Tag: ballad

Emily Linge | All By Myself (Eric Carmen cover)

Emily Linge is a prolific YouTube contributor and a British-Norwegian singer songwriter born and raised in Dubai. She sings and self-accompanies on piano and guitar, sometimes with other instrumentalists, including her two brothers. Despite her young age (she was 13 when this video was posted), many of the songs she performs are from decades past, with lots of Beatles covers in particular.

“All By Myself” is a power ballad written by Eric Carmen, with elements taken from Sergei Rachmoninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto. (A version by male vocal group Il Divo appeared previously on MotD). Emily’s rendition largely follows Carmen’s, including the expressive piano interlude featured on his album edit.

Linge’s cover begins in G major; from 2:41 – 3:12, a brief interlude takes leave of the key, moving in several directions before a return to G. At 4:24, a common-tone modulation to B major takes a page from Céline Dion’s gutsy version, including a soaring high vocal line at 4:21. A few more keys are briefly visited before Linge lands in A major at 4:47.

Lou Reed | Perfect Day

“Lou Reed’s low-key, optimistic, and earnest ballad about spending a casual, but perfect day with his partner is arguably his most enduring,” (GoldRadioUK). “Given the nature of rock ‘n’ roll artists at the time, and his previous outlandish experimentalism with The Velvet Underground, ‘Perfect Day’ was a bit of an anomaly for Reed. With the media, Reed was notoriously obnoxious, obtuse, and twisted journalists in circles as to not reveal the true meaning behind his words.

Featuring on his David Bowie-produced 1972 album Transformer … Reed wrote the lyrics to ‘Perfect Day,’ the slow, piano-based balled which details a typically amorous day out with his partner … The song’s lyrics flit between seemingly simple, conventional devotion to his partner in ‘Oh, it’s such a perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you,’ to Reed’s true feelings about himself: ‘You made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else, someone good.'”

After a verse in Bb minor, the chorus brings a shift to Bb major between 0:51 and 1:18; the pattern continues from there. The placement of this humble, earnest ballad as a double-A-side single with “Walk on the Wild Side,” the uptempo oddball love letter to the NYC world surrounding Andy Warhol’s Factory, likely caused more than a few cases of whiplash among listeners.

Laura Mvula | I’m Still Waiting

“The word ‘comeback’ is overused, but in Laura Mvula‘s case, it really does hold true,” (NME). “Though her impressive second album, 2016’s The Dreaming Room, earned her MOBO (the UK’s Musician of Black Origin award) and Mercury Prize nominations plus an Ivor Novello award, she was unceremoniously dropped by RCA Records six months after it came out. The supremely talented Birmingham-born musician later revealed that she received the bad news in a forwarded seven-line email.

Having dusted herself off – writing the music for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2017 production of Antony & Cleopatra must have helped – Mvula is back on a new label, Atlantic, with an overhauled sound. Where her 2013 debut Sing to the Moon largely blended soul with orchestral pop and The Dreaming Room introduced a touch of funk and disco to the mix, Mvula has called Pink Noise (2021) an album ‘made with warm sunset tones of the ’80s’. She isn’t overselling it.”

“I’m Still Waiting,” was first a #1 UK hit released by Diana Ross on her 1971 album Everything is Everything. Mvula’s cover starts in C major; the second half of the first verse features an unprepared modulation at 0:18, settling into Eb major at for the duration. With an accompaniment full of sighing pauses and comprised only of keyboards and feathery layers of backing vocals, the focus falls all that more squarely on the storytelling of Mvula’s poised lead vocal.

Ross’ original, in Eb major, features no key changes and a gentle but more consistent groove throughout.

Lester Young Trio | Body and Soul

“In the 1930s, Lester Young — known as the “President of Jazz” or simply “The Prez” — led a revolution on the tenor saxophone that influenced generations to follow,” (NPR). “He was Billie Holiday’s favorite accompanist, and his robust tenor playing influenced everybody from Charlie Parker to Sonny Rollins. Young was famous for his porkpie hat and his hipster language, but he’ll always be remembered for his remarkable solos.

Young said that even though he became famous with the Count Basie Orchestra, he didn’t like big bands. ‘I don’t like a whole lot of noise — trumpets and trombones … I’m looking for something soft. It’s got to be sweetness, man, you dig?'”

Young’s ideal soft sound was certainly central to this 1942 version of his composition “Body and Soul,” accompanied by an early-career Nat King Cole (billed as just “King Cole” on the recording) on piano and Red Callender on bass. The middle 8, first heard from 0:58 – 1:23, starts a half-step above the home key; its second half is a half-step below it. This is the third version of this jazz standard we’ve featured on MotD, perhaps because the key changes couldn’t be more innovative or distinctive!

