Tommy Roe's "Sheila"

Lately, I’ve been making my way through a lot of compilation albums.  I finished the “The Best of” albums yester-day, and now I have a few compilations based off Billboard chart positions.  Currently, I’m listening to Tommy Roe’s “Sheila” from Billboard Top Rock & Roll Hits: 1962.  At the very beginning and again in the middle, there’s something going on with the drums that I’m not exactly sure how to describe.  Through some kind of studio technique, it sounds like the drums are alternatively close and then far away.

I’d never noticed this any other time I listened to this song, but listening to it this time, I did, and it reminded me of Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue,” which also uses some kind of studio technique for alternating drum sounds.

I don’t know if the effect on “Sheila” was meant to mimic that of “Peggy Sue,” but it is possible, since “Peggy Sue” is an older song.  It’s from 1957, and “Sheila” - as the album title would suggest - is from 1962.

Mel Carter's "Love Is All We Need"

In re my earlier post about Mel Carter:

I found the actual CD and more importantly the liner notes, which include when the songs were recorded and when they were released.

"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" was recorded on 22 January 1965 and released 6 May 1965.  The liner notes also list some chart positions from June 1965.  "Love Is All We Need" was indeed recorded after "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" was a success - on 22 September 1965.  It was released on an LP in November 1965 and as a single on 28 December 1965.  In fact, it appears that following the same structure that "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" used actually worked for Mel Carter.  There are also chart positions for "Love Is All We Need," although they aren’t as high as those for "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me."  Coincidentally, both of the chart positions listed for "Love Is All We Need" are from 22 January 1966 - exactly a year after "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" was recorded.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band's "Don't Kill It Carol"

This morning, I also listened to The Best of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.  I don’t really know anything at all about them, except “Blinded by the Light” and Manfred Mann’s earlier version of Bob Dylan’s “Quinn the Eskimo.”

I found “Don’t Kill It Carol” interesting from a compositional point of view.  A lot of songs are based on the tonic, sub-dominant, and dominant chords, and some songs do that same sort of thing with musical phrases.  So, the song would have a phrase based on the tonic chord, and then the same phrase but based on the sub-dominant chord, and then on the dominant chord.  The bass parts in a lot of songs from the ’50s are like this.

"Don’t Kill It Carol" leads you into thinking that it’s going to do that, and then it doesn’t.  It starts with a phrase in A minor, which is then repeated.  Then, it moves to D minor - the sub-dominant (I think; I haven’t dealt with sub-dominants in minor scales before), and it starts repeating the same phrase, but then it changes.  It starts out as if it’s going to be a simple three-chord song, but then that changing phrase takes it somewhere else.

Mel Carter's "Love Is All We Need"

Again, I stayed up too late listening to music.  I just finished The Best of Mel Carter.  Mel Carter is best-known for “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,” and - before I got this album - that was the only song I knew by him.  But, listening through these songs, I found an instance where he repeats the same sort of opening.  From what I’ve read, this was a fairly common move.  After you have a hit record, you try to make the next record sound similar to it, so people will buy that one too.

"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" starts out with a string section that increases in pitch, number, and volume.  Mel Carter and backing vocalists then come in, along with guitar chords.  Finally, there’s a quick introductory drum part.

"Love Is All We Need" follows this same structure almost identically.  Aside from the words (and probably the key), the only major difference is that the drums don’t come in quite as early.  I looked up Mel Carter’s discography, and - from what I can tell - “Love Is All We Need” was recorded after “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me.”  So it’s more likely that it was a conscious echo (no pun intended) of “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” than just a format that Mel Carter, his producer, his arranger, or any combination of those three liked and used often.

Booker T. and the MGs' "Summertime"

I’m staying up too late listening to The Best of Booker T. and the MGs.  (Also, I’ve ventured into the territory of the “the best of” albums.)

I just wrote a post about the Zombies’ version of Gershwin’s “Summertime,” which is probably my favorite version, but I also like the version by Booker T. and the MGs.  And I like it because they’ve changed it to the degree that, while it is recognizable, it’s not immediately recognizable.  I was listening to this album (for only the second time) a few months ago, and it took me a minute or so even to realize that this was “Summertime.”

But what I really want to mention is the tone of both the Hammond organ and the guitar.  At one point, the guitar is (or at least sounds like it is) going through a tremolo pedal, and it works so well with the Hammond organ’s going through a Leslie speaker.  Both instruments have that sort of hazy quality, but they’re achieving that effect in different ways.  They’re complementary, but not because they’re treated with the same effect.

