3.1 WORKSHEET 3

NOTICE: There will be a short test on the first 2 worksheets only,   Thursday,  September 10.                     25 multiple choice questions.

In this module, we will study the Brill Building, teen idols, dance crazes, folk music, the rise of the producer, girl groups, and the legendary Phil Spector.

Now, download and print Worksheet 3:

WORKSHEET 3 Download WORKSHEET 3

Or you can print the 2 pages from here:

THE BRILL BUILDING

We are now moving to a new geographic location in our history of R&R. Our first subject, The Brill Building, is located in New York City..

What is the Brill Building? The Brill Building is a group of offices in the same area that Tin Pan Alley existed before. Like Tin Pan Alley, both terms  have come to define a location where good quality pop songs were written

Now watch this:

BRILL BUILDING  INTRO Links to an external site.

Another look at the various Brill Building writers, with "I'm A Believer" in the video background. The song was written by Neil Diamond, before he became famous on his own:

BRILL BUILDING WRITERS Links to an external site.

[personal note: Long ago, I used to sing "I'm A Believer" in clubs. My wife strongly suggested that I not sing it. I didn't believe her, but then I saw her face! (this is a joke - you can laugh now)]

As R&R was leaving the 1950s, different trends emerged: girl groups, teen idols, and dance crazes. All 3 of these trends needed the same thing: new songs. Two men saw this, and created a publishing company, Aldon Music, and set up offices in the Brill Building, and another nearby office building. Al Nevins and Don Kirshner combined their first names to create the name of the company: 

Al Nevins +  Don Kirshner = Aldon.

Aldon Music’s group of young writers included:

Carole King & Gerry Goffin 

Neil Sedaka & Howie Greenfield

Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich

Cynthia Weill & Barry Mann

Bobby Darin

Neil Diamond

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Now let's look at the songwriters individually, and the hits they wrote.

Carole King & Gerry Goffin 

All the writers from the Brill Building were prolific, and Carole King certainly ranks high. Along with her husband Gerry Goffin, they wrote literally dozens of hits, many of them remembered today. Generally, in a writing duo, one person was a "word" person, while the other was a "music" person. Gerry Goffin was the lyricist, and Carole King wrote the music.  Watch this clip on her background:

CAROLE KING DOCUMENTARY Links to an external site.

We are going to listen to 3 of their songs, but we could easily listen to 30.

"Up on the Roof" was named number 114 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 greatest songs of all time. 

JOURNAL:

11. UP ON THE ROOF BY THE DRIFTERS Links to an external site.

"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" was a landmark for both the writing couple and the group who sang it, the Shirelles. In the early days, Gerry Goffin had a job as a chemist. Carole King said when "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"  hit it big, "Gerry quit his day job!" It was their first big hit, and historically, the first girl group record to go to #1 on the charts. With this song, 3 questions on the worksheet are answered: 

9. Who was the most successful of the girl groups? The Shirelles.

11. What was the first #1 girl group record: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"

12. Who wrote "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" Carole King.

(Note: if it seems like answers to these questions are jumping up and down the page, there is a reason. When you talk about the Brill Building, you are also talking about girl groups, producers Leiber and Stoller, and Phil Spector. All these subjects overlap)

JOURNAL:

12. WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW BY THE SHIRELLES Links to an external site.

Later, we will study the "British Invasion," where groups from England made strong inroads into the U.S. charts. One of these groups was Herman's Hermits, and their 1st big hit was a King/Goffin song:

JOURNAL:

13. I'M INTO SOMETHING GOOD, BY HERMAN'S HERMITS Links to an external site.

Carole King's discography is so vast, there is a show about her music:

BEAUTIFUL - THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL Links to an external site.

Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield

Here is a look at the life of Neil Sedaka:

NEIL SEDAKA - BRILL BUILDING Links to an external site.Neil Sedaka, like Carole King, started very young the in music business (he was actually being trained as a classical pianist). He scored early, writing hits for other singers. It soon became apparent, however, that he could sing his own songs just as well as other artists. Our entry for our music journal was a hit for Neil Sedaka in 1962.

JOURNAL:

14. BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO BY NEIL SEDAKA Links to an external site.

Neil Sedaka was "rediscovered" in the '70s, when he was signed to Rocket Records, a label started by Elton John. Many hits followed, and several other artists were doing his songs also. People were saying "Sedaka is back."

One of his hits during this time was also a quirky statistic: He rerecorded his early hit "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," but did it differently, and much slower, and that became a hit! You could say Neil Sedaka covered Neil Sedaka. As far as I know, that is the only time 2 different versions of the same song by the same artist became hits. Listen to his 2nd version (this version starts with a few seconds of the original hit, then goes into the newer version): 

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO - SLOW VERSION Links to an external site.

Different, huh?

[I just read that Neil Sedaka is still performing! Las Vegas this week. 80 years old!]

Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich

Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich were another songwriting team who were married to each other. This is one of their lasting hits, which has been used in many movies. The record starts with the girls singing acappella (which means voices only, no instruments), with the instruments coming in on the 2nd chorus. There are 3 types of "bell sounding" instruments in this song, to indicate church bells:

1. celeste:

CELESTE DEMONSTRATION Links to an external site.

2. orchestra chimes:

ORCHESTRA  CHIMES DEMONSTRATION Links to an external site.

You only hear the chimes once in the song, in the 2nd verse, when the singers sing "Bells will ring..."

3. Orchestra bells:

ORCHESTRA BELLS DEMONSTRATION Links to an external site.

Lots of bells in this song!

JOURNAL:

15. CHAPEL OF LOVE BY THE DIXIE CUPS Links to an external site.

Barry Mann & Cynthia Weill

Our last writing team, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weill, was also a married couple. The next song, "Do Wah Diddy Diddy," was recorded by another British band, Manfred Mann. Nice pop silliness!

JOURNAL:

16. DO WAH DIDDY DIDDY BY MANFRED MANN Links to an external site.

This song was also used in a movie, Stripes, at the end. Pretty funny:

DO WAH DIDDY DIDDY / STRIPES MOVE Links to an external site.

Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin had one of the most complicated lives anyone could have, celebrity or not. His father was a gangster, and he was told his young mother was his sister, to avoid scandal. Finding the truth out later really messed him up. He also had a heart defect, and was not expected to live beyond his teens (he died at age 37). All these factors made him a person determined to make the most of his time. Here is one of his hits, "Dream Lover."

JOURNAL:

17. DREAM LOVER BY BOBBY DARIN Links to an external site.

Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond, like Neil Sedaka, had success as a songwriter, then quickly moved to stardom doing his own songs. His first song to reach the charts, "Solitary Man," is our next Music Journal entry:

JOURNAL:

18. SOLITARY MAN BY NEIL DIAMOND Links to an external site.

There are some nice trombones in that song.

Here is an interesting story Neil Diamond wrote about that song, while he was still an unknown writer:

"Solitary Man" was kind of a subconscious thing. I didn't realize I was talking about myself, but it was a song that I'd written, worked on, in the hopes that Bobby Darin would sing it. This was back in 1965. I remember taking the demo and the lead sheet in a cab in New York, going over to his record office. About halfway there, I asked the cab driver to pull over and stop, because I realized I didn't want him to sing it, I wanted to sing it. Then I got out of the car, and walked back to my office, and that was the end of my writing career, and the beginning of my performing career.

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For further study, if you are interested:

BOBBY DARIN BIOGRAPHY Links to an external site.

Now that you have finished this portion of Worksheet 3, go on to Module 3.2