Ticklin' The Ivories

I’ve been trying to write a post about piano solos for the last few weeks and somehow, the number of songs I discuss keeps getting way out of control. There are just too many awesome piano dominated songs to talk about in just one post, so I’ve forced myself to limit myself to just a few songs that I’ve been more partial to recently.

Piano is a very versatile instrument.  It works with a number of different genres and rarely sounds out of place. Also, I love how you can get such a full sound with just the one instrument. While I don't have the same infatuation with piano solos as I do with guitar solos, I do love listening to a really great piano part. There are tons of piano dominated music ranging from the classical pieces, to ragtime (Scott Joplin was pretty awesome, by the way), to jazz, to early rock ‘n’ roll. The Beatles used it constantly in their songs (and there are a number of great Beatle-piano songs). Queen and Elvis Costello are no strangers to piano music – and Billy Joel and Elton John are known for it. Fiona Apple has a large amount of piano driven songs, as well. There just doesn’t seem to be an end to artists that feature great piano parts, which is why I had to take a step back and re-evaluate before writing this post! But here are a few of my favorites:

 

I’ve still been on an Elliott Smith kick as of late. I mentioned in my last post about Elliott’s talent as a songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, but he also was pretty decent behind the keyboard. (If you don’t believe me, search on youtube for Elliott Smith playing Rachmaninoff). One song that I’ve been going back to lately is off of the album Figure 8, “In the Lost and Found”. It has a pretty nice ragtime-y piano riff that I enjoy listening to. It’s not the most impressive solo, but it’s catchy as hell.

 

The Carpenters also had a ton of piano songs – Richard is an exceptional pianist with an inclination towards jazz influenced solos, though, he’s no stranger to classical composers (the arrangement of “From This Moment On” accompanied by Bach’s “Prelude in C Minor” proves that). And there are quite a few Richard solo songs featured on various Carpenters albums, but one of my favorite solos is from “This Masquerade”. As is Richard’s style, his excellent technique is showcased with jazzy runs and a lovely variation of the melody. Though, the tune “Flat Baroque” is a lot of fun to play – and his tribute to Karen, “Karen’s Theme” is exquisite.

 

I have already mentioned that The Beatles often featured the piano in their music – and after the band called it quits, the instrument continued to consistently be featured in their solo efforts. I suppose the most popular of these songs is John’s “Imagine” – and while it is gorgeous song – I’m more than a little partial to the piano solo in the song “Out the Blue” from Mind Games. (I find this album is quite underrated, but that is best saved for another post). While the piano isn’t performed by John, but rather jazz pianist Kenny Ascher, it is fantastically performed. Wonderful mixture of rock and jazz combine into this love song. And the solo is amazing. Love the tremolo moments and the arpeggios at the end of the solo. As for Paul, he constantly uses piano in his songs as well – and though (again) there are a number of songs I’d love to mention, my favorite is probably “Maybe I’m Amazed.”  While Paul was never classically trained as a pianist, he definitely can hold his own – and the chromatic runs are so much fun to play! (Of course, the guitar is great as well!).

 

Jumping ahead in time a bit, Ben Folds is a rather impressive pianist. He has a rather distinctive style that I enjoy listening to. Since he is a pianist, you’re going to find some pretty remarkable piano work in all of his songs. My favorites, however, may be the songs “Philosophy” and “Landed”. Both include captivating intros and catchy melodies and lovely solo work. In “Philosophy”, I really enjoy the ending – particularly when he launches into a bit of “Rhapsody in Blue”. And I always love glissandos on the piano and how the very end it finishes with a crash of chords. “Landed” is really just a really beautiful song so I wanted to mention it here. (Though, he also has an Elliott Smith tribute song, “Late”, which I have learned to play on the piano!)

 

It seems that there are quite a few women in pop music who have a talent at the piano and Carole King is one of my favorites. She obviously has significant talent for songwriting – since she co-penned dozens of chart topping hits through the ‘60s, but she can really rock on the piano. The song, “I Feel the Earth Move”, off of Tapestry, has a great, driving piano part and pretty rocking solo.

 

Another female who rocks the piano is from one of my favorite bands, The Dresden Dolls. The Dresden Dolls is a “Brechtian punk cabaret” band out of Boston. There are just 2 members of the band, Amanda Palmer on piano and Brian Viglione on drums. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them live and they are both amazing to watch perform. Amanda, as a pianist, is forceful and theatrical. I highly recommend the album, Yes Virginia, particularly if you like piano driven rock – or women who play their instruments with an uninhibited passion. The song with one of my most favorite piano solos is “Necessary Evil”. I feel like that solo just builds to a wonderful climax.