The Zombies' "Summertime"

I’m currently listening to the Zombies’ Begin Here.  I’m a big Zombies fan, so I’ve probably heard their stuff a lot, but it feels like I’m always finding new things.

Just now, I discovered that Hugh Grundy uses a lot of rim knocks in the Zombies’ version of Gershwin’s “Summertime.”  I think that, combined with Paul Atkinson’s esoteric-sounding guitar work is what really makes the song unique.  Rod Argent’s introductory keyboard part certainly sets that up, but I think the drumming really sustains it.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ("Eroica")

I listened to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (“Eroica”) this morning, and I noticed that it ends the same way that it starts.  I think one of the ending notes is even the same note as the starting notes.  In any case, this made me think of the beginning and ending of the Moody Blues’ Days of Future Passed.  I haven’t verified this yet, but I’m pretty sure that the gong that ends the album also starts the album (although it’s reversed).

I’m not very knowledgeable about the genesis of Days of Future Passed, but I think originally, Decca had wanted to try some new recording technique with Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony before the Moody Blues were allowed to do their album.  Between that and the nature of the musical interludes (which can be symphonic at times), it would make sense that the opening and ending sounds were taken from Beethoven’s paradigm.  That’s purely conjecture though.  I don’t even know if Beethoven was the first to end something the same way he started it, and I wouldn’t be too confident in saying he was.

Still, regardless of who influenced whom and whether it was influence or coincidence, the same musical idea is employed here.  It’s just that Beethoven did it purely with notes and the Moody Blues did it by reversing the tape.

Gene Vincent's "Up a Lazy River"

I’m currently listening to a two-disc set of Gene Vincent that includes his first two albums.  I got this somewhat recently, so I’ve listened to it only one other time.  But I was surprised to find “Up a Lazy River” on it.  The only other version of “Up a Lazy River” I know is by the Mills Brothers, who have a very different style than Gene Vincent and early rock and roll in general.

I’m not going to compare the two versions because I think that sort of comparison is pretty useless.  But what I think is interesting is that - of the two versions of “Up a Lazy River” that I have - I’m actually more familiar with the older version - the one by the Mills Brothers.  Most of the music in my collection is not contemporary, and I’ve found different artists at different times, so I don’t often have any true grasp of the chronology involved.  I might know that one version of a song is older than an-other version, but I still might think of a more recent version first just because I heard that version first.  But with “Up a Lazy River,” the version I think of first is actually the older version.  The one by the Mills Brothers is from 1941, and the one by Gene Vincent is from 1956.

Badfinger's "Why Don't We Talk?"

I’m currently listening to Badfinger’s eponymous album.  I haven’t listened to this for at least a year, and I’d forgotten how good it is.  I still love the moment in “Why Don’t We Talk?” where the studio recording overtakes the lo-fi recording right on the downbeat.  While it is a bit of studio trickery, it’s not the sort of thing that draws undue attention to itself like a lot of tape manipulation would.  Plus, it provides emphasis to what’s already there, not to itself.

Bach's St. Matthew Passion

I’m still in the midst of listening to all of the music I have by Bach.  Currently, it’s the St. Matthew Passion.  What I’ve found interesting while listening to this is that there are melodies that I recognize because they’re still used in church.  I had the same experience while listening to some of Bach’s organ music (in particular the chorale prelude “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme”).  But, without researching, I don’t know if these are melodies that Bach wrote or merely melodies that he used and arranged for his own devices (judging by the attributions in the hymnal, he did arrange some older melodies for hymns).  Either way, it’s pretty interesting that the same melodies (or variations of them) are still used in churches three hundred years later.

Bach's Partitas for Solo Violin

I usually do this alphabetically by album, but I’ve been straying a bit from that this year.  Currently, I’m in the midst of listening to all of the music I have by Bach.  This includes listening to a 10-CD set of his that I got for Christmas last year.

I’m currently listening to the partitas for solo violin.  I’ve heard the first one before, but it was the version that Chris Thile did on mandolin.  So I’m fairly familiar with this music, but not in this form.

While it may be just because I’d heard the mandolin versions first and I’m prone to stick with the first version of something I listen to, I think I actually like the partitas better on mandolin just because they’re on mandolin.  In an interview with PBS News Hour, Thile briefly mentions the differences between mandolin and violin.  In order to play double, triple, or quadruple stops on a violin, the player has to put in more effort because of the curved bridge, but this is not the case on mandolin.  Listening to the first partita - especially the beginning of the tempo di borea, the difference in emphasis because of the instrumentation is clear, and the violin seems to over-emphasis the notes purely because of the way in which its played.  While the mandolin is more precise, I think it also allows for more subtlety.