Thank you for the music: Favourite Popular Songs
Those Were The Days
(Gene Raskin/1968) Mary Hopkin
Welsh songstress Mary Hopkin was one of the most talented finds of the Beatles' Apple Corporation. The story goes that Paul McCartney and model Twiggy saw her performing Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn" on a TV talent show, Paul rang her up straight away and offered her a recording contract. She agreed and within a month she had recorded "Those were The Days". She became an international celebrity when it went to No. One of the hit charts. Like ABBA's "Our Last Summer", it is a reflective ballad about lost love, sung with a great depth of feeling by Mary. To give "Those Were the Days" that "old country" feel, Apple's arranger Richard Hewson concocted a simple arrangement consisting of an acoustic guitar, upright bass, tuba, banjo, drums, a clarinet section, violins & violas, trumpets and an Hungarian instrument called a "cembalon". "It was an unusual instrument played with hammers, like a dulcimer. There was only one guy in England who could play one - one of my professors, Gilbert Webster. That's who's on that recording." The song was topped off by the addition of a boys choir. Hewson began working regularly for Apple through 1969, scoring Hopkin's album, Post Card, as well as her next single, "Goodbye," written and produced by Paul. The latter featured "all violas, 12 of them in fact, with no other classical instruments. That was a first!" recalls Paul.
At just over 5 minutes, "Those were The Days" is one of the longest songs to ever to make No. One and sell over eight million copies. The origins of the melody are strongly claimed by the Russians and Russian gypsies consider it their song. The name of this song seems to be "Dorogoj dlinnoju'.
The first known recording of it was by Alexander Vertinsky in the 1920's. The English lyrics were written by American composer Gene Raskin in the early 1960's. The first known recording was by The Limelighters in 1963. It has been covered by many artists since, including Sandie Shaw and more recently The Three Tenors did an incredible performance of it. Paul McCartney heard Gene and Francesca Raskin singing the song in a club called the Blue Lamp in London in the mid 1960's, and after 'discovering' Mary Hopkin he remembered this song and suggested it to her, the rest as they say is history, although apparently he did offer the song to others such as Donovan, but nobody thought it suited them, that is until Mary came along.
Hold An Old Friend's Hand
(Donna Weiss/1988) Tiffany
Appearing on Tiffany's 1988 album, Hold An Old Friend's Hand, this very listenable ballad comes from the pen of Donna Weiss, a little known Nashville based songwriter whose main claim to fame was co-writing Kim Carnes' hit, "Bette Davis Eyes" with Jackie de Shannon. The song suits Tiffany= whose vocal range is limited but here was able to inject a little Stevie Nicks-like gruffness into her performance. John Duarte's arrangement is excellent and I never tire of hearing the sax solo performed by Richard Elliot. According to Tiffany, repertoire is a problem for a 17 year-old, the age she was when she recorded the song which would give its name to Tiffany's second album, on which it appeared. "I got my record deal when I was 14. What should you let a 14 year-old sing about? Dozens of songwriters have been approached at the time, but they couldn't put themselves in the place of a girl my age, so they always came up with something too risky or too childish. Only Donna Weiss, mother of a teen-daughter herself, set the right tone. She is my favourite songwriter".
Here Comes The Sun
(George Harrison/1969) The Beatles
For me, the two best songs on The Beatles' superb Abbey Road album were George's two contributions, this one and "Something". Written in Eric Clapton's garden one morning after George (right) sought refuge there during one of The Beatles' infamous squabbles after the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, it is one of the brightest, feel-good songs George ever wrote. I've always loved George's rendition of it on the Abbey Road album and never thought it would ever be matched, but Joe Brown's version at the memorial concert to George Harrison, Concert For George, comes pretty close. Very few mistakes have made it onto Beatles albums, as generally the best and most perfect of a number of takes were chosen for publishing. Such is not the case hear as George fluffs a word in the last verse. Unsure whether to sing "seems" or "feels" he ends up singing "seels". His acoustic 12-string guitar playing, however, is impeccable. For the recording, Harrison provided lead vocal, backing vocal and played guitar (a mandolin-sized Vox Mando V257 12-string), harmonium, Moog synthesiser and handclaps. Paul McCartney provided backing vocal, bass and handclaps. Ringo Starr played drums and provided handclaps. John Lennon did not perform on the recording. Four violas, four cellos, one double-bass, two piccolos, two flutes, two alto flutes and two clarinets were played by uncredited session musicians.
