"Care of Cell 44" and "Brief Candles"

According to the Zombie Heaven liner notes, fifty years ago to-day (6 September 1967) the Zombies mixed the mono versions of "Care of Cell 44" (still bearing the working title "Prison Song") and "Brief Candles."

"It's Alright with Me"

For the last couple weeks, I've been intermittently notating the bass part for "It's Alright with Me."  I finally finished it last week.  As always, there's the disclaimer that I might have something wrong.  I'm not as confident about the part after the tempo transition (specifically the measure with three quarter notes divided by eighth rests) as I am about everything else.

"When the Lovelight Starts Shining through Her Eyes"

Yester-day I happened to think of "When the Lovelight Starts Shining through Her Eyes," and I realized that there's a significance to the melisma with which "by" in the line "But I just passed her by" is sung.  Instead of a single note, it's sung to three (F# E C#, I think), so there's a musical representation of that movement ("pass[ing]... by").

"Care of Cell 44" and "Brief Candles"

According to the liner notes of both Zombie Heaven and the 50th anniversary edition of Odessey and Oracle, fifty years ago to-day (16 August 1967), the Zombies recorded "Care of Cell 44" and "Brief Candles."  The Zombie Heaven liner notes are a bit more detailed, specifying that "Care of Cell 44" had the working title "Prison Song" and that recording for the two songs also took place the following day (17 August).

Although I can't seem to find it again (maybe I just imagined it), I vaguely recall an interview in which Chris White said that the Zombies recorded the backing tracks for some of the Odessey and Oracle songs on one day and the vocal tracks on the next.  I'm assuming that's the case here: the backing tracks were recorded on 16 August and the vocal tracks on 17 August.

"This Will Be Our Year"

According to the Zombie Heaven liner notes, fifty years ago to-day (15 August 1967), the brass overdub for "This Will Be Our Year" was recorded.

"A Man for All Reasons"

I listened to Nexus earlier, and I noticed a Biblical allusion in "A Man for All Reasons."  The last verse ends with the repeated line "Bless the man who's the man of peace."  Based on some of the other Christian imagery and references in Ballard's songs, I think this line is meant to refer to one of the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount.  In Matthew 5:9, Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  The phrasing is different from the line in "A Man for All Reasons," but they do have the same general idea.

"Time of the Season"

According to the Zombie Heaven liner notes, fifty years ago this month (August 1967 is as specific as they get), the Zombies recorded "Time of the Season."

"She's Not There"

Yester-day, I was playing around with "She's Not There."  I knew that it's in A minor, so from memory I figured out (roughly) the vocal melody, and I noticed something interesting about it.  To-day I referenced the recording, a section of an old Dutch documentary I found on YouTube a few years ago where Rod Argent goes through the song explaining some things, and a book of notation of Zombies songs published by Alfred Music to confirm what I'd figured out and what I discovered.  The vocal melody is entirely in A minor with only one accidental.  In this section:

But it's too late to say you're sorry
How would I know, why should I care
Please don't bother trying to find her
She's not there

the "there" in "She's not there" is sung to a G#.  To some degree, that change in tonality musically represents the absence.

I also noticed that the bass part before second "Well, no one told me about her..." section (at about (0:47) starts with the same five notes as the vocal melody:

In a couple interviews, Rod Argent's said that he often wrote the bass parts for his songs (I think he's even mentioned the bass part of "She's Not There" specifically), and this is a great example of how - because of that - the various parts are closely related.

"Will You Love Me Tomorrow"

Recently I was thinking about the Zombies' version of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," which they recorded live for a radio show in 1965.  Apparently I haven't posted the chords before, so here they are.

Verses:
A major | B minor | E major
A major | E major
C# major | F# minor
D major | E major | A major

Bridge:
D major | C# minor
D major | A major
D major | C# minor
F# minor | B major | D major | E major

The last verse is a bit different.  There's an instrumental break over the first half, and after the second half, the D major | E major | A major progression is repeated a few times (for the repeated line "Will you still love me tomorrow?").

"Butcher's Tale"

According to the liner notes of both Zombie Heaven and the 50th anniversary edition of Odessey and Oracle, fifty years ago to-day (20 July 1967), the Zombies recorded "Butcher's Tale."

The liner notes in Zombie Heaven provide additional information about some other Odessey and Oracle songs.  In full, the 20 July entry reads: "EMI Abbey Road No 3 recording: 'Butcher's Tale' (master), 'A Rose for Emily', 'Hung up on a Dream', 'Butcher's Tale' (mono mixing)."  If I understand this correctly, along with recording "Butcher's Tale" on 20 July, the Zombies also completed mono mixes of "A Rose for Emily," "Hung up on a Dream," and "Butcher's Tale."

"Hung up on a Dream"

According to the liner notes of both Zombie Heaven and the 50th anniversary edition of Odessey and Oracle, fifty years ago to-day (10 July 1967), the Zombies recorded "Hung up on a Dream."

In full, the Zombie Heaven liner notes entry for 10 July reads: "EMI Abbey Road No 3 recording 'Hung up on a Dream', 'A Rose for Emily' (reduction master)."  The entry for 11 July, the next day, reads: "EMI Abbey Road No 3 recording: 'Hung up on a Dream' (reduction master)."  I'm not certain, but I'm assuming that "reduction master" means they bounced down elements so they would have more tracks available to record more parts.  As I mentioned back in June, I think this 10 July session may have been when the mellotron for "A Rose for Emily" was recorded because "Hung up on a Dream" certainly features that instrument.

Odessey and Oracle

According to the liner notes of both Zombie Heaven* and the 50th anniversary edition of Odessey and Oracle, fifty years ago this month (July 1967), the Zombies recorded "Beechwood Park," "Maybe after He's Gone," and "I Want Her She Wants Me."  Because Abbey Road was booked, these sessions were held at Olympic Studios.  According to the liner notes of the 50th anniversary edition of Odessey and Oracle, the sessions' being held at Olympic Studios is the reason precise dates aren't available.

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*In the track-by-track section, the Zombie Heaven liner notes list "July or August" for these three songs, but in the chronology, they're all listed under July.