1.
Single (music)
–
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
2.
Paul McCartney and Wings
–
Wings were noted for frequent personnel changes as well as commercial success, going through three lead guitarists and four drummers. Created following the McCartneys 1971 album Ram, the bands first two albums, Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway, were viewed as artistic disappointments beside Paul McCartneys work with the Beatles. After the release of the track of the James Bond movie Live and Let Die, McCullough. The McCartneys and Laine then released 1973s Band on the Run, following that album, the band recruited guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton, only for Britton to quit shortly afterwards and be replaced by Joe English. With the new line-up, Wings released Venus and Mars, which included the US number one single Listen to What the Man Said, and undertook a highly successful world tour over 1975–76. Intended as more of an effort, Wings at the Speed of Sound was issued midway through the tour and featured the hit singles Silly Love Songs. In 1977, the band earned their only UK number one single, with Mull of Kintyre, Wings experienced another line-up shuffle, however, with both McCulloch and English departing before the release of the groups 1978 album London Town. The McCartneys and Laine again added new members, recruiting guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holley, the resulting album, Back to the Egg, was a relative flop, with its singles under-performing and the critical reception negative. During the supporting tour, Paul McCartney was arrested in Japan for cannabis possession, despite a final US number one, the live version of McCartneys solo single Coming Up, Wings broke up permanently in 1981. After the Beatles break-up in 1970, McCartney recorded two albums, McCartney, credited to himself, and Ram, with wife Linda, Ram was recorded in New York City, where McCartney auditioned a number of drummers and guitarists, selecting Seiwell and guitarist David Spinozza. When Spinozza became unavailable due to other commitments, Hugh McCracken was enlisted to take his place. After the release of Ram, McCartney decided to form a new group and asked Seiwell, Seiwell accepted, but McCracken declined, so McCartney invited Denny Laine, whom he had known since the early 1960s, to join. He said, Nothing, so I said, Right, Laine then dropped plans for his album there and then. In August 1971, Seiwell and Laine joined Paul and Linda McCartney to record Pauls third post-Beatles album for Apple Records, the result was Wild Life, released 7 December. It was the first project to credit Wings as the artist, the band name is said to have come to McCartney as he was praying in the hospital while Linda was giving birth to their second child together, Stella, on 13 September 1971. Paul McCartney recalled in the film Wingspan that the birth of Stella was a bit of a drama, there were complications at the birth and he was praying fervently and the image of wings came to his mind. He decided to name his new band Wings, in an attempt to capture the spontaneity of live performances, five of Wild Lifes eight songs were first takes by the band. The album included a cover of Mickey & Sylvias Love Is Strange, like Ram, Wild Life left music critics cold, a response that typified the anti-McCartney sentiments that prevailed among the music press following the Beatles break-up
3.
Venus and Mars (Wings album)
–
Venus and Mars is the fourth studio album by Wings. Released in 1975 as the follow-up to the successful Band on the Run, Venus and Mars continued Wings string of success and it was Paul McCartneys first post-Beatles album to be released worldwide on the Capitol Records label. After recording Band on the Run as a three-piece with wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine, McCartney added Jimmy McCulloch on lead guitar and Geoff Britton on drums to the Wings line-up in 1974. Having written several new songs for the album, McCartney decided on New Orleans, Louisiana as the recording venue. A replacement, American Joe English, was quickly auditioned and hired to finish the album, the sessions proved to be productive, not only finishing the entire album, but also several additional songs, including two future McCartney B-sides, Lunch Box/Odd Sox and My Carnival. McCartney also decided to link the songs much like the Beatles had on Abbey Road to give the album a more continuous feel. Lennons planned visit never happened due to his reunion with Yoko Ono, preceded by the single Listen to What the Man Said in May 1975, Venus and Mars appeared two weeks later to decent reviews and brisk sales. The album reached number 1 in the United States, the United Kingdom, the reaction was less than what had greeted Band on the Run a year earlier, however. To fit the title, the photographs of the Wings were shot in the Mojave desert to capture a group photograph in an outerworldly location. Hipgnosis did the art design, incorporating billiard balls and cues in the lettering, two additional singles, Letting Go and Venus and Mars/Rock Show, were released. Although the latter almost reached the US top ten, it did not chart at all in the UK. In September, Wings began what would be their year-long Wings Over the World tour in the UK, with concerts in Australia, Europe, songs from Venus and Mars featured heavily in the concert setlist. The album was first issued on disc by Columbia Records in 1983, although early pressings were pressed in Japan by CSR Compact Disc. This CD was one of the first pressed at CBS/Sonys Digital Audio Disc Plant in Terre Haute, the Columbia McCartney Discs are prized by audiophiles for their mastering. In 1993, Venus and Mars was remastered and reissued on CD as part of The Paul McCartney Collection series with Zoo Gang, Lunch Box/Odd Sox and My Carnival as bonus tracks. In 2007, the album was reissued in digital form on iTunes with the bonus tracks. In 2014 the album was re-issued by Hear Music/Concord Music Group as part of the set of releases, alongside Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was released in multiple formats, the reissue was accompanied by the Record Store Day exclusive edition of Letting Go single
4.
