Tag: ballad

The Delfonics | Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time

“The sound that producer Thom Bell created for the Delfonics was the antithesis of the soul sound that came from Stax in Memphis and Muscle Shoals in Alabama,” according to AllMusic. “He sandpapered away the grit, lightened up on the backbeat, brought in string sections, and created a smooth, airy sound…a different kind of groove where subtlety and nuance reigned.”

“All of the individual elements that helped create the distinctive ‘smooth grooves’ sound synonymous with the Delfonics coalesce with undeniable intensity” on the Delfonics’ fourth LP, 1970’s The Delfonics, AllMusic continues. “Indeed, the material has arguably never been stronger … ideally scored, incorporating string and brass sections without overpowering the vocal blend or seeming pretentious … several sides on this disc are among the group’s best-known works, as well as definitive entries into the distinct Philly-brand soul music scene. The leadoff track, ‘Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),’ would not only become a staple of Top 40 and R&B radio in 1970, but nearly two decades later inspired the 20-volume soul music compilation Soul Hits of the 70s: Didn’t It Blow Your Mind.“

After an intro in F major, the verses are in A major (for the first time at 0:19); the choruses are in F major, prominently announced by a series of Bb/C kicks (IV/Vs) pushing the door open into the new key (for the first time at 1:01). The opening moments of the intro, 2:29, and a few other spots present prominent features for french horn — not exactly a typical part of most soul horn sections.

Ella Fitzgerald | What’s New

JazzStandards.com reports that “What’s New,” a classic standard, was written by Bob Haggart with lyrics by Johnny Burke. “In an era when cute and romantic had given way to urbane, Burke devised a clever gimmick to tell a love story: casual conversational lyrics telling only one side of the conversation. The result was ‘What’s New?’ … introduced by Bob Crosby and His Orchestra with vocalist Teddy Grace in 1939, (it reached) number ten on the pop charts.

“Recognized worldwide as “The First Lady of Song,” AllMusic reports, “Ella Fitzgerald is arguably the finest female jazz vocalist of all time. Blessed with a highly resonant voice, wide range, and near-perfect elocution, Fitzgerald also possessed a deft sense of swing, and with her brilliant scat technique, could hold her own against any of her instrumental contemporaries. Over her 50-year career, she earned 13 Grammy Awards, sold over 40 million albums, and picked up numerous accolades including a National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A hugely important cultural figure, Fitzgerald made an immeasurable impact on the development of jazz and popular music, and remains a touchstone for fans and artists decades after her passing.”

The bridge, normally a ‘B section,’ is simply the same tune and chord progression with some slight melodic alteration in the last two measures (an A1/A1/A2/A1 form). The A2 section modulates up a perfect fourth. Ella’s version here starts in F major and jumps up to Bb major (0:54 – 1:21).

Utopia | Only Human

An unapologetic ballad on Swing to the Right (1982), an album generally driven by uptempo tunes, Utopia‘s “Only Human” covers ground familiar to fans of Todd Rundgren, the band’s founder, primary frontman, co-writer, and guitarist. AllMusic.com reviewed the album as “doggedly pursu(ing) a weird fusion of new wave pop, arena rock, and soul, all spiked with social commentary” — perhaps not surprising, as the lead vocal and composition duties were distributed among the rock quartet.

The lyrics touch on existential challenges which confront us all, at one time or another. But there is also a typically Rundgren-esque affection for humanity overarching the melancholy. In the end, “Love Is the Answer” and mutual understanding is the end goal: never guaranteed, but therefore prized all the more.

After an intro and verses in B minor, the arrival of the chorus flips over into the relative major (D major) at 2:17; the pattern continues throughout. Utopia’s trademark close four-part harmonies overlay a harmonic complexity typical of the quartet.

My House (from “Matilda”)

After breaking through at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Australian comedian/composer Tim Minchin first made a name for himself as an edgy self-accompanying music satirist/social commentator. His piano style, ranging from raucous to refined, made him at home self-accompanying solo or playing out in front of symphony orchestras in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House. Describing himself as a “hack pianist,” he was quoted by Interview One as saying “I’m a good musician for a comedian and I’m a good comedian for a musician, but if I had to do any of them in isolation, I dunno.”

In more recent years, he’s branched out into acting (including the TV series Californication; the TV series Upright, which he also wrote; and stage roles as Mozart in Amadeus and Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, among many others). More recently, Minchin has composed music and book for the musical Matilda, based on the 1988 Roald Dahl book of the same title. The show had successful runs on Broadway and the West End as well as tours of the US, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, winning myriad awards in the process.