 

The last piano soloist I’m going to talk about here is Billy Preston. He’s well-known for his work on The Beatles album, Let It Be, but he had a few hits during his solo career as well. “Nothing From Nothing” is a song that never fails to put a smile on my face. It has a great swingy piano groove that is a bit reminiscent of the ragtime saloon style of the 1890s. The intro and solo are both amazing – and like I’ve mentioned in other solos, I adore the tremolo part. The other solo of his that just astounds me is during his performance of “Isn’t It A Pity” at the tribute Concert for George. What I find so impressive about his organ solo is that he seems to be able to bend the notes the way a guitarist or vocalist can do – a technique you don’t hear all that often on the keyboard. It’s really a fantastic performance. (Of course, Eric Clapton’s solo is up there too!)

I’m never gonna know you now, but I’m gonna love you anyhow…

This entry has actually been rather difficult to write, because I have so much to say about this artist and when trying to choose songs to mention, I’m finding that every song that he wrote is worth talking about. There are so many gems in so many songs, it’s damn near impossible to just pick a few. I’m going to attempt to limit this post to just a few of my most played songs of his, but I’m not gonna guarantee anything!

So, Elliott Smith has been a major part of my life for the last five years. For those of you who aren’t familiar with his work, he was an indie singer-songwriter. He wrote some of the most beautiful lyrics I’ve ever heard – with absolutely gorgeous imagery and layers of emotional depth. I love the way he strings together those words... I've always had a fascination with the way a writer strings together words, where they become a beautiful poetic jumble – and he would use some really pretty words. His melodies are exquisite and feature an intricate musical structure. Elliott was an amazing guitarist and his voice… Well, I’m more than a little in love with that voice. It’s soft, haunting, ethereal … and distinctive. But you should know, he did not write happy and silly pop songs. His lyrics articulate thoughts of sadness and loneliness and feelings almost anyone can relate to at one time or another. His life was, admittedly, kind of a mess – marked by unhappiness and drug use and ending tragically with his sudden death in 2003. But the way he wrote about his troubles, it makes the pain and heartbreak beautiful.

My relationship with Elliott began in the summer of 2007 and I was immediately taken by him. The first song of his I ever heard was “Condor Avenue” from the album, Roman Candle. He wrote that song while he was still in high school. That is one song that I love singing because of all the great words and imagery he uses. “…slipped past into rhythmic quietude”, “the chimes fell over each other”, “they never get uptight when a moth gets crushed, unless a light bulb really loved him very much”, and “I’m lying down, blowing smoke from my cigarette, little whisper smoke signs that you’ll never get”… I don’t know. The words are just so pretty and paint such vivid images. You’ll hear a lot of imagery in Elliott’s songs. His words in “Waltz #2” about how she “stares into space like a dead China doll” are another example. And in the song, “Plainclothes Man” (that was recorded while he was still with his band, Heatmiser) has possibly my favorite way of describing a photograph: “A perfect moment in a flash of light”. How amazing is that? Or is it just me? … Yeah, okay.

My first favorite song of his was off the album, Figure 8. “Wouldn’t Mama Be Proud.” Love the harmonies – and love hearing Elliott singing harmony with himself. And the lyrics (as always), pretty amazing. “Stupidity Tries” was another of my favorites upon first listen. It has a wonderful build up and I love the guitar “falls” (I have no idea if that’s the technical term for what’s going on, but it happens in every verse – the first time is about 13 seconds in, after “and he’ll cut…” and the guitar notes slide down. You would think I’d know the technical terms, wouldn’t you?). And it’s pretty awesome that he uses the word “conquistador” in a song. Not often that you hear that word in music – except, y’know, the Procol Harum song, but I digress. Another song from Figure 8 that gets a lot of airtime on my playlists is “L.A.” As far as Elliott songs go, this is maybe one of the happiest. So yeah, maybe he was feeling bad the night before, but today he’s feeling better. It’s extremely catchy, more great harmonies, and the guitar… Great riff and I love (love, LOVE) the palm muted, clicky guitar bit. Kind of a ‘70s-ish vibe to it. It’s one of those songs that always makes me smile.

