Crying for the Day ...

Clockwise from top left:
John Lennon, Paul McCartney,
RIngo Starr, George Harrison

... the sad day, that is, when the world learned the Beatles had broken up.

Paul McCartney filed suit for the dissolution of the Beatles' contractual partnership on December 31, 1970, and the devastating news was finally out for all to cry over. But the Fab Four had pretty much stopped functioning as a unit sometime much earlier. John Lennon had announced his departure to the rest of the group on September 20, 1969, but had agreed to withhold public announcement for a time. His private heads-up came as the group was recording their last studio album, Abbey Road.

But dissension was obviously rife as early as January 1969, as the Beatles were filming the recording of their Let It Be studio album. That album, recorded before Abbey Road, had to be put on the shelf and wasn't released until May 8, 1970. The film shows the Beatles exhibiting their hurt feelings with one another during the recording of it.

But the film had its transcendent moments, such as when the Beatles performed Paul's marvelous song, The Long and Winding Road:

This video manages to overlay the strings and other instrumentation that were added by record producer Phil Spector to the final version of the track after the fact. In the actual film, they were not heard. You will get arguments that Spector's horns and strings ruined the song — Paul notably hated what Spector did. I'm neutral about that subject, but I think the video reveals what I do care about, which is how beautiful the song is.

***

Warning: the following gets very technical ...

One reason it's beautiful is the way Paul's melody strategically wanders between the official home key of E-flat major (Eb) and the relative minor of that key, c minor (c). These two keys use the same set of notes in their scales:

• (Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb) for Eb
• (C D Eb F G Ab Bb C) for c

But as a major key, Eb is characteristically upbeat; c, as a minor key, is melancholy.

Here's the first verse, along with its chords:

I've shown in blue when the melody touches the note C, which is the tonic note in the key of c minor, and in green when it touches the note E-flat, which is the tonic note in the key of E-flat major. Clearly, Paul's melody spends a lot of time revolving around and often landing on the note C, which shows up at (or near) the end of every line of the verse ... except the last, when E-flat finally reasserts its dominance. (The "be - fo - o - ore" that ends a previous line also ends on E-flat, and then in the next line the C minor tonality reasserts itself.) So the ear becomes unsure what the key of the piece actually is.

This is a sophisticated melody, and the the chords that undergird it are likewise sophisticated.

If you check out the detailed analysis by Alan W. Pollack — see the Section-by-Section Walkthrough of the Verse section of the song — you will find that he renames some of these chords. For example:

• Ab/Bb becomes Bb7/9/11
• C#/Eb becomes Eb7

(Some chords that have "7" after them in the verse as shown above lose the "7" with Pollack; some that don't have a "7" gain one. Whenever there is a "7" after a chord name, it means a "seventh" chord; the ordinary chord, a three-note "triad," adds an important extra note that adds "color" to the chord.)

Here is a table giving the chords as I've named them above, Pollack's names for them, and the functions Pollack attributes to them:

Keep in mind that the key of the music is Eb major. In fact, the last chord shown in the table is Eb, meaning an Eb major chord. It's the triad of three notes built on the tonic note of the song's true key, Eb, and includes the notes (Eb G Bb). In Roman numerals, it's the I chord. It is typical of chord progressions that they wind up on I.

Simple chord progressions accordingly use chords that "point toward" I. But this isn't a simple chord progression. Paul intentionally sets things up so that the ear becomes quickly unsure of the song's key. Is it Eb major, or is it c minor?

The Eb major scale's notes are (Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb), and the note C — which is the tonic note for the c minor scale — is its sixth note. Paul sets up two internal chord progressions that "point toward" the minor triad that has that note, C, as its root note. This is the triad called Cm or c. Since its root is the sixth note of the Eb major scale, its Roman numeral is vi. The vi is shown in lowercase because this triad contains the notes (C F Ab), and it is a minor triad, not a major triad. The Roman numerals for major triads are shown in uppercase.

The two internal progressions that point toward vi are shown in the table with a reddish background. They're complicated. To be fully understood, they demand a fair amount of music theory. But notice: in each case, the final vi chord is preceded by two chords whose functions are shown partly in parentheses. For example, the immediately preceding Gm or g chord is shown as having function "iii (v-of-vi)." The "of-vi" part tells which chord this one points toward: vi.

So the immediately earlier Ab chord functions as "IV (VI-of-vi)" and likewise implies that the vi chord is soon to come.

In the second progression leading to vi in the table above, just before Ab as "IV (VI-of-vi)" comes C#/Eb, alias Eb7. Its function is "I (V of IV)." So it points toward IV, and sure enough, the very next chord is IV. That chord's secondary function — the one shown in parentheses — is (VI-of-vi), so it in turn points toward vi.

You can see the pattern: often, you can connect the primary (or only) function of a chord with the "of-___" of the preceding chord's secondary function (if there is one).

Now look at the first internal chord progression in the table above that leads ultimately to vi. It's more complicated. Ignoring the initial Eb chord, which rapidly turns into Eb7, notice that the chord with the function "I (V-of-IV)" doesn't lead immediately to the "IV (VI-of-vi)" chord, as in the other example. It first uses an Ab chord as plain, unadorned IV. Only then — at the beginning of "will never disappear" — does this Ab chord turn magically into "I (V-of-IV)." What Pollack is saying is that the very same chord that was heard simply as IV at the end of the preceding phrase ("that leads to your door") has shape-shifted into a IV chord that now has taken on a secondary function: it now points the ear toward vi.

In both these internal chord progressions, when the vi chord is finally arrived at, Paul is singing (or is just about to sing) a note C in the melody. These internal progressions conspire with the melody itself to cast doubt that the scale of the music is really a major scale, Eb major in particular. Instead, the ear is temporarily fooled into believing it's hearing a melancholy c minor scale.

