Castanets on songs

[Dave]

Hey, the "Percussion Thing": I hear that sort of sound on certain songs w/ percussion (Replicating that very Crystals "Be My Baby") on anything from Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy", to Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom" (played by Ray Cooper--and anything from England w/ Percussion is definitely RAY!) to the Alan Parsons Projects Eve album...

The description of "Rock-based rhythm sections" that I read in a book, I can sure hear some "percussive" sound punctuating such--and Frankie Vali & The Four Seasons, headed by the late-Bob Crewe made that approach into tradition, that inventive...! (An excerpt from THE ROLLING STONE RECORD GUIDE, 2nd Ed.--the blue book, Dave Marsh, for those wondering about my Footnote)

But, if there one album you hear Countless Castanets, like crazy, on nearly song and passages of songs, then listen to guitarist Gabor Szabo's Bacchannal played by Hal Gordon (on which the liner notes state him 'being one of the BEST percussionists, born without a single Latin chromosome')...



-- Dave

 

[AM Matt]

Also forgot about Elton John "Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny)" (Tribute to the late John Lennon) (from 1982 "Jump Up!") which I saw Elton performed on "Saturday Night Live" (with the late Johnny Cash hosting) from 1982 which was repeated April 4. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[Dave]

...the Alan Parsons Projects EVE album...



-- Dave

Turn Of A Friendly Card, as well...


-- Dave

 

[JeffM]

Oh, yeah, Alan Parsons! Especially "Don't Answer Me!"

 

[Dave]

Oh, yeah, Alan Parsons! Especially "Don't Answer Me!"

Y'know?!--I was just thinking about that one, and it got too late to add, via "Editing", and "Can't Take It With You" from Pyramid is also one I forgot to mention--and I had just listened to it along w/ a few other APP albums, post-I Robot and post-Tales Of Mystery when they got into the "_____"--the sound those 'called "chestnuts" things' make!



-- Dave

 

[JeffM]

Castanets roasting on an open fire?

 

[Dave]

The "Asssplunqukt!" sound strikes again! Supertramp's "The Logical Song" (seems as though I've been Déjà vu w/ hearing their stuff lately) has 'em, too...--Castaños...! --Castanets...! (Eh, I gotta neeebbo!)


-- Dave

 

[BarryT60]

Listening to Richard's Say Yeah.... there are castanets utilized very effectively on that tune as well...

 

[Dave]

Are we getting carried away w/ this idea or this instrument--or instrumentS--that EVERYTHING we listen to or have heard w/ percussion like this, has castanets in it?!

Just heard this on Bryan Adams' "Run To You", which had come at me on the radio--the car radio & when better than you gotta get away, in my case getting off work (& my classic rock radio station's YEARS IN YOUR EARS WEEKEND program spotlighting 1984--yeh, something from Van Halen's '1984' album--"Panama", (of which you gotta hear Pat Boone's version w/ a "cleaned-up" spoken line from his In A Metal Mood) followed?)...

I'm talking the sound from the "Asplunkt" we've discussed to the sound of ice breaking... In this case if you check out the vid' from Adams' Reckless album, you'll see there are only drums & not any true percussion:



Or should I verify anything back when this was in our AOTW discussion...?

Eh, there's also Lulu's "I Could Never Miss You More Than I Do"--Ray Cooper there, who'd played on other tracks of her S/T comeback album from 1981 & a number of her other works...


-- Dave

 

[Another Son]

As a kid, I used to try to play the spoons along to 'Only Yesterday', to imitate the castanet sound.

 

[Another Son]

PS / what is the sound - or instrument that is used in Hurting Each Other when Karen says, Closer than the leaves... (5 tones of something oh-so-wonderful the echos) it repeats again after Closer dear are we... It's a percussion thing happening - but I never knew what the heck it was....

I agree! It's a REALLY nice sound...... whatever it is.....

 

[Dave]

OK, back to castanets that actually sound like CASTANETS! A Pat Boone non-LP Single "I Want It That Way" (b/w "I'd Rather Die Young", the next-to-last album track from Past Boone Sings Golden Country Hits)...

It's got a neat little plot: The lyrics go, "If loving you means tears and sorrow, then heartache is the price I'll gladly pay"... Nice li'l '45' to accompany the actual LP...


-- Dave

 

[Dave]

Holy Vinnie Barbarino! (Yeh, yeh...) There's yet another place w/ some catchy castanet grooves & that's "Sandy", the song John Travolta sings on the movie Grease...

