Time for another installment for my long running irregular music history feature. I still find it interesting to tackle this by taking a look at select events that happened on a specific date throughout the decades.
1964: Additional footage was captured for the Can’t Buy Me Love sequence for The Beatles’ first movie A Hard Day’s Night. The Beatles Biblenotes, Filming took place on Thornbury Playing Fields in Isleworth, south London. A fake helipad was constructed, and The Beatles were filmed running around and acting up. The film was released in July of the same year.
1971: The Rolling Stones released Sticky Fingers, which most fans regard as one of their best albums. It marked their first studio album without Brian Jones who had passed away in July 1969 and the second full-length recording after their live album Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!, which featured guitarist Mick Taylor. Sticky Fingers, which was the band’s first to top the UK and the U.S. albums charts, became one of their best-selling, including more than 3 million sold units in the U.S. alone. Here’s the first single Brown Sugar, written primarily by Mick Jagger and, as usual, credited to him and Keith Richards.
1976: New York punk rock band Ramones released their eponymous debut album. While it became their best-selling album and eventually was certified Gold in the U.S. in April 2014 (500,000 certified sold units), it only reached no. 111 on the Billboard 200. Its two singles Blitzkrieg Bop and I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend missed the charts altogether. None of that changed the fact that the album is now regarded as their most accoladed and iconic release. Here’s the second single, which was written by drummer Thomas Erdelyi, known as Tommy Ramone.
1977: Soul and disco vocalist Thelma Houston hit no. in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 with her rendition of Don’t Leave Me This Way. Co-written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert, the song was first released in 1975 by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass. Houston’s cover also enjoyed significant chart success in other countries and became her biggest hit.
1983: British band Dexys Midnight Runners reached no. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 with the upbeat song Come On Eileen. The single, off their sophomore album Too-Rye-Ay, became their sole chart-topper in the U.S. Their biggest hit also topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Ireland and Switzerland. The group who continues to exist and fronted by Kevin Rowland is now known as Dexys. Come On Eileen was co-written by Rowland (bass, guitar, piano, vocals); Jim Paterson (trombone) who continues to be part of the current line-up; and Billy Adams (banjo, guitar, backing vocals).
Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; Songfacts History Calendar; Recording Industry Association of America website; YouTube
What you always wanted to know about…Reflections of My Life
Happy Wednesday and I’d like to welcome you to another installment of my midweek feature that takes a deeper dive into a song I’ve only mentioned in passing or not covered at all to date. Sometimes it takes me a while to come up with a new pick for this series. On other occasions, a song pops up seemingly out of the blue. Reflections of My Life by The Marmalade was one of those happy moments. It’s a song I’ve always loved and it fit the above criteria, so it was an easy decision to feature.
Reflections of My Life was co-written by Junior Campbell and Dean Ford, who were the lead guitarist and vocalist, respectively, of the Scottish pop rock band. This gem first appeared as a single in the UK in November 1969, followed by the U.S. in March 1970. The song was also included on the group’s studio album Reflections of the Marmalade released in June 1970. In the U.S., it was titled Reflections of My Life.
The song became the band’s biggest hit worldwide. In the UK, it climbed to no. 3 of the Official Single Chart. Only their rendition of The Beatles’Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da charted higher there, reaching no. 1. In the U.S., the single peaked at no. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did best in Ireland where it surged to no. 2. Elsewhere, it reached no. 5 in South Africa, no. 6 in Canada, no. 8 in Norway, no. 9 in Belgium and no. 13 in New Zealand. Reflections of My Life has sold in excess of two million copies, including more than one million in the U.S. alone.
Songs with heavy orchestration can sound over the top, but in this case, I feel the brass and string arrangement by British composer and arranger Keith Mansfield gives the song a majestic beautiful vibe. Curious how Reflections of My Life sounds without orchestration? Here’s a live version I found. It still sounds great to my ears, though I do prefer the brass and strings on the studio recording.
Lyrically, Reflections of My Life describes a bleak outlook on life, touching on themes of changes in life, harsh living conditions and nostalgia. Songfactsdescribes it as a “dramatic ballad from the Age of Aquarius” and “a sort of a hippie version of the blues.”
