Many different factors create songs that resonate with me. I’m gonna touch on just a few of them here.
Tight vocal harmonies, especially by females, I find particularly affecting. The chorus of Telling Me Lies by the Trio – Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris – on the chorus gets to me. On a Carly Simon album, she, her sister Lucy, and Judy Collins sing The Fisherman’s Song.
Some time ago, I wrote about the inverted pedal point, yet I managed to forget my two favorite pop examples, both on the choruses: Maybe by Alison Krauss and Richard Thompson’s Dimming Of The Day; this version is by Bonnie Raitt.
I have a great affection for shared lead vocals. Sly and the Family Stone did it a lot, including on You Can Make It If You Try. The Norman Whitfield-produced Temptations were fond of it, starting their second #1 hit, I Can’t Get Next To You. The Jackson Five used it on ABC. Some artists gave the first vocals to others before taking over, such as You Are The Sunshine Of My Life by Stevie Wonder and 1999 by Prince.
Applause
Sometimes, I’m taken by the hand clap, such as Private Eyes by Hall & Oates and Where Did Our Love Go by the Supremes, both of which appear at this link of The Handclaps List, vol. 2. Also, Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young.
Of course, one of my favorite hooks is a great bass line. But there are so many of them it’s hard to pick. The first two that come to mind are Tell Me Something Good by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan and Keep On Running by the Spencer Davis Group featuring Steve Winwood.
Songs not controlled by the metronome please me. Two examples I’m thinking of are starting much slower than they finish. Do What You Want To by Billy Preston. I first heard the song in 1971 while visiting my old high school friend Steve when he was living in Poughkeepsie. You want the Apple version, not the A&M version, which is much more regulated. Another is When You Dance, I Can Really Love by Neil Young. My favorite thing to do is play each of these songs and then go back to the song at the beginning of the song to see just how much it had picked up the pace.
