Maybe I'm listening too much into this record ("listening too much into" being the aural version of "reading too much into"). Because I hear a moody pop ballad in the modes of Ebb Tide and Theme from A Summer Place. And we're talking about a recording made in 1926. And music written in 1902! So... I must be nuts.
But that's what I hear. Maybe you'll hear something along those lines, too. All I know is that the clink-clink-clink business at the end is so much like pop music of decades later, I'm tempted to submit this post to Unsolved Mysteries. And have Robert Stack explain it. Of course, Stack is gone, and his show isn't even in repeats at this point in TV time, as far as I know. So we'll just have to forget about that.
Now, if Till I Wake were the only such moody and sustained Ebb-Tide-style ballad of its general period, I'd attribute it to some glitch in the Time Flow--1949 colliding with the early 00's. But I can think of some others off the top of my bald head--Forsaken, for example. And Absent, for another. Both a bit more conventional in flow than this one, but just as smooth and sustained. And what do I mean by "sustained"? Um....
Right. Well, here's Till I Wake, as performed by Jacques Jacobs' Ensemble in 1926. By whom, you ask? Precisely:
Till I Wake (Amy Woodforde-Finden), Jacques Jacobs' Ensemble, 1926. From Columbia 78.
Again, maybe I'm listening too much into that one. What do you think?
The flip is THE perfect lounge rendition of Kashmiri Song, but a bad needle wasted the upper portion of the music--either that, or the pressing is one of the worst in the history of shellac. I suspect the former. If only someone could have prevented the damage.
Wait a minute. I forgot--I have a time machine. Be right back.
(Time travel sound effects.)
"Um--excuse me, sir, but please change your needle before.... Never mind."
(Time travel sound effects.)
Nothing like traveling all the way back to 1926, only to miss the moment by seconds. Is that ironic, or what?
I guess that, no matter how hard we try, we can't change that which was meant to be. Sci-Fi Cliche 4,789, version 65.
Lee
8 comments:
Lee, you'll probably think I'm crazy, but what I vaguely hear here is not reminiscent of Ebb Tide but rather Bernard Hermann's opening music for the 1951 movie The Day The Earth Stood Still!
Regards - Mel.
Lee, I don't hear the slightest prophecy of "Ebb Tide" in this record. Nor did I hear Bernard Hermann. But, wow, it's a beautiful record, right up there, as you say, with "Absent." However, I suffered aural delusions of my own while listening, imagining that the composer was a Mahler-mad romantic intent on mainstreaming his adagios.
Mel,
I agree completely--the opening progressions are very much like the "Day the Earth Stood Still"'s title music! Same basic gimmick--minor tonic to a (fairly) remote chord, and back. To my ears, the "Ebb Tide" section is in the latter half, and more in terms of form and flow than any matching chord changes.
Excellent call!
Lee
David,
I hear an "Ebb Tide" type of structure in the latter half--closely-connected chords that change their quality while moving in the smoothest possible way. It's weird to hear such a thing in pop music of 1902, but it shows that, the more we think we know, the more we don't.
Whatever I just typed.
Yes, it's a gorgeous record. The lyrics were written by a woman married to a British general and living in India. After her husband died, she committed suicide in the ritual fashion of that country. Some folks consider the lyrcis to be prophetic in that regard. Talk about depressing....
Lee
Hi Lee, I've never heard such a b-eautiful record on a 78 such as this, thanks for finding and playing a rare un-heard treasure, you can hear the music in the grooves !
Byron
Byron,
Thank Amy Woodforde-Finden, the brilliant composer of that moodsterpiece!
Lee
I hope I am not being rude...but you are one seriously twisted dude...thank you for the refreshing take on the music you enjoy. I have enjoyed visiting your blog...
I am not that musically inclined that I can tell a harmonic 4th from a demented pinkie...so some of what you say is italian to me...but I enjoyed reading nonethe less...my best to your tuxedo cats and please don't let your other cat drive anymore...this comes from experience...I sometimes think that SNL should do a skit about people who let their cats drive...they could call the cat Threensis...or something...
Mary,
You should write SNL and suggest that--great idea! Thanks for dropping by, and you're probably right about the cat-driving thing. After all, my insurance probably doesn't cover pet-caused accidents.
Maybe I should cat-proof the keys....
The tuxes thank you for your kind words,
Lee
Post a Comment