"Andorra" b/w "Caroline Goodbye"

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, fifty years ago to-day (4 June 1973), Colin Blunstone's "Andorra" (edit) b/w "Caroline Goodbye" (Epic 5-11004) was released in the U.S. and Canada.

"Caroline Goodbye" b/w "Though You Are Far Away"

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, fifty years ago to-day (8 October 1971), Colin Blunstone's "Caroline Goodbye" b/w "Though You Are Far Away" (Epic S EPC 7520) was released in the U.K.

"Caroline Goodbye"

I was out of town recently, so I was unable to write about it, but I listened to Colin Blunstone's One Year on 24 June and noticed a few small things in "Caroline Goodbye."

"Way" in the line "Looks like you're gonna make it in a big way" is sung with a melisma (D C D E), which gives something of a sense of that "big."  I don't find this a very convincing argument myself, but I thought I'd mention it.

"Last" in the line "Here's your song to make them last" is also sung with a melisma (A G E, I think), and this gives a musical sense of duration or continuation.

"Caroline Goodbye"

I'm still slowly adding backdated posts from my old tumblr account to this blog (I have roughly January through June of 2016 left).  I recently archived a post where I wrote out the chords to "Caroline Goodbye," but I discovered a couple months ago that what I had is wrong.  In July this year, the Zombies did a radio session for The Summit, and because Rod Argent was unavailable, Colin Blunstone performed some songs with Tom Toomey providing guitar accompaniment.  Because there's a video, I could watch Toomey's hands as he played the chords for "Caroline Goodbye."  While this confirmed most of the chords I had (including some subtle differences between regular major chords and major 7ths, which I'd suspected but wasn't completely confident about), I discovered that I had one chord wrong.  In that post from last July, I said I was "a bit unsure of the F major 7th chord that alternates with the A major near the end of the verses" specifically whether it was "a straight-forward major chord or a major 7th."  It turns out that it's neither; it's a D minor.

Here are the corrected chords:

|: F major 7th | C major 7th :|
F major | C major
F major | Esus4 | E major
A major | A major 7th | A7 | D major
|: D minor | A major :|

That whole section repeats, but the next time (with the guitar solo) it's different:

|: F major 7th | C major 7th :|
A major | A major 7th | A7 | D major
|: D minor | A major :| F major 7th

After I discovered my error, I realized that part of this chord progression (adjusted for key) is also in "How We Were Before," which - like "Caroline Goodbye" - was written by Colin Blunstone.  The A major | A major 7th | A7 | D major | D minor | A major progression (which, incidentally, contains a descending chromatic phrase: A, G#, G, F#, F, E) is in the verses of "How We Were Before," just a fourth higher and arpeggiated rather than strummed: D major | D major 7th | D7 | G major | G minor | D major (the chromatic phrase here is D, C#, C, B, Bb, A).

"Caroline Goodbye"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I'm actually still a bit unsure of the F major 7th chord that alternates with the A major near the end of the verses, but that's just a question of whether it's a straight-forward major chord or a major 7th.  I'm pretty sure the final F chord is a major 7th because it doesn't really resolve.  Anyway, here's how I played the chords in this recording:

|: F major 7th / C major 7th :|
F major / C major
F major / Esus4 / E major
A major / A major 7th / A dominant 7th / D major
F major 7th / A major / F major 7th / A major

That whole section repeats, but the next time (with the guitar solo) it's different:

|: F major 7th / C major 7th :|
A major / A major 7th / A dominant 7th / D major
|: F major 7th / A major :| F major 7th

Also, I learned one of the string parts, but since I don't have a violin, I had to use one of the fake string settings on my keyboard.

"Caroline Goodbye"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I'm going to post the chords for "Caroline Goodbye" next week, and I was reviewing them so I could draft a post and get a head-start.  I don't even remember the order in which this happened now, but I discovered I had two chords wrong (they're F majors instead of D majors) and ended up learning one of the string parts.  (One of the notes in the string part [an F] conflicted with the D major chord I was playing.)

That error alone is probably enough to justify my recording it again, but the string part certainly makes it worth it.  So, next Sunday: a new recording of "Caroline Goodbye" (with revised guitar chords and new string part) and the chords.

"Visions of Johanna"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Collection Audit:

This morning I listened to the first disc of Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde (and I'm listening to the second disc now).  I found something in "Visions of Johanna" that both excited and confused me. 

At about 3:49, there's a short guitar riff: 

 

This is the fifth song I've found that riff in (which is the exciting part), but now I have even less of an answer to questions of influence (which is the confusing part). 

I first found that riff in the Zombies' "Telescope (Mr. Galileo)" (there are two versions on Into the Afterlife, but that riff is only in the second version - the one with fuzz guitar).  Then I found it in the Moody Blues' "So Deep within You" from On the Threshold of a Dream.  A few months later, I stumbled across it in the Tremeloes' "Hello World."  And then I also found it (albeit on piano) in Colin Blunstone's "Caroline Goodbye" from One Year. 

