Musically the song is a mixture of musical simplicity (the repeated I-VI-IV-V-I pattern later often called “STAND BY ME Changes” the melodic contour developed out of a short ascending motif the formal modesty) and a little but ear-catching novelty (the scratch-sound). AnalysisĬontaining two verses from psalms 46:2-3, the lyrics of STAND BY ME are an unmistakable demand and an imploring invocation of a strong and steadfast-for-ever partner, who repels all possible danger and protects the singer against every outer (“mountains crumble to the see”, this is the bible-citation) or inner catastrophe. Benjamin Earl “King” Nelson decided to start a career as a solo act and in the same year launched his first top ten hit in the US pop-charts with “Spanish Harlem”. The song got its second chance when King abandoned The Drifters shortly after this episode. King first presented his gospel-inspired composition to his african-american vocal group The Drifters in 1960, he failed to meet the approval of his colleagues. The credits on the single mention Elmo Glick as co-writer, a pseudonym for the team of Leiber & Stoller. In only a few takes they recorded one of the greatest hits of pop music history that same evening, conducted by Atlantic arranger and band leader Stan Applebaum (vgl. One of the most important songwriter and producer teams in post World War II popular music, the songwriters for Elvis Presley, The Coasters and others immediately noticed the potential of King’s tune, added the chords and a subtle instrumentation and finished the lyrics. King (born in 1938 as Benjamin Earl Nelson) proposed a new melody to his producers, singing it a capella to the legendary Atlantic Record duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was on the 26 th of October in 1960, when soulsinger Ben E. STAND BY ME is one of a handful of songs whose outstanding appeal to every new generation of musicians, label managers, producers and listeners is great enough to transmute them into time-travellers, tirelessly circulating through the different styles, substyles and genres of pop music.
0 kommentar(er)