Howard Jones | Hide and Seek

UK native songwriter/performer Howard Jones’ career blossomed with his signature single, “Things Can Only Get Better.” That uptempo tune, which acknowledges life’s complexities but maintains an infectiously positive attitude, seems to have set the tone for Jones’ career. From a 2022 interview with 48Hills: “‘From the first album, the first single, I wanted the music and the lyrics to be of use to people to help them get through difficult times in the same way that music helped me. It had been such a comfort and an inspiration to me as I was growing up … I was consciously writing the music for the times when people, including myself, needed a boost, to get over some really difficult situation that life is constantly throwing at us … we need everyone on this planet to be functioning at their highest, most positive level if we’re going to overcome the difficulties we’re facing.'”

“Howard looks at the big picture in this song, where he goes back to the big bang and asks us to remember a time when there was ‘nothing at all, just a distant hum,'” (Songfacts). “Howard Jones performed ‘Hide and Seek’ at Live Aid in 1985 on Freddie Mercury’s piano.” Stepping the tempo up noticeably compared to the studio version of this ballad, Jones somehow gathered the courage to perform this track solo at the piano amidst Live Aid’s otherwise saturated aural textures and huge bands. The transatlantic concert was witnessed by 70,000+ audience members in London and 80,000+ for the US set; “an estimated audience of 1.9 billion, in 150 nations, nearly 40% of the world population” viewed the broadcast on TV or listened via radio (CNN).

After an intro and a verse in D minor, the chorus lifts the mood with a shift to D major (first heard from 1:52 – 2:23) before reverting to the hook-driven minor interlude and verse. The connective tissue in the transition from minor to major is a prominent Dsus4.

Robert Glasper Experiment | Trust

“On Black Radio 2 (2013), the Robert Glasper Experiment attempts the near impossible: create a sequel that delivers fully on the promise of its groundbreaking, Grammy-winning predecessor,” (Qobuz). “Glasper’s group — bassist Derrick Hodge, Casey Benjamin on vocoder and synth, and drummer Mark Colenburg — again enlists a stellar cast of vocalists.

Instead of relying on covers, this set is almost entirely comprised of originals. There is an organic feel as well: there are no programmed loops on the record; everything was played live … Black Radio 2 is much more subtle than its predecessor. While it’s true that it possesses fewer standout performances, it’s wholly consistent, and on some level, it’s braver for relying on original material to carry it. It requires more listening to appreciate fully. Taken as a whole, however, it serves and fulfills the role of a sequel: the album deepens the band’s music-making aesthetic, and further establishes their sound not only as a signature, but even, perhaps, as its own genre.”

Co-written by Glasper and the track’s vocalist, Marsha Ambrosius, “Trust” starts in Eb minor; the chorus shifts into F dorian at 1:08, cycling through an incongruous but compelling G/A chord at the end of each phrase (first heard at 1:12). The short loop occurs a total of four times before the next verse begins at 1:36, reverting to the original key. The two key areas alternate from there.

Flim + the BBs | New Snow

“In the 1970s in Minneapolis, bass player Jimmy ‘Flim’ Johnson hooked up with a couple of other studio musicians named Billy Barber (piano) and Bill Berg (drums), and created a jazz group they whimsically called Flim & The BBs. (Billy Barber, Bill Berg – BBs – OK, you got it),” (VinylDiscovery). “Woodwind/reed player Dick Oatts was an integral part of the group as well, but his name wasn’t part of the group’s name because (I’m guessing) Flim & the BB’s and Oatts just didn’t have the right ring to it.

Their music is best described as fusion or contemporary jazz, which would normally make me run for the hills.  But these guys are different: They are inventive, technically superb, and seem to always inject a touch of whimsy into their playing.  As one reviewer put it, ‘They’re playing is the perfect combination of tight and loose.’  The whimsy shows up in the band’s name of course, but also in their album titles and artwork.”

Featuring a supple fretless bass melody at its start, “New Snow” (from 1992’s This is a Recording), with guest vocalist Michael Ruff, starts in Ab major. At 2:27, a downward modulation to F major is in effect for an instrumental bridge until 2:57, where the tune reverts up to Ab.

The Isley Brothers | The Highways of My Life

“Rudolph Isley, who held dual roles in the influential vocal group the Isley Brothers as a mellifluous harmony singer and co-writer of many of their greatest hits, died on Wednesday at his home in Chicago,” (New York Times). “He was 84. Mr. Isley spent much of his three decades with the Isley Brothers harmonizing with his brother O’Kelly in support of Ronald Isley’s lead vocals … He and his brothers wrote a number of pivotal hits, beginning with ‘Shout,’ the group’s 1959 breakthrough, which applied the dynamic of gospel music’s call-and-response to a pop context. They also wrote the enduring political anthem ‘Fight the Power,’ a Top Five Billboard hit, as well as the Top 10 pop hits ‘It’s Your Thing’ and ‘That Lady.'”

