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!)

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.