Tag: r&b

James Ingram | I Don’t Have the Heart

“If there’s one explanation for why the late James Ingram didn’t get the respect he deserved in life for being one of the great soul singers of the ’80s, it’s probably that most of his signature hits… well, they weren’t totally his,” (Billboard). “Ingram broke through in 1981 with two top 20 Hot 100 hits rightly seen as classics of their period, ‘Just Once’ and ‘One Hundred Ways’ — but both were as a guest vocalist, on tracks that ended up on legendary producer Quincy Jones’ set The Dude. He was nominated for best new artist at the 1982 Grammys, before he’d ever even released a single of his own. Then, his first hit apart from Quincy was 1982’s ‘Baby, Come to Me,’ a duet with Qwest labelmate Patti Austin that rode a General Hospital placement all the way to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in early 1983 — but which ended up being housed on Austin’s Every Home Should Have One album, never appearing on an Ingram LP.”

He later went on to more chart success, but as a duet partner to a very rangy list of artists: Michael McDonald, Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes, Linda Ronstadt, Barry White, Al B. Sure, El DeBarge, Dolly Parton, and Anita Baker. “All of this combined to make Ingram’s solo showcase ‘I Don’t Have the Heart’ one of the most unexpected Hot 100-topping singles of the early ’90s. ‘Heart’ was something of an anomaly, both within turn-of-the-’90s R&B and within Ingram’s own catalog. Melodically, the single was firmly in his wheelhouse — a massive showstopper co-written by pop-soul vets Allan Rich and Jud Friedman … It’s a torch song by proxy, a stunning expression of empathy … (for the track), Ingram (reached) all the way back to ’70s superproducer Thom Bell, one of the primary sonic architects of Philly Soul, via iconic hits for The Spinners, The Stylistics and The Delfonics.

… We may remember James Ingram better as a co-star than as a solo sensation, and that’s fine: Even just a compilation of his biggest collabs would be more impressive than a single disc of 90 percent of his peers’ solo greatest hits. But ‘I Don’t Have the Heart’ and the #1 chart success it briefly experienced remains a crucial part of Ingram’s legacy, showing how his voice and musical instincts were strong and bold enough to essentially materialize a memorable chart-topper out of nowhere — and giving him a signature hit that no one could claim as anyone’s but his …”

The inversion-heavy track, scored primarily for keyboard and strings, is built in D major overall. After the bridge (2:27 – 2:47), another iteration of the chorus at first leads us to believe that the tune will simply fade out without ever having transcended the borders set within the first few measures. But another run through the chorus at 3:10 finally brings percussion, electric guitar, Ingram’s trademark high wordless falsetto, and a crashing whole-step key change up to E major as the track kicks the power ballad afterburners into gear.

Justin Timberlake | Never Again

“Never Again” is the final track on Justified, Justin Timberlake’s 2002 debut solo studio album. The track, co-written and produced by Brian McKnight, expresses regret about a relationship that didn’t work out. It begins in Db and modulates up a half step to E for the bridge at 2:45 before returning to Db at 3:10 for a brief instrumental interlude leading into the chorus.

Wattsline | Never Stop Lovin’ Me

A quintet comprised of four men and one woman, The Wattsline was a backing vocal group conceived, auditioned, directed, and championed by legendary producer Quincy Jones. The members had previous experience from all over the music industry, from performer to studio vocalist to arranger to music director/pianist. Jones planned that the group would stay in residence at A+M Records and be available to work on various projects over time.

Documentation on the group is extremely scarce, but it was apparently named for Watts, a Los Angeles neighborhood known for its high percentage of African American residents. A 1976 article in Record World magazine (below) provides the best detail, showing Quincy Jones just hitting his stride as a producer. Apologies for the lack of article excerpts, but it’s only available via image format!

Given its style, 1973’s “Never Stop Loving Me” could easily have been a hit for the Supremes. After a start in Db major, the tune shifts up to D major at 1:46.



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.

Archie Bell + the Drells | I Could Dance All Night

“While their funky Texas (and later Philadelphia) sound was often overshadowed by the music coming from Detroit and Memphis, (Archie Bell + the Drells’) contribution to the musical landscape of the time was significant … ” (SoulTracks).

