The sound of easy listening always features strings aplenty at the fore of a recording or as a background to anchor a lush sound. Between Thom Bell and Burt Bacharach, they reinforced this standard for the genre from the 1960s to the 1980s.
There are multiple detailed eulogies to Thom Bell’s musical genius such as the one by Richard Williams in THE GUARDIAN newspaper: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/29/thom-bell-obituary. What I wish to mention here by way of tribute to the late Mr Bell is the rich instrumental complexity and ‘smart syrupy’ vibe that characterized Bell’s more relaxed hits like ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ and ‘Break Up to Make Up’ – both mega hits for the Philadelphia based pop group The Stylistics. The sitar-led opening bars of ‘You Make Me Feel…’ simultaneously telegraphs an other-worldly likeability and soft-hued invitation to love. The Stylistics’ vocals on the original go on to mimic the musical equivalent of horns and wall to wall strings – as Bell intended. In that very moment, Love itself sang through lengthy passages with gentle waves of highs and lows in musical registers. Bell’s frequent collaboration with co-writer Linda Creed probably had a large orchestral foundation in mind, and especially on this song. This was a not-so-subtle design that easy listening orchestras illuminated. Perhaps the best testimony to Bell’s grand orchestral sensibilities is the fact that Ronnie Aldrich and Manuel and the Music of the Mountains both made slick interpretations of ‘You Make Me Feel…’ Aldrich and his producer on the album IN THE GENTLE HOURS, Tony D’Amato, chose pure horns and harps to introduce the melody in an invocation of pure simplicity before piano and strings take centrestage. And in the middle, Aldrich allows the London Festival Choir to fill in the main chorus wordlessly in a memorable flourish of excitement, before his piano closes the performance with a few well-placed keys that cue the strings into a comfortable ebb of lush sound.
Manuel, a.k.a. Geoff Love, played ‘You Make Me Feel…’ with violins and violas in a straightforward manner set against a steady Latin shuffle backbeat. That, brought out the orchestral core of the tune without any embellishments. One can imagine if someone might try arranging a baroque version of ‘You Make Me Feel…’? Another fine act, the Alan Tew Orchestra, in turn took the song into rose tinted atmospherics, complete with chimes and harps, almost becoming the ‘music for making love’.
Thom
Bell’s penchant for large orchestral ballads continued into such memorable
romantic soul such as ‘You are Everything’, ‘I Don’t Have the Heart’,
‘I’m Stone in Love with You’ and ‘Break Up to Make Up’. The last tune in this
list was given a dreamy, waltz-like ivory treatment by pianists Arthur Ferrante
and Louis Teicher complete with backing by strings, flute and brass. This
rendition alone justifies Bell’s place in EZ listening hall of fame. If you are
curious about how Ferrante and Teicher treat other Thom Bell hits like ‘Betcha
by Golly Wow’ and ‘I’m Stone in Love with You’ symphonic style, check out their
IN A SOULFUL MOOD 1974 LP, now remastered on CD by Dutton Vocalion.
Burt Bacharach’s music has always been a firm favourite on this blog. Every other music review praises a rendition of his songs! What more can I say in tribute to the man? Alongside Thom Bell, Bacharach was equally a giant of EZ listening grandeur. There are tributes aplenty to how Bacharach made the careers of Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw, BJ Thomas, The Fifth Dimension, Jack Jones, Ronnie Milsap and even the early Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66. Then there is the universe of all instrumental collections of Bacharach tunes that have simply become classics unto themselves. Frank Chacksfield, Ronnie Aldrich and Peter Nero all cut albums dedicated only to Bacharach’s music. The Reader's Digest triple LP/CD set, THREE PIECE SUITE, even dedicated a whole album's length tribute to Mr B's best work from the 1960s to the early 1970s.
And there are even more in the jazz world: Stan Getz, McCoy
Tyner, Pamela Williams and many mixed artiste compilations on the Verve and
Blue Note labels. Bacharach’s music is tuneful and wordlessly evocative. His
symphonically standalone tracks can elicit a range of emotions no other songs
can. Burt will be remembered as much for piano and string ballads as for tunes
that can be adapted to Latin rhythms and Swing bands.
Between
them, both Thom Bell and Bacharach have truly made EZ listening forever brand
new!
ALAN
June 2023
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