A-side and B-side
–
The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78,45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records, whether singles, extended plays, or long-playing records. Creedence Clearwater Revival had hits with both A-side and B-side releases, others took the opposite approach, producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side, the earliest 10-inch,78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double-sided recordings, with one song on side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations did not play recorded music until the 1950s, in this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important, the side did not convey anything about the content of the record. The term single came into use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side, under this random system, many artists had so-called double-sided hits, where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts, or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places. As time wore on, however, the convention for assigning songs to sides of the record changed. By the early sixties, the song on the A-side was the song that the company wanted radio stations to play. It was not until 1968, for instance, that the production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom. In the late 1960s stereo versions of pop and rock songs began to appear on 45s. The majority of the 45s were played on AM radio stations, by the early 1970s, double-sided hits had become rare. Album sales had increased, and B-sides had become the side of the record where non-album, non-radio-friendly, with the advent of cassette and compact disc singles in the late 1980s, the A-side/B-side differentiation became much less meaningful. With the decline of cassette singles in the 1990s, the A-side/B-side dichotomy became virtually extinct, as the dominant medium. However, the term B-side is still used to refer to the tracks or coupling tracks on a CD single. With the advent of downloading music via the Internet, sales of CD singles and other media have declined. B-side songs may be released on the record as a single to provide extra value for money. There are several types of material released in this way, including a different version, or, in a concept record
5.
Listen to What the Man Said
–
Listen to What the Man Said is a hit single from Wings 1975 album Venus and Mars. The song featured new member Joe English on drums, with guest musicians Dave Mason on guitar and it was a number 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, as well, it reached number 1 in Canada on the RPM National Top Singles Chart. It also reached number 6 in the UK, and reached the top ten in Norway and New Zealand, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies. Listen to What the Man Said was recorded in early 1975 by Wings during their New Orleans sessions for Venus and it was a song which Paul McCartney had high hopes for, but early recordings did not live up to the songs potential. McCartney said in 1975 of his opinion of the song. Whenever I would play it on the piano, people would say ‘Oh, I like that one. ’ But when we did the backing track, after Mason added guitar overdubs, the band was still dissatisfied. However, once Scott recorded the sax solo, the band was satisfied, although several takes of the solo were recorded, the very first take was the one that was used. McCartney said of Tom Scotts impact on the track, Someone said ‘Tom Scott lives near here. ’ We said, yeah, give him a ring, see if he turns up, and he turned up within half an hour. There he was, with his sax, and he sat down in the studio playing through and we kept all the notes he was playing casually. He came in and I said ‘I think that’s it. ’ He said ‘Did you record that. ’ I said yes, no one could believe it, so he went out and tried a few more, but they weren’t as good. He’d had all the feel on this take, the first take. The effect of a kiss smack heard on the track was recorded by engineer Alan ODuffy, the end of the song also features a small link used to transition into the next song on Venus and Mars, Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People. You either have to leave it and slop Listen to What the Man Said dead or you spill over into the next little link piece, I just like that link myself, and thought no ones going to mind that little extra on the record. The song is a love song. Even though love may be blind or may cause separated lovers to suffer and this is in accordance with what “the man” said. “The man” is not explicitly identified, but might be God, author Vincent Benitez believes that, McCartney is advising everyone to stick with the basics of life, which for him means focusing on love. The song is in the key of G major, allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Listen to What the Man Said a typically sweet and lovely melody. Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone called it catchy and as fine an example of slick, professional entertainment
6.
