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The month of April concludes with one more "Band of the Sixties" at the Newcomerstown library:
Friday, 29 April 2016, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Newcomerstown Public Library, 123 E Main St, Newcomerstown, OH The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. I have only four days off before driving up to Wisconsin on 4 May for the final leg of my Spring 2016 tours. TO BE CONCLUDED...
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My analysis of Alanis Morisette the other day made me want to do the same with The Crash Test Dummies' song 'Afternoons and Coffespoons', the second track off their 1993 sophomore album God Shuffled His Feet. Similar to Morisette's 'Head Over Feet', this song features a common tone modulation. Each verse and chorus is in F major; each pre-chorus is in Ab major. From verse to pre-chorus, the note C is the root of the V chord in F major, which is then reinterpreted as the third of the I chord in Ab major. F Bb C Ab Db Eb F: I | | IV | V | Ab: I | IV V The same technique is used again to modulate back to F major in the chorus: The note F is third of the Db major chord, which is then reinterpreted as the root of the F major chord. Ab Db Eb f Db F d F C Ab: I | IV V | vi | IV | F: I | vi7 | I | V Incidentally, I've been struggling a little with a harmonic analysis of The Beatles' 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds', which uses this same common tone modulation but in a rather more complex manner. The verses of 'Lucy' are in A major, the pre-choruses are in Bb major, and the choruses are in G major. Transitioning from the verse to the pre-chorus employs a series of common tone chords which eventually articulate the modulation from A major to Bb major. The note A is established the root of an A major chord, which is then sustained as the third of an f# minor, then as the fifth of a d minor, then as the third of an F major, which functions as the leading tone in the key of Bb major. A /G f# d F/C Bb A: I | /b7 | vi | | iv Bb: iii | V/2 | I On paper, this shouldn't work as well as it does in practice. As Yogi Bera once put it, "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is." And the reason why it sounds so good is that the note A is common to the chords A, f#, d, and F, providing a sense of continuity despite the adventurous and most unusual modulation. The penultimate program of this April tour will be at the Penn Area Library, just South of Pittsburgh:
Thursday, 28 April 2016, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Penn Area Library, 2001 Municipal Ct, Harrison City, PA The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. Passing through both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, I've been keeping an eye out for baseball hats for both the Pirates and Phillies. It wasn't difficult to find a Pirates hat in Pittsburgh.  The Phillies cap, however, took a couple of tries. I found plenty of Eagles and Flyers memorabilia, but it appears that even Philadelphia isn't thrilled with the Phillies!  I also happened to find a Minnesota Twins hat at a Goodwill in Pennsylvania (the same one where I also purchased The Best of Emmy Lou Harris and Jagged Little Pill.)  This now brings my MLB hat collection up to 23 of the 30 teams. (I'm still missing the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Miami Marlins, and New York Yankees.) But it means I only have 6 more to find since I have no interest whatsoever in a Yankees hat! I'll be delivering my favorite of my baseball presentations tomorrow at the Wernersville Public Library:
Tuesday, 26 April 2016, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Wernersville Public Library, 100 N Reber St, Wernersville, PA Baseball Before the Civil War Although legend cites Civil War hero Abner Doubleday as "The Father of Baseball", historical evidence clearly indicates otherwise. This 60-minute multimedia presentation will observe and discuss the origins and early development of America's national pastime. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for Emmy Lou Harris , I do consider myself a country music fan. I frequently tune in to country radio, and usually near max volume! And yet country music is famous (notorious?) for its simplicity. There's not much profundity to the genre. In fact, the only "deep meaning" I can find in country music is, paradoxically, its lack of deep meaning - it is profoundly simple music, and that's what makes it profound. In fact, there seems to be a competition between some country singers over who can be the least sophisticated. Take Blake Shelton's 'Kiss My Country Ass', for example:
While a great many country songs flaunt this "I can be even less sophisticated than you are" character, perhaps none capture it better than Thomas Rhett's 'Die A Happy Man', the lyrics of which are all about being satisfied with who and what you are.