The song was recorded over three days in late 1969 at Decca Studios in London. In addition to Ford (lead vocals) and Campbell (harmony vocals, electric guitar, keyboards), the recording session included the group’s Pat Fairley (acoustic guitar), Graham Knight (harmony vocals, bass) and Alan Whitehead (drums).
It was The Marmalade’s first recording session after they were signed to Decca Records. The lucrative advance deal allowed them to write and produce their own songs with no constraints for studio time. The remarkable arrangement paid off nicely for both sides!
Musically, the song has some interesting features. The intro, verses and choruses all share the same eight-bar chord progression (G major, B minor, E minor, G major 7, C major, B minor, A minor, D major). But the changes in dynamics, a cool guitar solo and the beautiful orchestration keep things interesting. I also love Knight’s melodic bass line! And, man, the harmony singing is just sweet!
Campbell played the aforementioned guitar solo on a Gibson ES-355 semi-hollow. It’s a so-called reverse guitar solo, which Wikipedia breaks down as follows:
The first 4 bars were recorded as normal, with Campbell playing a long “G” note, tied over from the last beat of bar 3, through bar 4, with slight feedback sustaining the long note. The eight track tape was then turned over, and Campbell played against the reverse sound of the track, including his initial first four bars ensuring that he played another long “G” near the same point which could be cross-faded against the original – the tape was then turned over to normal setup, and he selected just 4 bars from the reverse recording which are bars 4–7 inclusive – this was cross-faded with the original at bar 4 – he then picked up from bar 8 through to bar 16 as normal, so in fact, only 4 bars are actually “reversed”.
That’s perhaps more than most of you wanted to know! 🙂
Last but not least, Reflections of My Life has been covered by various artists over the years. A rendition by Australian band Flake recorded in 1970 became a top 40 hit on the national top 60 chart by Australian pop music newspaper Go-Set – higher than The Marmalade’s original which had peaked at no. 47. Other versions include a 1983 reggae rendition by Ruddy Thomas as a duet with Barry Biggs and Dexys Midnight Runners (Dexys) frontman Kevin Rowland. Here’s Flake’s version.
A new year is bringing some ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. I hope you’re all off to a great start of 2024 and would like to welcome you to the inaugural post of a new feature I decided to call The Wizards of Vision and Sound. In a nutshell, the idea is to profile prominent music producers and sound engineers, with a focus on highlighting some of their actual work.
Producers and sound engineers is a topic I’ve had on my mind for some time. While the title implies a series, I’m not sure yet about frequency, given I already have multiple recurring features, and there’s only so much time I can devote to blogging – I’m thinking perhaps monthly or every other month.
First, I’d like to briefly address the roles of music producer and sound engineer. In general, a producer manages the process of recording music, which includes helping develop a record’s overall vision, identifying and booking studios and additional session musicians, assisting with song collection and order, and advising on musical arrangements. A sound engineer primarily focuses on the technical aspects of operating recording equipment and helping the artist realize and in some cases shape the sound they envision.
Oftentimes, the above roles become blurry, especially nowadays. Music artists frequently serve as their own producers and sound engineers. Much of that is enabled by technology, which has made home recording and production of music feasible. A dedicated producer may also take on sound engineering roles, while a sound engineer may go beyond operating recording equipment and take on a more active role in shaping an album. In some cases, functions may be further split, for example between an executive producer and a “regular” producer.
With that said, let’s get to our first wizard: George Martin. Of course, I had to kick off the series with somebody related to my all-time favorite band The Beatles! But while Martin undoubtedly is best known for his work with the four lads from Liverpool and wasn’t called “the fifth Beatle” for nothing, there’s more to the English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor and musician.
George Martin (center) with (from left) John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Paul McCartney
George Henry Martin, who became Sir George Martin in 1996 in recognition of his services to the music industry and popular culture, was born on January 3, 1926. His initial interest in music was sparked at the age of six when his family got a piano. While the lessons he started to take as an eight-year-old stopped after only six over a disagreement between his mother and the piano teacher, Martin continued exploring the instrument on his own and created his first composition the age of eight.
