To celebrate my baby girl's 4th birthday today, we're posting some of her favorite songs this year. Before you leave this page and think "oh brother...," Zoe has impressive taste in music, which all you '60s fans will surely approve. Yes, that's my girl listening to The Zombies' Odessey And Oracle album on our turntable. She requested it, so I had to document the evidence, of course! While she still enjoys the songs that were in her birthday feature last year (here), here are the newest ones in her playlist.
Before I even knew what "the birds and the bees" really meant, I loved to sing along to this Jewel Akens' song. Now it cracks me up to see Zoe enjoying the same catchy tune. Reminiscent of 1950s honky tonk-style hits (like Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill"), this international hit was released in 1964 and reached #2 on the US Cash Box singles chart and #3 on the Billboard chart. Although considered a one-hit wonder, Akens did have other minor hits and even toured with The Monkees. He just passed away this past March at the age of 79. Here's a classic TV performance of "The Birds & the Bees."
It's not surprising that my daughter loves one of the most influential records in pop music history, but her favorite selection from The Beach Boys' 1966 Pet Sounds is not one of the popular ones. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love with Brian as the producer, "I'm Waiting for the Day" is considered art rock and is very experimental as a combination of an orchestral ballad and a modern rock song. Using our beloved "Wrecking Crew" studio musicians, this positive song features a very exciting instrumentation such as timpani, bongos, strings, flute, English horn, ukelele, organ, bass, and drums. Nothing like driving in your car and hearing your child singing all the lyrics.
Here's another surprising tune from Zoe's playlist: Harry Nilsson's "Mr. Tinker." While his 1968 album Aerial Ballet includes great songs like "Everybody's Talkin'" (a huge hit in '69) and "One" (later covered by Three Dog Night), my daughter is drawn to this beautiful and melancholy number. The arrangement and instrumentation is excellent and so moving as the lyrics tell a story of Mr. Tinker the tailor. Nilsson is such a unique songwriter and I love his variety; even cooler that my kid enjoys the deep tracks like this. And we're in good company: he was the favorite artist of The Beatles!
I guess I must play quite a bit of '60s Baroque Pop around the house because Zoe has caught on to
how great it is! While she does love the well-known "Walk Away Renee"
by The Left Banke, she really enjoys their second hit single, "Pretty
Ballerina." Released in December of 1966 and reaching #15 on the Billboard
chart, this haunting tune is not your typical pop song of the era, featuring
beautiful string/oboe accompaniment and the soaring vocals of Steve Martin
(Caro). Definitely an under-rated band!
While it's appropriate that my kid has a
Bubblegum pop tune amongst her favorites, I think the underlying reason she
loves this song may be due to the fact that she thinks it's about a large,
furry Star Wars character of the same name. In March of 1969, Ohio Express's
"Chewy Chewy"became their second million seller and reached #15 in
the US, #6 in Australia, and #2 in Canada. While Ohio Express was a studio
creation by Super K Productions, they had their biggest success during this time
with singer Joey Levine, however, the touring group included a completely
different of musicians. Nothing like a little Bubblegum to get the happy juices flowing.
This next gem comes from the wonderful 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. A collection of thematic vignettes of English town and hamlet life, written by The Kinks' own Ray Davies, "Animal Farm" is wonderful, 'pastoral escape' that makes excellent use of the Mellotron, simulating string and woodwind backing tracks. Although the record is widely considered one of the most influential and
important works by the Kinks, it failed to chart upon release, and only
sold about 100,000 copies; it was released November 22, 1968, the same day The Beatles released their White Album. Now this Kinks album is ranked amongst Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Another under-rated album now in that list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle definitely caught my daughter's attention but with the most unexpected song. Recorded at Abbey Road Studio in 1967, "Beechwood Park" has a smooth groove complete with a mellow guitar intro, dreamy lyrics, and the breathy vocals of the talented Colin Blunstone. Although one of the biggest songs of the '60s came from this album ("Time of the Season"), Zoe is fascinated by this extraordinary beauty by my beloved Zombies.
