The “Unforgettable” Natalie Cole

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thD36H2YGV  Download Instrumental    I was in a music store in Ft. Lauderdale in 1992 trying out different keyboards, when an older gent came up to me and asked if I’d come play for his group. But to get the job, I’d have to play his favorite song “Unforgettable”. His “group” turned out to be 10,000 people living in a place called Century Village – my first introduction to the crazy “retired people” communities of South Florida.

I quickly learned the song and it became a permanent resident in my repertoire.  It was written by one Irving Golden and first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1951.  Golden’s original title for the song was Uncomparable, but the music publishing company decided it should be Unforgettable – works either way.  In 1991, Elvis Presley’s music director, Joe Guercio, came up with the idea to edit and remix  Cole’s original version to create a duet with his daughter, Natalie.  It won three Grammys in 1992.

Natalie was mildly successful in the mid-1970’s with such hits as “This Will Be” and “Our Love”.  Her career faltered through years of drug abuse, but she re-emerged in ’87 with a cover of Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac”.  Through the 90’s she re-recorded standards by her father, resulting in her biggest success – “Unforgettable, with Love”.  You can download our backing tracks for this great Nat King Cole/Natalie Cole tune off the Pop/Rock list.

Natalie Cole died this past December 31st of congestive heart failure, brought on by her years of drug addiction.  Why, oh why, must they always go down that road?

A Boy from Peoria

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thI9SPTW7U  Download Here    Dan Folgelberg had a string of hit songs  in the 1970’s and early 80’s – most notably this song,”Longer”, in 1980.  If you’re in a wedding band (I’m sorry), you know how often “Longer” is requested for the wedding dance.  Intensely romantic and sweet, every bride wants this one.  Guys, if these lyrics don’t make you turn and kiss your wife/lover/girlfriend – nothing will.

Dan was born on August 13, 1951 in Peoria, Illinois.  His mother was a classically trained pianist and his father was the band director at Pekin High School, a nearby city which I am slightly familiar with – as I was born there (in the hospital, of course – not the high school).  He taught himself to play guitar and piano through a Mel Bay music study book, and began writing songs at 14.  He studied performing arts and painting at the University of Illinois.  As a tribute to Dan and his parents, the city of Peoria renamed Abington Street in the city’s East Bluff neighborhood to “Folgelberg Parkway”.  Sadly, Dan Folgelberg died of prostrate cancer in 2007 at 56.  I was a huge fan and wish he’d had more time to give us another wedding song or two.

If you’re a singer and would like a backup sequence, it’s on the Pop/Rock list.  The original arrangement featured a clever trumpet interlude which I always thought was just a bit too harsh for the sweetness of this tune.  I changed it to an oboe (more subdued)) – I don’t think Dan would mind.

See him perform “Longer” on the link below:

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=longer+song&view=detail&qpvt=longer+song&mid=E610EA97E2EC0CAFCBD8E610EA97E2EC0CAFCBD8

 

A “Grand” New Years Eve

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thOAWGRVOZ  Download    Imagine it’s 1978 and you’re at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear on New Years Eve – a fine place to be.  There’s a small band playing in a corner of the lobby, and look!  It’s Jack Normand at the piano!  Yes, truly – a fine, fine place to be.

Jack’s band always varied between 3 and 5 members, depending on which sons or daughters were in town.  Tonight he’s got a full boat of 5 and long about midnight, this is what they would have sounded like.  Here’s to Jack… and a very happy new year to everybody!!!

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thTVBV9JPI  Right-Click to Download    Brenda Lee recorded this is 1958 when she was just 13 years old. Nobody liked it, so they released it again in ’59 – still no takers.  Finally, in 1960, she came out with the song “I’m Sorry”.  Instant hit, and suddenly “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” also caught everybody’s fancy and now it’s a Christmas standard.  Lee had a few hits in the early 60’s, but when her voice started to mature her career pretty much tanked.  Fickle public…

Singers, if you’re not performing this song during the holidays, you’re missing out.  It’s fun, clever, and very recognizable.  We now use this arrangement, which is a little quicker than the original.  I always thought Brenda’s was too slow anyway.  I used a square wave generator on the lead because it’s the only thing I’ve got that sounds like a 13-year-old kid.  Take out the lead on track 16 and make it your own.

Merry Christmas everybody, and stay away from the egg nog this year!

Sleigh Ride

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thK7O20641  Right-Click to Download    While I use my Yamaha arranger keyboard for mostly pop music, it can also duplicate orchestral sounds… and what better time to trot out an orchestra than at Christmas.

I heard the New York Philharmonic’s version of this song and thought I’d see if I could duplicate each instrument on a keyboard.  The Yamaha has great digital renderings of almost every instrument that sound so incredibly real.  Back in the day, when string synthesizers were first introduced, I bought one and lugged that 90 pound sucker around for years.  It sat on top of my Fender Rhodes piano that weighed 130 pounds (needless to say I was in way better shape back then), but it could only “kinda-sorta” sound like violins.  It was really pretty pathetic.

It’s not just strings anymore, and my Yamaha weighs just 22 pounds (whew).  Through digital sampling, now any instrument can be duplicated.  If you can play a piano, you have an entire orchestra at your fingertips…. or a rock band… or even bluegrass (a banjo is the most difficult to mimic – but who would want to anyway?).  You are the conductor or band leader…  and what a power trip that is.

