The Stories Behind the Music
go to Stories Behind the Christmas Music
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This got started as the Day Tripper instrumental bridge, available as a separate selection. I then decided to expand to the complete song. This was the flip side of We Can Work It Out single, and also appeared on:
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Day Tripper instrumental bridge Later expanded to the complete song (in a separate selection). One of the guitar parts in this excerpt is a Mixolydian scale (one whole octave plus a fifth), and in expanding to the full song, I shifted the last note of that "octave plus fifth" scale so that it began and ended one sixteenth note earlier. |
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Once suggested by George Martin as a Beatles' single, but the Beatles chose to release Please Please Me, a Lennon-McCartney composition, instead. How Do You Do It turns up on Anthology 1, and on 5 Jan 2002 I discovered that the opening chord in that version has a C in the bass line where my version (already on the web) has an A bass (for A minor chord). Anyway, this version reached me as a nice song which is obscure. (A version was released c. 1964 by Gerry and the Pacemakers.) |
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I'm Happy Just to Dance with You (light jazz) I'm Happy Just to Dance with You Partly based on the version heard in the movie "A Hard Day's Night", just before the Beatles' own version. In Jan 2002, I read that this was the last Lennon-McCartney song written for George Harrison to sing; an earlier such song was Do You Want to Know a Secret. |
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On the "Let It Be" album, which was originally called "Get Back". The bass line (much of which is "pedal point") is not something I commonly do, but I still thought this song should have had more exposure than it got. |
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Money (That's What I Want), also referred to simply as Money Originally done by Barrett Strong in 1960, although the version you are reading about is based on the Beatles' version, which was on:
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I did this song for the drum beat occurring in the part in which was sung "This happened once before...", which occurs right at the song start. It was on:
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Composed by George Harrison, and I had a complete arrangement by the time he died (29 Nov 2001), but after some thought, I padded out the music in the fadeout on 8 Jan 2002. This version was inspired by a demo I had heard on the "Beatle Brunch" radio program, so there is somewhat more piano heard in this than on the version released by the Beatles. |
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Was in "A Hard Day's Night" movie, and is on these albums:
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Like How Do You Do It, this is based on the version on Anthology 1. In 1965, there was a released version by P. J. Proby. |
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Never a single that I know of, it was on:
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Is in the "Help!" movie (and also on the Parlophone and Capitol label albums called "Help!" in the UK and the U.S. respectively). It's done in the movie scene where someone is sawing (through the floor from below) around Ringo (while the Beatles are singing that song). But that could not be a live performance, since (for example) Paul McCartney is seen at a piano and is also seen playing a guitar. (By the way, the Capitol album has only 7 songs by the Beatles and, like the United Artists album "A Hard Day's Night", is filled out with instrumentals from the soundtrack.) The song doesn't break neatly into segments of four measures, and at the end of each of 2 occurrences (in the Beatles' version) of the lyric "The way you treat her, what else can I do", you may think there is a measure missing. |
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This is the flip side of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" single (Capitol label, U.S.), but "This Boy" is the flip side of that single on Parlophone label, UK. The song is also on some albums:
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2nd measure (assuming 4/4 time signature) has 4 beats, not 5. This song and another Larry-Williams-composed song ("Dizzy Miss Lizzie") were on the Capitol album Beatles VI (in the U.S.). Although "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" was on the Parlophone album Help! (in the UK), "Bad Boy" was not released in the UK until the Beatles oldies LP in late 1966. Later, I decided to do (not for the Beatles page) an arrangement of "Bad Girl" (1959 release by Smoky Robinson and the Miracles) and still later realized the humor in my independent decisions to arrange "Bad Boy" and "Bad Girl". |
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This is the second Larry-Williams-done-by-Beatles selection which I have arranged for this site. I listened to the track on Past Masters Volume One CD, and this selection was also on:
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This is the third Larry-Williams-done-by-Beatles selection which I have arranged for this site. It is written up in my notes for Bad Boy. |
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This is restored from what was on University of Delaware PLATO in the 1980s, so is limited to 4 simultaneously-sounding clarinet (sawtooth) waveforms. The key is E flat major because this arrangement is based on the Rarities version, not the one on the original Let It Be LP release. |
