Originally written to be the Bee Gees‘ contribution to the “Music for UNICEF” concert in 1979, “Too Much Heaven” became one of the band’s most popular songs, the fourth of six consecutive #1 hits for the group in three years. Featuring the distinctive, high falsetto timbre the Bee Gees are known for, the track includes nine layers of three-part harmony, as well as a guest appearance by the horn players of the American rock band Chicago. Key change at 3:30.
Tag: r&b
Earth, Wind + Fire | You
“Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the most musically accomplished, critically acclaimed, and commercially popular funk bands of the ’70s,” proclaims AllMusic. “…EWF’s all-encompassing musical vision used funk as its foundation, but also incorporated jazz, smooth soul, gospel, pop, rock & roll, psychedelia, blues, folk, African music, and, later on, disco … More than just versatility for its own sake, EWF’s eclecticism was part of a broader concept informed by a cosmic, mystical spirituality and an uplifting positivity the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the early days of Sly & the Family Stone … at their best, Earth, Wind & Fire seemingly took all that came before them and wrapped it up into one dizzying, spectacular package.”
After several chart-topping albums in the late 70s, in particular the late-70s smashes All ‘n All (triple platinum) and I Am (double platinum), the band released Faces in 1980. “You,” Faces’ fourth single, reached #10 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and #30 on the Adult Contemporary Songs chart. Like “After the Love Has Gone,” EWF’s quintessential power ballad, “You” was co-written by David Foster.
After starting in G major, 1:13 brings the chorus in E minor; halfway through the chorus (1:27), the tonality folds in on itself and we’ve landed in G# minor. At 1:45, verse two starts, but we’re now elevated up a whole step (A major) relative to the first verse — likely unnoticed due to the overall harmonic sleight of hand! A 2:40, the chorus arrives again, this time to stay: it morphs into an extended outro. The outro centers around three two-chord pairs (F# minor/B minor; A# minor/D# minor; and D minor/G minor), all compellingly connected by half-steps. The three sets, repeating and fading to the end, essentially form a gigantic hemiola effect over the 4/4 time. Many thanks to our faithful mod sender-inner JB for this tune!
Sarah Niemietz | All Your Love
Sarah Niemietz is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter with a varied career in music, film, and musical theatre. Though young and at first glance unassuming, Niemietz possesses an extraordinarily rich and soulful voice, with which she explores a wide range of musical genres. While her upbeat funk tunes generate extraordinary energy, her slower acoustic pieces can be just as evocative as well. She has displayed her powerful voice, clever lyrics, and on-stage charisma through several albums and collaborations with a wide variety of artists. According to her IMDB biography, her work with Youtube powerhouse Postmodern Jukebox included two European tours and several extraordinarily popular videos. She has also collaborated with Scary Pockets, a Youtube channel which specializes in unique arrangements of well-known tunes.
Meanwhile, her most recent album is a live collaboration with songwriter W.G. Snuffy Walden. One of the tunes from that album is “All Your Love,” which begins in E major. However, at the 2:10 mark, Niemietz modulates up a whole step to F# major and brings us back to her steady groove to finish out the tune. Hope you enjoy!
George Benson | Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You
Written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin, “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You” was originally recorded by George Benson for his 1985 album 20/20. The track hit #1 on the charts in Canada, France, Ireland, and Spain, and was also included of a 1987 episode of the daytime soap Days of our Lives. The first of several key changes is at 2:45.
Buckshot Lefonque | Phoenix
Saxophonist, composer, and former Tonight Show with Jay Leno bandleader Branford Marsalis has long been a proponent of musical egalitarianism. Born into one of the most prominent families of jazz artists in the US, he’s kept a foot in that style while also performing R&B, classical, rock, and more. From Marsalis’ website: ” … there will be those who insist on sorting even the most adventurous music into neat and compact categories. Fortunately, Branford Marsalis will always be around to shove his square pegs into their round little pigeonholes.” Marsalis has collaborated with Sting, the Grateful Dead, Bruce Hornsby, his brothers Wynton and Delfeayo and his father Ellis, Dizzy Gillespie, Bela Fleck, and dozens of others; won a Grammy in 1993 for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group for his album I Heard You Twice the First Time; and released a trio album, Bloomington (1993), which was hailed as a landmark in contemporary jazz.
Using a name which served as a pseudonym for jazz saxophone great Cannonball Adderly when he was moonlighting on pop and R&B records in the 50s, Buckshot LeFonque “blends rock, hip-hop, jazz, reggae, and African elements. In summing up his thoughts on what has been one of the most musically diverse projects he has yet undertaken, Marsalis says, ‘We took some interesting left turns… which is what I expected.’ The members come from widely diverging backgrounds yet find common ground … ‘You might get on the tour bus one day and hear Italian opera; the next day you’re hearing hip-hop.’ Singer Frank McComb agrees. ‘Everybody gets to stretch out in his own way. Everybody is an artist in this band and not just a backer. We’re all loose, free and easy.'”
