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Post by bee3 on Oct 26, 2012 9:14:05 GMT -5
I'm nobly going to try and fill in for LK here... Halloween is upon us... I only listen to dark music around this time. Something that I can put on and scare the shit out of my kids.  I loved the album Pornography as a teen... it's hard to listen to now, but this song is one I can still tolerate... and in fact really like, despite the fact that it has no chorus. |
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Post by oswlek on Oct 26, 2012 9:30:16 GMT -5
I can only take these guys in small doses now, but holy hell, if Vinnie Paul isn't the best metal drummer out there, I don't know who is. The percussion to this tune is extraordinary.
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Post by bee3 on Oct 26, 2012 9:33:47 GMT -5
Yeah, those drums are pretty impressive.
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Post by leeknight on Oct 26, 2012 9:35:24 GMT -5
Harmony Central Forums are still crippled! Yah! Oh well, it did look good there for a day or two. So really, one way to look at this is possibly the last hurrah? Maybe? Treat it like the golden moment it might just be and post with gusto! Tell me, what else can fill your soul with that warm, tingly, swelling emotion? Music! And possibly pics of Claire Danes… (Is it me or does she gets hotter as she gets older?)
______________
So, I’m working on this song with fellow forum member LCK, aka Lee. The idea is to do something in the vein of Daydream by Lovin’ Spoonful. Something that sounds “old timey” but is still current and alive. I start thinking of songs that have that kind of appeal. Winchester Cathedral, Henry the VIII, When I’m Sixty Four… but then I start easing up on the old timey parameters and make connections to other pop songs from those initial thoughts. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer… wait… The Turtle’s Happy Together.
Yes.
I’ve heard the song a million times but never stopped to analyze it. On close listen, well, it’s freaking fantastic. The playing, the arrangement. The arrangement. That’s Chip Douglas's studio arrangement. Their bass player. I was making the assumption that we were talking The Wrecking Crew with Carol Kaye and Hal Blaine but… this is the band. And the bass player's arrangement. The drumming is at once simple and yet so nuanced. That swing he goes into for the choruses? Holy mother of God that’s cool. But wait…
What is going on here? From the guitar intro on, there’s something that… let me count…
123 123 123 123.
Bing! 1/8 note triplets. That intro guitar? That first note pickup? That’s an 1/8 note triplet. Look at the sequence above and that guitar pickup at the very top is the last very last 3. The whole thing gets played to 1/8 note triplets. And what makes it so frickin’ irresistible is that steady ¼ note pulse of the bass, drums and 2nd guitar, juxtaposed to the 1/8th note triplets. They are there in every pickup note played on this record.
Dum Dum Dum Dum, Dum Dum Dum Dum
123__123__123__123__123__123__123__123
Right? And that 1st guitar just keeps playing that wonderful, hooky melody. And the singing starts. What singing. Intimate sounding. Almost loungey but… hip. Half way through the verse the drummer plays a fill Dacka-dum… Dacka-dum… all based on that 1/8 note triplet feel. It’s magic.
What's cool about that fill ^^ is that he just doesn't play the triplets, he skips one to stagger and syncopate. Skipping the 1 at the 2nd beat 123 1 231
Or Dacka-dum… rest, Dacka-dum…
Pretty hip.
And the singer sings the title for the first time, So Happy Together…
We go into the 2nd half of V1. Those fabulous Flo and Eddie vocal pads and breathy echoes of the lyric “ease my mind” cascading down the scale in answer to the lead vocal. And then… HELLO! The drummer answers the question. There is no doubt.
Rat-ta-ta-tattata! Rat-ta-ta-tattata!
Yep, 1/8 note triplets alright. Right into that CHORUS! It does deserve all CAPS don’t you think? I can’t see me loving nobody but YOU! Wow. And while the haunting and delicious verse made all the little girls think dirty thoughts, they are redeemed by the mutation from minor to major. Not the relative major, but from an Am to an A major. (Or whatever key they’re in). That just simultaneously takes them over the edge into sin and they see God at all at once. What a release!
2nd verse half as long, don’t bore us get to the pop ecstasy, the chorus… NOW! And by 1:29, we’ve heard that awesome chorus twice already. 3rd verse? Let’s do a parallel harmony on the lead. They don’t call ‘em Flo and Eddie for nothin’.
Hey! What say the next chorus we just do a bop bah bop bah thing in voice? Like a bloody Bach Chorale?!?!? Sound good! And it does.
