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Post by rick on Mar 11, 2024 22:11:21 GMT -5
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Post by erik on Mar 11, 2024 23:50:22 GMT -5
Another good one transitions to the Other World.
It should be said that Eric's two 1976 hits, "All By Myself" and "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again", took melodic inspiration from the great Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. "All By Myself" used the melody of the slow movement of the composer's Piano Concerto No. 2; and "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" borrowed the melody of the Adagio of the Symphony No. 2.
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Post by alyn on Mar 12, 2024 10:52:17 GMT -5
All By Myself was a hell of a song, and I loved the classical piece built in, a very creative work that was a classic, sadly another that fell victim to a cover version that probably brought it to the attention of a whole new audience who didn't know the original and wouldn't have bothered to look into it. The original was truly haunting and from the heart.
I guess it has been given that terrible tag of being a Power Ballad. If there was ever a way to cut down a great song it's to give it that label.
I was reading up about Goodbye To Love by The Carpenters the other day as I suddenly found myself playing it over and over and loving the song all over again, and noticed it was given the grisly title of the First Power ballad. I hate that. I was looking into it as it was really about time after all these years I found out who the guitarist was, it was nice to learn. Also surprising to me that he was also the DJ on Calling Occupants intro. I'm about 40 years behind most people finding out these things :-)
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Post by rick on Mar 13, 2024 0:36:30 GMT -5
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Post by Tony on Mar 13, 2024 2:36:54 GMT -5
. . . Goodbye To Love by The Carpenters the other day as I suddenly found myself playing it over and over and loving the song all over again, and noticed it was given the grisly title of the First Power ballad. I hate that. I thought the first power ballad was Long Long Time by Linda Ronstadt. Or maybe something by Edith Piaf. |
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Post by alyn on Mar 13, 2024 3:10:43 GMT -5
I'd be interested to know when the tag Power Ballad first came into use, my way of thinking is that it was with the likes of Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. To me, All By Myself (original version) was a ballad which was given a symphonic treatment. In the Moody Blues way, I mean you can go back and say Without You by Nilsson (after Badfinger) was a Power Ballad... to me they are songs, I hate the narrowing down to specific tags... that was made for the record companies that made compilation albums :-) What about Everlasting Love by Love Affair, Lady Willpower by Union Gap, there could be an argument for so many. I prefer to use it for the over-wrought sluggish too loud wailing blasters of the 1980s that I can happily do without :-)
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Post by Partridge on Mar 14, 2024 12:07:32 GMT -5
Back in the day, I remember a lot of people thought Linda oversang Long Long Time. She was often accused of shouting or screaming instead of singing. My how the times have changed, as one of the many "reaction" videos complained that he was waiting for Linda to amp up the song. These days a lot of people expect too much amperage.
"Searching for the first power ballad" could be a new thread, applying that term to songs that came before. I thought of another. "It Must Be Him" by Vikki Carr would be called a power ballad if it had been released a couple of decades later.
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Post by RobGNYC on Mar 14, 2024 13:35:26 GMT -5
If “It Must Be Him” qualifies, so must Dusty’s “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” beating Vikki by two years.
“Moonstruck”: “Now he's going to play that damn Vikki Carr record, and when he comes to bed he won't touch me.”
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Post by alyn on Mar 16, 2024 6:59:02 GMT -5
"It Must Be Him" by Vikki Carr would be called a power ballad if it had been released a couple of decades later. Yes, I think that's almost my point (if I had one :-) categorising music with hindsight to drop songs into convenient compartments, it can drive me mad... I still think Power Ballads became a thing in the 1980s and many dreadful songs and cover versions became very applicable and prior to that we had ballads that were powerful but didn't need to be grouped together with others, they were individual songs which stood or fell alone, in my little opinion :-) |
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Post by erik on Mar 16, 2024 18:16:42 GMT -5
If I were to make a bet, I would actually go all the way back to 1955 and R&B legend Roy Hamilton's recording of the Alex North/Hy Zaret song "Unchained Melody" (from the prison movie Unchained) as being rock's first "power ballad".
Yes, folks, the song had a life before the Righteous Brothers got their hands on it in 1965. In fact, at least four versions of the song were on the chart (including Hamilton's) in 1955. Elvis himself, one of Hamilton's biggest fans when he was beginning to make his mark, sang this same song in some of the last public concerts he ever gave back in 1977, looking like he just might die onstage but then just flat-out giving every last bit of himself. Of course, "Unchained Melody" did get further life in 1990, when it was used in that year's most unexpected hit movie, Ghost.
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