Rock music
–
It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by blues, rhythm and blues and country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of genres such as electric blues and folk. Musically, rock has centered on the guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar. Typically, rock is song-based music usually with a 4/4 time signature using a verse-chorus form, like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political in emphasis. Punk was an influence into the 1980s on the subsequent development of subgenres, including new wave, post-punk. From the 1990s alternative rock began to rock music and break through into the mainstream in the form of grunge, Britpop. Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the visually distinctive goth and emo subcultures and this trio of instruments has often been complemented by the inclusion of other instruments, particularly keyboards such as the piano, Hammond organ and synthesizers. The basic rock instrumentation was adapted from the blues band instrumentation. A group of musicians performing rock music is termed a rock band or rock group, Rock music is traditionally built on a foundation of simple unsyncopated rhythms in a 4/4 meter, with a repetitive snare drum back beat on beats two and four. Melodies are often derived from older musical modes, including the Dorian and Mixolydian, harmonies range from the common triad to parallel fourths and fifths and dissonant harmonic progressions. Critics have stressed the eclecticism and stylistic diversity of rock, because of its complex history and tendency to borrow from other musical and cultural forms, it has been argued that it is impossible to bind rock music to a rigidly delineated musical definition. These themes were inherited from a variety of sources, including the Tin Pan Alley pop tradition, folk music and rhythm, as a result, it has been seen as articulating the concerns of this group in both style and lyrics. Christgau, writing in 1972, said in spite of some exceptions, rock and roll usually implies an identification of male sexuality, according to Simon Frith rock was something more than pop, something more than rock and roll. Rock musicians combined an emphasis on skill and technique with the concept of art as artistic expression, original. The foundations of music are in rock and roll, which originated in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its immediate origins lay in a melding of various musical genres of the time, including rhythm and blues and gospel music, with country. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music for a multi-racial audience, debate surrounds which record should be considered the first rock and roll record. Other artists with rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis
7.
Capitol Records
–
Capitol Records, LLC is an American record label which operates as a division of the Capitol Music Group. The label was founded as the first West Coast-based record label in the United States in 1942 by three industry insiders named Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs, in 1955, the label was acquired by the British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary. EMI was later acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 and was merged with the company in 2013, making Capitol Records, Capitol Records circular headquarter building located in Los Angeles is a recognized landmark of California. Mercer first raised the idea of starting a company while golfing with Harold Arlen. By 1941, Mercer was a songwriter and a singer with multiple successful releases. Mercer next suggested the idea to Wallichs while visiting his record store, Wallichs expressed interest in the idea and the pair negotiated an agreement whereby Mercer would run the company and identify their artists, while Wallichs managed the business side. On February 2,1942, Mercer and Wallichs met with DeSylva at a Hollywood restaurant to inquire about the possibility of investment of the company from Paramount Pictures, while DeSylva declined the proposal, he handed the pair a check worth $15,000. On March 27,1942, the three men incorporated as Liberty Records, in May 1942, the application was amended to change the companys name to Capitol Records. On April 6,1942, Mercer supervised Capitols first recording session where Martha Tilton recorded the song Moon Dreams, on May 5, Bobby Sherwood and his orchestra recorded two tracks in the studio. On May 21, Freddie Slack and his orchestra recorded three tracks in the studio, one with the orchestra, one with Ella Mae Morse called Cow-Cow Boogie, on June 4,1942, Capitol opened its first office in a second-floor room south of Sunset Boulevard. On that same day, Wallichs presented the companys first free record to Los Angeles disc jockey Peter Potter, on June 5,1942, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra recorded four songs at the studio. On June 12, the recorded five more songs in the studio. On June 11, Tex Ritter recorded Jingle Jangle Jingle and Goodbye My Little Cherokee for his first Capitol recording session, and the songs formed Capitols 110th produced record. 133 - Get On Board Little Chillun - July 31,1942 - is a Freddie Slack/Ella Mae Morse/Mellowaires recording that might be the first rock n roll record and she has sometimes been called the first rock n roll singer. A good example is her 1942 recording of song which, with strong gospel, blues, boogie. Bone Walker recorded Mean Old World a pioneering example of the use of electric guitar. The earliest recording artists included co-owner Mercer, Whiteman, Tilton, Morse, Margaret Whiting, Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers, Johnnie Johnston, Tex Ritter, Capitols first gold single was Morses Cow Cow Boogie in 1942. Capitols first album was Capitol Presents Songs By Johnny Mercer, a three 78-rpm disc set with recordings by Mercer, Stafford and the Pied Pipers, all with Westons Orchestra
8.
Songwriter
–
A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