Honestly though, just about every song you listen to, you’re going to find something amazing in it. Some of my other most played Elliott songs are “Say Yes”, “Between the Bars” (lyrics are fantastic on both of those), “Cupid’s Trick” (as fantastic as the album version is, I am a bit partial to the live version of the song), “Coming Up Roses”, “A Fond Farewell”, “New Monkey”, “No Name #4”, “Independence Day” (fabulous groove to the song), “Bottle Up and Explode”, “Waltz #2” (yeah, I dig the way he names some of his songs too), and today my song of the moment was "Oh Well, Okay"… And then there are a couple of bootleg recordings I got my hands on, but my favorite of those may be the song, “See You In Heaven”. There aren’t lyrics, but the music, the melody… It’s beautiful and uplifting.

One of the things about Elliott though… It’s a little bizarre, but I feel a connection with him. I feel like I know him – and what’s even crazier, I feel like he knows me and understands me. It probably says more about me than I should be revealing in such a public forum, but there have been periods of my life where I’ve felt like he’s the best friend I have. I know it’s strange to feel such a strong connection with someone I didn’t even know existed until after he died (though, it may be a little reminiscent of “Pictures of Lily” by The Who), but I think it says a lot about his songwriting ability – that he was able to build that kind of connection with people through his music. I know in reality, if I had known him, he wouldn’t have been the easiest person to be friends with… I know enough about him personally to have figured that much out, but I’m also pretty sure I would have loved him just the same.

And okay, I’ve got a bit of a crush on Elliott…

Top 40 of the '60s

For the past several months I’ve become a bit infatuated with Top 40 stations from the mid-‘60s, particularly a local station that I parents listened to while growing up. I found a website with a ton of airchecks between 1963 and 1968 and while you don’t hear much music (it’s mostly just the DJs talking and old commercials), it has caused me to branch out and hunt down some of the songs from the time period. Some were very easy to find, but some were songs released by local bands, and those were particularly hard to get my hands on.

As you’re probably aware by now, I have a pretty large music collection and have an affinity for the ‘60s, but there were a ton of songs released during that decade and I only owned a small fraction of it. Of course, I had all The Beatles songs and quite a bit of The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Mamas & The Papas, The Beach Boys, The Doors, The Who, The Kinks and The Monkees, but there were a number of songs that were pretty good sized hits that I had either not heard before or never paid much attention to.

“Red Rubber Ball” by the Cyrkle is one of those songs that I’d heard but didn’t really know. Co-written by Paul Simon with a happy tune, it’s a song I really enjoy. And the lyrics – I like the sentiment of being okay with the end of a relationship, particularly the chorus: “I think it’s gonna be alright. Yeah, the worse is over now. The morning sun is shining like a red rubber ball.”

“Sunny” by Bobby Hebb is another song that I’d heard and never listened to the various nuances of the song that make it so great – and one of the most covered popular songs. I think because the song has been covered so many times, I didn’t immediately make the connection that it was originally from the ‘60s. There were a couple other songs that I also hadn’t realized were from the ‘60s. One was “But It’s Alright” by J. J. Jackson and the other was “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” by Jimmy Ruffin – which has a very popular song on my playlist in the last few months. It’s really an amazing song – I really enjoy the last 28 seconds of the song, but I always enjoy the bits of songs that the vocalist is adlibbing a bit off of the original melody.

The Association’s “Along Comes Mary” is another one I’ve become hooked on in the last year or so. It’s got kind of an unusual melody and some pretty cool harmonies (though, it is The Association, so that should be expected)… And there’s a jazzy flute solo, which is something you don’t hear much these days. It’s also pretty fun to sing because some of the lyrics aren’t words you hear a lot and the rhythm of the words is kind of unique.

“Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” was originally recorded in the early ‘50s, but Mel Carter’s version released in ’65 may be the definitive version.  “Cara Mia” by Jay and the Americans tends to make me giggle a little. Not because it’s a bad song or not well performed, mostly because it’s so different from a lot of what you hear now and even back when it was released in 1965. It was a pretty big hit… I think it topped out around #4 – and Jay could really hold those high notes. I really should look up the lyrics because there are pieces of the song that I just end up singing gibberish.

