Tag: USA

The Eagles | The Last Resort

“The Eagles achieved stratospheric success in the 1970s, effectively bridging the country rock and soft rock styles that were popular in the early 1970s,” (Aphoristic Album Reviews). “Songwriting team Don Henley and Glenn Frey pumped out a ton of popular singles, and their Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is one of the highest-selling albums of all time.”

In Rolling Stone, the group’s lead vocalist and drummer Don Henley reflects: “‘The Last Resort’, on Hotel California (1976), is still one of my favorite songs… That’s because I care more about the environment than about writing songs about drugs or love affairs or excesses of any kind. The gist of the song was that when we find something good, we destroy it by our presence — by the very fact that man is the only animal on earth that is capable of destroying his environment … ‘ The song begins in Providence, Rhode Island, and goes all the way across America, wrapping up in the Hawaiian town of Lahaina. Along the way, it chronicles how Americans have exploited and destroyed their own land. ‘We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds,’ Henley sings. ‘In the name of destiny and the name of God.'”

After a gentle solo piano starts the tune in E major, the track gradually grows in intensity over time. At 3:24, an instrumental bridge starts with a shift upwards to G major before the the next verse begins.

Many thanks to our devoted reader Scott R. for this submission — his first!

Bobby Bare | Detroit City

“In his current book ‘The Philosophy of Modern Song,’ the revered musical artist Bob Dylan critiques 66 popular recordings to explain how music reveals the character of a culture,” (Detroit Free Press). “Wouldn’t you know it, Page 1 of Chapter 1 presents ‘Detroit City,’ Bobby Bare’s 1963 crossover country classic about a disillusioned Southern white man who comes north to the Motor City. Bare recorded and released the song (61 years ago). On the Billboard charts, it reached sixth on the country-western list, 16th on the pop list, and launched his successful career. ‘It wasn’t till Detroit City came along that I realized I was never going to have to get a real job, which was a big relief for a guitar picker,’ Bare told the website All Access Pass.

Bobby Sr.’s big hit came early in a musical decade best remembered in Detroit for Motown’s assembly-line brilliance; for the raucous rock-and-roll concerts at the Grande Ballroom; and for young Canadian artists like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young clubbing their way to fame around the Motor City. In addition, Dylan’s essay cites “Detroit, the home of Motown and Fortune Records, birthplace of Hank Ballard, Mitch Ryder, Jackie Wilson, Jack White, Iggy Pop, and the MC5.”

The song was originally titled ‘I Want to Go Home,’ a phrase that dominates the chorus. The record found little success when first recorded and released by Billy Grammer in 1962, but Bare loved it. ‘I heard Billy Grammer’s record of Detroit City while I was driving down the street one day and I damn near wrecked my car,” Bare said on his website bobbybare.com. ‘I thought it was the greatest song I ever heard in my life.’” The tune makes a distinctive shift from E major down to B major at 1:19. Many thanks to our regular contributoro Rob P. for this tune!

Dan Wilson | Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot

“Growing up in Akron, Ohio, Dan Wilson spent the majority of his youth within the church community, where his musical path began,” (DanWilsonGuitar.com). “Traces of his major guitar influences – including Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, and George Benson to name a few – can be discerned through his playing, but his musical identity has been shaped by everything from gospel and blues to traditional jazz, hip-hop and horn players like Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.

After graduating from Hiram College, Wilson made his recording debut with pianist Joe McBride and performed to worldwide acclaim with Joey DeFrancesco and Christian McBride’s Tip City, eventually recording his debut as a leader To Whom It May Concern. Wilson has had the honor of sharing the stage with jazz greats including Eric Marienthal, Russell Malone, Les McCann, René Marie, Jeff Hamilton, David Sanborn and Dave Stryker.”

Wilson covered Sting’s 1996 release “Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot” on his 2023 album Things Eternal. The gospel and blues-infused ballad transforms the mid-tempo straight time of the original into an arrangement with an insistent swing feel, multiple vocalists, and a much more subdued tempo. Along the way, two modulations gently fall into place: Bb major to Db major at 1:39 and then an another shift up a minor third to E major at 3:32 after a short but dramatic pause.

Dusty Springfield | Sweet Ride

“There’s something odd about Dusty Springfield’s (rightly earned) position in the pantheon of great female vocalists. She’s up there with Aretha Franklin and all the best soul singers, but she began her career as a pop folkie with her brothers in The Springfields,” (BBC). “She’s cited as an influence on the new generation of gutsy stars like Adele and the late Amy Winehouse, but she was a model of vocal restraint and subtlety. And, in a medium where honesty and passion are almost slightly overrated, Dusty was discreet about her feelings and her life to the point where her Pet Shop Boys-produced 1989 hit ‘In Private’ might have been about her entire life.

Despite, or because of or nothing to do with, these contradictions, the former Mary O’Brien was one of the best singers of her era – which was a decently long one, from her recordings with The Springfields to the great duet ‘What Have I Done to Deserve This’ … she was a singer very much rooted in a showbiz tradition that’s come round again to some extent.”

“Sweet Ride,” the theme to the 1968 movie of the same name, was written by Lee Hazlewood. Starting in C# major, the tune shifts up a half step to D major at 1:30. Many thanks to regular contributor Jamie A. for this submission!

