“(‘Make Me Smile’) was written by James Pankow, a founding member of Chicago, whose primary instrument is the trombone,” reports Songfacts. “What made him smile was the thought of a beautiful relationship: ‘Relationships, if they’re good, put a big smile on our faces. Love songs have always been a powerful ingredient in the song’s process – the songwriting process has often taken writers to that place.’
(The 1970 single) is the first section from the 13-minute musical suite ‘Ballet for a Girl from Buchannon’ on the group’s second album (‘Colour My World‘ is also part of this suite). Without the band’s knowledge, their record company excerpted the ‘Make Me Smile’ section and pushed it to AM radio stations, which had thus far ignored the band. The band had mixed emotions upon hearing their musical masterpiece chopped down for radio play, but were thrilled when the song became their first hit. The first Pankow heard this song on the radio was when he flipped on the mighty Los Angeles radio station KHJ-AM in his car and the song came on. He had no idea the record company had packaged it as a single.”
This album version includes an extended intro not found on the single version (0:00 – 0:38), as well as an extended outro (3:44 – 4:10) before the single version’s ending picks back up at 4:11. Both the intro and the outro are unsettled, giving the horn section free rein over meters that shift on a dime; a settled 4/4 is reached as the first verse starts at 0:42, before the most noticeable key change hits as the bridge starts at 2:14. The band’s trademark horn-saturated kicks and ambitious multi-layered backing vocals were well on their way to icon status with this hit track.
Many thanks to our diligent stringer JB for contributing this tune!
Tag: USA
Elmer Bernstein | Theme from “The Magnificent Seven”
Elmer Bernstein’s score for The Magnificent Seven (1960) was nominated for Best Score, Dramatic or Comedy at the 33rd Academy Awards, but was bested by the score for the film Exodus. The score was later ranked at #8 on the American Film Institute’s list of the Top 25 American Film Scores.
According to The Muse by Clio, the original review of the film in The Hollywood Reporter was ambivalent — although not about the film’s music: “The Magnificent Seven has the stars and the production values to open big, and probably will. But it is not a success, as a story or as entertainment…Elmer Bernstein’s music is truly memorable; the theme will stick.” The Muse continues: “Glenn Lovell’s 2008 book about the Magnificent Seven’s director, “Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges,” describes the film’s theme music as ‘arguably, after John Williams’ Jaws and Star Wars themes, the most recognizable overture in the history of the medium.’ Bernstein’s theme took on a life of its own after the film’s release, having its place confirmed as the soundtrack to American masculinity in the iconic Marlboro Man ad campaign, and even appearing in a shot of James Bond riding across a desert in Moonraker.“
The modulation hits right around 1:10. Many thanks to MotD regular Carlo Migliaccio for submitting this track!
Say No to This (from “Hamilton”)
In recognition of the live film of the stage production of Lin Manuel Miranda‘s blockbuster 2016 Broadway musical Hamilton dropping on Disney+ earlier this month, today we feature “Say No To This.” Coming in Act 2 of the show, the song outlines Hamilton’s one-year affair with Maria Reynolds, which eventually led to the first major political sex scandal in US history. Beginning in F# minor, the tune glides smoothly into the relative major for the chorus at 1:23 and continues to play back and forth between these two tonal centers. A modulation to B major occurs at 3:03.
Yesterday, the original cast recording for the show became the first cast recording to reach the #2 spot on the Billboard 200 chart since the revolutionary 1969 musical Hair, which spent 13 weeks in the #1 spot the year of its premiere.
Samuel Barber | Summer Music for Woodwind Quintet, Op. 31
In its program notes for a 2004 performance, Chicago Chamber Musicians wrote: “Barber was often described during his lifetime as hopelessly old-fashioned; audiences approved of his music more than critics did. Over time, though, his individuality and depth of emotional expressiveness have won universal admiration and given him a pre-eminent place in the history of American music. With his tendency toward romantic melodiousness, combined with a classicist’s fondness for traditional structures, Barber has sometimes been compared to Brahms, who was also accused of being out of step with his times, but whose works seem to have survived nonetheless. Barber himself commented on the work’s pastoral mood: ‘It’s supposed to be evocative of summer — summer meaning languid, not killing mosquitoes.'” American Music reports that the 1956 piece, Barber’s only chamber composition for wind instruments, has become a staple of the wind-quintet repertory.