Only the version I have is NOT the original that Danny Zuko is crooning after Sandy dumps him (slamming the car door on his--, well...) but by Sha-Na-Na... YES, SHA-NA-NA!!!!--This is a CD entitled One More Saturday Night, and bought for a Pat Boone appearance that I had to have right down to the fact I probably bought this thing new for it and it's one of the two bonus tracks "Blue", which Pat joins the groups on...

(I'm no fan of this junk food dog & pony show--and fortunately the seller sent me another CD (used) w/ the group's better-known songs on it, of which I only like a few such as the opener, "Top 40", but otherwise have little use for...)

I, too, did not really want any of money going into supporting...

That should read "MY money" supporting; didn't want to post again there... Refer to this thread, for more correlation:

http://forum.amcorner.com/threads/songs-you-love-by-artists-you-cant-stand.8262/page-4#post-145769



-- Dave

 

[Dave]

Well, here's an "oldies" treatment of castanets reminiscent of from when The Ronnetts' "Be My Baby" came out, to the myriad number of remakes (did you know Blue Öoyster Cult covered it?) to Bette Midler's cover of Billy Joel's "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" (Hmmmm, come to think of it, BJ may have used 'em there, too--or should have!)...

We're talkin' Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" featuring the guest appearance by Ronnie Spector who sang the original "Be My Baby", doting that line & the "chestnuts" on that chestnut (yes, I like that song & a number of other tunes Money did down to the treatment of that borrowed line, on that one) heard throughout...


-- Dave

 

[Dave]

Elton John "Step Into Christmas", and "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" were recently heard by me--yep, castanets, there, too...

John Tesh "Carol Of The Bells" remind me of my family's very old set of Enclyclopedia Brittanicas (dating back to the 1950's;we got rid of them as they aged about one-to-two books at a time) where the chapter on Orchestra show, in addition to string, brass, woodwind and some percussion instruments, long-traditional to the orchestra, show as "Special Effects" a guitar & castanets, there...


-- Dave

 

[Dave]

Forgot the use on one song by one group fascinated w/ Latin rhythms and even often sings songs in Spanish, although employing on one such song in English: The Sandpipers "Things We Said Today"...

Trini Lopez, as well: Donovan's "Lalena" as "Laleña"... (And sung in Español...)

Come to think of it doesn't Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" from his double-album, The River, (Hey, it's the 35th Anniversary of that album!) have them as well? And maybe some of The Boss's other songs?



-- Dave

 

[Dave]

Does Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" have 'em? (So many instruments played at the climax of that song, it shouldn't surprise me...)

Blue Öyster Cult used 'em on "True Confessions", a track on their Agents Of Fortune album... (And a group that never forgets where it came from, often employing a doo-wop type of number there, saw fit to record a cover of The Ronnettes "Be My Baby" as a bonus track on Agents'... follow-up album Spectres on their 2001 CD reissue of... Maybe it was mentioned...)


-- Dave

 

[Dave]

Did a Search before I would post this, and found I did not mention; and it's long-overdue:

Roxy Music Avalon... The late-Jim Maelen (he died in 1988) played 'em & even toured w/ the group... The song most notable in the use of castanets, there, is "The Space Between", the second song on Side 1...

But it is heard lightly on a few others: "To Turn You On", "Take A Chance With Me" and "The Main Thing"...

Love that album--it makes for pleasant background/mood music...


-- Dave

 

[AM Matt]

The song "Dance Away" by Roxy Music (from 1979 "Manifesto") also has castanets!! Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[Dave]

So does (Surprise!) "Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones; heard today...



-- Dave

 

[rbisherw]

Beach Boys - Help me Rhonda.

 

[Superstar]

Can someone make an edit of 'Only Yesterday' without the castanets? Thanks to this thread, that's all I hear now, when I listed to this song. It was a favorite.

 

[newvillefan]

Can someone make an edit of 'Only Yesterday' without the castanets? Thanks to this thread, that's all I hear now, when I listed to this song. It was a favorite.

Unfortunately the only person who can do that is Richard.

 

[Harry]

My SACD 2-channel downmix of the song has the castanets greatly reduced.

 

[Dave]

OK, this song, I think has a casta-NET: (singular, not plural)



BJ Thomas' "Hooked On Feling" has that "Dolt" noise, which I also hear on a few Kenny Rogers songs, such as "Coward Of The Country", "The Gambler" and "Love Will Turn You Around"...

Surely it should be no surprise for one or both of these performers to point out and demonstrate its origin at one of their concerts...

Otherwise, enjoy the sound of Casta-NETS (plural) on David Bowie's "Let's Dance":





-- Dave