Tag: USA

Diana Ross | Theme from “Mahogany” (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)

“(Diana) Ross had always been something of an actress — a voice capable of conveying the entirely fictional emotional weight of the circumstances that the songs described,” (Stereogum). “She was beautiful and driven and precise and galactically famous, and it was only natural that she should become a movie star, too.” Ross had acted before, starring as jazz chanteuse Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. But her Motown boss and romantic partner, Berry Gordy, was a first-time director for 1975’s Mahogany.

“Mahogany bombed. It got terrible reviews and did bad business. Gordy never directed another movie. Ross only took one more big-screen role, in the 1978 musical The Wiz. These days, Mahogany has its defenders, but it’s mostly just remembered for its camp value. The movie did, however, spawn one unqualified success: The soft and elegant theme song,” co-written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin, “became Ross’ third solo #1 … a slight song, but it’s a pretty one … It’s a song that practically drowns in its own drama, filling up the mix with sighing strings and wailing backup singers and fluttering acoustic guitars and pianos. Musically, the song has nothing to do with the effervescent pop-soul of Motown’s ’60s past. It’s closer to down-the-middle Los Angeles pop, and at its biggest crescendo, it sounds a bit like the work of Gerry Goffin’s old collaborator Phil Spector.”

Modulations between C minor and C major are front and center in this track, nearly from start to finish. The first shift to C major (0:44) is accentuated by the addition of percussion to the instrumentation, while the first transition back to C minor (1:10) is ushered in with an odd-metered measure. At 2:32, a long, string-saturated instrumental outro cycles through multiple keys as multiple instruments take the lead on the now-familiar theme.

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Our thanks once again to the late Chris Larkosh, an energetic and consistent supporter of MotD. This submission is one of several he sent in over the years, even though we’re only now getting around to featuring it.

Anthem Lights | God Bless America

In observance of Independence Day in the US, today we feature Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” covered here by the Nashville-based a cappella Christian group Anthem Lights. The group, which includes Caleb Grimm, Chad Graham, Joey Stamper, and Spencer Kane, has released seven albums. This arrangement begins in A and modulates suddenly to B at 1:01.

Aaron Copland | Fanfare for the Common Man

“Copland’s fanfare is in the strong open-fourth and -fifth harmonies that cause it to sound open,” (LeoQuirk.com). “Also allowing it to sound open are the unisons in each instrument group, and the slower rhythms; for a fanfare, it is uncommonly slow, and is marked ‘Very deliberately.’ Copland alters rhythms and harmonies to great effect in this piece.  He could have easily repeated the same theme in the same way each time, but the piece is much more compelling thanks to his changes. This piece is also effective because it doesn’t have frills or flourishes. It is powerful in its simplicity, and ‘simplicity’ does not equal ‘boring.'”

Debuting in 1943, “The Fanfare has ecome a kind of national anthem for so-called ‘common’ men and women — like public radio listener Lynne Gilbert, who spoke with NPR from Bristol, Maine. ‘In spite of the current political landscape,” she says, ‘I guess I still believe that there is an American dream of peace and prosperity for everyone. Music that soars and inspires like this piece does bring hope for the future. It’s powerful, it’s direct and it’s really just American.'”

The piece is written in Bb major overall, but its majestic, stable bearing shifts at 2:47. From that point on (amounting to the final 20% or so of the piece), we continue to hear familiar intervals and phrasing. But the tonality has gone off in an entirely new direction, at times featuring E-natural and C# notes.

Eva Cassidy | Walkin’ After Midnight

“Walkin’ After Midnight” was written by Alan Block and Don Hecht in 1954, and originally offered to Kay Starr, whose label turned it down. A few years later, Patsy Cline recorded the tune. Though Cline didn’t especially like the tune, her 1957 recording was a big hit, becoming one of her signature songs. She recorded the song again in 1961, adding a modulation that did not appear in the original.

Patsy Cline died in a plane crash at age 30, at the peak of her career. Singer Eva Cassidy was not so well-known when she died in 1996 of a melanoma that had spread. Before her death, her recorded output was not extensive. But her posthumously-released recordings have sold tremendously well. New recordings continue to appear, including 2023’s I Can Only Be Me, which features new backing from the London Symphony Orchestra.

Eva’s recording of “Walkin’ After Midnight” appears on her 2008 album Somewhere. Her vocal is clearly inspired by the Patsy Cline original, taking a few more bluesy chances. There’s a half-step modulation for the final verse at 2:17, in the manner of Patsy Cline’s remake.