Nobody’s gonna sing this arrangement, I know.  I’m just throwing this out there to show off my keyboard.  Karen thinks I should be sleeping with it, but that’s another story…

All I Want for Christmas…

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thPC7B112P  Download    … is my two front teeth. This one isn’t my idea. A guy from Australia wanted this tune as a sequence so I thought I’d put it on the Christmas List. A few months ago, he wanted “Three Blind Mice” (this is what I’ve been reduced to). Apparently, he’s doing “kids” venues (I hope). So, singers, you might want to try this for a little fun. His only instructions to me were “make it cute”. Folks, this is as cute as I get…

Rainy Days and Mondays

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

th0Y7V429Y  Right-Click to Save    Well, it’s Monday… and its raining… hence, this song.  This 1971 tune by the Carpenters was the fourth #1 hit for the duo.  I was never a big fan of theirs, but if I had to pick a favorite Carpenters song , this would be it.

But this isn’t about Karen and Richard… it’s about their backup band. Studio (or session) musicians are never given their dues, unless they strike out on their own.  Producers would often use these anonymous musicians if they felt the competency of the real band was not up to par.  One group of session players became known as “The Wrecking Crew”.  They recorded behind nearly every artist that came out of California in the 60’s.  They got their nickname from the fact that older studio players from the 50’s thought this new generation was going to “wreck” the industry.  Several members of “The Wrecking Crew” went on to make a name for themselves, such as Dr. John (piano) and their upright bass player, Glen Campbell – yes, Mr. Rhinestone Cowboy himself.

I’ve known several studio players in my time and they’ve all been less than pleasant individuals – right up there with stand-up comedians.  They tend to look down on us here in the trenches trying to make a living.  But who can blame them?  We’re all out here trying to imitate what they did in the studio.  They especially don’t like people like me with arranger workstations who can mimic any instrument – one track at a time.  Doncha’ just love technology?

White Christmas

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thWVGGUOIC  Download    How many times have you heard Bing Crosby sing the original dreary version of this song? And that insane whistling toward the end?  Please stop!! Oh, I know it’s a classic, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Such a nice melody – ruined by a singer who seemed half asleep ALL the time. Obviously, I’m not a fan of ol’ Bing.  I did kinda like the movie though.

The movie itself had its problems with casting.  It was supposed to pair up Crosby and Fred Astaire as the two male stars.  After reading the script, however, Astaire declined.  Not enough dancing, Fred?  Then Donald O’Conner was signed to do it, but he dropped out because of illness.  Finally, Danny Kaye filled the spot and demanded $200,000 plus 10% of the gross – and he got it.  The producers were undoubtedly desperate to get this show on the road.

A couple years ago I saw Michael Buble do a goofy, doo-wop version and I loved it.  So I set about arranging it that way as best I could (with Buble’s crazy jazz vocal line) and this is how we do it today – just for fun.  Some people really don’t like it though, so we revert to the sleepy “Bing” style and everybody’s happy.  The trombone ending is worth waiting for… and nobody whistles a note.

There’s No Place Like Home…

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thJ53JHUYE  Right-Click to Save    … for the holidays.  “Home for the Holidays” was recorded first by Perry Como in ’54 and then rerecorded by everyone else on the planet.  Great song, and this is a simple arrangement that any singer can pick up on in two minutes.

But this isn’t so much about the song as it is style of play.  I grew up listening to Floyd Cramer and find it hard to keep myself from playing like him.  Floyd was a relatively unknown session musician who played behind some of the greats in the ’50s.  It’s Floyd’s piano in “Heartbreak Hotel” and we all know who did that one.  It was also him playing the signature piano riff in Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”.  The boy cut his chops with some of the best, and was instrumental (no pun intended) in  the development of the “Nashville Sound” of the fifties.

Floyd was a self-taught pianist and invented the “slip-note” style that was his claim to fame.  He would periodically play an out-of-key note and then slip to the correct one – unusual, but addicting to anyone who plays.  To this day I have to concentrate to not do it – I mean, much as I love his sound, EVERYTHING can’t sound like Floyd Cramer – can it?  Hmmmmm…

So I went a little overboard with this Christmas favorite on the “slipped notes” – just to prove a point, I guess.  You can download it with the lead piano for listening, or save the midi off the Christmas list, mute the piano track, and sing it during your Christmas set.  You can listen to Mr. Cramer play his biggest hit (Last Date) on the link below, just to give you a feeling for his style.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=last+date+floyd+cramer+videos&view=detail&&qpvt=last+date+floyd+cramer+videos&mid=B225298360120200B0F5B225298360120200B0F5&rvsmid=B225298360120200B0F5B225298360120200B0F5#view=detail&mid=B225298360120200B0F5B225298360120200B0F5

Santa’s Back in Town

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thGNJGQMUJ  Right-Click to Save    If you like jazz, you’ll enjoy this. If you don’t like jazz – you’ll hate it.  The song is “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” – in case you don’t recognize it.  Personally, I love playing in a jazz style – mostly because I’m not good or patient enough to play in a “structured” way.  I’m a “hack’ and I know it.

It was first sung on Eddie Cantor’s radio show in 1934 (before my time).  It sold 30,000 copies in 24 hours, so apparently that qualifies as an instant hit.  I grew up listening to Perry Como sing it, then Bruce Springsteen massacred the tune and ruined it for me.

You can’t sing this version, so it goes on the Instrumental Jazz list, or you can download it here.  You might pay attention to the guitar throughout this arrangement – you can’t play the keys that fast for a long period of time so I used the ‘arpeggiator” built into the Yamaha – I love that thing.  It let’s you pick and sustain notes indefinitely…which is heaven-sent for a lazy keyboardist like me.  I used 8 tracks for this one – piano, bass, drums, organ, marimba, synth brass, tenor sax, and that lovely guitar.  It all comes together for a nifty, though different, combination – unless, of course, you don’t like jazz.