"Never My Love"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Verulam Cover Project:

I happened to hear the Association's "Along Comes Mary" on the radio this evening, and it reminded me that - hey! - the Association is a band I like (although I have only one album and it's the compilation The Association's Greatest Hits!).  Later I tried figuring out some parts to "Everything That Touches You," which is one of my favorites by them, but I didn't have any luck on it.  But then I tried "Never My Love," and I ended up getting all of the chords (although I'm sure not all of them are actually played in the song; some are implied or something like that).

And that's relevant for this project because Colin Blunstone recorded a cover of "Never My Love" under his Neil MacArthur pseudonym (although - honestly - I prefer the Association's original; the opening string part in the Neil MacArthur version strikes me as over-dramatic).  As far as I can tell, he uses the same chords as the Association, but his version is a half-step higher, which I'm grateful for.  The Association's version is in Db major, which is one of the most difficult keys (because it has five flats); a half-step higher is D major, which is much simpler (because it has only two sharps).

I noticed that going into the bridge ("How can you think love will end…"), there's a modulation from I to III, which is unusual (there's a accidental in that second chord that makes it major instead of minor).  However, that same change is also in "Friends of Mine."  ("Butcher's Tale" has a III to V modulation, and because "Butcher's Tale" is in a minor key, I think that's comparable, although I'm out of my depth here.)

Anyway, now that I know the chords, it should be easier to figure out some other parts.

I spent some more time verifying these as I wrote them down, and I discovered that I was missing two chords, one of which is sort of significant with regard to the I to III modulation I made so much about above.  I'd thought it was just Db major to F major (or D major to F# major in the Neil MacArthur version), but there's actually an Fsus4 (or F#sus4) in between there.  In the Neil MacArthur version, those middle notes (B to A#) are actually sung in the backing vocals as "ah"s.

So, it's still something like I to III, but there's that interstitial chord there (that I don't know how to simplify into the Roman numeral convention).

"Never My Love"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I happened to hear the Association's "Along Comes Mary" on the radio this evening, and it reminded me that - hey! - the Association is a band I like (although I have only one album and it's the compilation The Association's Greatest Hits!).  Later I tried figuring out some parts to "Everything That Touches You," which is one of my favorites by them, but I didn't have any luck on it.  But then I tried "Never My Love," and I ended up getting all of the chords (although I'm sure not all of them are actually played in the song; some are implied or something like that).

And that's relevant for this project because Colin Blunstone recorded a cover of "Never My Love" under his Neil MacArthur pseudonym (although - honestly - I prefer the Association's original; the opening string part in the Neil MacArthur version strikes me as over-dramatic).  As far as I can tell, he uses the same chords as the Association, but his version is a half-step higher, which I'm grateful for.  The Association's version is in Db major, which is one of the most difficult keys (because it has five flats); a half-step higher is D major, which is much simpler (because it has only two sharps).

I noticed that going into the bridge ("How can you think love will end..."), there's a modulation from I to III, which is unusual (there's a accidental in that second chord that makes it major instead of minor).  However, that same change is also in "Friends of Mine."  ("Butcher's Tale" has a III to V modulation, and because "Butcher's Tale" is in a minor key, I think that's comparable, although I'm out of my depth here.)

Anyway, now that I know the chords, it should be easier to figure out some other parts.

"I Know She Will"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

This is just an incidental thing, but I realized recently that the opening guitar notes in "I Know She Will" are the same intervals as the NBC chime (I also realized that the song begins on an upbeat).

"I Know She Will" starts with the phrase E C# A.  The intervals are a sixth followed by a third.  It arpeggiates an inverted A major chord (and the song is in A major).

I found a section on NBC's array of websites that says their chime has the notes G E C, so while the intervals are the same, the pitches are different.  There's a video here (if you scroll down to 1929), but - inexplicably - those tones are C A F.

"The Best Is Yet to Come"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Last night, I happened to think of Colin Blunstone's "The Best Is Yet to Come" (from On the Air Tonight), and I realized that the line "Whatever doesn't break you makes you stronger" is basically the same sentiment as "What doesn't kill me will fill me with life" in "Moving On" from Still Got That Hunger.