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Single released 1967, and was the 1st Beach Boys release after "Good Vibrations"; both songs are on "Smiley Smile" album. The song you are reading about was composed by Brian Wilson and VanDyke Parks, and had "You're Welcome" on the single's flip side. The version you are reading about was transposed � step down from the key I originally worked in. |
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Was last cut on side 1 of "Smiley Smile" album, thus putting it just ahead of "Good Vibrations". This is the version I originally did on University of Delaware PLATO system (now defunct), using a program called "Musimatic" and a clarinet-like waveform (converted here to Hammond organ), c. 1980. If you have the "Smiley Smile" album, check the harmony which first occurs 17 seconds into the song and you will know why I picked that song. |
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See notes for version 1. The version you are reading about was done with piano waveform, in 2001 using NoteWorthy Composer. Both versions are much simpler than the original cut by the Beach Boys. |
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Was on the "Surfer Girl" album in 1963, and (2 years before Paul McCartney's "Yesterday" with the Beatles) had bowed-string instruments Like "Heroes and Villains", I transposed � step down. |
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The song originally was on the Beach Boys Christmas album, and later, the backing appeared on "Stack-o-Tracks". And like I already did for 2 other Beach Boys selections, I transposed � step down. |
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I heard the beginning of this in October 2003 at Jason's Woods (where I had gone for haunted attractions). This excerpt is 37 seconds long. |
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On 30 December 2005, I was driving on old U.S. route 1 from Jennersville towards West Grove, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and I had tuned in radio station WVCH (740 AM, Chester, Pa.) in an attempt to get Christmas music/programming, and I accidentally pulled in an excerpt of the instrumental you are reading about, from another 740 AM radio station (CHWO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Later, I was able to get someone in Canada to listen to the excerpt which was already on THIS web site, and I was then notified that it was "Surfer's Stomp" by the Marketts and was used at 7 PM Eastern time at the beginning of that station's "Flash Back" program. In making the full arrangement you find on this web site, I used a stereo CD. |
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Was in 1940 "Pinocchio" movie. My idea was to imitate Four Freshmen harmony, and I did this using Hammond organ waveform, since this site is not able to have voices on it. |
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Was in "Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs" movie. This version is based on 78 RPM, 7 inch record which was on Peter Pan label of 1950s vintage. |
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This was done on University of Delaware PLATO in the 1980s, and I revived that version when I decided to set up a Disney page. It is based on a 1950s-vintage record (noting that Disneyland opened in 1955). |
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Based on what I heard at "Pirates of the Caribbean" in Adventureland (in Disneyland and in the Magic Kingdom at Disney World). |
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Based on memory of the opening to a 1960s Sunday night program (yes, it was Disney's). |
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This is from Epcot's exhibit "Universe of Energy", in "Ellen's Energy Adventure" film, featuring Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye "The Science Guy", right next to its mentioning 900,000 B.C. (I first saw this exhibit in 2006, and a year later, when the Spaceship Earth ride was not available yet, I went to this exhibit twice in a row, then got a paper towel from a restroom and wrote notes on it.) |
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I couldn't top the versions by Percy Faith & His Orchestra (1960) or the Lettermen (vocal, 1965) or the Ventures (1969), so I thought of an apparently-obscure version which was on WDEL-AM radio in 1964, and (based on it) used the key of G major and the notes which appear (in the version you are reading about) in the lead-guitar part. I put the melody and harmony together in a part which uses Hammond organ waveform. That version on WDEL was by Jimmy and the Jays (?), and I have never seen that name in print. |
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Theme from "A Summer Place" version 2 Theme from "A Summer Place" version 2 Same as the version I had done in 1998 with this exception:
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This is from a Flying Nun episode. |
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This is from a Gomer Pyle USMC episode. |
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This was used on the Andy Griffith Show c. 1961, and a somewhat different version was the main theme of the later Mayberry RFD. |
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This was used on Bewitched in an episode with Uncle Arthur (played by Paul Lynde) floating in the air. |
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Perhaps of classical origin; this is used (sometime in 1958-1964) when a crisis has passed and things have become tranquil. |