McComb, a solo artist in his own right, covers the vocals on “Phoenix,” a slow ballad from the band’s second album, Music Evolution (1997). The track ramps up its energy gradually — at first. With a seemingly devastating breakup in the rear view mirror, the protagonist unflinchingly revisits the pain, then gathers strength to move on. The transition in point of view is matched by a brightening of the tonality: starting in F# minor, a huge shift to to F# major declares itself at 4:46, leading to an ending on an unresolved yet hopeful IV/V.
Silk Sonic | Leave The Door Open
“Leave The Door Open” is the debut single from the new band Silk Sonic, comprised of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. Describing the band’s genesis in an interview with Billboard, Mars said, “It was like, ‘Well, want to come back tomorrow? And we kept coming up with music. It felt like why you fall in love with music in the first place. And jamming with your buddy… There’s no plan, just working out the parts and trying to excite each other… that’s why this wouldn’t happen if it didn’t make sense and it didn’t feel natural and organic. This was a series of events that led us to ‘Man, why don’t we just do it?'”
“When you get in and you can jam with someone and other artists that could hold it down and you’re bouncing, that’s different,” .Paak said. “That’s the difference and you’re really creating a groove from scratch. You guys are trying to figure out what’s going to work. What’s the math behind this that’s going to get everybody feeling good? What is it? Is it too heavy? Is it not heavy enough? And especially with this song [Leave The Door Open], it’s a song that requires so much patience and delicate…” Mars jumps in: “Delicatessen,” with .Paak adding, “Delicatessens. A lot of meat went into this song.”
Released last week on March 5, the music video has already racked up over 22 million views on YouTube; the release date for the full album has not yet been announced.
The tune begins in A minor and pushes at its boundaries throughout. A definitive modulation to Gb occurs at 2:42. Thanks to contributor Clara Jung for this find!
Stevie Wonder | I Just Called To Say I Love You
“I Just Called To Say I Love You,” written, produced, and all instruments performed by Stevie Wonder, is his best-selling song ever. It was his tenth #1 song on the R&B chart, and his fourth on the adult contemporary chart. The song received Grammy nominations for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Beginning in Db, the song modulates up and down by half step multiple times: up 3:01 to D Major, up again to Eb Major 3:35, back down to Db at 4:21, up to D at 4:56, and finally up to Eb at 5:29.
Carmen Ruby Floyd | Unexpected Blessing
Actress and singer Carmen Ruby Floyd has appeared in the Broadway productions of Avenue Q, the jazz revue After Midnight, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Chicago, and Hello, Dolly!, where she served as a cover for the title role under Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, and Donna Murphy. “Ellington’s lyric-free but gorgeous “Creole Love Call” is delivered by Carmen Ruby Floyd with hypnotic simplicity,” critic Charles Isherwood wrote in his review of After Midnight in the New York Times. “Her voice taking flight in tandem with swooning melody, which seems to glimmer visibly in the air before you.”
In addition to her theatre work, Floyd has performed with Gladys Knight, Toni Braxton, Babyface, Fantasia, Hugh Jackman, among others, and most recently toured with her mentor Vanessa Williams.
Earlier this year, Floyd released her first EP featuring “Unexpected Blessing.” Key change at 3:25.
Brian McKnight | Back at One
“Back at One,” featured on Brian McKnight‘s eponymously named 1999 studio album, is one of the 16-time Grammy-nominated singer’s most successful singles. A Top 10 hit in New Zealand and Canada, the track reached the #2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, and also placed on the Adult Contemporary and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop charts. Key change at 3:00.
New York Rock + Soul Revue | Lonely Teardrops
“At a time when rock concerts are putting an increasing emphasis on spectacle and choreography, it is refreshing to attend a show at which genuine interplay among musicians is the main attraction,” notes a New York Times review of a 1990 concert by the New York Rock & Soul Revue. “… Seasoned pop veterans working together in an unusually flexible and informal setting … a loosely-structured round-robin format.” According to AllMusic, the concert lineup included the organizer of the short series of shows, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, as well as Phoebe Snow, Charles Brown, Michael McDonald, Eddie and David Brigati (the Rascals), and Boz Scaggs. In the liner notes, Fagen called the selected tunes “durable music.”
Songfacts reports that “Lonely Teardrops,” made famous in 1959 by Jackie Wilson, was “written by Tyran Carlo (the pen name of Wilson’s cousin Roquel Davis) and a pre-Motown Berry Gordy Jr., who co-wrote eight other songs for Wilson. This song gave Gordy him the confidence to rent a building in Detroit and start the Tamla label, which would become Motown.” The tune was a #1 R&B hit, also reaching top 10 on the Pop charts.
Unlike the single-key original, the NYR+SR version has a quick key-of-the-moment lift from 2:19 to 2:26, but it’s a fake out that returns us to the original key almost immediately; 2:59 brings a real key change.
Jackie Wilson’s original:
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