And seriously, what kid wouldn't like a song about an octopus's garden? From The Beatles' last recorded album, Abbey Road, released in 1969, "Octopus's Garden" was drummer Ringo Starr's most successful songwriting effort, and was inspired by a trip to Sardinia aboard Peter Sellers' yacht (yes, the hilarious British actor, long story). I still have my parents' original Abbey Road album and now course, the love of this childhood favorite of mine has been passed down in the family.
Zoe has a dear friend named Caroline, so as soon as she caught the lyrics of this Neil Diamond classic, she requested to hear "Sweet Caroline" every time we drove in the car (where we do most of our music-listening). Released in September of 1969, this soft rock song reached #4 on the Billboard chart and eventually went platinum for sales of one million singles. In recent years, Diamond revealed that he was inspired by a picture of President JFK's daughter, Caroline, riding a horse as a young child. In recent years, the song has become popular at sporting events, especially at the Boston Red Sox home games.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An American orchestra leader and film composer, Hugo Montenegro is best known for his interpretations of the music from Spaghetti westerns, especially the cover version of the main theme from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Originally composed by Ennio Morricone, Montenegro's version was his biggest pop hit in 1968, reaching #2 on the Billboard chart, #3 in Canada, and four weeks at #1 in the UK. Zoe loves this song, especially the whistling, and refers to it as "the cowboy song." This was also a favorite of my dad's, and our family had a joke about the lyrics, or what I suppose are lyrics. We called this song "Egg roll," because it sounded like a bunch of cowboys attempting to talk while eating a hot egg-roll. Seriously, what are they saying/grunting? Here's one of the most iconic scores in film history with clips from the classic movie.
While Zoe does enjoy The Temptations' "My Girl," she is even more interested in the lesser-known cover version of the same song by The Mamas & The Papas. Originally written by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, this tender interpretation was first heard on the group's 1967 album Deliver, and was later released as the B-side of "Do You Wanna Dance" in 1968, although it charted rather poorly. With a new, ascending vocal intro, this version is a textbook-example of The Mamas & The Papas' harmonious sound that can surely put a smile on anyone's face. Gotta love my kiddo's variety!
Harp Week: Part 1
And now for something completely different (as Monty Python would say), it's officially Harp Week. As a professional harpist, I'm currently preparing for a big solo harp recital at the end of this week, and my mind is obviously in "harp mode." Although practicing is definitely a priority over blogging at the moment, I will still leave you this week with a couple of small, yet interesting posts about 1960's pop music that includes the harp!
A beautiful, sad song with thoughtful, observational lyrics, "She's Leaving Home" was the first Beatles song to use a female musician on a recording, harpist Shelia Bromberg. From Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of the most important albums in rock music history, this song was written by Paul McCartney, who was inspired by a newspaper article about a missing young girl. This baroque pop piece was also one of a few songs by The Beatles in which none of the members actually played on the recording, just lead vocals by Paul, and John Lennon signing the the parents' view in the chorus (Greek chorus). From June 1967, this is a wonderful piece of music with a lovely harp solo in the introduction.
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Also from 1967 but with a completely different sound, Tommy James & The Shondells' "Mirage" is a pop rock song with a distinctive harp part. Tommy got the idea for this song from a mistake in the studio: their producer accidentally put the tape of their previous hit, "I Think We're Alone Now," on the player backwards. The band liked the sound of the chord progression, and songwriter Ritchie Cordell wrote the lyrics. Hitting #10 on the charts, "Mirage" is a fun, yet very under-played song (on current "oldies" radio) with a noticeable harp accompaniment, including the infamous harp effect, the glissando.
Coming from the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, this next song is from the psychedelic/rock album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake by the English rock group, Small Faces. One of the biggest original influences on the Britpop movement in the 1990's, the music of Small Faces is still among the most acclaimed British mod and psychedelic music of the late 1960's. From their two-act concept album in 1968, "Happiness Stan" is a whimsical, psychedelic fairy tale that is through-composed (music term for non-repetitive), and is narrated by old British comedian, Stanley Unwin. And so where does the harp come in all this? Well, only at the very beginning of the piece, of course. So I've posted two different videos of this song: the first is just the "Happiness Stan" portion from the Small Faces' performance of the entire Ogdens' album on the TV show Colour Me Pop (although because of the album's complexities, it was a mimed performance, however, their mics were left on to capture little ad libs, which are quite cute). Although it's a fun video, it actually cuts out almost the entire harp solo introduction (with the exception of one glissando), so I had to include an alternative YouTube post (though no video footage) with the entire harp solo at the beginning (just listen to the first 30 seconds). After all, this is Harp Week!