“The Highways of My Life” is the closing track of the Isley Brothers’ 1974 3+3 album, “the gateway to the Isley Brothers’ golden, shimmering 70s period,” (BBC). “This was the point where, after radicalizing since forming their T-Neck label, the original trio of Rudolph, Ronald and O’Kelly Isley augmented their sound with their younger brothers Ernie Isley, Marvin and Rudolph’s brother-in-law, Chris Jasper. They then enjoyed their third life (after their early doo-wop and subsequent Motown career) becoming an all-conquering rock-soul ensemble that produced a remarkable run of hits … Here was a band that could appeal in equal measure to rock fans and soul aficionados. The record mixed originals and covers, light and shade … (an) album which showcases them at the peak of their powers … brilliance writ large.”

After an intro that runs through 0:55 and touches on several keys (most prominently E major) and a first two verses in Ab minor, the chorus of “The Highways of My Life” (in Ab major) finally arrives at 2:09. Multiple interlocking vocal parts carry the chorus, further setting its sound apart from the simpler texture of the verse. At 2:37, we’re back into Ab minor for the next (and final) verse; 3:20 brings another chorus, which eventually does double-duty as a fading outro.

Classics IV | Traces

“Anyone who doesn’t have a clear image of the Classics IV can be forgiven — they went through so many shifts in personnel and sound … they were little more than a name attached to some excellent (and very good-selling) records of the second half of the 1960s, without a personality or identity to grab onto easily,” (Tivo).

“They’re one of those bands that will never, ever get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” (BestClassicBands), “but we bet you fondly recall their three Top 10 hits—all logged within a period of less than a year and a half—and wouldn’t turn them off if they came on the radio right now … those soft-rock hits with the single-word titles—’Spooky,’ ‘Stormy,’ and ‘Traces’—were true classics of the late ’60s AM radio scene.”

Released in 1969, “Traces” was a single from an album of the same name. The track is full of jazz voicings and a surprisingly broad harmonic vocabulary, carried by gentle instrumentation (oboe, guitar, vibes, strings, an ambling bass line, and muted percussion); the vocal couldn’t be any more prominent in the mix. The track which likely launched 1,000 prom themes was also named part of BMI’s Top 100 Songs of the Century. The single hit #2 on both the US Pop and Easy Listening charts — certainly, one of the last of that category. The intro begins in B minor, but the emphasis flips over to D major for verse 1 (0:19). As the bridge ends at 1:55, there’s a shift upwards to Eb major. The track ends rather jarringly when an instrumental verse (2:31) withers on the vine with a fast fade midway through — likely an attempt to keep the single under three minutes in length.

Mariah Carey | Can’t Let Go

“Early on, critics griped about Mariah’s reliance on vocal acrobatics, which, they claimed, kept audiences at a remove from her actual songs,” (SlantMagazine.com). “Indeed, the title track of her sophomore effort, 1991’s Emotions, and the album’s bombastic uptempo centerpiece, ‘You’re So Cold,’ are lessons in fabulous excess, showcases for Mariah’s famous five octaves. But the album’s second single, ‘Can’t Let Go,’ is one of her most understated hits, her downcast verses floating ephemerally atop the song’s pointillistic percussion … With Emotions, she managed to strike a balance of soul and pop that’s not just technically impressive, but filled with undeniable, honest-to-god feeling.”

Co-written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, “Can’t Let Go” was the second single from Emotions. Cashbox‘s review of the single included strong praise: “This time Carey is slowing down the pace from the first single ‘Emotions.’ In our opinion, this should have been the first single taken off the album. Her voice still has that crystal-clear sound that has hypnotized listeners of all sorts.” Although Carey’s first five American singles had reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Can’t Let Go” fell just short of that mark, reaching #2 and spending 17 weeks in the top 40 (Billboard).

Compared to much of the rest of her early material, where vocal fireworks were the rule, “Can’t Let Go” found Carey showing great restraint — showcasing her stratospheric whistle tone vocals only as a faint whisper during the intro (0:20 – 0:25). After several wistful verses and choruses, the bridge builds from its starting point (2:18), ascending through fluid layers of Carey’s own backing vocals to a shimmering half-step key change at 2:45. After one more chorus, the now wordless vocal of the outro cycles back to the melodic shape of the first line of the verse — suggesting that the sorrow from this unrequited love is nowhere near a resolution.