I recently read this Rod Argent interview where he mentions the internal rhyme there (kill, will, and fill), which I'll admit I hadn't noticed before.

R.I.P.

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

About two weeks ago, I happened to look at the track-listing for the Zombies' R.I.P. album (which - as I understand - was supposed to be released after "Time of the Season" became a hit, but wasn't [the Zombie Heaven liner notes claim that "the advent of Argent probably stopped its release"]).  Apparently, it actually was released a few years ago, and it follows the original slated track listing, which is:

1. "She Loves the Way They Love Her"
2. "Imagine the Swan"
3. "Smokey Day"
4. "Girl Help Me"
5. "I Could Spend the Day"
6. "Conversation off Floral Street"
7. "If It Don't Work Out"
8. "I'll Call You Mine"
9. "I'll Keep Trying"
10. "I Know She Will"
11. "Don't Cry for Me"
12. "Walking in the Sun"

When I lookt at this, I realized that the two songs included here that Colin Blunstone recorded for One Year have the same track numbers in that sequencing.  That is: on One Year, "She Loves the Way They Love Her" is track #1, and "Smokey Day" is track #3.  I'm suspicious that this indicates that the sequencing of both albums was done by the same person or people.

Starbucks Commercial

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Verulam Cover Project:

I heard "This Will Be Our Year" in a commercial for Starbucks this evening, and I have mixed feelings about it.

A small part of me is excited that the Zombies are in an-other commercial because there's a chance that more people will learn about them through it.  (Which seems like a good segue to remind you to vote for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.)

Most of me is disappointed because of how the song's presented in the commercial.  It's the stereo mix rather than the mono mix (which I know only because it's missing the horn overdubs, which are present only in the mono mix).  In my opinion, the mono mix is superior.  Not only are the horn overdubs there, but the piano seems stronger in a way.  It might not be the right word, but it seems more focused in the mono mix.

Mostly though, I just think it's kind of ridiculous that there are three sections of the song edited together for a thirty-second commercial (or however short it is).  Chopping it up doesn't really give a true sense of what the song is.

It's always weird when songs I love are in commercials because - more often than not - I'm more interested in the song and in supporting the band than I am in whatever product the company is trying to sell by exploiting my emotional investment in the song.  I mean, I wasn't even looking at the television until I heard the opening chords (which I recognized immediately), and I was much more interesting in the Zombies' being on television than in Starbucks.  (I'm apparently an outlier among erstwhile English majors in that I don't drink coffee.  I had it once; I dislike it.)

 I saw the same ad on Twitter this morning, and I searched for (and found it) on YouTube:

Now that I can go back and really listen to it and analyze their edits (rather than catch a fleeting television commercial), I'm pretty annoyed at it.

One of the best (musical) features of the song - in my opinion, anyway - is the chromatic bass part and how even the chords by themselves contain that descent.  They edited the introductory piano part so that chromaticism is completely destroyed.  Instead of the chromatic phrase from A to E and then the diatonically descending phrase with the triplet (D, D, C#, B, A), it goes from G# to D.

The "And I won't forget the way you held me up when I was down" section following the first verse is excised, so the wonderful modulation from D minor to D major that's coincident with "'Darling, I love you'" is also absent.

I'd thought they'd edited the piano break from the middle so that it transitions into the piano part at the very end (which wouldn't work because there's a key change from A major to Bb major), but they just end it right before that key change.  While that key change might be troublesome for me to play sometimes (it's easier to play the chord progression in A major than Bb major), I still think it's an integral part of the song.  To some degree, it represents the temporal progression to what is now "our year."

While I'm hesitant to concede it, I realized that they have to edit the song in some way in order to make it fit a thirty-second commercial, but these edits are terrible.

Starbucks Commercial

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I heard "This Will Be Our Year" in a commercial for Starbucks this evening, and I have mixed feelings about it.

A small part of me is excited that the Zombies are in an-other commercial because there's a chance that more people will learn about them through it.  (Which seems like a good segue to remind you to vote for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.)

