Line and Harmony Combination

This is in response to a presentation I saw in 2008 at a Fest for Beatles Fans where I particularly noticed a parallel between  "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procul Harum and "Mind Games" by John Lennon.  Not part of that presentation, but subsequently thought of by me, was a parallel between "Baby's in Black" (Beatles, with the lyric "Oh how long will it take") and "No Matter What" (Badfinger, in a very Beatles-sounding recording on the Beatles' Apple label, with the lyric "Break down the old gray wall").  And the page you are on is dealing with the bass-line progression (found in "mystery line" selection below) of : A, then 1/2 step down to A flat, then 1/2 step down to G, then a fifth down to C (yes, this can be transposed). 

ALMOST the same progression is found in "canned music excerpt", which I heard in 1979: twice at the Acme supermarket in the Elkton Road shopping center in Newark, Delaware, and once at the Gino's at 11th and French streets in Wilmington, Delaware.  At this writing on 3 May 2008, the Acme chain still exists, but the two locations mentioned in the paragraph you are reading have long since closed. The selection had been done in 1979 on the University of Delaware PLATO system using a sawtooth waveform (sounding like a clarinet), and is done here using Hammond organ instead.

"Carry Me Back to Old Virginney" was done from memory based on the version done (in late 1940s or in 1950s?) by Frankie Laine.  The Frankie Laine version was on a single on the Mercury label, with the other side being "Mule Train".

The other entries exist elsewhere on this site: 2 versions of God Bless America (on the page of that name) ; King Porter Stomp (on the Benny Goodman page): my own arrangement of Route 66 (on the page of that name); They Remind Me of You (on the Billy J. Kramer page).

mystery line

canned music excerpt

Carry Me Back to Old Virginney

God Bless America version 1

God Bless America version 2

King Porter Stomp

my own arrangement of Route 66
They Remind Me of You

 
 
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