“Father’s Eyes” is featured on the 2014 album Wonders, the fifth studio release by the The Piano Guys, a US-based piano and cello duo. The song, written by cellist Steven Sharp Nelson and producer Al van der Been, is one of the few originals the group has recorded; they are known mostly for their covers. It is also the only song on the record to include vocals. It begins in G minor, shifts to C minor at 2:43, and winds its way back to G minor at 3:17.
Tag: 2010s
Piranhahead + Diviniti | The Beauty of Life
“House music is a genre of electronic dance music first created by club DJs and music producers in Chicago in the early 1980s,” (Linguazza.com). “Early house music was generally characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats, rhythms mainly provided by drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized bass lines. While house displayed several characteristics similar to disco music, which preceded and influenced it (as both were DJ and record producer-created dance music) house was more electronic and minimalistic. The mechanical, repetitive rhythm of house was one of its main components.”
Neo-Soul/r+b/hiphop duo The Foreign Exchange, the collaboration of American rapper/vocalist Phonté and Dutch producer Nicolay, have branched out to supporting other artists in addition to the Grammy-nominated work they’ve accomplished together. Diviniti is among those artists: “A true lady of Detroit house, she writes uplifting songs and has a distinctive vocal style which incorporates eloquent wordplay (ThisIsDiviniti.com) … She has collaborated with producers such as Louie Vega, Josh Milan, Pirahnahead, DJ Minx … and has performed live in Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Detroit, and New York … The highlight of her career thus far is receiving a Grammy nomination as a result of her contribution to Louie Vega’s album Louis Vega Starring…XXXVIII.”
“The Beauty of Life,” featuring Diviniti and producer Piranhahead, was curated for the multi-artist compilation series Hide&Seek by The Foreign Exchange and Reel People Music in 2017. After lulling us into a trance with three minutes of gentle but insistent groove in F# major, the tune breaks away to modulate up a half-step to G (3:54).
Little Mix (ft. Charlie Puth) | Oops
“Oops” is featured on the British girl group’s acclaimed fourth studio album Glory Days, released in 2016. The record spent five consecutive weeks at #1 on the UK Albums chart and is the most streamed girl group album on Spotify.
In their review, AllMusic said Glory Days “finds the group delivering a set of hooky, smartly crafted songs that balance swaggering, ’60s-style R&B with stylish, electronic-tinged dance-pop,.” London’s Evening Standard added “the foursome have carved out a pop niche for themselves, so the really rather good You Gotta Not and Oops have a finger-clicking Fifties feel and there’s a hint of edge to the delightfully fierce Power.”
This track features American singer Charlie Puth, and modulates up from D to Eb right near the end at 2:45.
Only Us (from “Dear Evan Hansen”)
“Only Us” is from the Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen, which had its closing performance on Broadway this past weekend. The tune is performed here by Ben Levi Ross (who played Evan, Connor, and Jared on Broadway) and Taylor Trensch (who played Evan) in a new arrangement by music director Alex Lacamoire. Beginning in B, a modulation up to Db leads into the second verse at 2:06. That is followed by an unorthodox pivot up a perfect 5th to Ab for the final chorus at 2:48, where it remains until the end.
Amer Mounib | Allah Alaik
The late Egyptian recording artist Amer Mounib “excelled at playing the Oud (a stringed musical instrument) through extensive learning sessions with the dean of Helwan University’s Faculty of Music, Atef Abdel Hamid,” (Egypt Today). “He further excelled at playing the piano and created a small band, performing covers of songs by the late singer Abdel Halim Hafez in major hotels around the country.”
During his career, the late artist accomplished 12 albums and enjoyed an acting career which spanned several popular films. Mounib passed away from cancer in November 2011 at the age of only 48.
Mounib’s release “Allah Alaik,” (God Bless You) shifts up a half step at 2:42. Many thanks to regular contributor Ziyad for this submission!
Renee Zellweger & Sam Smith | Get Happy
“Get Happy” was the first song composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Ted Koehler wrote together, and was made famous by Judy Garland in the 1950 film Summer Stock. In 2019, actress Renee Zellweger starred in the movie Judy, a biopic of Garland’s life, and recorded this arrangement for the soundtrack with singer Sam Smith.
The tune features a succession of three half-step modulations: from the original home key of G up to Ab at 1:08, rising to A at 1:52, and finally landing in Bb at 2:26.
Reliably Bad | If You Feel (the Way I Do)
Reliably Bad is an eight-piece Funk/Pop band based in Greensboro, NC. From the band’s website: “Specializing in composing innovative original tunes and arranging funk classics … (drawing) influence from artists such as Vulfpeck, Erykah Badu, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, James Brown, The Funk Brothers, Moonchild, J Dilla, and many more. The band was formed in 2018 with the initial intention of bringing danceable music to the college house show scene in Greensboro … Reliably Bad is committed to exploring innovative ways to engage audiences, refine their groove-oriented sound, and continue to build the musical community around them.”
“If You Feel (the Way I Do)” (2019) was released as an instrumental, but this live version with vocals has a lot more moving parts. The classic three-horn instrumentation handles the gentle funk groove with a palpable sense of fun — not least when the drummer comes forward to take the mic with a surprisingly soaring falsetto on a graceful rubato bridge, then runs back behind the kit like a jackrabbit. After the groove resumes, the key shifts from F major to Ab major at 3:27.
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:
Gladys Knight | I Hope You Dance
“I Hope You Dance,” written by Mark D. Sanders and Tia Sillers, was originally recorded by American country singer Lee Ann Womack as the title track for her 2000 studio album. The song, which won the Grammy award (and many others) for Best Country song, became Womack’s signature hit and has sold over 2 million copies in the US.
American singer/songwriter Gladys Knight covered the tune for her 2013 album Another Journey. After beginning in G, Knight modulates up a whole step to A at 3:08.
Louden Swain | Present Time
Louden Swain is an LA-based indie rock band that formed in 1997. The group has released 9 albums, and when their anticipated 2020 release was delayed by the pandemic, they decided to release one new single each month until they could get back on the road and support the creation of a full album.
“Present Time” is the lead track on the 2017 album No Time Like The Present. It begins in Eb and modulates up to F at 2:22.
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