Most of me is disappointed because of how the song's presented in the commercial.  It's the stereo mix rather than the mono mix (which I know only because it's missing the horn overdubs, which are present only in the mono mix).  In my opinion, the mono mix is superior.  Not only are the horn overdubs there, but the piano seems stronger in a way.  It might not be the right word, but it seems more focused in the mono mix.

Mostly though, I just think it's kind of ridiculous that there are three sections of the song edited together for a thirty-second commercial (or however short it is).  Chopping it up doesn't really give a true sense of what the song is.

It's always weird when songs I love are in commercials because - more often than not - I'm more interested in the song and in supporting the band than I am in whatever product the company is trying to sell by exploiting my emotional investment in the song.  I mean, I wasn't even looking at the television until I heard the opening chords (which I recognized immediately), and I was much more interesting in the Zombies' being on television than in Starbucks.  (I'm apparently an outlier among erstwhile English majors in that I don't drink coffee.  I had it once; I dislike it.)

"Gotta Get a Hold of Myself"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I have notation this week too!

Over the last couple days, I notated the bass part for "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself."  In the process, I discovered that I'd been missing some notes (which seems to be a regular thing; notation forces me to scrutinize what I'm playing).

The whole rests at the beginning and the first pair of tied whole notes at the end are where the organ plays the main motif, but the tempo there isn't consistent.  The musical term is rubato.

Because the 50th anniversary of the recording (1 November 1966) and broadcast (5 November 1966) of the radio version of "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself" was last week, I also lookt into that and notated it.  A long time ago, I mentioned something about comparing the studio versions with the live versions, and this was the first time I did that in a structured way.  I… uh, took note (I can't think of a less musical way to say that) of the notes that differed from the studio version, and when I wrote out the notation, I put those notes in red.  There are only four different notes, so starting a studio version/live version comparison with this song was sort of underwhelming, but there you go:

"Smokey Day"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

It's been almost a month since I recorded anything for this project; it's been too long.

After I wrote about "Smokey Day" recently, I figured out some more of it.  At first, it was just the introductory flute phrase, but then I got the rest of the guitar part (it turns out I already had the difficult part with the 6th chord and the weird E7; the part I was missing was much easier).  Like last time, I got a blister from playing this, but it took only two takes this time, rather than seventeen (it's not perfect though).

Before I recorded this, I got thinking about the bass part and realized it sounded pretty easy.  As it turns out, it's only, like, five notes.  That should have been pretty obvious, because it was after listening to Colin Blunstone's version and noticing the simplicity of that bass part that I figured out the first section of the guitar part in the Zombies' version (although it was recorded with Argent personnel, plus Mike Vickers).

My recording ends just before the line "Hear the call of plaintive voices" because at that point, the rest of the instruments stop, and it's just harpsichord for eight measures.  And I still can't understand what the line after that is.  It picks up after that section with the same parts, but it resolves to Bb major, which is weird since the rest of the song is in either F major or A minor (I haven't figured out enough to be certain).

Since I figured out a flute part for this, it seems relevant to say that I'm about halfway to having enough money to buy one.  I could actually buy one now, but I'd like to have some money left in my bank account, so I'm doing the fiscally responsible thing and waiting until I have twice as much as it costs before buying it.  I'm hoping that the price will go down a bit after Christmas (when I'll probably reject responsibility and buy one anyway).  That's what happened with my twelve-string guitar.  On Christmas Day 2012, the price dropped something like 30%, and that's how I got my Burns Double-Six, which is the same guitar Paul Atkinson had.

"Soulville"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Collection Audit:

This morning I listened to the last disc of the Zombies' Zombie Heaven, subtitled "Live on the BBC," and I noticed a small thing about their version of "Soulville."  During a section about halfway through the song, the backing vocals consist of the phrase "Come on down to Soulville."  The "down" there is sung with two syllables; it's a G down to an E.  That descent sort of represents the whole "Come on down to Soulville" phrase itself.