The performance here is from the 2013 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; the ensemble is from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Starting with a more disjointed mood, the piece is initially built on a series of luxurious features/solos for each of the quintet’s instruments — although no one instrument takes the lead for long. The tonality shifts several times, generally staying in the minor realm. At 2:07, the mood shifts suddenly; the ensemble begins to speak mostly as one as the lines grow more percussive. At 2:44, there’s a shift towards an uncomplicated major tonality as the quintet sprints to the finish line.
Johnny Cash | I Walk the Line
According to WideOpenCountry.com, “Just weeks after the song’s 1956 release, Johnny Cash performed ‘I Walk The Line’ at the Grand Ole Opry and was met with thunderous applause and a standing ovation. Audiences instinctively connected with Cash’s unique track and vocals while musicians tried to put into words what was so special about Cash. ‘It was different than anything else you had ever heard,’ Bob Dylan told Rolling Stone. ‘A voice from the middle of the Earth.’ And NPR quotes Cash’s former son-in-law Rodney Crowell as saying, ‘You know, if Mt. Rushmore could open its mouth — any one of the sculptures on Mt. Rushmore could open their mouths and sing, that’s what it would sound like.’
WideOpenCountry reports that the song “stayed on the country charts for a solid year and sold over 2 million records. It even showed up on the pop charts for a while, giving Cash a bonafide crossover hit.”
Lacking a traditional verse/chorus structure (unless “because you’re mine/I walk the line” constitutes a chorus all on its own), the bare-bones tune takes a standard three-chord structure and jumps it through multiple modulation hoops. In the process of all of the key changes, we get a full tour of Cash’s bass/baritone vocal range, covering over two octaves.
Josh Groban | To Where You Are
Written and produced by Grammy-winning producer and performer Richard Marx with Linda Thompson, “To Where You Are” appeared on Josh Groban‘s 2001 debut album, and reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Chart. Groban frequently sings the the song in live performance, and it has also been performed on numerous reality television voice programs such as American Idol and Britain’s Got Talent. The track seamlessly alternates between Bb in the verses and C major for the choruses at 1:09 and 2:50.
Taylor Swift | Love Story
One of the best-selling singles of all-time at 18 million worldwide sales, Taylor Swift‘s “Love Story” was released in 2008 as the lead single from her second studio album Fearless. Considered to be her signature song, it tells the story of a love interest of Swift’s who was not popular among her family and friends. The track peaked at #4 on the Billboard Top 100 and has been certified 8x Platinum by the RIAA. Key change is snuck in right at the end at 3:18.
Black Artists for Black Lives | Feeding Off the Love of the Land
As described by the performers, Black Artists for Black Lives, “This arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Feeding Off the Love of the Land’ was born out of grief, and evolved into a communal message of healing. In the midst of our grief, we sing with renewed strength and love. We sing for them… We sing for US.”
Stevie’s original appeared under the credits of Spike Lee’s 1991 film Jungle Fever, but didn’t appear on any of Stevie’s studio albums.
Starting with a gorgeous a cappella arrangement in B major, an instrumental accompaniment sneaks in at 0:30 and swells at the early modulation to D major at 0:48. The energy continues to build until the ensemble hits its fullest stride at 2:04.
Stevie’s original, which doesn’t include a modulation:
Voctave | Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
Rufus Wainwright | Trouble in Paradise
A July 2020 piece in FLOOD magazine suggests that singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright is “the reigning king of elegant, earthen and sophisticated art pop. He still has a knack for crooning smartly piquant, yet deeply emotional lyrics with cosmopolitan melodies that come across more Tin Pan Alley, London Palladium and Topanga Canyon than something out of today’s more nebulous and steely AutoTune universe”
His 2019 song “Trouble in Paradise” is the lead single for his most recent album, Unfollow the Rules. In an American Songwriter interview, Wainwright said “After the opera world and natural aging, I can now sing at the full power of my abilities, and this record really shows that off.” He also shared a this synopsis of the song for his website: “Drum beats herald a romp through the inner mind of a bob-haired fashion doyenne on her drive from the town to the country. She reflects on the true price of glamour, and weighs its spiritual costs while eyeing her future legacy, and eternity.”
Typical of Wainwright, the arrangements are layered and ornate — but never overpower what FLOOD calls his “slippery, oboe-like vocals.” Starting in Bb major, the tune modulates up a half-step at 2:13. At 2:49, the song ends in an ambiguous swirl of layered notes, somehow suggesting falling and ascending simultaneously.
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