The Piano Guys | Arwen’s Vigil

The Piano Guys, a piano/cello duo featured on MotD before, describe the genesis of Arwen’s Vigil on their website as follows:

“When Aragorn was abroad, from afar Arwen watched over him in thought” –Lord of the Rings

“After signing with Sony we were putting together our first official release. Just before the deadline, we looked at the song list and all agreed the album needed to include a new original piece. But we had 48 hours…

As we prayed for help Jon recalled a tune he had almost included in a solo album, but for reasons he couldn’t remember he had not finished it. It was just the compositional catalyst we needed. Al, Steve, and Jon had the track written, recorded, mixed, mastered and handed off to press with minutes to spare. It needed a name. We felt like the tune was the personification of a storybook character – someone that was in need or in distress, but who harbored an inextinguishable hope. We went through several drafts and notions, finally arriving upon Arwen, daughter of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings. The Gaelic, Celtic feel that had naturally eventuated in the music sounded as an “elven” edge that seemed to fit this beautiful story – of Arwen’s timeless devotion to Aragorn as she waited for him to return for a mission that seemed doomed from its beginning. Convinced by her father to abandon her vigil for her own sake she turned back to wait once more as she saw in vision her future child, her son with Aragorn.

We filmed this in the Italian Gardens at Thanksgiving Point in Utah. As we write and as we film we try to find the “flow” – letting composition and cinematography lead out as much as possible. The autumn weather proved extremely volatile. One minute we had the sun, then the next rain, then snow, then sun again. We used this as best we could, letting the constant battle between clouds and sun match the conflict between despair and hope in the story and in the music. We furthered this dichotomy with day and night scenes – representing intense longing keeping faith in the future alive.”

The track starts in E minor and modulates up a step to F minor at 1:52.

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.

Far From The Home I Love (from “Fiddler on the Roof”)

“Far From The Home I Love” is from the landmark 1965 musical Fiddler on the Roof, which tells the story of the Russian milkman Tevye trying to maintain his Jewish and cultural traditions in a rapidly changing world.

Sung by Tevye’s daughter Hodel near the end of the show, this song is her plea for Tevye to understand how much it pains her to leave her home and family to be with the man she loves, but that she must do it nonetheless. The music beautifully reflects Hodel’s conflicted feelings by easing between C minor and C major throughout.

Sheldon Harnick, a three-time Tony Award winner who wrote lyrics for the show, passed away last week at age 99.

Steps Ahead | Self Portrait

“Steps Ahead is an American jazz fusion group (which) arose out of spontaneous sessions at Seventh Avenue South, a jazz club in New York City owned by saxophonist Michael Brecker and trumpeter brother Randy Brecker,” (AllAboutJazz). Fully deserving of the term “supergroup,” the band’s “shifting roster has included vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, saxophonists Michael Brecker, Bob Berg, Bendik Hofseth, Bill Evans, Ernie Watts, and Donny McCaslin; pianists Don Grolnick, Eliane Elias, Warren Bernhardt and Rachel Z; guitarists Mike Stern, Chuck Loeb, and Steve Khan; bassists Eddie Gomez, Darryl Jones, Tony Levin, Victor Bailey, Richard Bona, and Marc Johnson; and drummers Steve Gadd, Peter Erskine, Steve Smith, and Dennis Chambers. Steps Ahead was active during the 1970s and 1980s, intermittently during the 1990s, and reunited for concerts in the mid-2000s.”

“Released in 1984, Modern Times … was a radical departure from their self-titled debut,” (JazzMusicArchives). “Unlike the first album’s mostly acoustic textures, Modern Times is a high-tech, futuristic, jazz-of-tomorrow fusion masterpiece … Strong compositions, impassioned performances, and early DDD production are married to otherworldly yet urban atmospheres to create one of the best albums any of these distinguished players has ever appeared on. “Self Portrait” (is a) classic Mainieri composition: long-lined unforgettable melodies, loud/soft contrasts, quirky bridges, outstanding solos over synth splashes, and sudden endings.”

Starting in D major, this 1986 live version of “Self Portrait” shifts into D minor between 1:14 – 1:39 before returning to the original key; the two keys continue to alternate throughout the tune. This particular gathering of the band, perhaps its quintessential lineup, featured Michael Brecker on tenor sax; Mike Mainieri, vibes; Darryl Jones, bass; Mike Stern, guitar; and Steve Smith, drums.

for Mark

Da Capo | You Don’t Know Me

*This is the fifth and final installment of a weeklong series featuring covers of the 1956 song “You Don’t Know Me”*

The Da Capo singers were a barbershop quartet based in DC; according to the group’s Facebook page, they disbanded in 2017. This performance of “You Don’t Know Me,” arranged by Jim Clancy, was recorded live in 2016 at the Barbershop Harmony Society International Convention, held in Nashville, Tennessee. It begins in D and modulates up to Eb at 2:34.

Elvis Presley | You Don’t Know Me

*This is the fourth installment of a weeklong series featuring covers of the 1956 song “You Don’t Know Me”*

Elvis Presley recorded “You Don’t Know Me” for the 1967 film Clambake, which he also starred in. Presley was a fan of the song and personally added it to the film, which was directed by Arthur H. Nadel. The track starts in B and shifts up to C at 1:50.