So the profundity of this song is in its simplicity - having the maturity and wherewithal to not only accept but embrace who and what you are, even if that isn't anything terribly sophisticated or special. He's never going to have the chance to do all these cool things like see the auroras, visit Paris, or drive from LA to San Fran in a convertible. And ya know what? That's okay. Actually, it's more than okay - it's ideal. He knows he would enjoy those activities, but he also recognizes that they're fundamentally less important than staying home and spending time with the people he loves. And that's profoundly meaningful to him, even if it isn't to anybody else. In tandem with the lyrics, the music is also quite simple. Harmonically, the entire song uses just five chords (D, G, A, b, and e); structurally it's straightforward - a verse, pre-chorus, and chorus, all used in textbook fashion; the recording (both of the music and the video) employ conventional practices. Why? Because this song - whose profundity lies in its simplicity - doesn't need anything fancy. While the Beatles use complex songwriting concepts (whole tone modulations, chromatic mediants, metric modulations, retrograded sounds, varispeed, etc) in their music, the use of those same techniques in country music would undermine the meaning that makes the genre profound - it would draw attention away from the lyrics and their message of deliberate simplicity. Blake Shelton hit my radar screen again the other day when his song 'Boys Round Here' came on the radio. The opening line in particular caught my attention:
The Beatles' music is extremely sophisticated and innovative. But that's not the point of country music, which is by nature a conservative genre. There is something appealing about this "redneck-er than thou" attitude, and this music is hugely popular for precisely that reason. It provides a strong cultural unity between listeners who identify with its underlying message. Indeed, I crank it, too! That being said, I doubt anybody will be studying Shelton's songs fifty years from now. And no doubt that's fine with him. I'll be speaking on Blake Shelton - oops! I mean the Beatles - tomorrow evening at the Phoenixville Public Library:
Monday, 25 April 2016, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Phoenixville Public Library, 183 2nd Ave, Phoenixville, PA The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. I do a lot of driving as I travel from one speaking engagement to the next. This gives me many hours of listening time, which is spent on a combination of CDs, audiobooks, podcasts, and radio. If I have time, I often stop at thrift stores like Salvation Army, Savers, and Goodwill in search of inexpensive CDs to keep me company on these drives. Earlier on this trip I picked up The Best of Emmy Lou Harris for $1 at a Goodwill in Pennsylvania. I know next to nothing about Harris or her music, so I figured for that price it's time to acquaint myself with her best work. And boy was it boring! Nothing really "wrong" with her music, I just didn't engage with it at all - and I like country music. At that same Goodwill I also found Alanis Morisette's 1995 album Jagged Little Pill. I recall first encountering her music in 5th grade, when a classmate sang 'Ironic', the tenth and probably most popular track of the album. I also have an a capella recording of the same song that I'm quite fond of. So, with that song in mind, I gave it a chance - and was pleasantly rewarded with a superb album. Track 8, 'Head Over Feet', grabbed my attention in particular. It features an intriguing combination of harmonies - a mix of conventional chord progressions paired with rather unusual modulations. Both the verses and choruses employ nearly identical progressions (same chords in different order - verses: I-V-vi-IV, choruses: I-vi-IV-V), but the verses are in C major while the choruses are in D major. Most fascinating, however, is how that key change is executed. From verse to chorus uses a common tone modulation: The note A is the third of the F major chord, which is then reinterpreted as the fifth of the D major chord. C G a F D b G A C: I V | vi IV | D: I vi | IV V Going from chorus back to verse, however, uses a pivot modulation: F major is both bIII in D major and IV in C major. D b G A F C G C D: I vi | IV V | bIII C: IV I | V I I'm sure there are other songs out there that use this same "bIII reinterpreted as IV" pivot, but I can't name any off the top of my head. (The Beatles do something similar but opposite in 'Penny Lane' - IV is reinterpreted as bIII.) I'll be listening to Jagged Little Pill tomorrow as I drive to Upper Darby, PA:
