Entertainment For Lively Minds
Hitting the high note
Yet another variation on the favourite-bit-on-the-record threads, prompted by listening to Walk Away From Love, David Ruffin's greatest record (and I'm including the Temptations in that). It's a desolate song, and Ruffin sings it with the utmost conviction, elan and technique. What makes it fly even higher is the soaring falsetto note he reaches, seemingly effortlessly, at the end of each chorus. It gives me goose pimples every time. And on the final chorus he picks an even higher note, to spine-tingling effect. For evidence listen below.
So, any of you have other examples of songs that are elevated (erm, pun...) by the judicious deployment of a sudden leap up the scale. I'm not talking about Mariah Carey style bat-worrying, and it doesn't have to be an incredibly high note per se - it's about the effect of a well-judged interval that's greater than the listener has anticipated
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The super soaraway Debbie Harry:-
Kirsty MacColl does it on Innocence
Though it is maybe more of a whoop than a jump up the scale.
The Big "O"
Roy does it on the last "She" of "Mystery Girl".
"On my own..."
Johnny Mathis hits an absolute cracker on this line in Misty, before swooping down almost his entire range.
Two cuts on Quadrophenia
Each one comes at the end of the second side of the record on album 1 and 2, I've Had Enough and Love Reign Over Me.
Grace by Jeff Buckley
4 mins, 48 secs into this clip, he sings an impossibly high note, holds it for ten seconds and just as you think he's running out of breath he somehow twists it into an even higher note. (Apologies, this is one of those fan-made slideshow 'videos'.)
Or at the other end of the, ahem, scale, Neil Young not quite hitting "Lonesome whistle on the railroad track..." in Mellow My Mind. I think his advice at the time was "turn it up loud, but stay in the next room..."
About 1:06 into this clip.
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On the subject of breathing while singing...
...I've always wondered how on earth Mr Grohl manages the crescendo that begins 3 minutes 10 into this video without keeling over - and he does hit a high note, to keep it on topic:
Take on me - A-ha
Take me on, I'll be gone in a day or twooooooooooo
Jon Anderson
on Awaken, and possibly the most strangely beautiful harmonist of them all, Robert Wyatt.
As usual David Bowie is the answer
"The Secret life of Arabia"
Bowie's voice swoops and glides throughout but the inital high "Secret..." descending into "..life of Arabia"
Best bass riff in the history of like, rock, too
And another thing...
I'm convinced that you can hear the origins of Italian House in this song, in the piano riff, anagrams of which were ubiquitous in the late 80s, or was it early 90s, in tracks like Black Box's Ride On Time.
David
Surkamp ( not really my cuppa ).
Any excuse to post a Pavlov's Dog clip!
He does go higher than this, but I didn't want to frighten you.
The answer, as usual, is Portishead
Hmm, might have to work on that one. Anyway, another hair-raising leap can be found at 42 seconds (significant number?) et seq of this glorious Portishead song, Mourning Air. The note Beth hits isn't high in absolute terms - though it's probably at the top end of her range - but boy does it hit the spot.
I'm SAILING right behind....
...Like a BRIIIIDGE over troubled Water.
I will ease your MiiiiiIIIIiiiIIIiiiIIIiiind.
...I know there are many versions of this...
...And the original may be definitive, but the "big finish" in this version nearly sears my eyebrows off each time
Oh, and of course, most any early KB
How could I forget Unchained Medley?
Yes indeed Nick - though I was too scared to listen through to the end of the heart version. There's something about Ann Wilson's (it was her, right?) singing that makes me want to laugh.
I had another thought too, about an artist who seems to be particularly reviled at Wordvillas, and has appeared more than once in the Worst lists: George Michael. The sudden ascent into falsetto towards the end of Careless Whisper - one of the 20 worst love songs ever, apparently - ("we could have lived this dance forever, but looooove...") is pretty tasty.
Glen Campbell - Only Make Believe
Glen goes for the gold at 1.56. Nice toupee, Sir!
Jon Anderson...Art Garfunkel & Paul Simon
The title track from 'Close to the Edge' by Yes...simply awesome! I would also recommend 'And You And I' from the same album.
Another pure-voiced wonder is Art Garfunkel. He hits the spot as a solo artist, as well as with Paul Simon (who also has great purity of voice).
Garfunkel Solo: 'I Only Have Eyes For You', 'Bright Eyes'; 'Miss You Nights'
Simon & Garfunkel: 'Benedictus', 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'America', 'Scarborough Fair/Canticle', 'For Emily, Whenever I may Find Her'.