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This was a cartoon from 1966(?), although I found the music to be something of a "throwback". |
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Used on the program of that name (Bob Keeshan in the title role) c. 1961. I discovered this on the Youtube site on June 22, 2008, and finished this arrangement on July 19. According to Wikipedia, this is actually (an excerpt of) "Puffin' Billy", instrumental composed by Edward G. White. And I believe the rendition I heard on that Youtube video fits right in with Leroy Anderson. |
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This show was produced 1957-1963. The short item heard here was used at end of at least some scenes. |
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This show was on the air in 1963. The title character is a German Shepherd dog who helps people just like Lassie does, and instead of having a fixed home, roams the railroads just like a human hobo would then. At the end of each episode, someone would try to adopt the dog but he would always decline by
wandering off. I thought of this theme while watching some farm animals during a pause in a 2-mile walk on the grounds of what was then the Americana Host Farm (US 30 just east of Lancaster, PA, across from Dutch Wonderland), on August 24, 1985. I used the title “roving-dog TV theme” at the time because I did not know the name of the show. “I live my life from town to town Sometimes I think I’ll settle down But I know I’d hunger to be free Roamin’s the only life for me. A-drifting, the world is my friend; I’m traveling along the road again.” |
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This is from season 1, episode 4 of TV Football Follies in 1987. The theme presented here comes just after the appearance of the first character (of several) played by Jonathan Winters: station vice president and general manager J. J. Faircatch, hence the name I gave to this selection, which caught my attention because it is (or is resembling) a light-classical theme heard on one or more TV programs in the early 1960s. |
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When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along Based on the version on the Peter Pan single (1950s vintage, for children), and was the most complicated arrangement I had done up to that point. The bird-chirping IS there, and because I did not like the electronic bird-chirp waveform, I "faked" it by using a recorder (sounding like flute) waveform. |
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The only change from the previous version was to go to a simpler bass line which does not have the influence of doowop and/or rock-n-roll; this presumably is more like the version I was basing this on. |
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Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody Flip side of "Red Red Robin...", which is also on this site. I felt this song had a 1920s feel. |
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This arrangement is based on the version on the Peter Pan label in the 1950s; there is a transition missing which would appear in, say, the Boston Pops recording of such. On the Peter Pan label, it was 1st song of 2 on the same side of a 45 RPM record (the other song was Grandfather's Clock); on the flip side were Arkansas Traveler and Red River Valley in that order. |
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Phantom Regiment excerpt version 1 Phantom Regiment excerpt version 1 I played clarinet briefly in the mid 1960s and recall doing this at Salesianum School in the Catholic schools music program (don't remember what key) and, years later, did this arrangement from memory. It wasn't until 2009 that I discovered that it was an excerpt of Phantom Regiment by Leroy Anderson; up to then it was on this site only on the Halloween page under the title "1960s ghost theme" in lieu of "Phantom Regiment excerpt". |
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Phantom Regiment excerpt version 2 Phantom Regiment excerpt version 2 This has the same story as version 1 immediately above. I actually goofed by doing a second version (because I had forgotten about the first), but both are presented here because of the differences. |
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Tiny Scout (He Knows You Inside Out) Is from the 1957 movie "An Affair to Remember", starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. I did not see "Sleepless in Seattle", but instead came across "An Affair to Remember" DIRECTLY on AMC cable channel, where I sent a thank-you note regarding movie preservation. |
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Was done 1958 by The Acorns. I found it long ago on an oldies album, and a likely place to hear it now (2003) would be "Forgotten 45s" program on WQSR-FM 102.7 (no longer 105.7) in Baltimore. |
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The version you are reading about was transposed up � step from the key I originally worked in, and is based on what I heard on WPEN-AM 950 in Philadelphia. |
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I previously heard the Chris Montez version (released early to mid 1960s?). Here, the idea was to do something up-tempo with harmony (like the Four Freshmen did with "Candy", which I later also arranged for this site). |
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Based on the Four Freshmen version, which was cited in the writeup for "Call Me". |