"Visions of Johanna" predates all of those though.  It's from 1966.  "Telescope (Mr. Galileo)" is from 1968 (but wasn't released until 2007).  "So Deep within You" and "Hello World" are both from 1969, and "Caroline Goodbye" is from 1971. 

I'd postulated that there was some influence between "Telescope (Mr. Galileo)" and "So Deep within You" because the Zombies and Moody Blues knew each other, and there's almost certainly some connection between "Telescope (Mr. Galileo)" and "Caroline Goodbye" because Rod Argent was the leader of the Zombies and played piano for Blunstone (who was also in the Zombies).  I'd had trouble fitting in the Tremeloes though. 

Finding that same phrase in this Dylan song still doesn't clear up everything, but it does introduce a new line of influence.  The Tremeloes covered Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" at the end of 1968, so they were familiar with him, possibly including that particular riff in "Visions of Johanna." 

A strumming pattern in "Visions of Johanna" also stuck out to me.  I'm not sure if I have the chord phrasing right, but it's something like: 

 

There's an Asus4 that modulates to an A major.  With a slight difference (modulating to A minor rather than A major) that same rhythm is in the Zombies' demo of "Call of the Night": 

 

"Call of the Night" was later re-workt into (and put into a different key for) "Girl Help Me," but that feature is present there too. 

I'm not sure if any of this really provides evidence that any of these musicians were influenced by an-other, but their songs at least share some similar features that I thought interesting.

I found more stuff about that riff in "Telescope (Mr. Galileo)" and "Caroline Goodbye," but it doesn't really clear anything up.

I might have found a Dylan influence on "Call of the Night"/"Girl Help Me" though.

"Caroline Goodbye"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

This morning, I was thinking about "Caroline Goodbye," specifically the first line: "Saw your picture in the paper."  It has a certain similarity to the beginning of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" ("I read the news today... I saw the photograph").  According to Wikipedia, the Caroline in the song is an actual person, so I'm not sure if that similarity is an intentional reference.  It could have just been an actual thing that happened.  I thought I'd mention it anyway.

Also, in writing down a note about this so I would remember to post it here later, I almost mis-typed "Caroline Goodbye" as "Caroline, No," the last track from the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album.  I've actually mixed them up a few times because the titles are rather similar.  But then I started wondering if that's intentional.  I vaguely remember something about Tony Asher's mishearing "Carol, I Know" and coming up with "Caroline, No," which he and Brian Wilson liked because it was an odd-sounding phrase.  "Caroline Goodbye" has that same sort of weird inversion.  I think most people would just say, "Goodbye, Caroline."  And in interviews that bring up Pet Sounds’ influence on Odessey and Oracle, Blunstone has said he's a fan of the Beach Boys, so he'd probably be familiar with the song.

"Caroline Goodbye"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I listened to Colin Blunstone's One Year album to-day because according to Russo's Collector's Guide it came out in the U.K. to-day in 1971, but last night I figured out the rest of the chords to "Caroline Goodbye."  I've known the first part (which just alternates between two chords) for a fairly long time, but I was stuck on all the rest of it.

Two days ago, NPR posted the audio of a concert that the Zombies did about a month ago, and they performed "Caroline Goodbye."  I guess I was subconsciously thinking about it, and just in playing around, I happened across about half of the chorus.  So I spent a bit of time on it and figured out the connecting part.

I'm not sure if I have all of the rhythms right, but I'm pretty sure I have the chords right.

There are a couple of interesting features I want to point out.  During "No use pretending / I've known for a long time / Your love is ending," there's a descending chromatic phrase in the chords.  It starts with a major-to-major-7th transition, and while "Caroline Goodbye" was written by Blunstone, starting a descending phrase via a major-to-major-7th transition also seems to be a fairly common feature of Argent's writing (although Blunstone's "How We Were Before" has it too).  Here, it's A major (A, C#, E), A major 7th (A, C#, E, G#), A7 (A, C#, E, G), D major (D, F#, A).

In the choruses, there are cymbal hits on "better" and "sooner" in "But I should have known better" and "And I should have seen sooner."  They act as a type of emphasis.

In copying out those two lines just now, I've realized that "I should have known better" is also the title line in the Beatles' "I Should Have Known Better," so there might be a bit of Beatle influence there.

I also figured out some of the piano part, and the part immediately before "No use pretending" - while in a different key - is the same as a guitar riff in "Telescope (Mr. Galileo)," provided I have it (the part in "Caroline Goodbye") right.  I've actually written two other posts about this phrase because I found it in the Moody Blues' "So Deep within You" and the Tremeloes' "Hello World."