The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations: Gold Star 4/9/66" (from The SMiLE Sessions)

Lately I've been listening to The SMiLE Sessions box set.  I listened to the fifth disc this morning, and I noticed that in the second track ("Good Vibrations: Gold Star 4/9/66") at about 1:03 before the next take starts, a guitar plays part of the melody from George Gershwin's "Strike up the Band."  It's the melody to which is sung:

Let the drums roll out
Let the trumpet call
While the people shout
Strike up the band

The final note (for "band") either isn't played or isn't audible (there's some other noise that occurs at the same time that might obscure it), but I was still very excited to hear and recognize this.

Wilson's cited Gershwin as an influence, but I don't know if this quotation is anything more than just coincidence.

The Moody Blues' "House of Four Doors (Part 1)"

Yester-day I listened to the Moody Blues' In Search of the Lost Chord, and I discovered two things about "House of Four Doors (Part 1)."

I'm not sure to what degree, but it seems that the inscription on the last door bears some resemblance to the Gate of Hell in Dante's Inferno.  In "House of Four Doors (Part 1)," there are the lines "Enter in, all ye who seek to find within / As the plaque said on the last door."  It seems to be the opposite of "All hope abandon, ye who enter in!" (Canto III, line 9).

The other thing I noticed is the melody to which the middle section ("House of Four Doors / I could live there forever...") is sung.  When I first listened to this album two years ago, I wrote about a piano part later in this song that I thought took a phrase from George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  This "House of Four Doors / I could live there forever..." section uses the same melody, and it has more of a resemblance to Gershwin's.  The piano part has just the three note diatonic ascent and octave fall, but the vocal melody - like the phrase in the Rhapsody in Blue - has a diatonic ascent after that octave fall.  While they're in different keys and the note values are different, the intervals are the same.  I still haven't been able to find the Rhapsody in Blue score (I've found a lot pieces that quote it but have been unable to look at the original notation to see how they all compare), but here's some notation I made for this particular section of "House of Four Doors (Part One)":

(click here for a larger image)

Mel Tormé's "A Foggy Day"

I'm still making my way through my ten-CD Gershwin set.  To-day, it's the penultimate disc, subtitled "Gershwin in Jazz."  I might have noticed something about Mel Tormé's "A Foggy Day," although I'm not quite sure about it.

At about 0:15, there's a woman's voice saying, "Cockles and mussels."  I think this is a reference to the folk song "Molly Malone," the chorus of which also involves "cockles and mussels."  Each verse of "Molly Malone" ends with some variation of "Through streets broad and narrow / Cryin', 'Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh,'" and the chorus is comprised of the same words:

'Alive, alive, oh
'Alive, alive, oh'
Cryin’, 'Cockles and mussels
'Alive, alive oh'

Leaving it at that, it seems to make sense, but the first line of "A Foggy Day" is "A foggy day in London town" (my emphasis), where "Molly Malone" is set in Ireland.  Since it's a folk song, there are different versions, but the two I know (one by the Countdown Singers and one by Pete Seeger) both start with something like "In Dublin's fair city / Where the girls are so pretty / I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone."  Were it not for that discrepancy of setting, I'd be more confident about this reference.

Ben Selvin and His Orchestra's "Oh Gee! Oh Joy!"

For the last week or so, I've been making my way through a 10-CD set of George Gershwin works.  To-day, it's disc 7, subtitled "The Later Broadway Musicals."  I'm actually not sure if I'd noticed this before or not, but I recognized a melodic phrase in "Oh Gee! Oh Joy!" (performed by Ben Selvin and His Orchestra) that's also in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  After the initial "Oh gee! Oh gosh! Oh joy! Oh golly!," there's "Oh gee I'm happy 'cause my baby loves me."  The melody to which it's sung is something like this:

The same phrase (a half step higher) is in the Rhapsody in Blue.  In the recording I have by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, it's in the piano part at about 6:52.

