MUSICAL INFLUENCES
“I was born in England in 1949 when there was no such thing as rock & roll… that didn’t come for a few years. I remember seeing the film Hans Christian Anderson at a very young age and adoring Frank Loesser’s songs, particularly Inchworm. I also remember going to see Rogers & Hammerstein’s ‘The King and I when I was about 7, then Oklahoma and totally falling in love with the music and the form of story telling.… so Musical Theatre became embedded in my psyche.
The next great love was Trad Jazz, a huge fan of Kenny Ball, Midnight in Moscow (made me want to become a trumpet player), Chris Barber’s band (Monty Sunshine on clarinet) plating Sidney Bechet’s Petite Fleur, Acker Bilk’s gorgeous melody Stranger on the Shore. And there was Lonnie Donegan and Skiffle…
We returned to Canada in 1963 just when there was a major shift happening in pop music. Love, Love Me Do hit the radio in England in 1962, it followed us over and arrived in 1963… hard to imagine then an album such as Sergeant Pepper in 1966. I loved the diversity of music in the mid 60s, how different every voice, every band was… The Beatles led the way in how each of their albums was so different, as was the diversity and breadth of their songs. Lennon - In My Life, McCartney - Blackbird.
The folk scene in the late 50s, early 60’s produced a new group of songwriters such as Phil Oaks, Fred Neil, Bob Dylan, Richard Farina, Joan Baez (got to mention guitarist Bruce Langhorne who played on many of their records)… It was amazing to see how the artists grew, explored different genres: such as the Judy Collins album Wildflowers (orchestral arrangements by Joshua Rifkin) & Joan Baez Baptism (orchestral arrangement Peter Schikele). It was also a fertile time for Canadian songwriters: Ian & Sylvia singing Tyson’s Four Strong Winds 1963, Gordon Lightfoot Early Morning Rain 1966, Joni Mitchel (the Goddess of contemporary songwriting) Both Sides Now from the album Clouds 1969… Living in Toronto in the 70s & very involved in music, I think of Joe Hall, a friend, and wonderful songwriter.
Some favourite songs that left a mark from the 60s to the 90s:
Ray Charles singing Hoagy Carmichael’s Georgia on My Mind 1960.
Nat King Cole singing Evans & Livingston’s Mona Lisa 1961.
Gino Pauli’s beautiful song Senza Fina from 1961.
Michel Legrand’s I Will Wait for You from Jaques Demi’s film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 1963.
Gilles Vigneault Mon Pays (1964) unabashedly passionate.
Donovan’s Catch the Wind 1965.
Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne 1966, All that followed (Song for Bernadette with Jennifer Warnes being a favourite).
Paul Simon’s 1968 album Bookends, Old Friends with its deep feeling of nostalgia.
Sergio Mendes Brazil 66 with Lani Hall & their marvellous take on Fool on the Hill.
Dusty Springfield singing Bacharach & David’s The Look of Love (1967).
Harry Nilsson’s Pandemonium Shadow Show 1967 & Aerial Ballet 1968,
Joni Mitchel’s 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon, Rainy Night House drenched in intimacy.
James Taylor’s Fire & Rain from his 1970 album Sweet Baby James.
Gordon Lightfoot’s If You could Read My Mind 1971, when I heard of his passing I put it on and cried.
Carole King, a fabulous body of work, her 1971 album Tapestry.
Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colours 1971.
John Martin’s 1972 album Solid Air left an indelible mark.
Randy Newman’s 1972 album Sail Away his fabulous orchestral writing evoking early Americana.
Steely Dan’s albums Pretzel Logic 1974 & Aja 1977 (Becker & Fagen, quite brilliant songwriters).
Rodney Crowell’s Song for the Life 1978 (Thanks Emmy Lou Harris for introducing him to me).
Michael MacDonald I Can Let Go Now 1982 and all the songs he wrote for the Doobies.
Sting’s 1987 album Nothing Like the Sun.
John Prine his songs sound like they just tumbled out, All the Best 1991 a favourite.
Along with these influences I totally fell in love with the songs from Brazil (first encountered from the 1959 film Black Orpheus), Antonio Carlos Jobim what a giant A Felicidade. Baden Powell (both as songwriter & guitarist), Luis Bonfa’s Manha de Carnival, the exquisite songs of Caetano Veloso… Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil, Ivan Lins Dori Caymmi, Milton Nascimento. Singers Maria Bethania, Gal Costa, Joao Gilberto, and with out a doubt Astrud Gilberto.
I loved the great writers of the 30’s, 40’s & 50’5: Harold Arlen (Yip Harburg), Hoagy Carmichael, George & Ira Gershwin, Frank Loesser & Cole Porter (who wrote their own lyrics), Jule Stein, Harry Warren, Rogers & Hart, Van Heusen & Cahn, Johnny Mercer one of the great lyricists… and their many interpreters: Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Sarah Vaughn, Ella, to name just a few. In the 60’s Michel Legrand, Jobim, Burt Bacharach (Hal David) continued this tradition.
Composition: I’d say, broadly, French Impressionism, Late Romantics (Grieg his Suite for Strings for instance), Neo Classism, so the music from the early 20th century I guess… Also film music the likes of Nina Rota, Ennio Morricone, John Barry, Elmer Bernstein, George Delerue, Maurice Jarre, Henry Mancini…. and many more.”
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