Paul Atkinson

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

[source]

I'm sure these have been posted before, but I just rediscovered them.

In looking through them, I noticed that Paul Atkinson took off his scarf (seen in the first picture) and hung it on the mic stand for his amp (second picture), which I find inexplicably funny.

"I Know She Will"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I finally got around to combining the guitar part and the bass part for "I Know She Will."  The bass part changes during the solo, but I'm not sure if what I have here is right.

This is based off the version on Zombie Heaven.  The demo that's a bonus track on one release of Begin Here has a different bass part (more notes during the guitar phrases and B notes in some places where this has E notes), and - while I haven't listened to it extensively - the version on Into the Afterlife might differ a bit too.

"Leave Me Be"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Yester-day I figured out the bass part and some of the organ part for "Leave Me Be."  I just played chords for the organ part because I don't have all of it figured out yet.

I went back and listened to the demo version to see if it would help in figuring out anything, and I realized that the demo version has electric piano where the final version has organ.  It's the same with "Woman" and "Kind of Girl," which were demoed at the same time as the "Leave Me Be" demo and recorded at the same time as the final version of "Leave Me Be."  So apparently, it was between 13 and 31 August 1964 (between recording those demos and recording the final backing tracks) that Rod Argent got his Vox Continental organ.

I might have a bit of the guitar solo wrong too, but I've been playing it that way for at least a year.

"She Loves the Way They Love Her"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I just figured out most of the chords for "She Loves the Way They Love Her."  And I'm sort of suspicious that some the parts I don't know don't really have chords.

And I wrote them down!  Because I'm prone to forgetting this sort of thing.

"Care of Cell 44"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I thought I had the vocal arrangements for the a cappella part of "Care of Cell 44" figured out, but re-listening to it, I think I forgot a note.  Still, this is pretty close.

"I Could Spend the Day"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

A lot of things in this aren't accurate (the bass part in the middle, my lack of vocal ornamentation, chords where they're only implied not actually played), but I tried to do as complete a version as I could.

I still don't know the whole bass part, but I know four more notes than I did last time.

PledgeMusic Campaign

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&--

I pre-ordered the signed vinyl of the new Zombies album through the PledgeMusic campaign, and I got this in the mail to-day.

When I first looked, they'd sold out of the signed copies, but about a week ago, they added 100 more (each) of the signed CDs and signed vinyls.  I got the first of the added 100 vinyls.

I'm not sure if it's intentional or not, but the end of Rod's name looks a bit like a Z, for Zombies.

"She's Not There" b/w "You Make Me Feel Good"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Fifty years ago to-day (7 September 1964), the Zombies' debut single ("She's Not There" b/w "You Make Me Feel Good") was released in the U.S. and Canada on Parrot Records (PAR 9695).

Recording Session

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Fifty years ago to-day (5 September 1964), the Zombies recorded the vocal tracks to "Leave Me Be," "Kind of Girl," "Sometimes," and "Woman."

"Kind of Girl"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I finally figured out that part of "Kind of Girl" that I was stuck on.  And it wins the award for weirdest key changes.  Most of the song is in E minor, but the "but more of that another day" part first goes to G major (the relative major) and then - I think - Bb major.  And, like, I don't know all that much about key changes and tonality and such, but it strikes me as a really weird key change.

Also, in thinking about the song, I realized that I'd discovered only part of the interesting thing about the implied E D C B diatonic phrase.  In the introductory part, it's the root of each of the chords, and at the end, it's the root for the first three and then the fifth of the last one.  But during the verses, the chords are Em D C G B.  So that B note is also present as the major third in G major (G, B, D).  As you progress through the song, the B note in the E D C B phrase goes from root (B, D#, F#) to major third (G, B, D) to fifth (E, G, B).  It would be interesting if the bass part includes that diatonic phrase, but I haven't even started trying to learn it yet.  (I'm not sure how well I explained that….)

Since the key changes are so weird, I felt I should do the vocals for this, just to tie it together a bit more.  My voice isn't particularly suited for it though.

"Kind of Girl"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

Because "Kind of Girl" and "Sometimes" were recorded fifty years ago this week (the backing tracks on 31 August and the vocal tracks on 5 September) but I don't know any parts of either, I've felt bad and have recently been trying to learn the chords for "Kind of Girl."  I have only one part left before I know at least a rough version of the whole song, but I noticed something interesting about it.

As far as I've figured out, it starts with a descending progression - Em D C B.  And a similar sort of progression is at the very end - Em D C Em (with the second E minor lower than the first).  What's interesting is that these two chord progressions both contain the same descending diatonic phrase (E D C B).  In the opening progression, that phrase is the root of each of the chords.  In the progression at the end, that descending phrase is still present, but the B note is present as the fifth in E minor (E, G, B) instead of the root in B major (B, D#, F#).

It's an interesting way to retain that phrase yet still return to the tonic in order to signal the end of the song.

"A Love That Never Was"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

---&---

I've been sort of obsessed with chromatic phrases sneaked into songs lately, and I discovered an-other one last night.  Provided I have the chords correct, there's a chromatic phrase from F# to B in the chords in "A Love That Never Was" - during the "and there is nothing there / no one needs to cry" part.

D major (D, F#, A)

D minor (D, F, A)

A major (A, C#, E)

B major (B, D#, F#)

B minor (B, D, F#)

A major (A, C#, E)

A minor (A, C, E)

E major (E, G#, B)

I'd noticed before that it was a weird chord progression, what with sequential changes from a major to a minor with the same root, but until last night, I'd never noticed that chromatic phrase hidden within the chords.