I lookt up "Oh Gee! Oh Joy!" in the index of Edward Jablonski's Gershwin: A Biography (which I actually haven't read yet) and found that it was written for Rosalie in late 1927.  The Rhapsody in Blue is from 1924, so it seems like Gershwin re-used that melody from the Rhapsody as an introductory phrase in "Oh Gee! Oh Joy!"  Of course, there's also the possibility that this feature is unique to Selvin's version, but in either case, that melody came from the Rhapsody first.

Johnny Rivers' "Memphis"

I'm currently listening to a two-disc compilation album of Ricky Nelson.  The guitar part (doubled on harmonica) that's at the very beginning (and repeated in a few other sections) of his version of the Gershwins' "Summertime" sounded familiar to me.  I eventually placed it; I also know it from Johnny Rivers' version of Chuck Berry's "Memphis" (sometimes called "Memphis, Tennessee").

For the record, the part I'm talking about is E D B A G E.  I'm unsure, but Rivers might slide into that initial E from a D note (that's the way I've always played it, at least).

Nelson's version of "Summertime" is from 1962; Rivers' version of "Memphis" was released in May 1964, so it's possible that Rivers took the guitar part from Nelson's "Summertime."  That riff isn't in Chuck Berry's original, and I'd been wondering where it came from.  However, while the chronology works out, I'm not sure if this was the case; I don't know much about Johnny Rivers.

I feel it worth pointing out that the bass part from Nelson's "Summertime" was copied by Blues Magoos for their "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," so there's a precedent of copying from it.

Fred Astaire's "Let's Call the Whole Thing off"

I'm currently listening to the second disc of a two-disc Fred Astaire set.  In the Gershwin's "Let's Call the Whole Thing off," after the lines "It looks as if we two will never be one / Something must be done," there's an instrumental section (starting at about 2:17).  I'm not sure of the specific instruments, but lines are traded between an instrument with a higher register and one with a lower register.  It continues the back-and-forth that's present in the lyrics:  "You say either, and I say either / You say neither, and I saw neither."

Django Reinhardt's "Paramount Stomp"

I'm currently listening to the second disc of a two-CD Django Reinhardt set.  I'm not sure if I noticed this before or not, but I discovered that at the end of "Paramount Stomp" (starting at about 2:20), there's a quote of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  In the Rhapsody in Blue, that phrase is in the clarinet opening (although in "Paramount Stomp" it lacks the opening trill and glissando it has in the Rhapsody), and - if I'm not mistaken - it occurs elsewhere in the Rhapsody too.

The Gershwin quotes makes a certain amount of sense since Reinhardt recorded some other Gershwin songs.  Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" is on the same disc, and the first disc in this set includes and is subtitled "Lady Be Good" (Classic Jazz Archive, Disc 1 - Lady Be Good).

Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" and "Summertime"

For each of the past three days, I listened to a disc of a three-CD compilation of Sam Cooke titled You Send Me.  I found some interesting things in two of the songs.

"You Send Me" has some interesting articulation.  The "in-" in "infatuation" is stressed instead of the "fa," but I think that's just to make the meter of the line work.  In the same part, the "so" in the line "But, ooh, it’s lasted so long" is drawn out to three syllables, to sort of show how long it's lasted.  And when Cooke sings "marry you," the rest of the instrumentation drops out so that he sings the line almost a cappella, which could represent the seriousness or finality of marriage.

I also found some interesting stuff in his version of Gershwin's "Summertime."  Apparently Cooke recorded more than one version; "Summertime" is included on an-other Sam Cooke compilation album I have, but it's a different recording (the You Send Me set also contains a different take of "Win Your Love for Me," which is distinct in that there are no backing vocals and the bass is more prominent in the mix).  In any case, in the version of "Summertime" in the You Send Me set, Cooke takes some of the phrases from the first two verses and combines them in some phrases that he sticks between the second and third verses.  He takes "don't cry" from the end of the first verse and combines it with "they're standin' by" from the end of the second to get:

They’re standin’ by so don’t cry
They’re standin’ by; don’t cry

Not only does it tie the song together by strengthening the connection between those two verses, but it also points out the rhyme scheme used in the song.