The Grateful Dead | China Cat Sunflower

“Deadhead or not, you have to respect any band that had the impact on popular culture that the Grateful Dead did,” (American Songwriter). “Even though several of the founding members, including Jerry Garcia, died long ago, the interest in the band continues, and you can still hear and see their influence in the music of jam bands like Phish and Widespread Panic.”

Most of the band’s classics are songs for which Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics “like ‘Truckin’’ and ‘Friend of the Devil.’ Even 1987’s ‘Touch of Grey’ became part of the fabric of life for so many counter-culturalists, some of whom actually were grey by the time “Touch of Grey” was recorded. One of Hunter’s most abstruse pieces, which became a staple of the Grateful Dead’s legendary hours-long concerts, was ‘China Cat Sunflower.’ It was recorded for the band’s 1969 studio album Aoxomoxoa, and later released on the live Europe ’72 triple album set in a mash-up with the old blues number ‘I Know You Rider.’ The two songs segued together perfectly, and the Grateful Dead performed the combination well over 500 times in live performances.”

Starting out in G major, the tune shifts up to E mixolydian at 2:08 before returning to G major at 2:50. At 3:18, a long instrumental outro in D major closes out the track.

Connie Francis | Who’s Sorry Now

Written in 1923 by Ted Snyder, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, “Who’s Sorry Now” later became the signature hit of American singer Connie Francis in 1958. The tune was initially published as a waltz, but subsequent covers were arranged as a foxtrot in cut time. Francis’s version, in 12/8 time, was the first of her eight singles to be certified gold in the US, and topped the UK charts for 6 weeks.

The tune begins in Eb and modulates up a half step to E at 1:29.

Joe Perry Project | East Coast, West Coast

“As co-founding member, principal songwriter, electrifying lead guitarist and co-producer of Aerosmith … Joe Perry has achieved permanent iconic stature in the pantheon of rock,” (ArcadaLive). “He has helped to drive his band, over the course of three decades, to sales of more than 150 million albums, critical acclaim, four Grammy Awards … and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Perry’s work with Aerosmith has resulted in an unending array of accolades and honors. Beyond their Grammy Awards and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, other key milestones over the past 35 years include: 12 MTV Video Awards; two People’s Choice Awards; six Billboard Music Awards; eight American Music Awards; 23 Boston Music Awards; and an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ (from the soundtrack to Armageddon).”

During a hiatus from Aerosmith, Perry explored different facets of his sound with a new band, the Joe Perry Project. Their uptempo 1981 single, “East Coast, West Coast,” shifts from E major downward to C major during an instrumental verse (1:51 – 2:33). Many thanks to our regular contributor Rob P. for sending us this tune!

My Days (from “The Notebook”)

The show-stopping “11 o’clock number” from new Broadway musical The Notebook, “My Days” quickly became the most popular song from the show. The song, written by Ingrid Michaelson and performed by Joy Woods, has been streamed nearly 4.5 million times on Spotify. The musical recently announced it will close in December.

The songs begins in C and modulates to D at 2:31.

Tom T. Hall | I Love

“’Songwriters aren’t good songwriters,’ Tom T. Hall once said,” (HollerCountry). “‘People are good songwriters. You sit down as a person and write a song. If you’ve written a song by the time you stand back up, you’re a songwriter. But the person comes first.’

One of Hall’s simplest songs, ‘I Love,’ went on to be the most successful solo single of his career. The song is a softly sung, heart-warming list of everything that Hall loves about life, from baby ducks to pick-up trucks, squirrels to puppies, written in five minutes and recorded in two takes. ‘I invested a total of nine minutes into it, and it sold more than a million copies and was used in a Coors Light commercial.'” It was released in October 1973 “as the only single from the album For the People in the Last Hard Town,” (Billboard). “The song would be Hall’s most successful single and was his fourth number one on the US country singles chart, spending two weeks at the top and a total of 15 weeks on the chart.”

Starting in F major, the tune shifts up a half step at 1:58 to F# major. Many thanks to our regular contributor Rob P. for submitting this track!

Säje feat. Jacob Collier | In the Wee Small Hours

“The female vocal ensemble säje brought their ethereal, contemporary jazz to the Grammys recently, winning the award for best arrangement,” (KUOW.org). “Their winning song featuring Jacob Collier, ‘In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,’ is off the group’s debut self-titled album, säje … You’re likely to find säje categorized as ‘jazz’ or ‘vocal jazz,’ … the group has been most influenced by Black American music. ‘There is a small subset of that in the jazz community that really prides itself on this concept of amplification of voices,’ vocalist Sarah Gazarek said. ‘Amplification of social issues. Intentional creation of music that means something beyond just romance and dreams, that is curious about music, that isn’t just nostalgic references.’

It’s that kind of support for each other and for underrepresented voices that makes säje what it is: an independent phenom. ‘It feels like so much of it is sort of gate-kept by these major labels and big publicists and big marketing machines,’ Gazarek said. ‘But at the end of the day, the majority of the music community is fighting tooth and nail. So, hopefully, that win felt like it was a win for [the independent music] community, because that’s the community that we inhabit.'”

“In the Wee Small Hours,” written in 1955 by David Mann with lyrics by Bob Hilliard, was first released by Frank Sinatra on his album of the same name. Säje’s version with Collier takes the original soft-spoken classic jazz ballad and deconstructs it further. The new arrangement’s rubato whisper is accompanied only by Collier’s piano. The transcription video shows where the several key changes occur within the arrangement, but the the video of the studio recording session is a must-see!