Sunday, 24 April 2016, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Upper Darby Sellers Memorial Free Library, 76 South State Rd, Upper Darby, PA The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. One of the challenges of touring is fatigue. While I always have loved travel, it certainly takes a mental and physical toll. This exhaustion typically sets in around the three-week mark. In this case, I've only been on the road two-and-a-half weeks but I'm already feeling it. And I'm not surprised. The Fest last weekend took a lot out of me. Plus, this current tour comes immediately after my February tour to Florida, and my March tour to Arizona. Of the 75 days since 8 February, I've been home just 12 days, compared to 63 spent on the road. This weariness does not effect the quality of my programs. There is a certain "on" feeling when presenting that overrides any lethargy. Rather, I notice it most in between speaking engagements. It takes a mental toll, as well. Normally I work on analyses or blogs during down time. Returning readers might have noticed that my blogs throughout the early days of April were rather lengthy and detailed, but my blogs of the past few days have been brief and cursory. Additionally, I've been hard at work analyzing harmony in Beatles music. I've conducted Roman Numeral analysis of every chord in all 211 Beatles songs, and now I'm tallying up how each and every chord is approached (what chord comes before) and progresses (what chord comes after). It's extremely slow and painstaking work. When I'm mentally fresh, such tedium is no barrier to productivity; when mentally fatigued, however, it makes the process even slower and more laborious. There are, of course, many ways to combat this lethargy. The best way is by delivering energetic and authoritative programs. But the rush of presenting eventually dissipates. Another is by blasting my favorite music and singing along at the top of my lungs. But while that's easy to do in a car on the highway, I'm hesitant to do so in my hosts' houses! So yesterday I tried a new approach. A few years ago, before I committed to a full-time career as a Beatles scholar, I taught many classes at adult education programs in Connecticut. Browsing dozens of adult ed catalogs, I noticed a dramatic increase in the popularity of creative drawing courses such as Zentangle and adult coloring. Though I've always been fond of drawing, I've never been terribly talented at it. I've always leaned more towards origami, at which I'm much more competent (though still not great). There is a certain Zen-like stress relief from folding, especially when making the same design over and over again. (I remember coming home from a particularly stressful day of work at Grace Academy and folding dozens of sharks over a span of about six hours. It worked!) It appears that the recent popularity of adult coloring is largely due to the same stress-relief properties. I, however, had never tried before yesterday, when I bought a book and a set of colored pencils from Michael's.   Given how well these two worked, I think I'll be coloring a lot more! The tour continues tomorrow with one of my favorite presentations to give:
Friday, 22 April 2016, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Kent County Public Library, 497 S. Red Haven Ln, Dover, DE Let it Be: The Beatles, January 1969 January 1969, in which the Beatles recorded what would ultimately constitute the album Let it Be, is paradoxically both the least understood and most well-documented month of the band's entire existence. This 90-minute multimedia presentation will explain what happened during that fractious month through quotes from the band members and “fly on the wall” excerpts from the recording sessions. Tomorrow evening I make my Delaware debut. It'll mark the 39th state I've visited to date, the 30th state to host one of my presentations, and the last state debut for the foreseeable future. (I might visit Oklahoma in September, but nothing's confirmed as of yet.)