“I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by the Four Tops and “Get Ready” by The Temptations are great Motown tracks that I had kind of disregarded until recently – and I’m not quite sure why. I probably had just heard them too much on the local oldies station or something so I never stopped to really listen to them. I had originally only known the song, “You’re the One” sung by Petula Clark, but I’ve found that I prefer The Vogues’ version. “Because” by The Dave Clark Five is a lovely ballad and I ended up hunting down Chad & Jeremy’s song, “My How The Time Goes By” after seeing them on The Dick Van Dyke Show (in an episode that satirized Beatlemania). “Catch the Wind” by Donovan is a gorgeous melody with some very lovely lyrics. I think it’s a tune that’s often mistaken for something written by Dylan… and it is definitely Dylan-esque with the acoustic guitar and harmonica. “Nowhere to Run” by Martha and the Vandellas is a great, driving song – and love the snow chain percussion. It gives the song a pretty distinctive style. “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by The Supremes is another song I seemed to have disregarded in the past. I do have a tendency to get a little bored with The Supremes sometimes, because all of their songs have a very similar sound, but this is a really like this song. I really appreciate the sentiment behind it – though last year, I related it directly to my job – at least the chorus. And there are a couple Barbara Lewis songs I really like - "Baby I'm Yours" and "Make Me Belong To You". She really does a very good vocal performance on both tunes, though, I think I may be a little more partial to the latter (and it has a nice little keyboard interlude).

“The Game of Love” by Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders is a song I was really infatuated with when I downloaded it this past spring. There’s so much in this song that I feel is noteworthy, the drum beat, the twangy guitar, and use of tambourine. And I really like how the tempo picks up during the bridge then stops and goes back into the original tempo… Yeah, I dig that. “I Go To Pieces” is my favorite Peter & Gordon song … I really like the piano bit during the chorus.

Paul Revere & The Raiders are very new to my music collection and were added specifically because of the airchecks I had found from the old radio stations. Up until then, I’d really only known them for “Indian Reservation” and that is not one of my favorite songs. Their stuff from the mid-‘60s is pretty good though. The first song of theirs I added to my collection was “Kicks”… Great guitar riff in that song. A few other songs that are worth mentioning are “Hungry”, “Him or Me, What’s It Gonna Be”, and “Too Much Talk”.

There were 2 groups that I did discover solely because of my aircheck research: The Excels and The Aerovons. The Excels were a Michigan based blue-eyed soul group… My favorite of their songs (the few I was able to locate, that is) is “Little Innocent Girl”. The Aerovons were a psychedelic - Beatle-esque group from St. Louis. The song “Resurrection” is my favorite.

Dino, Desi & Billy are the latest of the mid-‘60s groups I’ve gotten into. I’m quite aware that they aren’t the most talented band of the ‘60s – not by a long shot, but some of their songs, like “If You’re Thinking What I’m Thinking” are just plain fun, and in my book, it’s okay to have songs just for fun. And the video for the song “Thru Spray Colored Glasses” is something I find very amusing. I’m all about the transistor radio hanging from the rearview mirror and the random ‘60s dancing!

Nostalgia and Clarients

So this is just a little mini-post because I really only am going to discuss one song in this post.

I’ve recently downloaded the song “Stranger on the Shore” by Acker Bilk. I don’t know if I’d ever really heard the 1961 version of the song performed by Acker Bilk until recently – while listening to Songza playlist, “Number One Hits from the ‘60s” or some such.  Kinda hard to believe that a clarinet solo hit number one (though, I believe this was in the UK). He apparently wrote this tune for his daughter and named it after her, “Jenny.” Though, it was the theme song to a British show, “Stranger on the Shore”… thus, the title.

The film that caused me to really take notice of the tune was in The Majestic. I don’t know if it’s because of the film or if it’s the song itself, but it has a very nostalgic and wistful feel to it – at least to me.  But I’ll let you be the judge.

It’s got you layin’ up nights, just waiting for the music to start…

My first Carpenters album. It's a
little worse for wear these days.

So… as is consistent with my music addiction, I have a tendency to make myself various CDs of the tunes I’m in the mood for during a week. And yes, I tend to make about 1 (sometimes 2) official mix CDs a week. This last week, I made a CD of the music I listened to the summer before I went into 9^th grade. Okay, so that’s been a little while ago and some people are impressed that I can remember the music I was listening to at that time, but music has always been an important part of my life and my life has definitely had a soundtrack. Besides, during my early teenage years, I didn’t have too big of a variety of music. At that time in my life, I mostly listened to the Carpenters and the Partridge Family – with a little bit of Judy Garland soundtracks, one Petula Clark CD, and The Beatles CD – Past Masters Vol. 2, because I wanted the song “Let It Be”.
 