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Introduced in 1960 in stage show "Wildcat", which had Lucille Ball. This version, with its use of Hammond organ waveform, is somewhat more up-tempo and tries to imitate the Gaylords; this includes the beginning and end, which is from their song "Pupalina" (reviewed by me on Youtube). |
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From a 1950s movie, with this version based on a children's record (on the Cricket label) of the 1950s. |
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This version is based on the flip side of Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo (which also appears on this site). |
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Based on 1959 release by Smoky Robinson and the Miracles. As explained in the story behind my arranging Beatles' version of "Bad Boy", deciding to arrange this was independent of my decision to arrange "Bad Boy". |
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Based on 1933(?) version by Leo Reisman and his orchestra. That version did include a vocal. |
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From "My Fair Lady". I tried to imitate style of Beatles' song "I'm Only Sleeping" but it didn't work out that well; however, I saw my way to making (here) a complete version of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly", and I put in a guitar tag at the end in imitation of another Beatles' song, "Another Girl" (from Help! movie & LP). |
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Appeared in the 1958 movie "Tammy and the Bachelor". |
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I know of 1972 version by The July Four, but was this out earlier, say in 1966? The version appearing on this site is only 1:32 long, which would be a little short for a 1960s 2-to-3 minute single. |
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Originally on University of Delaware PLATO, a system which was referred to in story about my first version of Beach Boys' "Little Pad" on this site. (There were a maximum of four simultaneously-sounding tones of that sawtooth waveform, and no percussion available.) That PLATO version of "Gee" is restored here. Song was done c. 1954 by The Crows, in an up-tempo doo-wop, and is in 1973 film "American Graffiti" but was not on that movie's soundtrack album. |
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Based on 1933 version (a hit in 1947) by Ted Weems and his orchestra. On 2nd go-around of the melody, I used a high-pitched melodic tom waveform to try to simulate a tambourine. |
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Thank Heavens for Little Girls Thank Heavens for Little Girls Was sung by Honore' (played by Maurice Chevalier, for whom this became a "signature" song, in the 1958 movie "Gigi"). |
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Was on the Jubilee label (1950, give or take a few years?), performed by Sunny and His Gang. |
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Was done by Nat King Cole c. 1963. I transposed up � step after this arrangement was finished. |
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My arrangement of this, my favorite Bobby Darin song, was done before I learned of the movie of that name. The song is apparently based on the French "La Mer", and it comes on when the movie reaches the part about the romance with Sandra Dee. Bobby Darin's recording of this song was released 1959. |
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This was recorded by The Castells, and was originally released in 1962. |
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This was recorded by The Four Seasons, and was originally released in 1963. |
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This is an Italian song (I heard this at an Italian festival in 1986 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and I understand this was also done at a similar festival in Wilmington, Delaware). The version I arranged here is based on the version (1957) by The Gaylords, which was the flip side of "Magic Song" single. |
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The best-known version of this was by The Hollies, but this is based on a less-known version (by Herman's Hermits). Those 2 versions were released 1966. |
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I heard this at Storybook Land, which is along Black Horse Pike (US 40/322) in Pleasantville, New Jersey, not far from Atlantic City. |
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This is my next Four Freshmen imitation, with me coming up with a non-Christmas number after I had done "(The) Christmas Song" and "Mistletoe & Holly" on this site's Christmas page. I was in the Bronx Zoo's Christmas display on December 29, 2006, when I came up with the opening (a take-off on the Four Freshmen doing "Candy" except that I start in F major instead of F minor). On June 9, 2007, I was in the Paladin complex near Edgemoor (suburb of Wilmington, Delaware, and I had lived in that complex as a baby when it was the Clifton Park Manor Apartments), and I came up with some of the ending (last 2 measures along with the C-sharp-to-D-sharp step in the melody about 3 measures earlier). |
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I heard this (here repeated 12 times) playing in a loop on 103.3 FM when tuned into it along northbound I-95 in Marcus Hook and/or Chester, PA in December 2007. Apparently this was not the 103.3 FM which was playing Christmas music in the York/Lancaster/Harrisburg area. Initially, I was thinking of the Beach Boys doing something like "Barbara Ann", until I listened more closely.