After a four-year career in the British navy, Martin studied piano, oboe, music composition and orchestration at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Following his graduation in 1950, he started working for the BBC’s classical music department while playing oboe in local bands on the side. In November 1950, Martin joined EMI and became assistant to the head of EMI’sParlophone label. His focus continued to be classical music. He signed English conductor and composer Ron Goodwin and produced his first record, an instrumental cover of Charlie Chaplin’s theme from Limelight.
When his boss retired in 1955, Martin took over the Parlophone label. Before he started working with The Beatles and other pop artists in the early ’60s, Martin produced novelty and comedy records. According to The Beatles Bible, artists included The Goons, Rolf Harris, Flanders and Swann and, most successfully, the Beyond the Fringe show, starring Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller.
George Martin (left) with Shirley Bassey and audio engineer Stuart Eltham
In 1965, Martin left EMI over compensation disagreements and together with staffers from EMI and Decca formed his own production company, Associated Independent Recording (AIR). In addition to music, Martin’s more-than-six-decade career also included composing, arranging and production work for film and television. His final project, Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music, was an eight-part documentary series for TV about sound recording and music production. Martin passed away on March 8, 2016 at the age of 90, six days prior to the premier of Soundbreaking at South by Southwest.
While it is impossible to give full justice to Martin’s bio in just four paragraphs, this shall suffice for the purposes of this post. As noted the outset, I’d like to focus this series on music the featured wizard touched. With that, let’s take a look at some examples for Martin.
Gerry And The Pacemakers/How Do You Do It? (1963)
How Do You Do It? was penned by British songwriter Mitch Murray. When his publisher Dick James presented the song to Martin, he initially wanted The Beatles to record it. They reluctantly did but insisted to go with their own Love Me Do – not a bad decision, in my completely unbiased opinion! :-) Martin agreed, but he continued to see the song’s hit potential and he was right. He gave it to Gerry And The Pacemakers, after the Liverpool group had been signed to EMI’sColumbia label. Produced by Martin and released in March 1963, the song became their debut single and ended up topping the UK charts for three weeks. The Beatles’ recording eventually appeared in 1995 on the Anthology 1 collection.
Shirley Bassey/Goldfinger (1964)
Martin, George Martin! Composed by John Barry and with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, the magnificent title song of the 1964 James Bond film was performed by Shirley Bassey. According to the website of Abbey Road Studios, where the gem was recorded, The vocal session tape was created on 7 September 1964, with the engineers listed as Malcolm Addey and Ron Pender, with George Martin producing in Studio Two. Additional fun fact: Jimmy Page, then a session musician, played on Goldfinger as part of the John Barry Orchestra.
The Beatles/Eleanor Rigby (1966)
While I purposely chose to highlight Martin’s work beyond The Beatles, I couldn’t leave out Eleanor Rigby, which I think features one of his finest moments with them: The writing of the string score for Eleanor Rigby. The Beatles Biblenotes this gem was inspired by the music written by Bernard Herrmann for the Truffaut film Farenheit 451. The string octet was recorded in 14 takes. Paul McCartney subsequently overdubbed his lead vocals. None of The Beatles played on the recording. Apart from appearing on the Revolver album, Eleanor Rigby was released in August 1966 as a double A-side single with Yellow Submarine.
Mahavishnu Orchestra/Wings of Karma (1974)
In March 1974, Martin worked with Mahavishnu Orchestra at his AIR Studios in London to record their third studio album Apocalypse, which came out the following month. It also featured the London Symphony Orchestra, which to me made Martin look like a perfect man for the job. In his cleverly titled 1979 memoir All You Need Is Ears, he called Apocalypse “one of the best records ever made.” Here’s Wings of Karma composed by John McLaughlin.
America/Sister Golden Hair (1975)
In 1974, folk rock trio America started working with Martin who ended up producing their next five albums. Sister Golden Hair was included on the second of the series, Hearts, which came out in March 1975. Written by Gerry Beckley, the song also became the album’s first single and one of America’s biggest hits, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. Songfactspoints out it marked Martin’s 20th no.1 U.S. single as a producer, and his first post-Beatles.