When they hit the next verse, yeah, another verse, but it’s just so good, you want it, now we have that descending vocal backup line, up an octave singing ahhs. Ahh Christ that’s good. And we just toggle between that V chord and that i chord. The Am and E, or whatever key it is. And it builds, “How is the weather?” Finking hippies. What does that mean? It means they’re cool is what it means. They are. Bah… buhbuhbuh bah, stacked up toggling back and forth and… that major chord to end it.
Bassist/arranger Chip Douglas went on to be The Monkees producer. It’s freaking genius. Don’t you agree?
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Post by oswlek on Oct 26, 2012 9:39:08 GMT -5
It is definitely more impressive than I remembered it. And the suddenness of the chorus is very cool, I never do that and it makes me want to try.
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Post by bee3 on Oct 26, 2012 9:41:48 GMT -5
This seems to be the best I can do... got them all in one thread... but can't seem to make Lee's post move to the top of it.
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Post by leeknight on Oct 26, 2012 9:52:18 GMT -5
Perfect, you are the forum master! You got skillz!
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Post by bee3 on Oct 26, 2012 10:21:50 GMT -5
I remember this coming out of nowhere... an instant classic that defied the conventions of the time of big hair glam rock and MC Hammer. It has really stood the test of time...
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Post by rsadasiv on Oct 26, 2012 10:32:03 GMT -5
J. Geils Band Growing up outside of Boston in the 70's there were a few bands that you heard A LOT - Boston (of course), The Cars, Aerosmith, and ..... The J. Geils Band The hard working little Boston bar band that could (Aerosmith was always off playing stadiums for out-of-towners). They got their moment in the national sun with Centerfold and Freeze Frame, but they were local heros long before and long after that. [youtube] www.youtube.com/watch?v=P38_wKZfFyU&feature=BFa&list=PL9srxsUa-rQh1__e8a0f-dRSYke8e3QVQ[/youtube] |
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Post by bee3 on Oct 26, 2012 10:39:42 GMT -5
^Always cracks me up when I see a keyboard player trying to look cool... it's not possible if you're standing behind one.
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Post by leeknight on Oct 26, 2012 10:41:55 GMT -5
J. Geils! I convinced the Saltlickers to work up a version of this one. What a blast to play...
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Post by rsadasiv on Oct 26, 2012 10:45:24 GMT -5
J. Geils! I convinced the Saltlickers to work up a version of this one. What a blast to play... Yeah - live it kills every time. |
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Post by rsadasiv on Oct 26, 2012 10:47:56 GMT -5
Bassist/arranger Chip Douglas went on to be The Monkees producer. It’s freaking genius. Don’t you agree? Also, they were the mothers of the Mothers Of Invention. |
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Post by leeknight on Oct 26, 2012 10:53:05 GMT -5
Bassist/arranger Chip Douglas went on to be The Monkees producer. It’s freaking genius. Don’t you agree? Also, they were the mothers of the Mothers Of Invention. You bet they were! |
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Post by rsadasiv on Oct 26, 2012 11:21:54 GMT -5
I keep thinking I need to "up my game" on the video front. I'd love to be able to put together something like this:
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Post by bee3 on Oct 26, 2012 11:26:21 GMT -5
Woh... that's a lot of instruments that dude can play!
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blue2blue
New Member
The Bard of Bitterness, Denial & Regret
Posts: 43
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Post by blue2blue on Oct 26, 2012 11:37:52 GMT -5
I might have posted this a while back, not sure. Been listening to a lot of Skip James lately...
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Post by rsadasiv on Oct 26, 2012 11:46:42 GMT -5
My old school, over the years ....