Minchin is not generally known for his use of modulation, instead relying on his gifts for wide-ranging melody and evocative lyrics. But he throws a gorgeous key change into Matilda’s “My House” at 2:52 (the music starts at the 0:30 mark).

Frankie Valli | My Eyes Adored You

A submission from MotD fan Kent: “Perhaps my favorite ballad of the 1970s, Frankie Valli’s ‘My Eyes Adored You’ (1974) starts out in A major (after an intro that keeps you guessing which key it’s going to land in).” Written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Easy Listening chart, and was ranked by Billboard overall as the #5 song of that year.

The path to each of the modulations is cleared by a V/IV compound chord in the new key, announced by a syncopated kick not found anywhere else in the arrangement. The first one hits at 0:39 at the end of the first chorus; oddly, the tune doesn’t start with a verse. But although that initial kick features the V/IV chord, it’s just a warmup: there’s no modulation. At 1:33, the first half-step modulation hits with the same syncopated kick, followed by more at 2:29 and 2:52.

Bill Evans | Diane Schuur | Some Other Time

The most prominent image of Leonard Bernstein tends to be his dynamic presence as the conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. But his career also included his extensive composition for Broadway, including West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town, and many others. His tune “Some Other Time,” from the 1944 musical On the Town (lyrics by Betty Comden and Adoph Green), subsequently became one of the select few which made the leap from show tune to jazz standard.

One of the most noted instrumental versions of the standard is by pianist Bill Evans. His version includes an intro that approaches the musical equivalent of liturgy, serving as an intro across a broad variety of ballads by other artists. Pitchfork explains that “Evans’ art has endured in part because he has a brilliant combination of formal sophistication and accessibility; critics and his fellow musicians heard the genius in his approach to chords, his lightness of touch…while listeners could put on his records and simply bask in their beauty, how Evans’ continual foregrounding of emotion made the sad songs extra wrenching and the happy ones extra buoyant.”

On the Evans version, the intro and start of the melody are in C major. 1:30 brings the middle 8, which are in Ab major. There’s a return to C major at 2:04, completing the AABA cycle at 2:38 as the solo section begins.

Since the lyric is a very powerful one, we’re also including a vocal version by vocalist and pianist Diane Schuur. Her website details that she learned “‘What a Difference a Day Makes’ while she was still a toddler (and) developed her own rich, resonant vocal style at a very young age…(winning) two Grammy awards and three additional Grammy nominations” via her solo work and collaborations with the Count Basie Orchestra, B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Jose Feliciano.

S Club 7 | Never Had a Dream Come True

S Club 7’s “Never Had a Dream Come True” was released in 2000, and chosen to be the official BBC Children in Need song that year. It hit the top of the UK Singles chart, and was also the UK group’s only single to chart in the US, where it was the 61st best-selling single in 2001. Key change at 3:05.

The Stylistics | You Make Me Feel Brand New

“You Make Me Feel Brand New,” an R&B/Philly Soul ballad released by The Stylistics in 1974, reached the #2 position on the both the US and UK pop charts, but was kept from the #1 position in the US by the omnipresent bubblegum pop tune “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero.” However, the track achieved top 10 positions from Australia to Canada to South Africa.

Written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed, the tune has been covered by Babyface, Simply Red, Boyz 2 Men, Roberta Flack, Ronnie Milsap, and Rod Stewart/Mary J. Blige (as a duo), and more.

The intro starts in A major, transitioning to E major at the verse at 0:32, G major at 1:06, and C major-ish at 1:58 for the chorus. The cycle repeats for the second verse and chorus. Many thanks to Mark Shilansky for this submission!

Boyz II Men | Pass You By

AllMusic.com describes the sound of the remarkable R&B/Soul/Pop vocal quartet Boys II Men: “aching, tremulous harmonies (which) lifted some of the biggest pop hits of the 1990s…According to no less an authority than the RIAA, B2M are the most commercially successful R&B group of all time. They sold ludicrous numbers of records and were involved in three of the longest-running number one pop singles in history, and they did it as a unit of equals.”

“Pass You By” (2000) wasn’t one of those many runaway hits (it reached only #27 on the R&B/Hiphop chart, although it did better in Europe and Australia). The tune nonetheless scored a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group. The lush arrangement and raw emotion of the vocals suggests something a little weightier than the average breakup song; the video goes even further in suggesting the onward-and-upward route.

Starting in B minor, the tune builds in intensity through a few verses and choruses. At 2:27, a short bridge arrives, giving way to another chorus at 2:38, ascending upward a full step into C# minor.