UFO/Lettin’ Go (1980)
That one came as a surprise! Martin produced UFO’s eighth studio album No Place to Run, though he later regretted his decision. Released in January 1980, it was recorded at Martin’s studio on Montserrat, known as AIR Montserrat, which had been built on the Caribbean island in 1979. In a 2016 interview with Louder, then-former UFO bassist Pete Way noted friction between the band and Martin over different work and life styles. While calling No Place to Run not bad and “well put together”, he said the group felt Martin’s mix was “a bit low-key.” The same story quotes a 1994 interview with Martin during which he said, “I once had a flirtation with heavy metal, and I regretted it very much. It [the genre] didn’t seem to have any sense.” Here’s the perhaps ironically titled Lettin’ Go, co-written by Way and UFO vocalist Phil Mogg.
Little River Band/The Night Owls (1981)
Martin’s production work wasn’t limited to British and American artists. In 1981, he worked with Aussie pop rock group Little River Band, who recorded their sixth studio album Time Exposure at AIR Montserrat. Released in September that year, it peaked at no. 9 in Australia and reached no. 21 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200. The first single The Night Owls, written by LRB co-founder and guitarist Graeham Goble, climbed to no. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it one of the group’s highest charting songs on the U.S. pop chart. In an April 2021 YouTubeinterview with Rock History Music, Goble and LBR’s second guitarist Beeb Birtles spoke very highly of Martin and working with him.
Andy Leek/Say Something (1988)
The last example of Martin’s work I’d like to call out is his production of Say Something, a 1988 album by Andy Leek. The British singer-songwriter, musician and poet first gained prominence as an early member of Dexys Midnight Runners before launching a solo career in 1980. Say Something was recorded at AIR Studios in London with impressive guest musicians, such as Steve Howe (Yes), Clem Clempson (Colosseum, Humble Pie) and Alan Murphy (Level 42). Martin said Leek “was one of the greatest artists he had ever produced”.
Over his long career, Martin produced 30 no. 1 singles in the UK and 23 no. 1 hits in the U.S. He won six Grammy Awards, including two in 1967 for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Best Contemporary Album and Album of the Year); 1973 for arranging the soundtrack of Bond movie Live and Let Die (Best Arrangement, Accompanying Vocalist(s)); 1993 for Best Musical Show Album (as producer of The Who’s Tommy); and 2007 as producer for The Beatles’ Love soundtrack remix album for the Cirque du Soleil show Love (Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media), together with his son Giles Martin. Martin also contributed to numerous charitable causes, including The Prince’s Trust and Montserrat.
Following is a Spotify playlist of the above and select other songs produced by George Martin.
Note: The post was updated on January 13, 2024 with the above Spotify playlist
Sources: Wikipedia; Abbey Road Studios website; The Beatles Bible; Songfacts; Louder; Rock History Music; YouTube; Spotify
Celebrating music with six random tracks at a time
Hard to believe it’s Sunday again, and we’ve reached the second weekend in spring. In typical tri-state (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut) fashion, we’ve had some wild temperature swings, and for tomorrow, the weatherman has forecast a whooping daytime high of 35 F – keeping fingers crossed they’re wrong like most of the time! Meanwhile, let’s keep the weather behind us and embark on another journey celebrating the music of the past and the present with six tunes.
Carlos Santana/Bella
I’d like to start today’s trip with a beautiful instrumental by Carlos Santana, one of the first guitarists I admired after I had started to pick up the guitar as a 12 or 13-year-old. Santana’s first compilation Santana’s Greatest Hits from July 1971, which spans the band’s first three albums, was one of the vinyl records my six-year-older sister had at the time. While I’m most familiar with the band’s classic period and it remains my favorite Santana music, I’ve also come to like some of their other work. Bella, co-written by Sterling Crew (keyboards, synthesizer), Carlos Santana (guitar) and Chester D. Thompson (keyboards), is from a solo album by Carlos, titled Blues for Salvador. Released in October 1987, the record is dedicated to his son Salvador Santana, who was born in May 1983 and is one of three children he had with his first wife Deborah King. Salvador Santana is a music artist as well, who has been active since 1999 when he collaborated with his father on composing El Farol, a Grammy-winning track from Santana’s hugely successful Supernatural album that came out in June that year.