Eleanor Rigby
(John Lennon - Paul McCartney/1966) The Beatles
I'd love to know how the Fab Four had intended performing this song before George Martin decided to give everyone but Paul the day off and got him to sing it over a pre-recorded octet of four violins, two violas and two cellos. Nevertheless, I'm forever grateful that Martin did what he did as the result is just brilliant. Penned by Paul, this song about loneliness is for me the greatest, most cherished two minutes and eleven seconds ever recorded by The Beatles. It was featured on their 1966 album, Revolver. The "story" is typical of Paul with its two characters who seem to be unrelated to each other when introduced respectively in the first two verses, only to be brought into ironic proximity to each other in the final scene.
The backing arrangement for small string ensemble is well crafted by someone who clearly understood the string quartet idiom. Though eight players are used, the writing is in essentially four parts where, except for brief flashes of solo playing, each is doubled for strength. George Martin credits the influence upon him of Bernard Hermann's score for the film, "Fahrenheit 451".
It takes either a genius or a fool to tamper with a classic and that's exactly what Aussie band The Zoot did with "Eleanor Rigby". They probably played it how The Beatles might have done had they not been under George Martin's influence - loud and rocky - and it works a treat, hat's off to you, guys! It reached No. 3 in the Aussie top 5 in 1971.
Our Last Summer
(Benny Andersson - Bjorn Ulvaeus/1980) ABBA
If I had to pick a favourite ABBA album, it would have to be Super Trouper, and if I had to pick a favourite song from it, then it would be a toss-up between this one and "The Winner Takes It All". "Our Last Summer", which is essentially the reminiscings of a lady who had a brief love affair in Paris with a banker when they were young, paints a poignant, lyrical picture of lost love. Bjorn's lyrics were inspired by a teenage romance he had experienced long ago in France. "It was that kind of melancholy memory of 'the last summer of innocence'," he recalled. As always, the musical arrangement and production is excellent and the guitar solo by Lasse Wellander and Frida's smooth vibrato, while holding her note on "I still feel it a.......ll" are both magical ABBA moments. The song and album were recorded and mixed at Polar Music Studios, Stockholm.
Where Do You go To (My Lovely)
(Peter Sarstedt/1969) Peter Sarstedt
A wry, offbeat song from a wry, offbeat singer songwriter who enjoyed a brief period of popularity with a couple of hits - this one (1969) and the pleasant "Frozen Orange Juice" (1970). This sardonic song, which drops names like a Who's Who of the 1960s, has been described by one critic as a "perfect distillation of middle class angst that temporarily fitted the mood of the times". Peter (right) wrote it for a girl he fell madly in love with in Vienna in 1965. She died tragically in a hotel fire and he took a year to recover. Writing this song in Copenhagen, more for her than about her, helped him pull through. When first released as a single, the song was censored and a verse describing her body as being firm and inviting was cut as it was deemed to be too suggestive. So much for the swinging, liberated sixties! Apart from a string quartet which is heard during the last verse, the only accompaniment to Peter's vocals is the guitar he strummed as he sang and an accordion playing the introduction and the fills between verses. Its all very simple, totally effective and quite unforgettable.
Have You Ever Been In Love
(Andrew Hill, Peter Sinfield, John Danter/1983) Leo Sayer
English singer-songwriter Leo Sayer (born Gerard Sayer) had a string of highly polished mainstream pop hits in the late '70s. "Have You Ever Been in Love", the title song from his the tenth original studio album, was released in November 1983. The song is remembered not only as Sayer's last top 10 hit, but as one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. Irish boy band Westlife did an equally sensitive version of the song on their seventh studio album and second cover album, The Love Album (2006).