 1990 musical Jekyll & Hyde, featuring a score by Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse. Eder originated the role of Lucy in her Broadway debut and was nominated for a Drama Desk award for her performance. She is now an acclaimed solo concert artist and has released 18 studio albums.

The song, which comes at the end of Act 1 as Lucy is questioning her love for Jekyll, modulates at 2:43.

Owsley | Coming Up Roses

Owsley was born William Reese Owsley III in 1966 in Alabama. According to his website, “he was raised in a musical household; his mother was a singer and stage actress, his father the drum major for the marching band of University of Alabama, his sister a classically trained pianist and his brother a rock guitarist.”

In his early 20s, he moved to Nashville to work as a touring guitarist. At the same time, he worked on writing his own material. In seeking a record deal, he made sure to emphasize that he didn’t want a record label shifting the emphasis of his work: “I had heard the story of Tom Scholz of the band Boston recording his first album and taking it to the record company, where he told them that it was finished and they could take it or leave it. And I thought, ‘What a cool idea!’ I didn’t want anyone else coming between me and what I was trying to accomplish.” Owsley also worked as a guitarist, backing vocalist, songwriter and producer with artists including “Charlotte Church, Kenny Loggins, Amy Grant, Michael McDonald and Rodney Crowell. He also wrote and produced for many Disney stars – among them Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and the Jonas Brothers – and went back on the road as a guitarist for Amy Grant’s touring band. He once described himself as having moved ‘not up or down in the music industry, but sideways.'” He died at the painfully early age of only 44.

After a start in C minor, the chorus for “Coming up Roses” (1999) shifts to C major at 0:29. At 0:55, verse 2 reverts to C minor. The pattern continues throughout, with strings and a catchy wordless sing-along hook joining the mix as the fade ending leads us down a Beatle-esque path.

Sting | January Stars

“Ten Summoner’s Tales is, far and away, (Sting’s) best solo album, both as a whole and for the sum of its parts. Released in 1993 and produced by Sting and the brilliant producer Hugh Padgham, the disc is a fusion of elements from pop, jazz, rock, country, classical and numerous other styles … The disc is a unified whole, with a single sound and aim; the song themes generally concern romance, and are written and performed in a similar vein,” (Sputnik Music).

“January Stars” didn’t make the cut as an album track for Ten Summoner’s Tales (best known for the singles “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” and “Fields of Gold”), but made an appearance as a B-side track.

After the tune starts in C minor, an instrumental interlude in A minor enters at 1:54; we then return to C minor at 2:10. But there’s a recurrence of A minor at 2:24 — all the more striking this time as the vocal melody outlines the downward modulation.

Sting also cranked out a tune with the same instrumental parts — but featuring an entirely separate set of lyrics and a largely new melody — called “Everybody Laughed But You.”

Gary Burton | Reunion

JazzJournal.UK reviewed Reunion, led by vibraphonist Gary Burton and featuring Pat Metheny on guitar, Mitch Forman (who also wrote the title track) on keys, Will Lee on bass (yes, the guy from the Letterman show band), and Peter Erskine on drums.

“Jazzmen are so unpredictable. Writing on the sleeve of his 1988 Times Like These album, Burton said ‘I still don’t feel that I’m going to work with guitarists anytime soon.’ Yet within 12 months or so, he has taken up with his old sideman Pat Metheny after a break of 12 years. Buoyant and Latinate, this set contrasts significantly with earlier Burton/Metheny liaisons. Burton, reticent as ever about his writing abilities, has employed five composers across 11 tracks (including the excellent Vince Mendoza), but there is no lack of cohesion. Everything is beautifully executed, and Burton and Metheny take a host of solos.”

From the album’s liner notes: “(Burton and Metheny) have been called prodigies. Burton joined George Shearing’s group in 1963 at the age of 19. He met Metheny at the Wichita Jazz Festival in 1973 when Metheny was 18 years old. After welcoming him as a teaching colleague at the Berklee College of Music, he hired Metheny for the newly expanded Gary Burton Quintet in 1974. Metheny left Burton’s group in 1977 to form his own quartet with Lyle Mays.” The two artists had next to no contact for over a decade, until the 1988 Montreal Jazz Festival. “‘My apprehension was immediately erased when I saw how easy it was for us to play together, even after 12 years,’ said Burton. This led to their collaboration on Reunion (1990).”

The album’s title track starts in G minor, followed by a modulation up to Bb minor at 3:21. At 4:23, we’ve reverted to the original key for a final chorus of melody.

Natalie Cole | No More Blue Christmas

“No More Blue Christmas,” written by Gerry Goffin and Michael Masser, is the the one original song included on singer Natalie Cole’s 1994 holiday album, Holly & Ivy. Billboard called the song a “soulful, torch-like burner.” Beginning in G major, the tune modulates up to Ab at 3:14.

Thanks again to Ziyad for this contribution!

Why (from “Tick, Tick…Boom!”)

“Why” is from the 1990 musical Tick, Tick…Boom! by Jonathan Larson. Larson wrote Tick, Tick as he was approaching age 30 and questioning whether he should continue pursuing a career in the theater after struggling for years to get his work recognized and produced. The show is autobiographical, and of course Larson would finally find success with his acclaimed, Tony-winning 1996 musical Rent, which opened in 1996. Unfortunately Larson did not live to experience the fame that he had so long sought, as he passed away suddenly at age 35 from an aortic dissection the night of Rent’s first Off-Broadway performance.

“Why” comes near the end of the show; it depicts Jon remembering how and why he fell in love with theater in the first place, and what amount of sacrifice is required for sustaining a career in the arts. He ultimately decides he can’t picture himself doing anything else. The track modulates at 3:39.

A new film adaptation of Tick, Tick…Boom!, starring Andrew Garfield and directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, premieres on Netflix this Friday.

Shania Twain | Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under

“Shania Twain has been in our lives seemingly forever,” (WideOpenCountry). “So long that it’s hard to even imagine that she has a beginning. Shania just… is. Well, we all start somewhere and country music’s favorite Canadian is no different. Her first major hit, “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under,” from her second studio album The Woman in Me, reached No. 11 on the Billboard country music charts in 1995 and vaulted Shania into stardom. Twain’s first single to get recognition was actually so popular it won Song of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards.”

Shania co-wrote the song with then-husband, songwriter/producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange. Lange, who has produced AC/DC, Def Leppard, The Boomtown Rats, Foreigner, Michael Bolton, The Cars, Bryan Adams, Huey Lewis and the News, Billy Ocean, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, The Corrs, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, Nickelback, and Muse, later produced Twain’s subsequent album Come On Over. According to the RIAA, the album became the best-selling country music album ever released and the best-selling studio album ever released by a female artist in any genre

After an instrumental break, a now-familiar chorus starts at 3:05 — but doesn’t get a chance to complete itself before 3:15 brings a second start for the chorus, this time a full step higher. Many thanks to Ziyad for another great contribution!