In 1968, the band’s release ‘Tighten Up,’ … (reminiscent of the sound James Brown was popularizing at the time) … turned into an international smash.” Later, the band worked with “songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and became the an important foundation for Gamble & Huff’s fledgling production empire and, later, their Philadelphia International Records label. ” After a string of hits, “The Drells broke up in the early 80s, but Bell continued on as a solo artist and then with a reconstituted set of Drells, playing the oldies circuit.  By the mid-90s, Bell was solo again, singing his classic hits at venues in the U.S. and internationally.”

1975’s “I Could Dance All Night” is a good example of tunes that became popular during the Hustle dance craze, a prominent dance style within the Disco era. At 1:53, the groove falls away, returning as the key elevates by a whole step.

Many thanks to MotD regular Rob Penttinen for this submission!

For reference, here’s the band’s 1968 sadly modulation-free tune “Tighten Up” in a trippy-looking live performance. The backup singers didn’t have a chance to hit even one note, but still should have received overtime pay for the dance moves alone!

Aretha Franklin | Freeway of Love

“Freeway of Love” (1988) “was written by Narada Michael Walden and Jeffrey Cohen,” (Songfacts). “Walden is the guy you call when you need to produce a diva: he has written and produced hits for Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Diana Ross. When we asked him about the one song that had the greatest impact on his career, he told us it was ‘Freeway of Love’ by Aretha Franklin … This is one of the most famous driving songs of all time,” but Franklin wasn’t a driver!

“Aretha Franklin has an astonishing 20 #1 R&B hits – more than any other artist – and this song was the last of them. It was also a huge pop hit and revitalized her career. When she recorded her Who’s Zoomin’ Who? album, she hadn’t been in a studio in two years, and hadn’t had a Top 10 on the Hot 100 since ‘Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)’ in 1973.” Bruce Springsteen’s saxophone player Clarence Clemons played on this track, which was also produced by Walden. The tune won Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, as well as reaching #3 on the US pop charts and topping the Hot Black Singles chart for five weeks.

Spin‘s Armond White put the track into context within Franklin’s long career: ” … a highway of life song, proclaiming Aretha’s longevity … confirms her as the mother/master of much that is current. She’s still the Queen of Soul.” A whole-step modulation holds off until 3:40 — nearly the end of the tune.

Commodores | Sweet Love

“R&B purists have often argued that the Commodores did their most essential work before 1977,” (AllMusic). “It was in 1977 that they crossed over to the pop/adult contemporary audience in a major way with ‘Easy,’ and subsequent hits like 1978’s ‘Three Times a Lady’ and 1979’s ‘Still’ (both of which reached number one on Billboard’s pop singles charts) certainly weren’t the work of R&B snobs.

… the song that 1975’s Movin’ On is best remembered for is the laid-back, gospel-drenched hit ‘Sweet Love.’ Written by Richie, ‘Sweet Love’ is one of those secular soul tunes that isn’t really gospel but borders on it; when Richie belts out the lyrics, ‘You got to keep on searching/harder/day by day,’ you feel like you’re in the front row during an AME church service. And even though Movin’ On is an LP that R&B purists rave about (rightly so), you can’t say that it was ignored by pop audiences — ‘Sweet Love’ was a number two R&B hit, but it also reached number five on Billboard’s pop singles chart.”

The mid-tempo track features soft, shimmeringly delicate sections — but also passages with the saturated sound of a full compliment of horns and strings joining the band’s regular instrumentation. A powerhouse whole-step key change hits at 3:49.

Margie Joseph | Show Me

” … Margie Joseph’s legacy has been nearly buried by the inaccessibility of her music,” (PopMatters). “For far too many years, finding her music has been the wont of voracious crate-diggers. Only the most dedicated listener would pony up for pricey import re-issues or seek out the few rare compilations that currently exist.

