Adding Chords, Omitting Chords

Been listening to the evolution of the song "Silver Threads and Golden Needles," starting with the Wanda Jackson version (1956), which is all I-IV-V. In the early '60s, it was recorded by both the Springfields (Dusty Springfield's group) and Skeeter Davis, and they add chords to the chorus. Over the line "And I dare not drown my sorrows in the warm glow of your wine," they switch it to I-iii-IVadd9-bVII-V.

Linda Ronstadt's first version (1969) reduces this to I-bVII-V, but her later version (1973) might allude to the iii chord with a tonic pedal. (Not sure if I'm hearing the seventh note somewhere in the arrangement, which would give the implication of that iii chord that you hear in the other versions.)

yeah, but what about Miley last night?

Oh, the second Ronstadt version uses the bVII chord in the verse, too, which makes the note in the melody a suspension.

Neil's cover of "Oh Lonesome Me" has always made me think about this, he completely changes the chord structure

i have an unrelated question. i was listening to Haydn's Two Concertos For Hurdy-Gurdy and they are designated as NO.2 in G Major, Hob.VIIh and No.4 in F Major, Hob. VIIh

and i don't know what Hob is.

thanks for your time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoboken-Verzeichnis

thanks, crut. i figured it was like haydn opus something...

also, anthony van hoboken is just a really cool name.

Earlier version of "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" by Johnny Darrell (1967) doesn't really use the minor two chord anywhere near as much as the First Edition version (1969).

Interesting.

I just wanted to say that this thread is WORKING. It is working and it needs to continue.

I was listening to a friend's cover of a Neil Young song last night and part of my brain was like "whoops, wrong chord there" and then I recalled expressing something similar years ago about Aeroplane's version of "God Only Knows" which also butchers the chords (and being clowned out of a thread about it)

Anyway I am always noticing this and always keeping it to myself

Wondering whether to go down this rabbit hole again.

For anyone else wanting to catch up with earlier posts a bit, as I have enjoyed doing…

Johnny Darrell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQR_hR32e3M

First Edition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiohkveacxM

Didn't realize there was a thread on this. Like fgti, I always notice this sort of thing but I am that guy that has to point it out to my friends (if I think it's intentional - not gonna go pinpointing mistakes at open mics). I'm sure it's been mentioned on ILM before, but the added chords at the end of the chorus of PSB's "Always on My Mind" are sublime.

The Pentangle version of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Mingus swaps the original chords for a modal/rocky i-IV. Later on Renbourne does a version with Stefan Grossman and puts the original chords back.

i've heard so many covers of "Satisfaction" that get the bassline wrong and it drives me nuts

Cat Power's? XD

The use of the iii chord in Judy Collins' "Both Sides Now!"

Arrangements on that Collins album by Joshua Rifkin

"The City of New Orleans" chorus:

Steve Goodman - (IV) Good mornin' America, how (I) are ya? Sayin' (vi) don't you know me, (IV) I'm your native (I) son (V) Yes, I'm the (I) train they call the (V) City of New (I) Orleans and I'll be (vi) gone five (IV) hundred (V) miles when day is (I) done

Arlo Guthrie - (IV) Good mornin' (V) America, how (I) are ya? Said (vi) don't you know me, (IV) I'm your native (I) son (V) I'm the (I) train they call the (V) City of New (vi) Orleans (V - bVdim) I'll be (bVII) gone (IV) five hundred (V) miles when the day is (I) done

Earlier version of "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" by Johnny Darrell (1967) doesn't really use the minor two chord anywhere near as much as the First Edition version (1969).

i've heard so many covers of "Satisfaction" that get the bassline wrong and it drives me nuts

The First Edition version extends some passages with passing ii chords that are not in the original and sometimes uses the ii chord instead of the IV.

Re: "Satisfaction," in the Stones' version the guitar riff walks up from the fifth of the scale to the (minor) seventh, while the bass walks up from the tonic to the fourth. A ton of bassists covering the song apparently think the bassline moves totally parallel to the bassline & therefore walk up to the (minor) third instead of the fourth. Which totally destroys the harmonic framework that makes the song effective imo.

Er.. that should be "apparently think the bassline moves totally parallel to the guitar riff"

This thread is great. I wish there was an index of just music theory threads on ILM.

The other problem with "Satisfaction" (the one I notice most) is that the bassline is syncopated in the original, but not in most of the cover versions (eg Otis Redding's). That really changes the groove of the song.

"Pleasant Valley Sunday" - "Mothers complain about how hard life is/And the kids just don't understand"

Carole King demo: I - bVII - IV - I - bVII - IV - I
Monkees version: I - IV - bVII - IV - I - (bor)v - IV -bVII - IV - I

She also seems to be keeping a pedal point going the second time through the bVII - IV - I, which is really cool given that there's a pedal in the verses, too.

(A true Monkees recording, by the way, this song. All four of them are on it.)

Don't have unpublished notes handy, but I interviewed Tony Visconti once, and he said remastering Electric Warrior for 5.1 reminded him that people usually play Bang a Gong wrong!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUUsygkVo_s

Ah I like St Etienne’s cover of N.Young’s « only love can break your heart » but I must confess their choice of chords for the chorus is a bit annoying.

avalanches greatly simplify the chords of belle & sebastian's "i'm a cuckoo" in their remix

I am always noticing this and always keeping it to myself

More than twenty years ago I saw somebody play "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" onstage without ever going to the bVII chord and I still get a ache in my chest. I also agree about the St. Etienne.

The chords added to "City of New Orleans" completely make the song, but I'm highly susceptible to big harmonic swerves at the end of a chorus.

A friend of mine gets very very irritated by Scottish football (and rugby) fans substituting a major for a minor chord in the chorus of "Flower of Scotland". Terrible song though.

also agree about the saint etienne, smoothing over the interesting bass note stuff that neil throws in.

another example: dua lipa and elton re-working "rocket man" to fit the minor key house groove on "cold heart"

avalanches greatly simplify the chords of belle & sebastian's "i'm a cuckoo" in their remix

― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Tuesday, August 22, 2023 8:20 AM (yesterday)

...and interpolate a completely different melody altogether as the kids wanted to sing another song instead.

As much as I respect the deliberately odd choices Shudder To Think makes with their compositions, I'm driven a little crazy by the 2nd more-than-half of X-French Tee Shirt being just one chord the entire time, despite the fact that the lead comes in to support the vocal melody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eLnhDzf6p8

I love that about "X-French Tee Shirt"! The little semitone hammer-on at the beginning of each repetition is a great musical joke, like "oh, you want some harmonic variety? Here's one E before we play F for 16 more bars".

Isn't that just the bass? Guitar teases nothing!

Pedantic correction: it's a seven-bar pattern, and they do the hammer-on twice, before the third and seventh bars.

If it's just the bass, that's even funnier!