Tag: USA

David Lanz | Valentine Hill

American pianist and composer David Lanz has released dozens of albums, and this is the title track from his latest record, which came out last February. It begins in D minor, modulates very briefly up to Eb at 1:33, and returns to D minor at 1:42. There is a return to Eb at 2:18, followed by a shift to G minor at 2:28 and a final return to D minor at 2:38.

Barry Manilow | I Made It Through the Rain

“Barry Manilow penned ‘I Made It Through the Rain” with Jack Feldman, Gerard Kenny, Drey Shepperd, and Bruce Howard Sussman. It was the only hit in the US from Manilow’s self-titled Barry album (1980) … it was Manilow’s 11th and final Top 10 hit on the Hot 100. It also peaked at #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart (Songfacts). Gerard Kenny recorded the original version, which had different lyrics, for his 1979 album, Made It Through The Rain. In the liner notes to his 1992 compilation The Complete Collection and Then Some, Manilow recalled how he connected with the song’s message about ‘how musicians struggle to keep their songs safe and sound.’

But after recording it, he was surprised at the lukewarm reaction he received. ‘I would play it for people, assuming that it would move them as much as it had moved me. But it didn’t,’ he explained. That’s when he realized people didn’t want to hear about the obstacles of a profession they couldn’t relate to. So he brought in Feldman and Sussman to help him write new lyrics about everyday struggles. That did the trick, but he still has a soft spot for the original, which he included on The Complete Collection.“

After the tune starts in Bb major, the pre-chorus and chorus hint at stepping out of the key (0:50 and 1:08, respectively) — but then a second verse arrives at 1:50, solidly grounded in Bb. At 2:59, a trademark Manilow descending chromatic instrumental counter-melody alerts us to an important intersection approaching — and indeed, at 3:05, there’s a whole-step key change upward. By this point, the arrangement has grown from soft piano accompaniment to full orchestral swagger.

The Chicks | Long Time Gone

“Long Time Gone” was originally recorded by American singer/songwriter Darrell Scott, and subsequently covered by the Dixie Chicks (now known as The Chicks) and featured as the lead single on their 2002 album Home. The instrumentation includes banjo and fiddle but no percussion; critic Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe said the track “features the same empowered energy of their best hits…but with a sharper edge and a complete refusal to mince words as they slice and dice the contemporary country landscape that they still ruled at the time.” The Chicks’ cover won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

The track begins in D and briefly modulates to E following the second verse and chorus at 1:42. It returns to D at 2:10.

Tommy Roe | Dizzy

“In 1962, a 20-year-old Atlanta electrician named Tommy Roe hit #1 with ‘Sheila,’ a direct Buddy Holly bite that’s both good and weird enough to stand on its own.” (Stereogum). “Roe, who’d written ‘Sheila’ when he was 14, didn’t think he had a music career in him, and the bosses at RCA had to advance Roe thousands of dollars to convince him to leave his job at General Electric and go out on tour. In the years that followed, though, Tommy Roe cranked out a whole lot of simple, joyous, and delightful pop hits, proving himself to be a pro … becoming one of the handful of artists to reach the top of the charts both before and after the Beatles’ arrival. That’s a hell of a run, and it’s bookended by two extremely fun songs.”

Speaking of the tune’s multiple modulations: ” … those streamlined bits of musical disorientation are there to drive home the point of the song … The drums and strings and guitars pound away in a weirdly circular sense, effectively mirroring the idea that this kid just can’t get his feet under him … Roe and his bubblegum peers never cared the slightest bit about credibility. They just wanted to deliver kicks. And in a song like ‘Dizzy,’ a best-case scenario for a low-ambition bubblegum bop, that’s exactly what they did.”

The half-step key changes start early, at 0:24 and then just as verse 1 hits (0:28); many more follow thereafter (0:43, 1:15, 1:20, 1:34, 2:16, 2:21, and 2:35). Many thanks to first-time contributor (but longtime music educator!) Amy C. for submitting this track!

Jimmie Rodgers | Honeycomb

“Jimmie Rodgers, known professionally as the ‘Singing Brakeman’ and ‘America’s Blue Yodeler,’ was in the first class of inductees honored by the Country Music Hall of Fame and is widely known as ‘The Father of Country Music,’ (Country Music Hall of Fame). “From many diverse elements—the traditional folk music of his southern upbringing, early jazz, stage-show yodeling, the work chants of Black railroad section crews and, most importantly, African American blues—he forged a lasting musical style that made him immensely popular during his own lifetime and a major influence on generations of country artists to come. Gene Autry, Johnny Cash, Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard, Bill Monroe, Dolly Parton, Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb, and Tanya Tucker are only some of the dozens of stars who have acknowledged Rodgers’s impact on their music.

… Best known for his solo appearances on stage and record, Rodgers also worked with many other established performers of the time, touring in 1931 with Will Rogers (who jokingly referred to him as ‘my distant son’) and recording with such country music greats as the Bill Boyd, the Carter Family, and Clayton McMichen, and, in at least one instance, with the legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, who appears with him on ‘Blue Yodel Number 9 (Standin’ on the Corner).’ One of the first white country stars to work with Black musicians, Rodgers also recorded with the fine St. Louis bluesman Clifford Gibson and the popular Louisville musical group the Dixieland Jug Blowers.”