And how fitting! After all, the words of the verse are suggesting that the singer hasn't yet made it "to your door." Maybe he never will. Maybe he's stuck on the "long and winding road" forever. It isn't until the final phrase of the verse ("lead me to your door") that the singer places his trust in a good outcome once and for all — and both the melody and the chords wind up where they "should" wind up: the tonic note and the I chord of the Eb major scale.

Great song, Paul!

*****

P.S. The analysis I have used from Alan W. Pollack is part of his series covering every Beatles recording. It makes fascinating reading ... but it has to be consumed like fine wine, in small sips. For those who want to dip regularly into Pollack's musical wisdom, Ger Tillekens lists every one of Pollack's analyses, in order of each album's or single's original release date, here.

Emmylou Harris: Collaborations #2

Emmylou with Johnny Cash

during the recording of his

Water from the Wells of Home

album in 1988. She partnered

with Johnny and Roy Acuff

on "As Long As I Live."

Emmylou Harris has, over her long career, performed or recorded with a list of musicians as long as my arm, including ...

• Dolly Parton
• Linda Ronstadt
• Johnny Cash
• Roy Acuff
• Vince Gill
• Kate & Anna McGarrigle
• Willie Nelson
• Roy Orbison
• Bruce Springsteen
• Steve Earle
• Mark Knopfler
• George Jones
• Sheryl Crow
... and many others

In a 1999 tribute concert to Johnny Cash, Emmylou sang harmony to Dave Matthews's lead vocal on one of Johnny's signature songs, "Long Black Veil":

Long Black Veil Ten years ago, on a cold, dark night Someone was killed beneath the town hall light There were few at the scene But they all agreed That the slayer who ran Looked a lot like me She walks these hills in a Long Black Veil She visits my grave when the night winds wail Nobody knows, nobody sees, nobody knows but me The judge said, "Son, what is your alibi? If you were somewhere else, Then you won't have to die." Well, I said not a word Although it meant my life For I had been in the arms Of my best friend's wife Now she walks these hills in a Long Black Veil She visits my grave when the night winds wail Nobody knows, nobody sees, nobody knows but me Oh now, the scaffold was high And eternity was near; She stood in the crowd And shed not a tear But sometimes at night when the cold winds blow in a long black veil she cries over my bones She walks these hills in a Long Black Veil She visits my grave when the night winds wail Nobody knows, nobody sees, nobody knows but me

Now, here's a 2003 clip with Emmylou singing lead on "My Antonia," which Emmylou wrote, with Dave singing both second lead and high harmony:

My Antonia He said, "Oh my love, oh my Antonia You with the dark eyes and palest of skin Tonight, I am going from Santa Maria Wait for me till I'm in your arms once again" She held me, she kissed me, begged me not to leave her To cross on the mountain, my fortune to win But her letter now tells me, she died of a fever And I'll never see her in this world again You are my sorrow, you are my splendor You are my shelter through storm and through strife You are the one I will always remember All of the days of my life I curse the ambition that took me far from her For treasure not ever so fine or so fair As the flash of her smile or the touch of her fingers The fire in her heart and the smell of her hair She left me a note that cried, "Do not weep for me Behold you are with me as sure as the stars That rise in the evening to shine down upon me Behold I am with you wherever you are" I can still hear him, he calls to me only What once was begotten shall come to no end But the road is so long and the nights are so lonely My soul just to hold him in this world again You are my sorrow, you are my splendor You are my shelter through storm and through strife You are the one I will always remember All of the days of my life Oh my love, oh my Antonia You with the dark eyes and palest of skin How could I know that night in Santa Maria I'd never see you in this world again

"My Antonia" appeared on Emmylou's Red Dirt Girl album in 2000, again with Dave as her singing partner.

Emmylou Harris: Collaborations #1

She’s my age, 64, as this is written in early 2012. She may well have appeared on more recordings than any other popular music star ever. Her solo career has yielded 14 Top Ten albums on the Billboard country charts, two of which went to #1. Her singles have reached the country Top Ten 20 times, with five #1’s.

She made a collaboration LP with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, Trio, that went to country music’s #1 position in 1987, and Trio 2, its 1999 follow-on, was a #4. Trio was also a #6 hit on the Billboard top albums chart, indicating its appeal outside what I call the “twang bubble”: country music’s prime audience. Four songs from Trio were released as singles and went into the country music Top Ten. One, “To Know Him Is To Love Him,” was a country #1 record.

In fact, during her four-decades-plus of professional work, “collaboration” has been her middle name. Her name is Emmylou Harris, and she has performed alongside a vast number of singers, both in and out of the country music field.

For example, take John Denver. Here's a YouTube video commemorating his “Wild Montana Skies,” on which Emmylou sings the harmony vocal:



“Wild Montana Skies,” with words and music by John Denver, was a #14 country (#26 adult contemporary) hit for him and Emmylou in 1983. Emmylou’s part begins with “His mother's brother took him in to family and his home,” at the start of the third full verse. Listen to how well she blends with John’s surging, idiosyncratic singing style. Listen also for when she sings notes different from his. They’re not wrong notes, they’re exactly the right notes. (For instance, listen for the higher-pitched note she sings on “own,” in “On the eve of his 21st birthday he set out on his own.”) That’s why harmony singing is so hard. You’re not just singing along, you’re complementing the lead vocal.

More to come on Emmylou Harris's musical collaborations ...

* * * * *

P.S. Learn more about Emmylou Harris's career at:

• http://www.emmylou.net/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmylou_Harris
• http://www.dhk.janis.or.jp/~angel-35/emmylou_harris/emmylou_top.html
• http://emmylouharris.com/index.html
• http://www.allmusic.com/artist/emmylou-harris-p1642/discography