(and I was down at William and Mary last weekend and no, it just won't do)
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lck
New Member
Posts: 5
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Post by lck on Oct 26, 2012 12:01:09 GMT -5
I knew this kid when he was just a bump in his mama's belly. She seems to think he was influenced by me. I don't hear it, but this is a terrific piece of songwriting and musicianship. Colin Robison:"Counting the Stars." www.reverbnation.com/open_graph/song/9750610Click on the link, it'll take you to his Reverbnation page. The "player" is in the lower left hand corner of your screen. Click play and listen. I think it'll be worth it. "Counting Stars" There are many questions we ask to no relief. Is every Eden destined to pass and sink to grief? Oh, it tempts us to repress our fiery cores with disbelief, And quench our inner war with peace, but all through clenching teeth. The tension has my senses all enrapt in seeking clues. Before us is an endless set of paths and truths to choose. So I lessen by my lessons and refine the tools I use, For what's precious is what's shapen from a life and all it's jewels. I chose the road of no control. The push and pull of all to know. The open broke into my soul¦ The Sacred Law, the call of Crow. But we rise and fall, we grow as art, and unmended parts will leave their scars To comprehend the human heart feels like counting the stars. (But when we…) Look past the blackness, the night is shinin’. Though the path seems to go backward, it's a spiral climbin'. & Each of us a diamond with a light and an alignment. There's a rightness but what do we name it? Can we define it? Is it inside us? Oh, the mind is so desirous¦ So I consulted tomes and ancient charts, Ive rolled the bones, I've thrown the cards, I've sought to know the artless art¦ To see the whole amidst the shards. But there is no end, there is no start. The dark and light are counterparts. So why comprehend the human heart? Why bother counting the stars? Even love is prone to know twilight, & dusk unveils it's shadowed shapes. Every heart in darkness fights a secret that the mourning breaks. Had my fill of fearing darkness. I am walking out the door. & til the dawn spreads skies of lapis, the soul of night I shall explore. & Look past the blackness, the night is shinin'. Though the path seems to go backward, it's a spiral¦ climbin'. & Each of us a diamond with a light and an alignment. & the trials are there to guide us to the infinite inside us. When we look past the blackness, the night is shinin'. Though the path seems to go backward, it's a spiral¦ climbin'. & Each of us a diamond with a light and an alignment. Ther's a rightness but in pride we try to name it and define it, Or fearing pain, we blame it and deny it, oh, the mind is so desirous, it fights against the quiet. Now I don't mean to preach or come across as over-pious, But it's infinite, you know¦ the divine inside us. PS: OldGitPlayer said he thought the song needed some editing (over at HC). I disagree. I like the tumbling, overflowing nature of the lyric and melody. |
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Post by bee3 on Oct 26, 2012 12:59:43 GMT -5
There used to be a really amazing version of this from the Live in the Basement sessions on YouTube, but sadly, they removed it. This is still pretty good...
This is the audio only from the basement sessions:
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Post by oswlek on Oct 26, 2012 13:04:39 GMT -5
Here you go.
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Post by leeknight on Oct 26, 2012 13:08:11 GMT -5
Still loving this guy...
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Post by leeknight on Oct 26, 2012 13:11:55 GMT -5
And my daughter Tyler Rae Knight and I could be seen cranking this yesterday afternoon driving down coast highway and singing all the words at the top of our lungs!
When it's late...
And it's hot...
And an hour in the shower is the best that you got
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Post by bee3 on Oct 26, 2012 13:17:27 GMT -5
These are some Philly guys from various bands in the area... they've banded together and are doing really well in Europe.
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Post by bee3 on Oct 26, 2012 13:18:31 GMT -5
That was cool! How do people sing and play like that at the same time!?? |
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Post by rsadasiv on Oct 26, 2012 13:25:49 GMT -5
OH SHIT - MOD POWERS GONE WRONG!!!
I just modified your post and deleted the whole thing. Sorry about that Ram. I thought I was editing my post.
I'm a newb mod and I've got a lot to learn.
Anyway - I'm the last guy in the world that could answer your question. Shortcord can probably help you though...
--b3 (crap mod)
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Post by shadowsofbirds on Oct 26, 2012 13:32:06 GMT -5
Chip lives down the street from me. I grew up in his studio. Played in a band with his son. I have a deep seated love for theatres and studios and it's probably because of my experience at his studio as a wee lad.
So Happy Together is just a damn well written song. I recorded a cover of it probably ten years ago in a minor key with a really sparse arrangement and my usual terrible singing and gave it to chip on a CD with a bunch of other stuff. In retrospect I'm mortified that I did that. >.<
Anyway - couple other go to "damn well written songs" (to me anyway):
Yeah yeah, I'm not saying it's the be all end all - and it's not like I can relate to the lyrics exactly, but it's always struck me as very well written:
And finally:
My next music project is planned as a cross between these two artists:
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Post by rsadasiv on Oct 26, 2012 13:36:40 GMT -5
My next music project is planned as a cross between these two artists: I am intrigued...... (and now I'm off on an ABBA spree) |
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Post by leeknight on Oct 26, 2012 13:43:05 GMT -5
OH SHIT - MOD POWERS GONE WRONG!!! I just modified your post and deleted the whole thing. Sorry about that Ram. I thought I was editing my post. I'm a newb mod and I've got a lot to learn. Anyway - I'm the last guy in the world that could answer your question. Shortcord can probably help you though... --b3 (crap mod) You bastard! Power corrupts, man. |
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Post by rsadasiv on Oct 26, 2012 13:45:53 GMT -5
The post was a question to bee3 about the "hip chord substitutions" Chick Corea plays on Spain.
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