1957’s upbeat “Honeycomb,” written by Bob Merrill, is a blend of country and rockabilly. The track modulates up a half-step at 0:44 and again at 1:25. Many thanks to regular contributor Rob P. for sending in this tune!

Hall + Oates | So Close

“Throughout their spectacular run of hit singles in the ’80s, Hall + Oates took full advantage of emerging technology, applying layers of synths and programmed rhythms to their rock/soul hybrid sound,” (Ultimate Classic Rock). “But by the end of the decade, they were ready for a change. That restlessness manifested itself on the duo’s 14th studio album, the suitably titled Change of Season … Although it happened to arrive in the midst of an acoustic boom helped along by the popular MTV Unplugged series, Hall + Oates insisted they were simply heading back to their roots after riding the crest of pop stardom as far as it could take them.

Yet if Change of Season … offered a measure of liberation from Hall + Oates’ pop-star past, it came with a price. After nearly 20 years of working side by side, the duo — only recently returned from a three-year mid-’80s hiatus — knew their days as a working recording act were coming to a close. ‘The essence of our working relationship hasn’t changed over the years. We collaborate the same way and for the same reasons,’ Oates told the Inquirer. ‘The only change has been with our personalities. A decade ago, we were wrapped up as Hall & Oates and our career. The individuality was defined as part of the group. You’ll see more solo projects from each of us in the future.'” The new albums indeed stopped; equally unfortunately, the touring did, too: the duo are now battling bitterly over their divergent views on the management of their shared publishing rights.

“So Close” opens in C major, with several verses and choruses leading to a bridge (3:13 – 3:57). Halfway through the bridge (3:37), there’s a whole-step shift up to D major as the sonic and lyrical energy builds: There’s a restless look in your eye tonight / there’s a secret hurt in my heart / and the dream that pulls us together, girl / is a dream that’s gonna tear us, tear us apart. Although the tune reached #11 on the pop charts, it was the duo’s last major hit. It was a great half-century-plus career while it lasted: Hall + Oates remain the most successful duo of all time, ahead of the Carpenters, the Everly Brothers, and Simon + Garfunkel (Billboard).

Todd Rundgren | Worldwide Epiphany 1.1

“Todd Rundgren has long made a career out of alternatively (and sometimes simultaneously) confounding and delighting his most ardent fans.” (MusoScribe). “Resolutely following his muse wherever it takes him … the result is a body of work like that of no other artist: rich with gems, but wildly varying and with little in the way of consistency. In fact, consistency is a quality in which Rundgren likely places little stock; for him, unexpected stylistic left turns are a feature, not a bug.

Even against that backdrop … Rundgren’s 1993 album No World Order remains among the most challenging and polarizing projects in his lengthy recording career … Then enamored of the new CD-i media format — a development that for a brief moment looked like entertainment technology’s Next Big Thing — Rundgren crafted a cache of what might be termed songlets or song snippets (the No World Order CD-i contained nearly one thousand four-bar segments). The idea of the CD-i was that users could interact with the media, creating their own mix of the music by adjusting the sonic elements … Despite the album’s dodgy reputation, Rundgren’s near infallible sense of melody — one arguably on a par with that of Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson — rarely fails him.”

“Worldwide Epiphany 1.1” is a shortened version of a tune with a full version that clocks in at well over five minutes, but the “1.1” version includes all of the track’s basic elements in a shorter form. An F# minor verse, starting with and strongly featuring a “9” tension in the melody, shifts to an E minor chorus at 0:50.

Building Momentum (from “How To Dance In Ohio”)

Composer Jacob Yandura and lyricist/bookwriter Rebekah Greer Melocik adapted the 2015 HBO documentary How To Dance in Ohio into a musical of the same name, which premiered on Broadway late last year. The story follows a group of autistic teenagers as they prepare to attend their first spring formal. It was the first Broadway show to cast autistic characters with autistic actors. A UK production is planned for next year.

“Building Momentum” comes near the end of the show. It begins in Ab, shifts up to A at 1:04, and modulates again to Bb at 2:05.

The Searchers | Needles and Pins

Jackie DeShannon was the first to record “Needles and Pins,” credited to Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono, in 1963. She has claimed co-authorship of the song. But the song’s big hit was scored by the British Invasion group The Searchers, released early the next year. That was their second UK #1, after “Sweets For My Sweet” from 1963. In the US, the song reached a respectable #13 on the Billboard charts. Later in 1964, their cover of The Clovers’ “Love Potion No. 9” became their best-charting song in America (#3).

According to Songfacts, “two 6-string guitars are playing in unison on the intro — it sounds like a 12-string guitar because an engineer accidentally left the echo switch on but liked the result.”

After the bridge, the third verse (1:24) lands a third up from the starting key.