@teboerio I feel compelled to note that Glen Campbell’s 1970 version of Jimmy Webb’s masterpiece “MacArthur Park” is hard to beat.
IMO, Waylon Jennings’s 1976 version is right behind.
Harris’ version is probably somewhere behind Donna Summer’s version.
The greatest Pop song yet written and recorded.
This thread is an offshoot and was inspired by @mahgister’s wonderful thread "Interesting videos about sounds and music." I made a couple of contributions to that thread, recommending a video recorded quite a few years ago by (I believe) a music teacher, who sits at his keyboard while explaining and demonstrating the construction of the utterly majestic "God Only Knows", written by Brian Wilson (music) and Tony Asher (lyrics), recorded by The Beach Boys (vocals) and the L.A. studio musicians who comprised the legendary Wrecking Crew (instruments), the song found on the Pet Sounds album.
In my posts, I made the case for the highly sophisticated and incredibly brilliant chord progressions, modulations (key changes), and use of inversion (playing a bass note below the tonic of the chord being played on the piano) in the song’s composition. So when the video below appeared when I just jumped onto YouTube, it’s title really caught my eye. It is entitled "Exploring The Mythical Chords Of "God Only Knows"." Brian is well known for his harmony vocal arrangements, but that’s just the icing on the cake; the song itself is in it’s chords and melody. Some of the chord sequences in "God Only Knows" bring me to tears. Add to that the vocal harmonies---many sung in counterpoint---and Carl Wilson's angelic singing of the melody, and you have an absolute masterpiece of a song.
I have long considered "God Only Knows" my favorite song, and imo the "best" song ever written. I’m not alone in that; Paul McCartney has stated he feels the same. I could have added this video to @mahgister’s thread, but I believe the song and it’s appreciation warrant it’s own thread. Watch and listen to this video (and the one I posted in mahgister’s thread), give the song a new listen, and see if you don’t agree with Paul and I. 😉
https://youtu.be/I2PHOt9_fGc?si=7NVfhFUBn4aw_GGo
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@noromance Carol was the music, Gerry was the lyrics. |
One of my very favorite early-60’s songs/records is "On Broadway", sung by The Drifters, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s Brill Building songwriting team competition: Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. The song/recording is very haunting, and hearing it never fails to "return me to" the time of it’s release. I remember hearing it coming out of the transistor radio under my pillow at night. 😊 By the way, playing the guitar solo in the song is none other than Phil Spector!
@loomisjohnson: Speaking of Phil Spector, you may know he didn’t write the orchestra charts for his recordings/productions, that was done by his arranger Jack Nitzsche. Guess who wrote the orchestral/string arrangement for "Expecting To Fly", and produced the whole recording? Jack Nitzsche. Jack in one reason Neil’s Harvest album is as good as it is, as well as the 1971 s/t Crazy Horse album, produced by Jack and Bruce Botnick.
@tylermunns: I absolutely loved Bobby Vee’s recording of "Take Good Care Of My Baby" and "Go Away Little Girl" by Steve Lawrence. I had them on 45 RPM singles back then, and still do. That’s one reason I could never own only a Linn Sondek. 😉
I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to be surrounded by fellow song and songwriter lovers! I’m tempted to start a thread dedicated to a related topic: Power Pop. That idea came to me after listening to the one Fastball album I own, which opens with a killer Power Pop song: "The Way".
Has anyone else heard "One Hit Wonders Of The World Unite" by the Canadian group Badger? Here ’tis, but be forewarned: the sound quality is terrible.
bahttps://youtu.be/yjfqmK_xPPI?si=JIyIG-rJc162izNknd
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