(Producer) Arif Mardin treated Joseph like a soul queen on her eponymous debut for Atlantic in 1973, earning her inevitable comparisons to label mate Aretha Franklin.” Al Green liked one of Joseph’s tunes so much that he asked her to tour with him; she also received praise from Paul McCartney. Of her collaboration with Mardin, Joseph said “’I would just hear these melodies. Arif was so patient. He’d sit there and listen to me sing a line of a song out of the blue, and he’d create something out of it.’ … The signature Margie Joseph sound … strength and sensitivity intertwined in one powerhouse set of pipes.” Joseph also went on to work with Lamont Dozier and Narada Michael Walden.

Starting in C major, the off-kilter intro/verse 1 junction of 1968’s “Show Me” features an odd meter just before the lead vocal’s entrance, warning us from the get-go not to get too comfortable. 1:26 brings an upward half-step shift, followed by another leading into the fading outro at 2:07. This horn-driven knockout punch weighs in at only just over 2.5 minutes, but is nothing short of a lyrical mic drop throughout.

Marvin Gaye + Tammi Terrell | Your Precious Love

“Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye melded their melodious performative perfection for ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ like a pair of songbirds delivering a twittering Sunday service,” (FarOut). “The cover of the classic Ashford & Simpson track launched them as the soul-extolling duo about to give loving joy to a generation.”

Tragically, Terrell was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was only in her early 20s, but kept performing for a time, releasing ‘Your Precious Love’ with Gaye in 1967. In 1970, “at the tender age of 24, Terrell passed away. At her eulogy, Gaye delivered one final performance of ‘You’re All I Need to Get By’. He later would comment: ‘I had such emotional experiences with Tammi and her subsequent death that I don’t imagine I’ll ever work with a girl again.'” Gaye went through a mourning period for Terrell during which he stopped performing altogether. However, he couldn’t have channeled his grief any more productively: his 1971 solo release, the legendary What’s Goin’ On, is touted by Rolling Stone as its #1 album of all time.

“Your Precious Love,” once again written by Ashford and Simpson, reached #5 on Billboard Pop Singles chart and #2 on the R&B Singles chart. Members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra added dimension to the usual band instrumentation. After a start in Bb major, the short choruses lift into Db major first heard from 0:43 – 0:58) before reverting to the original key.

Hall + Oates | She’s Gone

In an interview with American Songwriter, John Oates, songwriter/guitarist/vocalist for Hall and Oates, spoke about “She’s Gone,” from the band’s 1973 album Abandoned Luncheonette (re-released to larger acclaim in 1976): “I don’t know if it’s the best song we’ve ever written, but it’s certainly one of the most enduring songs. I think it’s a song that is certainly emblematic of our collaborative relationship … We knew it was a good song. We knew it was unique. But really that song – don’t confuse that song with the record. The song was the thing that happened in our living room with him on the piano and me on the acoustic guitar. The record is what happened when we went into Atlantic studios with the legendary producer, Arif Mardin, and this incredible collection of musicians who he surrounded us with and his string arrangement and the chemistry. I call it the perfect storm of creativity. It turned that song into a classic record that has really stood the test.”

From Songfacts: “This is one of the duo’s favorite Hall & Oates songs. Daryl Hall told Entertainment Weekly: ‘It’s very autobiographical. What we wrote about was real, even though it was two different situations. And it’s very thematic with us: this soaring melody and uplifting chord progression, but about a very sad thing.'” In Songfacts‘ 2011 interview with John Oates, he explained: “‘We started out as songwriters. And both Daryl and myself, individually and collectively, have a wide variety of musical tastes. Just because the music we made may have fallen into a certain category doesn’t mean we weren’t aware of and interested in other kinds of music. When Hall & Oates got together, I brought a traditional American folk-y approach, and it was something Daryl wasn’t really even aware of. And Daryl brought a lot more of the urban R&B side. And when we blended those together, we eventually created a sound.'”

In what might be a high water mark for the duo’s vocals, lead vocal duties are shared and harmonies alternate with octave unisons. Although the single peaked at only #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, it also placed in the top 10 on the Canada Top Singles chart and both the US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. It only reached #93 on the US R&B chart. Though the duo’s unprecedented run of early-80s hits almost entirely arose from the pop genre, this earlier outing was textbook blue-eyed soul. Between 4:08 – 4:34, a late instrumental bridge brings three half-step modulations, ushered in with a IV/V compound chord in each new key.