Steverino
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Good songwriting and musicianship do endure to reach new generations 22-Dec-2024 23:35:40
| CorrsClub Time: 11-Dec-2025 04:16:10 |
Ha! I happened to mention the "Whoa whoa whoas" of "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" and you found a video in which Richard Carpenter addresses just that very thing. I'm impressed! I had previously only seen only pieces of that Live in Australia 1972. It's a valuable historic window into their live performance. Thanks for calling my attention to that video.
There is an upside to discovering musicians belatedly, and that is the wonderful "drinking-from-a-firehose" rush of discovering a significant body of work all at once. In my own case with the Corrs, I was hearing "Only When I Sleep" and "Baby Be Brave" for the first time together in 2004. Getting familiar with all those songs at the same time was a wonderful experience that I treasure.
You're right about the quality of pop music during that period. Good songwriting and musicianship can endure the storms of changing trends in pop music, caustic reviews from inept critics and that backlash that can sometimes arise to confront a musical act that has a period of overwhelming success. Bands like ABBA and the Carpenters always have retained a loyal following but, at some point, the harsh critics of the past are proven wrong over time as much of the stigma falls away to give way to an assumption of legendary status. Musically talented people from later generations (such as Tori Holub) still find inspiration from them.
Now that you mention them, I'll have to listen more closely to the Captain and Tennille. I picked up two used albums of them (essentially both 'greatest hits' albums with slightly different tracklists), and I did it mainly because I heard that Hal Blaine played on "Love Will Keep Us Together" which, of course, I remember from the time it was a big radio hit. I have become somewhat of a collector of music featuring work by the Wrecking Crew studio musicians. I'm a big fan of the late Joe Osborn's bass playing. His bass on "For All We Know" (particularly the "walk-down bass" that, for me, acts as one of the "hooks" of this song) is splendid. By the way, Joe Osborn's son left a YouTube comment at Tori and James' cover of "We've Only Just Begun" where he wrote, "Tori, you have the same relaxed approach that Karen had. My Dad played bass on virtually every Carpenters record, and I've watched Karen in the studio many times. I remember her standing with her hands in her pockets and singing effortlessly, not forcing her voice at all. It's a pleasure to hear you sing Tori, just beautiful." That was cool!
When I was 8 years old, I started competitive swimming. When I was done with my practices, I had two older brothers who were still in the water in a different group. As a result, I spent many hours shivering in an office/lane-line storage room and listening to the AM radio that was my only available diversion. Also, at the swimming meets, we would have a lot of "off time" waiting between races during which my teammates and I hung out on sleeping bags playing cards, etc. We always had a radio playing. I have memories of songs like Don McLean's "American Pie," Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" and Bread songs like "Everything I Own." I have a distinct memory of hearing the Carpenters' "Hurting Each Other" playing in the car while driving to a swim meet right around the time I won my first ribbon. Songs like "Day After Day" by Badfinger still bring back memories of those times.
Before my deep dive into the music of the Corrs, my relationship with pop music had essentially shut down. I was listening almost exclusively to classical music. Engaging with the music of the Corrs awakened me to the possibility that all was not lost, and that well-crafted pop songs - strong on melody, strong on harmonies - were still being made: I just had to look harder.
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