Thursday, 21 April 2016, 6:00-7:00 p.m. South Coastal Library, 43 Kent Ave, Bethany Beach, DE The Beatles & The Rolling Stones Ask anybody to name two English rock bands from the 1960s and the response will likely be The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. But despite often being portrayed as rivals in the media, the two groups were actually quite friendly towards each other, both socially and musically. This 60-minute presentation will compare and contrast the two through musical examples and interviews with the band members to illustrate the relationship between The Beatles & The Rolling Stones. April 20: "From the Shadow of JFK: The Rise of Beatlemania in America" at the Avalon Free Library4/19/2016 Tomorrow, being the 20th of the month, I will send my May newsletter. These newsletters are the best way to stay in touch and up to date on my presentations. Every month I send out details on which programs I'm presenting, where, and when. Subscription is free, and open to anybody with a valid email address. To register, click here: http://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/newsletter-sign-up.html. (Just be sure to include the “prove you are human” part. I get a lot of spam, so any submissions that skip that step are deleted.) My eighth presentation in New Jersey tomorrow evening will also be the last in the Garden State on this current tour, as I head West back to Indiana: Wednesday, 20 April 2016, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Avalon Free Public Library, 235 32nd St, Avalon, NJ From the Shadow of JFK: The Rise of Beatlemania in America Many Beatles authors and scholars have cited John F. Kennedy's assassination on 22 November 1963 as a cause of the Beatles' sudden popularity in the United States in early 1964. Their logic: Kennedy's assassination made America sad, then the Beatles made America happy again. But this commonly accepted answer is overly simplistic. America has suffered numerous tragedies and rebounded each time, but the popularity and staying power of the Beatles remains unmatched in American history. The real answer is that Kennedy's life and death inadvertently primed the nation for the Beatles' arrival and success. This 60-minute program will explain how and why. For a preview, check out this YouTube video: I caught the tail end of a Beatles trivia contest the other day at The Fest for Beatles Fans. Some of the questions dealt with lyrics that can be found in multiple songs. This ties in with a blog notion I've had for some time comparing these similar lyrics. Let's take that opportunity today, adding those I learned at the Fest. 'Thank You Girl': "And all I've got to do is thank you girl, thank you girl" 'All I've Got to Do': "Yeah, that's all I've got to do." 'A Hard Day's Night': "But when I get home to you, I find the things that you do..." 'When I Get Home': "I got a whole lot of things to tell her when I get home." 'I'll Be Back': "But I'll be back again." 'I'll Cry Instead': "I'll come back again some day..." 'Tell Me Why': "Tell me why you cried and why you lied to me." 'What Goes On': "It's so easy for a girl like you to lie. Tell me why." 'Here Comes the Sun': "Here comes the sun, and I say it's all right." 'Sun King': "Here come the sun king." 'Yes It Is': "Understand, it's true. Yes it is, it's true." 'Happiness is a Warm Gun': "Happiness is a warm - yes it is - gun." 'Hey Jude': "Hey Jude, don't let me down." 'Don't Let Me Down': "Don't let me down." These lyric similarities are probably coincidence, but several are consciously self-referential: 'She Loves You': "She loves you. Yeah, yeah, yeah!" 'All You Need is Love': "She loves you. Yeah, yeah, yeah!" 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da': "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da life goes on. Bra!" 'Savoy Truffle': "We all know Ob-la-di-bla-da." 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds': "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds..." 'I Am The Walrus': "See how they fly like Lucy in the Sky..." The ultimate self-referential Beatles song, of course, if 'Glass Onion', which contains no fewer than five different references to other Beatles recordings: 'Glass Onion': "I told you about strawberry fields..." 'Strawberry Fields Forever': "Let me take you down cuz I'm going to Strawberry Fields." 'Glass Onion': "I told you 'bout the walrus and me, man..." 'I Am The Walrus': "I am the walrus. Goo goo k'joob." 'Glass Onion': "Lady Madonna trying to make ends meet." 'Lady Madonna': "Lady Madonna, baby at your breast..." 'Glass Onion': "I told you about the fool on the hill." 'The Fool on the Hill': "The fool on the hill sees the sun going down..." 'Glass Onion': "Fixing a hole in the ocean..." 'Fixing a Hole': "I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in..." I head back to New Jersey tomorrow for a matinee at the Mt. Laurel Library:
Tuesday, 19 April 2016, 3:00-4:00 p.m. Mount Laurel Library, 100 Walt Whitman Ave, Mt Laurel, NJ The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. The tour continues tomorrow with another round of "Band of the Sixties" at the Longwood Public Library:
Monday, 18 April 2016, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Longwood Public Library, 800 Middle Country Rd, Middle Island, NY The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. |
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