"Smokey Day"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Collection Audit:

This morning I listened to the second disc of the Zombies' Zombie Heaven (which is the last album I have to listen to before completing Collection Audit this year).  I'm pretty sure I'd noticed before that the harpsichord in "Smokey Day" is panned through different channels about halfway through the song (starting at about 1:00), but this morning I realized that that effect is connected to the lyrics.  The harpsichord moves from the left channel to the right channel after the line "Soft, serene, she dances," and during the next line "Moving sweetly through my life," it moves back to the left channel.  Both of those lines deal with movement, and the harpsichord somewhat literally underscores that movement through that panning.

I've been going through Zombie Heaven again for my Collection Audit project, and I noticed something about "Smokey Day."

Saturday Club

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Verulam Cover Project:

According to the Zombie Heaven liner notes, fifty years ago to-day (1 November 1966), the Zombies recorded "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself," "Goin' out of My Head," and "This Old Heart of Mine" for "Saturday Club."  The show was broadcast on 5 November.

"You'll Go from Me"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

As part of my Collection Audit project, I'm listening to the Zombie Heaven discs again.  I just listened to the third disc, and I noticed the lines "I want to hold you tight / While the warmth of the night surrounds us" in "You'll Go from Me" (the demo of what became "Don't Go Away").  I'm not sure of those line breaks, though.

In any case, these lines are fairly similar to some in "Maybe after He’s Gone," which - like "You'll Go from Me" - was written by Chris White.  The last verse is:  "I feel so cold; I'm on my own / As the night folds in around me / Night surrounds me; I'm alone."

The situations are the same:  night is surrounding the speaker/singer, but there's a difference in temperature.  In "You'll Go from Me" and "Don't Go Away" (the lyrics are the same; I think it's only the structure that's different), it's "the warmth of the night" because the speaker/singer is with a girl who loves him, but the speaker/singer in "Maybe after He's Gone" is "so cold" because he's alone.

Rod Argent's Harmonica

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Because I mentioned Rod Argent's harmonica in this picture (I'd never noticed it before), I feel like I should also mention that it's visible in this footage from 1964:

It's on top of his organ at about 1:21 (inexplicably, he doesn't seem to have his Hohner Pianette):

You can just make out some of the holes in the side.  It also looks like there are some guitar picks near the corner of the organ.  Paul Atkinson is standing next to him, so that makes sense.

Anyway, this is just to mention that both of these pictures seem to evidence that Argent played harmonica more during shows than in the studio.  I think "I Got My Mojo Working" and "Work 'n' Play" are the only two Zombies songs that feature it.

This footage is labeled as "Halden 1964," and "NRK" stands for Norsk rikskringkasting (basically, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation).  Jeg snakker norsk, men ikke godt; I did research.  I lookt up the list of gigs in the Zombie Heaven liner notes, and while I didn't find Halden, the Zombies did tour the Scandinavian countries from 28 November to 8 December 1964.  There's a quote from Colin, and he mentions that it was their first tour abroad, so it's quite remarkable that this - which is (apparently) the only extant footage of the 1960s Zombies performing an actual gig, and not on a television show of some kind - is from such an early period.

I searched the NRK website, but I couldn't even find this footage, let alone at a better resolution or more of it.

Zombies Newsletter

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Here are a couple more things I wanted to note about the 1 November Zombies newsletter.

This picture from their recent photo shoot was included:

Chris White has a bass that says, "This is a piano" and "This way up," just like the one he used to record Odessey & Oracle (and - apparently - later gave to Jim Rodford):

---&---

There's a bit of an interview with Terry Quirk too, and it's mentioned that the figure on the Still Got That Hunger album cover is indeed inspired by Michelangelo (which I discovered back in February):

Here's the album cover again:

Rod Argent's Harmonica

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

[source]

I'd seen this picture before, but I didn't notice until now that Rod's holding his harmonica.

Saturday Club

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

According to the Zombie Heaven liner notes, fifty years ago to-day (1 November 1966), the Zombies recorded "Gotta Get a Hold of Myself," "Goin' out of My Head," and "This Old Heart of Mine" for "Saturday Club."  The show was broadcast on 5 November.