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This was originally (?) c. 1959. The lyrics I recall were "wiggle ... walk ... ponytail", with "ponytail" appearing where the organ harmony starts to appear in the version I am writing about here (i.e., in what I have arranged for this site). Unfortunately, entering "wiggle walk ponytail" (omitting the quotation marks) in a search engine gets references to something else: the song "Chantilly Lace", a hit for the Big Bopper, who was killed in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959. |
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On August 10, 2008, I went to the Mitchell's department store on Concord Pike in the Fairfax Shopping Center in the northern suburbs of Wilmington, Delaware. The store had recently been announced for closing, and I discovered when I got there that it was not open on Sundays, but I was able to look over a photo display in the front windows. One of those photos showed a business called "Robert Hall Clothes" near Prices Corner (western suburbs of same city) in 1962, and I recalled the music and lyrics for (Robert) Hall Ford, but was confused because of these references to a clothing store and car dealership. Anyway, I have arranged the music from memory, and these are the lyrics I remember: Hall Ford for quality With red-carpet treatment and courtesy. For the best buy of all, see Robert Hall, Famous for hospitality. Choose from a large Ford selection, with red-carpet treatment for all. For the best buy of all, see Robert Hall. |
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This was on TV in mid (?) 1960s for a brand of candy. From memory, here are the lyrics (which may be a little off): I heard a little bit of honey goes a long long way. I heard a little bit of honey goes a long long way 15 pieces of goodness in every bar And each one makes you sweeter than you already are. [repeat from 2nd "goes a long long way"] |
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This was on TV (and radio?) in early to mid (?) 1960s for a brand of gasoline. I was able to jog my memory of it (and the lyrics, given immediately below) when I saw a Texaco star on a haunted hayride (Legends of the Fog, Churchville, Maryland, in Oct. 2008). The lyrics: You can trust your car to the man who wears the star The big bright Texaco star. |
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On the Sunny Side of the Street
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This was on radio (WDEL? would be 1150 AM, Wilmington, Delaware) in early to mid (?) 1960s for a racetrack at Timonium, Maryland, in northern suburbs of Baltimore. The lyrics, which I had to furnish from memory, may be off in the 2nd line: It's happy days, happy days, happy days are here in Maryland. Timonium, Timonium, come today. [repeat 1st line] You gotta come! We're gonna come to Timonium. |
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This was the 1st song of 2 on one side of a 45 RPM single on the Peter Pan label (in the 1950s?); 2nd song was "Red River Valley", and the flip side was "Syncopated Clock" and "Grandfather's Clock". |
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(It's a) Beautiful Day for a Ball Game (It's a) Beautiful Day for a Ball Game Used at start of Phillies TV broadcasts in early 1960s. This arrangement had been on U of Del PLATO and its revival for this site was, sadly, prompted by the death of Harry Kalas. "Let's go; batter up; we're taking the afternoon off. It's a beautiful day for a ball game ..." |
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This was on radio station KYW 1060-AM, Philadelphia, PA, in the early 1980s. |
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Main Line Federal Savings & Loan Main Line Federal Savings & Loan This was on radio station KYW 1060-AM, Philadelphia, PA, in the early 1980s. "Many happy returns of the day from Main Line Federal Savings & Loan." |
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Arranged by ear, listening to CD having 1944 version by the Merry Macs. |
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Arranged by ear, listening to Youtube entry having 1982 version by Dexys Midnight Runners. |