And for now, I'm going to try to stick with less overwhelming posts like that past few weeks, but please check back later in the week to hear more '60s music with harp!
Baroque Pop Week: Part 2
So continuing with the Baroque Pop theme of the week, I probably should mention other terms interchangeable with this genre include Baroque Rock, Bach Rock, and Chamber Pop/Rock. Also, a related sidenote, the use of classical instrumentation in rock music eventually evolved into another subgenre that developed in the late-1960's called Progressive Rock, which then began drawing influence from jazz and Eastern music, in addition to classical. Prog rock is much more complex in song structure, which eventually led to the development of concept albums and "art rock." (Early progressive rock artists include The Beatles and The Beach Boys, followed by Pink Floyd, Yes, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Frank Zappa, Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, and Electric Light Orchestra in the 1970's.) Okay, so this genre is in need of it's own post on another day, but just wanted to distinguish between the two for now.
And now back to Baroque Pop. If you're not sick of it yet, this post is going just slightly hog-wild (again) with more videos from this genre!
I've recently discovered that the English group The Zombies are an extremely under-rated band from the 1960's, seriously. In fact, I'm probably going to dedicate a post to their final album very soon. From May 1969, "Imagine the Swan" was The Zombies' last single, and they had actually long disbanded by the time it was released. During the first part of the verses, you'll notice another Bach-flavored (i.e. The Well-Tempered Clavier) harpsichord accompaniment, played by keyboard wiz Rod Argent, who was also one of the group's principle songwriters with member Chris White. There are no live performances of this swansong, so here's the audio/slide-show video:
Next up, it's The Move, one of the leading British rock bands of the 1960's (and a main originator of Power Pop) who unfortunately never found much success in the U.S. until the group transitioned into the 1970's group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) with the help of Jeff Lynne (yeah, that same guy also from The Traveling Wilburys). "Beautiful Daughter" is one of those songs that is on the border between Baroque Rock and early Progressive Rock. Released in February 1970 (I know, I just ventured two months out of the '60s!), this well-written beauty has wonderful vocals by Carl Wayne and was composed by the group's leader and guitarist, Roy Wood. Here is a great live performance, unfortunately, it doesn't include the string accompaniment (no other video available on YouTube).
And now for something completely different, this is 1967's "Proper Ornaments" by the New York-based vocal group The Free Design. Made up of members of the Dedrick family (brothers Chris and Bruce and sister Sandy as the original line-up, and later joined by younger sisters Ellen and Stephanie), The Free Design sang jazzy pop music, as well as baroque pop and sunshine pop. With a classically-trained background, they are known for their complex harmonies, jazz-like chord progressions, and off-beat time signatures. It's unfortunate this talented group did not gain much commercial success.
Now an absolute classic from 1967 is "Different Drum" by Linda Ronstadt & the Stone Poneys, written by Michael Nesmith prior to his joining of The Monkees. Although The Stone Poneys were typically a folk-rock group, this song crosses into the baroque pop/sunshine pop territory with the harpsichord/string accompaniment throughout, especially the classical-inspired instrumental interlude. With the fantastic vocals by "The First Lady of Rock," it's no wonder this song remains Linda Ronstadt's most popular recording.
Later this week, check back in to read about one of the most significant songs of the 1960's that shaped rock 'n' roll! Hint: I'm feeling some 'good vibes' about this one.
Baroque Pop Week: Part 1
So I discovered the term Baroque Pop this past year and although I've always been familiar with the type of songs in this genre, I was delighted to find out this lovely music had a specific name. Originating in the mid-1960s, Baroque Pop is a style of music that uses elements of classical music in rock 'n' roll songs, as well as classical instrumentation such as harpsichord, oboe, cello, French horn, and string quartet. Bands that have producedbaroque pop songsinclude The Beatles, The Left Banke, The Beach Boys (circa 1965-1968), and The Zombies, as well record producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound productions (one of the first to add classical instruments to pop music, creating more majestic/dramatic sound). At first listen, I assumed that much of The Mamas & The Papas' music was included in this genre as well since they often have string accompaniment, however, their music is considered to be Sunshine Pop (and folk-influenced). These two genres are similar in subject matter, but Sunshine Pop is considered more "sunny"-sounding whileBaroque Pop is darker with a more melodramatic edge (more on that genre at another time).
