USA – Page 58

Taylor Swift | Mr. Perfectly Fine

“Taylor Swift is that rarest of pop phenomena: a superstar who managed to completely cross over from country to the mainstream,” (AllMusic). “Others have performed similar moves — notably, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson both became enduring pop culture icons based on their 1970s work — but Swift shed her country roots like they were a second skin; it was a necessary molting to reveal she was perhaps the sharpest, savviest populist singer/songwriter of her generation, one who could harness the zeitgeist, make it personal and, just as impressively, perform the reverse.”

Originally released in 2008 on the album Fearless, “Mr. Perfectly Fine” is just one of the many tunes which Swift has re-recorded recently. After her original masters were sold in a way she deeply disagreed with, she decided to re-record and re-release her earlier material: “If she couldn’t own the rights to the recordings that made her one of the most successful musical artists of all time, at least she could undercut their value and present her loyal fan base with a way to enjoy that music without benefitting her nemeses,” (Stereogum). Billboard‘s ranking of the 50 best songs of 2021 included the tune as #46: “vintage Taylor Swift that still feels fresh in 2021.”

“Mr. Perfectly Fine” features a short instrumental interlude at 2:43; a bridge follows at 2:56 which tapers off to the point where the groove drops out altogether. The full texture returns with a bang at 3:45, along with a full-step modulation. Many thanks to our regular contributor Ziyad for sending in this song!

It’s a Great Big World (from “The Harvey Girls”)

“A group of refined waitresses for a chain of railroad-station restaurants in New Mexico are sent out to tame the wild and woolly West in the 19th century, but encounter some resistance in the form of a saloon owner, a corrupt judge and a local madam,” (TV Guide). “Featuring the Oscar-winning song ‘On the Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe.'”

“The Harvey Girls was MGM’s big-budget Technicolor musical follow-up to Meet Me In St. Louis (in between the two Judy filmed her first dramatic role in The Clock as well as her one-scene guest appearance in Ziegfeld Follies),” (TheJudyRoom). “It was based on the 1942 Samuel Hopkins Adams novel of the same name, which was inspired by the real-life ‘Harvey Girls,’ the waitresses who were employed by the Harvey chain of restaurants (still in existence today) placed along the route of the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe. The Harvey Girls became one of Judy’s (and MGM’s) biggest musical hits of the 1940s, winning the Oscar for Best Song (‘On The Atchison, Topeka, and The Santa Fe’) and earning a spot on Variety’s list of ‘all-time box office hits.’

“It’s a Great Big World,” a fast but gentle waltz, serves as a feature for several of the musical’s lead characters. It shifts up a half-step at 2:53. Many thanks to our regular contributor Jamie A. for this submission!

Adele | Don’t You Remember

“Don’t You Remember” is the fourth track on Adele’s 2011 album 21, which traces her grief after a break-up. This track marks a shift from anger and defensiveness to reflection and heartbreak. “”You know when you forget why you loved someone?” Adele said in an interview with The Sun discussing the song’s meaning. “I was just thinking about how my entire body would just shiver if my ex touched me to say hello. It’s sad when you can’t remember why you loved someone.” The album was the best-selling record of the 2010s decade.

The track begins in Eb and briefly shifts up to F near the end at 3:16.

Redwood | Time to Get Alone

Although also recorded by the Beach Boys, the band Redwood (later to become Three Dog Night) recorded Brian Wilson’s tune “Time to Get Alone” in 1967. Danny Hutton, one of Three Dog Night’s vocalists, recalls the recording session in the book Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson’s Lost Masterpiece:

“‘ … there’s something that sounds like this big, distorted, smooth guitar sound, and it’s just a little piano played through a blown speaker that I had at my house. Then I remember Brian calling in the string section. [Brian’s sister-in-law] Diane Rovell called them in at the last minute, and some of them still had their tuxedos on. Brian was thoroughly in control of those guys … he was sitting there, talking to me, while they were doing a take, and he stops and says, Hold it, Danny. Hey, viola! The second chair … you’re flat on that C. He not only heard a bad note; he knew which guy did it.’”

Redwood’s version and the Beach Boys’ subsequent 1968 version have some similarities and some differences, but anyone who’s heard Three Dog Night will recognize the overall textures of that band immediately. Wilson’s compositional sense, however, is so strong that it remains paramount throughout. At 1:31, there’s a shift from D major to C major.

More detail about the collaboration between Wilson and Redwood/Three Dog Night, directly from Hutton’s recollections:

The Sylvers | Boogie Fever

“Among the more popular family acts on the ’70s R&B circuit, Memphis’ Sylvers (featured) no less than nine of the ten brothers and sisters in the family … the group was viewed as a Southern version of the Jackson 5,” (AllMusic). “Bassist James Jamerson came up with the ‘Boogie Fever’ bassline, and he clearly based it on the riff from the Beatles’ ‘Day Tripper,'” (StereoGum). “If it was anyone else biting ‘Day Tripper,’ the various ex-Beatles might’ve had some reason to get annoyed. But all through the ’60s, Jamerson was the bassist for the Funk Brothers, the legendary Motown session band. For years, Jamerson did fascinating, inventive things with his instrument. And Paul McCartney paid close attention; McCartney’s bass work on the Beatles’ mid-’60s music carries a clear and pronounced Jamerson influence. So if James Jamerson wanted to use the ‘Day Tripper’ riff for a bubblegum disco jam about a boogieing pandemic, nobody was going to stop him.

