Before I wrote a post about "Walking in the Sun" a couple days ago, I read the older posts I'd written about the song, in order to make sure that I hadn't already written about the significance of that conjunct phrase.
In this post from December 2018, I wrote out the guitar part and noted that a short phrase in between a C major and an A minor (first at ~0:50) is the same (albeit an octave lower) as a short phrase in between a C major and an A major (at ~1:43) in "I Don't Want to Know" (I wrote out that guitar part in September 2016). The two phrases have the same rhythm and fall in the same place in the measure:
Yester-day, I was thinking about this similarity again, and I realized that these two songs were recorded at the same session, on 25 November 1964. This similarity is still a rather trivial point, but now I know that the songs are closely connected chronologically.
Last night, I figured out the violin in the choruses of the orchestral version of "Walking in the Sun" (although, provided I've figured out the parts correctly, the violin arpeggiates different chords compared to what the guitar plays).
In any case, while figuring out the part, I realized something about the melody to which the title phrase ("We'll be walking in the sun") is sung. Here's the notation from an old post (it's actually the French horn part from the orchestral version, but that just doubles the vocal part):
This is a conjunct phrase (it moves step-wise through the scale), so musically, there's a sense of that "walking."
A couple weeks ago, I figured out one of the backing vocal parts during the bridge of "Walking in the Sun" (this is one of the overdubs added in December 1968). I don't know if this is just coincidence or if it's an indication of Rod Argent's cathedral choir background, but the first few measures bear some resemblance to the first phrase in hymn tune "Jefferson."
Here's the backing vocal phrase (during "You will laugh and walk with me..."):
The note values in each tune are considerably different, but if the first note of "Jefferson" is disregarded, the intervals of the first seven notes match.
I also noticed a small point about the lyrics in the bridge: "ecstasy" in the line "And we will share our ecstasy" is sung with a melisma (I think it's E F G F E in the lead vocals), and since it's divided among a number of notes, there's a musical sense of that "shar[ing]."
Yester-day I listened to the second disc of Zombie Heaven in order to listen to the Decca era songs to which the Zombies added overdubs in December 1968. The French horn part in "Walking in the Sun" sounded easy to figure out, but while I was figuring that out, I discovered that I'd forgotten all of the other parts I'd learned for the song and that I hadn't written them down.
I re-learned the guitar part pretty easily, and in comparing it to my old recordings of the song, I discovered that I'd been missing a few things. There's a little phrase in the transitions from C major to A minor, and I'd missed an F minor.
Here's my updated recording, with (fake) French horn, guitar, and electric piano. I'm sure the electric piano part isn't that accurate; mostly I included it to fill out the sound a bit more and to demonstrate the Hohner Pianet sound I can get on my Nord Electro 5.
I notated the French horn part. At the beginning of each verse, it's:
And then it doubles the title phrase (note that this is repeated):
---&---
Here's the guitar part, a combination of tabs and chords.
The third time through, the song fades out during this repeated section.
Bridge
A minor | C major
A|---3---0-|
E|-3---3---|
A minor | F major | F minor
B|:-5-5-3-5-5-5-:|
G|:-5-5-5-5-5-5-:|
Repeat from the beginning of the verse
---&---
There are C majors under:
B|-5-5-3-5-5-5-| G|-5-5-5-5-5-5-|
and F minors under:
B|-6-6-5-6-6-6-| G|-5-5-5-5-5-5-|
---&---
As I mentioned above, in my previous recordings, I'd missed the guitar phrase in the transitions from C major to A minor. I'd like to point out that in one transition from a C major to an A major in "I Don't Want to Know," Paul Atkinson plays this same phrase (albeit an octave lower).
According to the Zombie Heaven liner notes, fifty years ago this month, the Zombies recorded additional parts for songs they originally recorded between 1964 and 1966: "If It Don't Work Out," "Don't Cry for Me," "I Know She Will," "Walking in the Sun," "I'll Keep Trying," and "I'll Call You Mine." These were all done at Morgan Studios, Willesden.
I was surprised to find that this is only the second time I've recorded "Walking in the Sun." I've had a note on my desktop for about a year to get around to recording it again because a month or so after I first recorded it, I realized how the guitar part actually goes. I'd been playing only one of a pair of notes and in the wrong octave. As I remember, I had trouble recording it the correct way, but sometimes between now and then, I figured out that if I angle my pick (which apparently you're supposed to do), it's not as piercing of a sound, which is what I'd been having problems with.
I went back and referenced my old recording for the bass part during the "You will laugh and walk with me" sections, but I'm still not sure if I have the rhythm right there.
I didn't remember that I'd included electric piano in my first recording, so, really, the only new part about that is that it doubles the bass part during the first half of the verses. As with most of the keyboard parts, what I have is extremely simplified. I'm pretty sure I have the right chords, but Argent elaborates them in way that's still mystifying to me.
Fifty years ago to-day (25 November 1964) was the second session for the Zombies' Begin Here album. For the album, they recorded "I Don't Want to Know," "What More Can I Do," and "I Remember When I Loved Her." They also recorded "Walking in the Sun," "Tell Her No," "I Want You Back Again" (although not the single version), and the rehearsal version of "The Way I Feel Inside" found on disc 3 of Zombie Heaven.
I think this was also the session when the band received the phone call from Al Gallico that "She's Not There" was a #1 hit. I've read interviews where they said they got that phone call while recording "Tell Her No," which would make it the 25th, but the Zombie Heaven booklet (where I get most of these dates, cross-referenced with the liner notes of the Decca Stereo Anthology) says that the call was during the session on the 24th.
Last night I was practicing "The Way I Feel Inside" again because I don't want to forget it (I'll have to notate it), and since "Walking in the Sun" was right next to it alphabetically, I gave that a try. And I ended up getting most of it. The F major to F minor transition was the hardest part.
There might be a more substantial guitar part for this, but I just played individual notes. (I was going to play it in octaves, which I think would be more accurate, but I have a callous on my finger from practicing it in octaves last night and it hurts too much to play it that way now, so.)
I also figured out some of the parts in the orchestrated version. I tried playing those on electric piano, but it didn't work really well, so I stuck with chords instead.