Okay, so I was a bit of a dork. But honestly, I maintain my love for The Carpenters. The Carpenters have been a staple in my music collection for as far back as I can remember. I knew their albums because of my mother and I picked out my first “grownup album” out shortly after I turned 6. It was The Carpenters Singles 1969-1973. My favorite song became “Hurting Each Other” and I used to play it over and over. At 6, I obviously didn’t understand the feelings behind the song, but I knew it was a beautiful song – and I still love it. And there’s something about her voice when she’s singing just before the chorus “Oh why should it be”… It’s strange, but it’s one of those moments that I can listen to over and over.
 
So, yeah… My love for The Carpenters started ages ago and it ebbed and flowed during various stages in my life. I really only had the one album until my serious obsession began at age 11. I don’t really remember what kicked off the obsession, but I remember dusting off my old cassette tape and popping it into the stereo and I was hooked all over again. I listened to that tape so many times throughout that year and the following Christmas I got a CD player and a Carpenters two-disc compilation album: Yesterday Once More. That’s another album I listened to pretty much non-stop for months – my favorite song during that time was “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” – and this song kicked off my fixation for getting the album, Passage (which was out of print at the time). Over the following couple years, I sunk most of my allowance into buying Carpenters albums (though, The Partridge Family received a great deal of my allowance money as well… I had it bad for Keith Partridge). I think a lot of my favorite Carpenters songs during this time tended toward their non-hits: “Let Me Be The One” (from Carpenters), “Maybe It’s You” (from Close To You), “Love Me For What I Am” (from Horizon), “Boat to Sail” (from A Kind of Hush), “Where Do I Go From Here?” (from Lovelines), “I Can’t Make Music” (from Now and Then),  “I Won’t Last A Day Without You” (from A Song For You), and “Turn Away” (from Ticket to Ride)…

I learned quite a few of their songs on the piano during this time too. “Hurting Each Other” was the first song I learned by them. And I remember sitting at the piano with my headphones on, trying to play “Flat Baroque” along with the recording… Richard is a much better pianist than I am, let me tell you! I could play most of the “Bacharach/David Medley” with the recording though (and here’s another little music-related secret of mine: I kind of have a thing for medleys).

Somewhere along the line, during my high school years, I didn’t listen to them so much.  I didn’t seriously start listening to the Carpenters again until a few years back… I don’t really know why I didn’t… It might have been the “non-cool factor”, or maybe I had too much other music to listen to, or maybe I just burned myself out on them in my early teenage years. Whatever the reason, I looked them up on youtube a few years back and was hooked all over again. Being an adult at this point, I heard them again with fresh ears – and a new perspective. Yes, I knew all the songs like the back of my hand, but I heard them differently than I did before (and even found some songs I hadn’t known before – outtakes from Karen’s solo album). I had a better understanding of music and what real talent is. Now, I know they get a lot of crap. “They’re too sugary, too sentimental, too melodic”.  They’re definitely not rock and roll, but… I don’t know if I can really consider them a guilty pleasure because, really, I’m pretty proud of being a fan of theirs. I’m proud of knowing all their music!
 
So no, not a guilty pleasure (the Partridge Family on the other hand, might fall into that category - but that's a subject for another time…). Why not? Because, no matter what anyone says – they were extremely talented individuals. Karen’s voice is what always gets mentioned – and it rightfully should. It was incredible. She had nearly a 4 octave range. She had impeccable phrasing, resonance, and consistently perfect pitch. No vocalist has ever matched her vocal quality- the haunting, sadness and the natural mellowness. She never screeched (like so many vocalists are apt to these days). She always produced a lovely pure and rich tone.
 
But it wasn’t just Karen’s voice – She was an astounding drummer… after trying to play the drums, I became aware of just how fantastic she was and how much natural talent she possessed on the drums…  She’s also the whole reason I wanted to play the drums.
 
Of course, you can’t over look Richard’s contributions – and amazing pianist, composer, and arranger. It’s the combination of the 2 that make them what they are. And the layers and layers of Carpenters voices in each recording? Nothing can quite compare to that.
 
My Recommendations –
Albums: A Song For You, Close To You, and Carpenters
Songs:   Hurting Each Other
                Goodbye To Love
                Let Me Be The One
                We’ve Only Just Begun
                All You Get From Love Is A Love Song
      

And here’s a little clip from their appearance on The Tonight Show. Karen really rocked on the drums.