And ‘Boogie Fever’ (1976) really is top-shelf bubblegum disco. (Songwriter and producer Freddie) Perren manages to capture a whole lot of the magic he had with the early Jackson 5 … But Perren also updates that sound, adding in a relentless disco pulse that fits it nicely … but the real joy is in hearing all those different siblings layering up intricate, joyous harmony lines all over that beat. Because there are so many of them, they become a whole massed choir, breaking into little subgroups and then coming back together to yelp out the song’s title … “

This performance from 1970s/1980s late-night TV staple The Midnight Special seems to feature energy-to-burn live vocals (not lip synching) as well as a live band(?) After a start in F major, a bridge shifts up to G major at 1:32 – 1:46 and again from 2:26 – 2:39.

Voctave (feat. Mariachi Cobre) | Remember Me

“They say repetition is key to retention,” said Jon Burlingame, writing for Variety. “And in Disney/Pixar’s animated feature “Coco,” the song “Remember Me” is the tie that binds multiple generations in the shared love of music. It is central to the story about a young boy named Miguel who is pulled by the song from the land of the living to the land of the dead, gradually discovering the origins of the composition and awakening his own inner showmanship. Also part of the plotline are recollections of the distant past – hence, the song’s title — and of beloved long gone family members.”

The song won the Academy Award for Best Song in 2018, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and Grammy as well. This cover, by the a cappella group Voctave, features the instrumental group Mariachi Cobre, which regularly performs at Disney and also tours. Two modulations sprinkled in at 0:41 and 1:12.

Toto | One Road

“Toto was a lab accident. Obviously, not a tragedy, like Chernobyl. More like Bruce Banner getting exposed to Gamma Rays and becoming The Hulk,” (PastPrime). “With time, their odd greatness and great oddness have become much clearer. But back in 1982, they sounded both hulkingly awesome and completely normal. They won the Grammys for best song (‘Rosanna’) and album (IV) of the year. They sold over ten million records. They were proof that Rock music could be sonically pristine and exceedingly popular; that musicians could look just like regular guys — or worse — and still be stars; and that Pop music could be ‘all encompassing’ (in toto).”

During the 21st century, after more than a fair share of personnel changes and the untimely death of one of the band’s founding members (drummer Jeff Porcaro), guitarist Steve Lukather has become the band’s undisputed center. “When Lukather gets exposed to those Gamma Rays, he reunites some version of the mutant supergroup … But, contrary to their name, no band — not even The Beatles — can be all encompassing. Toto was perhaps the only band to have ever really tried. Their hypothesis ultimately proved invalid or, at least, inconclusive. But, in 1982, after the Iran Hostage Crisis but before Thriller, they sounded like a miracle of science.” The band’s website details the towering influence of its members’ contributions as first-call LA studio musicians: “… the band members’ performances can be heard on an astonishing 5,000 albums that together amass a sales history of half a billion albums. Amongst these recordings, NARAS applauded the collected works with 225 Grammy nominations.”

The 1999 version of the band heard on “One Road,” however, sounds “alternately like Richard Marx fronting Aerosmith … or Donald Fagen writing and producing for Foreigner.” The term mutant fits, as the band doesn’t conform to any one particular genre. For a rock/pop/kitchen sink band with a multi-decade reputation for rich harmonic sensibilities and meticulously crafted arrangements, Toto’s discography features surprisingly few outright modulations. But “One Road” starts in E minor, then shifts up to F# minor (2:30-2:45) for an instrumental bridge built around a Lukather guitar solo.

Aaron Carter | I’m All About You

“I’m All About You” is featured on American singer Aaron Carter’s third studio album, Oh Aaron, released in 2001. The track was the third and final single released for the record, which reached the #7 spot on the Billboard 20o and was certified Platinum. Carter, who was a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and appeared on Broadway in Seussical, passed away last week at age 34.

The track begins in C major and modulates up to D following the bridge at 2:37.

Bunny Sigler | Follow Your Heart

“A veteran singer and composer during the classic period of Philly soul, Bunny Sigler was always capable of making striking, memorable soul/R&B material,”(AllMusic). “Debuting in the ’50s with his own group and as a solo performer, he reached the higher end of the R&B charts several times … Sigler actually earned much more acclaim for his work as a staff writer and producer. One of the major creative forces behind Philadelphia International’s dominance of ’70s soul, Sigler produced and wrote for dozens of major acts, including Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle, the Whispers, Stephanie Mills, Billy Paul, Curtis Mayfield, and Carl Carlton.”

“Follow Your Heart” (1967) starts in G major, but with almost no emphasis on chord color — instead, a distinctive I major / flat-II major (sub V) vamp rings out beneath the verse’s melody. At 0:39, the chorus shifts to Bb major; the less exotic chord progression in this section brings the sound closer to a textbook 1960s pop/soul hit. The pattern continues from there.

Jonas Brothers | Poison Ivy

“Poison Ivy” is featured on the Jonas Brothers’ 2009 album Lines, Vines and Trying Times. The track, which features a horn section, was partially inspired by the English indie rock band The Zutons. “We were really inspired by the Zutons,” Joe Jonas said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “We heard their new record, You Can Do Anything, when we were in Europe last year and got everyone around us hooked on it.”

The song begins in G and modulates down to Eb at 3:06.