Today I follow up the Carpenters with something a little less complex, Simple Gifts. This is an old Shaker song from the mid-1800s, written by Joseph Brackett Jr. It was used in Shaker worship services and has an American folk music sound to it.
In more recent times, there have been arrangements by Aaron Copland and John Williams. Simple Gifts was also played in the presidential inaugurations of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. The arrangement I’m performing is from my teacher, Trevor Fischer.
The whole song is played on the A string with movement up and down the fretboard. I’ve recently tackled classical repertoire, and this is Trevor’s attempt to get me something much easier to play between complex pieces, as well as music that can be used as a warm-up exercise. My young daughter loves this song and comments how pretty and peaceful it sounds every time she hears it:
By the way, that canvas art to the right in the video was painted by my little girl. It was a beautiful and simple gift for Father’s Day. Up next, a jazz-pop song from the 1940s!
Don’t pass out from shock! I’m actually back with a new performance after months away, following a recording of Clocks by Coldplay. The truth is, I’ve been practicing all that time, but the music has become much more complicated. I’ve also been learning classical pieces, introducing a whole new level of difficulty. All that to say, it’s taking a lot longer to get these mastered to the point of being comfortable recording.
We’ll keep things in the pop music world for this edition — going back a handful of decades to 1970. In May of that year, a brother-sister duo released what became their breakthrough hit. (They Long to Be) Close to You by the Carpenters came from their second album and was their first Gold-certified single. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts and earned the Carpenters their first Grammy Award.
The song is a Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition. It’s a syrupy love song from a bygone era, but it has a sweet innocence. The illustrious Wrecking Crew played on this hit, with Chuck Findley performing the flugelhorn solo, which Richard Carpenter had originally written for Herb Alpert.
Karen Carpenter really sold the vocal, despite the cringeworthy lyrics:
Why do birds suddenly appear Every time you are near? Just like me, they long to be Close to you
Why do stars fall down from the sky Every time you walk by? Just like me, they long to be Close to you
On the day that you were born The angels got together And decided to create a dream come true So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold And starlight in your eyes of blue
That is why all the girls in town Follow you all around Just like me, they long to be Close to you
[HORN SOLO]
On the day that you were born The angels got together And decided to create a dream come true So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold And starlight in your eyes of blue
That is why all the girls in town Follow you all around Just like me, they long to be Close to you Just like me, they long to be Close to you
[FALSE END]
Waaaa, close to you Waaaa, close to you Haaaa, close to you Laaaa, close to you
The sheet music I have for this is very basic. It’s more-or-less a lead sheet or fake sheet. Because of that, it’s missing a few key elements. At my request, Trevor, my teacher, helped put something together to cover the famous piano open. I added a solo by ear to cover the flugelhorn, and did the same for the main ending that fades out in the original song. Trevor and I then composed a unique ending to my performance. Also, I played with octaves a bit, which isn’t in the sheet music. To go beyond what was on the printed page was a challenge, but it sure was fun, too:
My next piece is something simple before tackling classical repertoire. I hope to have the recording up in June.
As I mentioned late last month, my wife has prepared for some time to launch her podcast. Lisa is a performance management strategist and a certified professional coach. Positivity is one of her greatest strengths, and this show is all about exercising gratitude and recognizing the things that Brighten Your Day. The variety of guests she has on the show share what they’re grateful for, and Lisa is adept at getting them to open up.
As of last Friday, the podcast is live with the first episode, and Capital Community Media in Salem, Oregon picked it up to run Sundays on KMWV, starting this weekend. Episodes will drop weekly. Lisa has done a great job mapping out the podcast and booking diverse guests; the interview calendar is full. My job is handling all the post-production and any technical issues. Evenings and weekends are busy with what has turned out to be a really fun creative project — the first we’ve worked on together.
Brighten Your Day is on all the major directories (Apple, Spotify, and Google) and quite a few of the smaller ones, too. If you have an Amazon Echo, you can even access the show via TuneIn or Amazon Music. Just say, “Alexa, play the Brighten Your Day podcast.” Check it out. Even better, subscribe!
