Wednesday, July 17, 2013

A Winter's tune for a Summer Day

This is a shout out to fellow blogger and all around good guy Who Am Us Anyway?.   Thanks for checking in on me via this blog over the last few months.  My health issue has improved greatly, and although I must be vigilant from here on out, I am pretty much back to living a normal life.  Having never had any serious health problem until last year - not even a broken bone - this has all been quite humbling.  But life is good and I am out to make the best of it.

Today's gem is a lost pysch classic from 1968 by the studio assemblage known as Sagittarius, led by producer/song writer Gary Usher.  He collaborated with Brian Wilson during the early years of the Beach Boys, penning the lyrics for 409 and In My Room.   When released as a single in 1968, today's tune My World Fell Down bumped its way up to #70 in the US charts.   None other than Glen Campbell provided the lead vocal, and another Beach Boy touring member Bruce Johnston added backing vocals.   A few months later when the record company demanded a full LP, the song was cut to remove the musique concrete middle section.

From the opening piano diddle I was hooked the first time I heard this.  The delicacy of the verse melody is contrasted with the Beach Boy-like chorus, and then the chamber pop section blows right into the found audio section.   It's all a bit silly and yet the overall effect is quite stunning.   Yet another attempt at a little pop symphony. 


1 comment:

Who Am Us Anyway? said...

Hey, hey, HEY!!! :-) Mr. Pleasant is back and my summer just got way cooler!