"Just out of Reach"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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After I figured out the bass part for "I'll Call You Mine" last night, I decided I needed to focus on the radio session that the Zombies did on 20 April 1965 (broadcast on 1 May) because that comes before the 4 May 1966 session (I still need to get started on recording my annual Odessey and Oracle too, which I'd like to have finished by 19 April, the original release date).  I referenced the four tracks from the radio session and discovered a lot about "Just out of Reach," specifically about a four-note phrase in the verses.

First, I have to correct what I've said earlier:  I'd thought that this four-note phrase was played on organ, but it's actually part of the backing vocals.  I took the studio version from The Decca Stereo Anthology and split the two channels, and it's clearly audible on both channels.  If it were an organ part, it would be on only one.

So I can notate that in the proper clef now:

While I'm writing about that four-note phrase, I should finally get around to mentioning something I noticed in the autumn.  In the Beatles' "Every Little Thing," there's a similar phrase at the end of each verse.  It's played in octaves on piano (so this held a bit more credence when I thought that the four-note phrase in "Just out of Reach" was on organ), but while it's also four notes, it's only three pitches:

The melodic arc that both phrases describe is roughly the same:  a two-note descent and then a two-note ascent.  The rhythms are about the same too.

I don't think this is enough evidence to assert that "Just out of Reach" was inspired by "Every Little Thing" (although it's possible); I just thought it was interesting.

Anyway, last night I discovered something else interesting about this phrase:  in that live version for radio, that four-note phrase shows up in the bass part during the organ solo (although the rhythm is still that from the verses).  The bass part during the verses is slightly different too (there's an extra note and a different rhythm), but I thought it very exciting that that four-note phrase shows up during the organ solo.

I haven't yet learned the entirety of the bass part for that live version, but that's an-other part I'd like to notate so that I can more easily see the differences between the studio version and the live version.  I feel I should note that there's only about two months between the two recordings.  The studio version was recorded 2 March, and this radio version was recorded on 20 April.

(If I remember correctly, the live version from Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London features different guitar chords too, so it seems that "Just out of Reach" has evolved quite a bit since first being recorded.)