I obviously
have a thing for great pop songs with notable lyrics – I suppose it’s the
writer in me that I always take notice of lyrics – particularly when unusual
words are used or great imagery is utilized. So I suppose it would be no big
surprise that I dig Elvis Costello, who once in an interview jokingly referred
to himself as “rock and roll’s scrabble champion.” His lyrics are unique, memorable, meaningful,
funny, and clever. As a songwriter, he’s really great. He’s written a ton of
really tight pop songs. And his voice, while it’s been criticized rather often
being called “limited and harsh”, in the opinion of this rather unimportant
individual, it’s pretty great. It works well for his songs and is distinctive
and I love it.
Elvis
Costello has been a staple of my music collection for quite a few years now and
I’ve even had the pleasure of seeing him live in 2008. The first song I had
heard by him and truly took notice of was “Human Hands” off of the album, Imperial Bedroom. It’s a fantastic song with
a cool piano part (Steve Nieve is a very talented pianist), great rhythm and amazing
lyrics. Starting with the crash of
chords and drum fills before settling into a slightly reggae rhythm. The piano
during the chorus is awesome. Some of my favorite lines are… well, the first
line is pretty great: “I’ve been talking to the wall and it’s been answering
me.” Paints a very specific image. And the chorus is also a lot of fun to sing
along with because of the rhythm of the words with the music: “Whenever I put
my foot in my mouth and you begin to doubt that it’s you that I’m dreaming
about, do I have to draw you a diagram?” I also love the line “Tighter and
tighter, I hold you tightly. You know I love you more than slightly.”
A couple
other songs I’ve had moments of infatuation with are “Blue Chair” and “I Want You”
from Blood and Chocolate, “Oliver’s
Army” from Armed Forces, and “You’ll
Never Be A Man” from Trust.
I
love the chorus in “Blue Chair”... but my favorite part is the middle eight
(though, I don't think that's what it’s called since it's actually 16
measures). I especially like the line "We can watch our troubles rise like
smoke into the air and drift up to the ceiling". I also LOVE the ending.
As for “I Want You”, that song does something to me. I disagree with some of
the interpretations of the lyrics though... there are quite a few people who
seem to think he's a psycho stalker who is going to kill the girl. I don't get
that image at all... I think of it more of a guy who is devastated by his girl
cheating on him. After finding out, he's obsessing over the situation...
wanting to know every detail, even though it hurts him to know. But that's just
me... The song itself though is awesome. I love the twang of the guitar after
the intro. I love Elvis' passionate, slightly hoarse, sometimes sarcastic
sounding vocals. The lyrics are pretty steamy too... though, it might have
something to do with the fact that every other line is "I Want
You"... but the line "did you call his name out as he held you
down..." Very erotic. The whole song has a very steamy and erotic feel to
me... My favorite part is (big surprise) the guitar solo.
“Oliver’s
Army” is an upbeat melody with great piano flourishes and rather serious
lyrics. My favorite part is during the last verse when he’s singing harmony
with himself. I kind of have a thing for harmonies, specifically when the
vocalist is harmonizing with themselves. And the line of the chorus, “And I
would rather be anywhere else but here today” is a line that has run through my
head in a number of different situations throughout my life! “You’ll Never Be A
Man” I adore for the lovely countermelody in the piano (Steve really shines in
this song), the harmonies, and the clever lyrics and rhymes in the chorus.
Anyhow,
I suppose that’s enough for the time being, but you will undoubtedly be hearing
more about Elvis Costello in the future.
Like I’ve
mentioned before, I had a major crush on Keith Partridge during my
early-teenage years, so I listened to a lot of The Partridge Family. I owned
every one of their albums and even would sit in front of the television with a
tape recorder and microphone to tape the songs that weren’t available on a
record. I even joined the David Cassidy International Fan Club after seeing the
address inside one of the CD covers I owned. Yeah, I was a huge fan… I even got
to see David in Vegas on my 17th birthday.
Anyway, the
first song I really liked of theirs was their biggest hit, “I Think I Love You”.
Of course, it was very shortly after obtaining the CD of their greatest hits
that I began to explore all their music. Looking back on it now, many years
later, I can see why my dad complained that all their songs sounded the same,
BUT they did have some pretty damn good pop songs.
A few of the
non-hits that I keep coming back to are “Maybe Someday”, (It’s got a brass part
during the chorus that hooks me – something I never noticed while watching the
performance on the show), “Twenty Four Hours A Day”, “That’s The Way It Is With
You” (lovely piano intro), “Rainmaker” (more pretty piano part), “Love Is All
That I Ever Needed” (nice bass intro – and co-written by David Cassidy), “You
Are Always On My Mind”, “There’s No Doubt
In My Mind” and “Last Night”. Are any of these songs super innovative or revolutionary?
Not by a long shot. Are the lyrics sappy and silly? You bet. It’s unobtrusive ‘70s
bubblegum pop. But what these songs do have to offer are carefully crafted pop
music with cushy arrangements and some nice vocals provided by David Cassidy.
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!)
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.
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!
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.
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 9th 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.
Elvis
Costello has been a staple of my music collection for quite a few years now and
I’ve even had the pleasure of seeing him live in 2008. The first song I had
heard by him and truly took notice of was “Human Hands” off of the album, Imperial Bedroom. It’s a fantastic song with
a cool piano part (Steve Nieve is a very talented pianist), great rhythm and amazing
lyrics. Starting with the crash of
chords and drum fills before settling into a slightly reggae rhythm. The piano
during the chorus is awesome. Some of my favorite lines are… well, the first
line is pretty great: “I’ve been talking to the wall and it’s been answering
me.” Paints a very specific image. And the chorus is also a lot of fun to sing
along with because of the rhythm of the words with the music: “Whenever I put
my foot in my mouth and you begin to doubt that it’s you that I’m dreaming
about, do I have to draw you a diagram?” I also love the line “Tighter and
tighter, I hold you tightly. You know I love you more than slightly.” 