Okay, so here I go talking about The Beatles again, but their venture into baroque pop was a very significant turning point for the group. Although the song "Yesterday" was their first song to use string accompaniment, it was "Eleanor Rigby" that really continued the band's transformation from a mainly pop-oriented act to a more experimental studio band. Released in August of 1966, this song, written by Paul McCartney (though of course credited to Lennon/McCartney) won the 1966 Grammy for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance. It's double string quartet orchestration was composed by The Beatles' producer, George Martin, and Paul's choice to use strings may have been influenced by his interest in composer Antonio Vivaldi. "Eleanor Rigby" comes from the album Revolver, as displayed in the YouTube post of this song (no video footage, just audio).
Another example of early Baroque Pop is The Rolling Stones' song "As Tears Go By," written by front-man Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, and their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham. This was one of the first compositions by Mick and Keith (up until this point, they mostly did covers of blues standards), and it was released in December of 1965. Although it seems to be inspired by The Beatles' "Yesterday" (August 1965) with melancholy lyrics and lush string accompaniment, The Stones actually wrote this much earlier in 1964, but were not the first to make it famous. It was first a popular hit for British singer Marianne Faithfull who released it in '64. Here's The Rolling Stones' performance on The Ed Sullivan Show (but if only those girls would stop screaming!). EDITED: Original video was removed from youtube, but this video is a black and white footage of the same performance with the original recording overdubbed.
And although this wasn't the plan, I'm now going down a bunny-trail by including Marianne Faithfull's Hullabaloo London performance of "As Tears Go By."Although the 17-year-old's vocals are lovely, Marianne's performance is a bit too stoic and she is clearly lip-syncing. The accompaniment is different than The Stones 'version with an English horn (sounds like a low oboe), but still includes the strings. This footage is actually quite bittersweet, especially if you know of the sad drug history that followed this seemingly innocent Marianne.
Okay, I really could keep posting songs all day, but I'll conclude this post with "A Whiter Shade of Pale," the debut song by the British group Procol Harum. Released at the beginning of the "Summer of Love" (May 1967), this baroque rock song reached #1 in several countries and has become an enduring classic (more than 900 versions covered by other artists are known!). Although the instrumental melody on Hammond organ makes clear references to Johann Sebastian Bach's "Sleepers, Wake!" and "Air on the G String," the song is not a direct copy or paraphrase of Bach's music. This is the second video that the group made of this song, as the first video was banned from the Top of the Pops TV show because it had footage from the Vietnam War. Fun seeing footage of 1967's London in this video:
Stay tuned for another overwhelming post of Baroque pop songs later this week!
And seriously, what kid wouldn't like a song about an octopus's garden? From The Beatles' last recorded album, Abbey Road, released in 1969, "Octopus's Garden" was drummer Ringo Starr's most successful songwriting effort, and was inspired by a trip to Sardinia aboard Peter Sellers' yacht (yes, the hilarious British actor, long story). I still have my parents' original Abbey Road album and now course, the love of this childhood favorite of mine has been passed down in the family. 
An American orchestra leader and film composer, Hugo Montenegro is best known for his interpretations of the music from Spaghetti westerns, especially the cover version of the main theme from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Originally composed by Ennio Morricone, Montenegro's version was his biggest pop hit in 1968, reaching #2 on the Billboard chart, #3 in Canada, and four weeks at #1 in the UK. Zoe loves this song, especially the whistling, and refers to it as "the cowboy song." This was also a favorite of my dad's, and our family had a joke about the lyrics, or what I suppose are lyrics. We called this song "Egg roll," because it sounded like a bunch of cowboys attempting to talk while eating a hot egg-roll. Seriously, what are they saying/grunting? Here's one of the most iconic scores in film history with clips from the classic movie. 
