I'm a sucker for pop songs that feature great orchestral/string backings. Always have been, ever since I was a kid, getting into pop/rock music. The minute I heard a string accompaniment my ears would perk up. Some of the earliest - for me - was hearing stuff by Cat Stevens or David Cassidy or Pink Floyd coming from older brothers and sisters bedrooms and just sitting on the stairs/landing, listening in. I'm sure they shaped my love of orchestral film music. Here are some of my faves, off the top of my head...
Del Newman and Paul Buckmaster are two names who feature prominently in the song credits of my faves.
Victor Baravelle's musical direction of Universal's SHOW BOAT includes a wonderful string accompaniment in the second chorus of "Bill", sung by Helen Morgan.
Anyone who likes the Alan Parsons Project already knows that their material is excellent fodder for this thread. But there are a bunch of songs that he put out under his own name that probably don't get the attention they deserve.
Anyway, this is a fine example where the orchestra doesn't just merely complement the arrangement, it's an equal partner in the production dynamic just as much as guitars and drums.
"Oh Life (There Must Be More)". It's a great song.
I think I read George Martin saying they (it might have been Paul) just said 'add strings, like Psycho' when they finished recording their song and passed it over to him...
Even though it was a pre-Beatles period instrumental, I've always loved the sophisticated string arrangement backing Mr. Acker Bilk on "Stranger on the Shore" (one of the first British music performers/acts since Vera Lynn to have a #1 in the US). I've asked a number of "experts" about the identity of the arranger, getting differing answers over the years.
Other pop singles titles:
Everybody's Talkin' - Harry Nilsson (arr. George Tipton) Strange Magic - ELO (arr. Lewis Clark?) Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John (strings and horns arr. Gene Page) Just The Way You Are - Billy Joel (arr. Pat Williams) Who Loves You? - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (arr. Lee Shapiro) Silent Lucidity - Queensrÿche (arr. Michael Kamen)
You could fill this thread with ELO songs, JackD. MR BLUE SKY, WILD WEST HERO, DIARY OF HORACE WIMP...their songs are filled with them.
That occurred to me too. The mix of strings and pop was the whole raison d'etre for that group. Maybe we just assume that all of their music is already included here? I dunno.
You could fill this thread with ELO songs, JackD. MR BLUE SKY, WILD WEST HERO, DIARY OF HORACE WIMP...their songs are filled with them.
That occurred to me too. The mix of strings and pop was the whole raison d'etre for that group. Maybe we just assume that all of their music is already included here? I dunno.
Thanks, guys! Both of you are correct about ELO of course, after all they have "O" in the name. So, perhaps they are automatically grandfathered in, so to speak. I was highlighting Mister Kingdom mostly becuase of the lyrical content, I think. JL's lyrics often came off as being somewhat lightweight, and while this song's lyrics aren't exactly Nobel Prize winning deep, these are, IMO, more evocative than most of their other work.
I could talk about ELO all day (I won't). But I want to echo that "Mister Kingdom" is a great track. Lynne is once again channeling Lennon to uncanny effect.
And it's true that Lynne's lyrics are pleasant at least, clever at best. But the arrangements and sound quality are such infectious ear-candy that the shortcomings are easily and happily forgiven.
Lynne has every right to walk away from the pretentious, gloriously over-the-top productions of the past and continue forward with his long-abiding love for twangy roots-rock, but there are days that one last good, old-fashioned ELO album (with as many of the old members as possible*) would sure be welcome.
(*I know, I know. Lots of rancor and grudges--not to mention advancing age.)
I would be remiss not to mention Randy Newman's superb arrangements for his pop albums as well as George Martin's tasteful contributions to the two early eighties McCartney albums he produced, Tug of War and Pipes of Peace (title tracks).
Specifically:
Randy Newman
Davy, The Fat Boy Old Man Sail Away In Germany Before The War The Great Nations of Europe Putin