Steely Dan/Home at Last
Last night, I saw an outstanding tribute band to Steely Dan, Sting, Stevie Wonder and Gino Vannelli. I’ve covered Good Stuff on previous occasions, for example here. After having felt skittish about going to concerts for the longest time, I’ve recently resumed some activities. It felt so good to enjoy some top-notch live music! As such, I guess it’s not a surprise that Messrs. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen are on my mind. While they have written many great songs, the one album I keep coming back to is Aja, a true masterpiece released in September 1977. Here’s Home at Last. That’s kind of how I felt last night!
The Chambers Brothers/Time Has Come Today
All righty, boys and girls, the time has come to go back to the ’60s and step on the gas a little with some psychedelic soul – coz, why not? The inspiration for this next pick came from a playlist titled 60s Rock Anthems, which I saw on Spotify. Regardless of whether you consider Time Has Come Today by American psychedelic soul group The Chambers Brothers a “rock anthem,” I think it’s a pretty cool tune. The title track of their debut album from November 1967 became the group’s biggest hit single, climbing to no. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The trippy song was co-written by brothers Willie Chambers (vocals, guitar) and Joseph Chambers (guitar), who made up the band together with their brothers Lester Chambers (harmonica) and George Chambers (bass), along with Brian Keenan (drums). Since the studio cut came in at 11 minutes, they edited it down to 2:37 minutes for the original single. Subsequently, there were also 3:05 and 4:45-minute single versions. Since we don’t do things half-ass here, of course, I present you with the full dose – sounds like a tasty stew of early Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix!
The Style Council/Shout to the Top
After the previous 11-minute psychedelic soul tour de force, I thought something more upbeat would be in order. The other day, I remembered and earmarked British outfit The Style Council. Formed in late 1982 by singer, songwriter and guitarist Paul Weller (formerly with punk rock band The Jam) and keyboarder Mick Talbot (formerly of Dexys Midnight Runners, among others), The Style Council became part of a wave of British pop outfits that embraced blue-eyed soul and jazz. Others that come to mind are Simply Red, Matt Bianco and Everything But The Girl. Shout to the Top, written by Weller, was the group’s seventh single that came out in October 1984. It was included on the band’s sophomore album Our Favourite Shop from June 1985 and part of the soundtrack of the American romantic drama picture Vision Quest released in February of the same year. Warning, the catchy tune might get stuck in your brain!
Blue Rodeo/5 Days in May
Our next stop takes us to the ’90s and some beautiful Neil Young-style Americana rock. Blue Rodeo are a relatively recent “discovery.” The first time I featured the Canadian country rock band, who has been around since 1984, was in early December 2021. Borrowing from this post, they were formed by high school friends Jim Cuddy (vocals, guitar) and Greg Keelor (vocals, guitar), who had played together in various bands before, and Bob Wiseman (keyboards). Cleave Anderson (drums) and Bazil Donovan (bass) completed the band’s initial lineup. After gaining a local following in Toronto and signing with Canadian independent record label Risque Disque, the group released their debut album Outskirts in March 1987. Co-written by Keelor and Cuddy, 5 Days in May is from Blue Rodeo’s fifth studio album Five Days in July, first released in Canada in October 1993. It only appeared in the U.S. in September of the following year. The band has since released 16 additional studio albums. I reviewed their most recent one, Many a Mile, here.
Foo Fighters/Medicine At Midnight
Once again, we’ve reached the final stop of our musical mini-excursion. Late on Friday sad news broke that Taylor Hawkins, who had been the drummer of Foo Fighters since 1997, passed away at the age of 50. The tragic event happened just before the band was scheduled to play a gig in Bogota, Colombia as part of their South America tour. The cause of death is still under investigation but may have been heart-related. I generally don’t follow the Foos and as such know next to nothing about their music. But I think Dave Grohl is a pretty cool dude, and I sympathize with what must be a difficult loss to him and his bandmates, the Hawkins family and Foo fans. An APstory quoted Grohl from his 2021 book The Storyteller: “Upon first meeting, our bond was immediate, and we grew closer with every day, every song, every note that we ever played together…We are absolutely meant to be, and I am grateful that we found each other in this lifetime.” Here’s the title track from Foo Fighters’ tenth studio album Medicine at Midnight released in February 2021. Like all other tracks on the record, it’s credited to the entire band.
Here’s a Spotify playlist featuring all of the above tunes.
Christian's Music Musings 