"She's Coming Home"

I listened to The Decca Stereo Anthology recently.  This afternoon, I was thinking about "She's Coming Home," and realized something about this section:

Oh, baby, baby, baby, I'll be good to you
If you would only try again to love me too
Our love was such a sweet and gentle thing
I threw our love away without a thought

Unlike the first verse, which exhibits an AABB rhyme scheme, this section has an AABC rhyme scheme.  That the last two lines don't rhyme illustrates in some way the singer/speaker's lack of thought.

Argent

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, Argent's eponymous debut album (CBS 63781) was released in the U.K. fifty years ago to-day (16 January 1970).

A 4th gymnopédie

I realized recently that I hadn't made any recordings for this project this year, so I did the first section of Rod Argent's A 4th gymnopédie.  (On Red House, it's called "A 4th Gymnopedie," but on Classically Speaking, it's called "A fourth gymnopédie."  If Satie's pieces are to be followed, I think A 4th gymnopédie would be the best format.)

I set a click track and recorded my excerpt based on that, but I think it's a bit faster than Argent's tempo.  I was going from memory, and it turns out I was a bit late for a few notes; otherwise, I think this is accurate.

I used the Bösendorfer Grand Imperial voice on my Nord Electro 5 because it's the closest I could get to Argent's Bechstein (which he uses for this piece in this excerpt from A Keyboard Approach and which is mentioned in these two interviews).

"Butcher's Tale"

I'm nearly finished with reading Martin Gilbert's The Somme; lately, I've just been studying the maps in the back of the book.  Yester-day, I realized something about the places mentioned in "Butcher's Tale" - "And the flies came down in Gommecourt, Thiepval, / Mametz Wood, and French Verdun."

Coincidentally mirroring that "came down," the places are listed from north to south.  Here's a screen clipping I took of Google Maps:

I also started wondering why Verdun is specified as French when in fact all of these places are located in France.  As I understand it, both French and British Commonwealth troops were involved in the fighting around the Somme, but only French troops were involved in the fighting in Verdun.  The song seems to be from the perspective of a British soldier (in interviews, Chris White has mentioned his uncle who fought and died on the Somme), which somewhat explains this distinction.

Argent

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, Argent's debut eponymous album Argent (Epic BN 26525) was released in the US and Canada fifty years ago to-day (24 November 1969).

"Love Can Heal the Pain"

I just figured out the chords for the first section of "Love Can Heal the Pain" (from Out of the Shadows), and I also found a small thing to write about.  In the line "And all your dreams have broken," the "broken" is sung with a melisma (A B C# B A), musically giving a sense of its meaning.

"Liar" b/w "Schoolgirl"

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, Argent's "Liar" b/w "Schoolgirl" (Date 2-1659) - the group's debut single in the U.S. and Canada - was released fifty years ago to-day (17 November 1969).

"The Look of Love"

I was working on some notation for a different project when I remembered that two weeks ago, I scanned the notation for the bass part in "The Look of Love," which I'd finally finishing writing down a couple weeks before (and a year and a half after I originally learned it).

As always, there's the disclaimer that I might have something wrong.  I'm a bit unsure of what octave some of the notes are in and of those two measures that - apparently - have only two beats rather than four (I'm not sure how that works).

"Rosie"

I listened to In Deep (on vinyl!) yester-day and noticed a small thing about "Rosie."  In the line "The thoughts in such a mind just don't belong," the stress falls on the first syllable of "belong" rather than the second.  This inversion of the usual pronunciation illustrates that incongruity.

Farfisa Compact Deluxe

Since around April, I've been interested in getting a bass pedal unit to use with my keyboard.  Specifically, I've been interested in the Hammond XPK-130G, which - as the Hammond website notes - is the same size as the bass pedals on the Hammond L-100, which is what Rod Argent used on "Time of the Season" (as he mentions at ~0:43 in this interview):

Instances of organ bass pedals in the material I cover with this project are very rare (if there are any at all).  In this short rendition of the opening/closing of "Rejoice" (on the organ at St. Albans Cathedral), Argent seems to use a few, and he might use some in "Pure Love" on All Together Now.  Anyway, in doing some research on bass pedals, I discovered something.

Months ago - probably as I was looking through the Zombie Heaven booklet again - I happened to notice what lookt like organ bass pedals in this picture of the Zombies rehearsing in the Philippines in March 1967:

(I just pulled this off the internet, but I'm pretty sure it's a scan of the Zombie Heaven booklet because the "1967" in the corner matches.)

In looking at this picture, I also noticed that Argent doesn't have his usual Hohner Pianet or Vox Continental.  For months, I've been trying to determine what keyboard he is using, and I finally found it this morning.  Based on pictures from this website, it's a Farfisa Compact Deluxe organ.  The writing on the back of the instrument in the Zombie Heaven booklet is too fuzzy to read, but it appears to be the same as that on the back of the Compact Deluxe:

The legs and overall shape are the same too.

Here's an-other picture (of a slightly different model) with the same distinctive curves in the music rest:

Based on a second Zombie Heaven booklet picture (in color) and the description on the website I found, both instruments are a gray/tan color:

(I scanned this from my copy of Zombie Heaven, and while the resolution is good, the quality isn't.)

Here's a side angle for comparison:

That solves the mystery of what keyboard this is, but it doesn't explain why Argent is using it instead of the Pianet and the Continental.  The best explanation I can come up with is that (perhaps because the shows in the Philippines were a residency) an organ was provided so Argent didn't have to bring his own.

"Dance in the Smoke"

I listened to Argent a couple days ago and noticed what might be a bit of the Beatles' influence in "Dance in the Smoke."  At the very end, the piano plays what I think are two E notes (one on each side of the C two octaves below middle C).  In both structure and pitch, this resembles the final E major piano chord in "A Day in the Life."

"It's Not Easy" b/w "Twelve Twenty-Nine"

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, Neil MacArthur's "It's Not Easy" b/w "Twelve Twenty-Nine" (Deram DM 275) was released in the U.K. fifty years ago to-day (17 October 1969).  The U.S. and Canada release (Deram 45-85054) was on 27 October.