George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess

Yester-day, I listened to George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess performed by the Bethlehem Orchestra.  I noticed a few things.

In "Clara, Clara, Don't You Be Down-Hearted," I noticed some structural parallelism in the lyrics:  "Clara, Clara, don't you be down-hearted" parallels with "Clara, Clara, don't you be sad and lonesome."  A lot of the Psalms are written this way (with two lines saying almost the same thing but with synonyms), and since there are quite a few religious references in the opera (especially "Oh, doctor Jesus," which not only has religious references but is chanted more than sung, recalling a liturgy and therefore strengthening those connections), I would guess that that parallelism is a conscious echo of that style of writing.

I also noticed some interesting trumpet parts in "Narration (Scene: crap game and murder)."  After the narrator says, "She [Bess] doesn't want to be left alone with the body of Robins when the police arrive," one of the trumpets has a passage that sounds like a police siren.

A few seconds after the trumpet/police siren, there are the first four notes of "Dies Irae."  I think I'm becoming something of a boy-who-cried-wolf with the "Dies Irae," but it does fit the scene.  Furthermore, the narrator's line after those four notes is, "She's desperate," which seems to reflect the mood in the "Dies Irae" too.  Additionally, there's the religious connection with "Dies Irae" and some of the other elements of the opera.

George Gershwin's "Liza"

I'm still making my way through the Gershwin albums.  This morning I listened to the seventh disc of the ten-disc set.  This one is subtitled The Later Broadway Musicals.

In "Liza" (performed here by Leo Reisman and His Orchestra), I noticed the line "we should make a date with Parson Brown."  It reminded me of the lines in "Winter Wonderland":

In the meadow we can build a snowman
And pretend that he is Parson Brown
He'll say, "Are you married?"  We'll say, "No man.
But you can do the job while you're in town."

I had to look up the dates though because I wasn't sure of the chronology.  "Liza" is from 1929, and "Winter Wonderland" is from 1934.  So either the writers of "Winter Wonderland" (Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith) took an idea from "Liza," or the writers of both songs choose "Brown" for the surname of their parson.

George Gershwin's "You've Got What Gets Me"

I recently started reading a book about George Gershwin, so I went back to listen to what Gershwin music I have.  I'd skipped over it about a month ago with the aim of returning to it while reading this book, like I did with Bach earlier this year.

Yester-day, I listened to the third disc of a ten-CD set of Gershwin music.  The disc is subtitled Gershwin on Screen I: "Girl Crazy" & "Rhapsody in Blue."  The first track is "You've Got What Gets Me," performed by Eddie Quillan, Dixie Lee, Mitzi Green and the RKO Studio Orchestra.  I didn't notice this at first, but the lyrics are really clever, specifically the lines "You've got what gets me / What gets me you've got."  What's great about them is that they could be taken in two different ways.  It could indicate physical attractiveness ("You have looks that attract me"), or it could be an expression of a deeper connection ("You have the mental capacity/empathy to understand how I feel, what I think, &c").  Of course, it could also be both.

I've always liked Ira Gershwin's lyrics because of the rhymes and phrases he uses, but finding this has got me thinking about them in different ways.

The Moody Blues' "House of Four Doors (Part 1)"

I just listened to the Moody Blues' In Search of the Lost Chord for the first time.  I'm not sure, but I think they quote part of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" in "House of Four Doors (Part 1)."  At around 3:15, a melody emerges from the rumbling.  As far as I can figure out, the notes are C# D E A.  What I think is a corresponding melody occurs in "Rhapsody in Blue" at around 11:30 in the version I have by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.  I'm pretty sure that it's G# A B and then E and B (an octave lower) simultaneously.  Simplified to representative notes of the scale, it's the third, the fourth, the fifth, and the tonic (plus the fifth in the case of "Rhapsody in Blue," if I have it correct).  These two sections are either in the same rhythm or a very similar rhythm, and after each, the melody continues to rise.

According to the Wikipedia page, each section in the song is supposed to represent an era of music, so perhaps it's a conscious nod to Gershwin.

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.