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Brill Building Rock: The Great Songwriters
Posted on 4/4/12 at 8:28 pm
Posted on 4/4/12 at 8:28 pm
I was going to put this in the "Best songwriting team" but decided it deserves its own thread.
As you can see the BB has a rich history in many forms but this thread will concentrate on rock. The biggest "Brill Building" publisher in the early '60s golden age for the Brill Building sound was Don Kirshner (although his company was actually located at 1650 Broadway).
One of his greatest teams was Gerry Goffin and Carole King (yes, THAT Carole King), who incidentally were married at the time
When the Beatles came to America in 1964 they were quoted as saying that their goal was to "write songs as good as Goffin-King"
Goffin-King and indeed the entire Brill Building would become intricately linked to the Girl Group sound of the early 1960s.
A few Goffin-King songs:
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow"
"The Locomotion"
Goffin & King with Don Kirshner and Little Eva shortly after "The Locomotion" went to #1, 1962:
"Up On The Roof"
"One Fine Day"
"I'm Into Something Good"
"Don't Bring Me Down"
And finally two Byrds cuts:
"Wasn't Born To Follow"
"Goin' Back"
For anyone interested in exploring the Brill Building sound:
The book Always Magic in The Air by Ken Emerson is must reading. I believe the BR public library has at least one copy.
Hitmakers: The Teens Who Stole Pop Music is a very entertaining 90 minute documentary on the Brill building songwriters. It's available as part of "The Songmakers Collection":
LINK
Two album sets:
The Brill Building Sound
Girl Group Sounds: One Kiss Can Lead to Another A great collection but not all the songs are from The Brill Building.
quote:
The Brill Building (built 1931 as the Alan E. Lefcourt Building and designed by Victor Bark Jr. is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the Manhattan borough of New York City, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It is famous for housing music industry offices and studios where some of the most popular American music tunes were written. The building has been described as "the most important generator of popular songs in the Western world.
As you can see the BB has a rich history in many forms but this thread will concentrate on rock. The biggest "Brill Building" publisher in the early '60s golden age for the Brill Building sound was Don Kirshner (although his company was actually located at 1650 Broadway).
One of his greatest teams was Gerry Goffin and Carole King (yes, THAT Carole King), who incidentally were married at the time
When the Beatles came to America in 1964 they were quoted as saying that their goal was to "write songs as good as Goffin-King"
Goffin-King and indeed the entire Brill Building would become intricately linked to the Girl Group sound of the early 1960s.
A few Goffin-King songs:
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow"
"The Locomotion"
Goffin & King with Don Kirshner and Little Eva shortly after "The Locomotion" went to #1, 1962:
"Up On The Roof"
"One Fine Day"
"I'm Into Something Good"
"Don't Bring Me Down"
And finally two Byrds cuts:
"Wasn't Born To Follow"
"Goin' Back"
For anyone interested in exploring the Brill Building sound:
The book Always Magic in The Air by Ken Emerson is must reading. I believe the BR public library has at least one copy.
Hitmakers: The Teens Who Stole Pop Music is a very entertaining 90 minute documentary on the Brill building songwriters. It's available as part of "The Songmakers Collection":
LINK
Two album sets:
The Brill Building Sound
Girl Group Sounds: One Kiss Can Lead to Another A great collection but not all the songs are from The Brill Building.
3
Posted on 4/4/12 at 8:50 pm to Kafka
quote:
"I'm Into Something Good"
love that song. good shite, Kafka
Posted on 4/4/12 at 8:55 pm to quail man
Nilsson
Posted on 4/4/12 at 9:03 pm to Dandy Lion
quote:
Nilsson
He was based out of L.A. but in a wider sense he was part of the songwriter-for-hire scene. He worked with Kirshner later and wrote several songs for the Monkees.
The Monkees -- "Daddy's Song" from the film Head
Posted on 4/4/12 at 9:10 pm to Kafka
I only replied to The Great Songwriters part. 
Posted on 4/4/12 at 9:22 pm to Dandy Lion
Ah... Well this thread is intended to be a tribute/introduction to the Brill Building writers.
Interesting the person you mentioned still had a Kirshner connection.
Harry Nilsson - "The Story Of Rock And Roll" (The Monkees Demos)
Don Kirshner with a very young Bobby Darin (1957?)
Interesting the person you mentioned still had a Kirshner connection.
Harry Nilsson - "The Story Of Rock And Roll" (The Monkees Demos)
Don Kirshner with a very young Bobby Darin (1957?)
Posted on 4/4/12 at 10:26 pm to Kafka
Name me a song that everybody knows
And I'll bet you it belongs to Acuff-Rose
(another great publishing name)
And I'll bet you it belongs to Acuff-Rose
(another great publishing name)
This post was edited on 4/4/12 at 10:33 pm
Posted on 4/4/12 at 10:35 pm to TFTC
quote:
Play me a song that everybody knows
I bet you it was written by Acuff-Rose
(another great publishing name)
Yeah but they deserve a thread of their own
Roy Acuff and Fred Rose, 1953:
Posted on 4/4/12 at 10:51 pm to Kafka
I know... That's a lyric to a song I fricked up originally, that popped into my head when reading the OP
I guess someone can start a thread on that
I guess someone can start a thread on that
Posted on 4/4/12 at 10:57 pm to TFTC
yeah I got the Wilco reference
quote:
I guess someone can start a thread on that
Posted on 4/4/12 at 11:03 pm to Kafka
But you're so good at it....
Back to brill building...
Doc Pomus
Uncle Tupelo
Back to brill building...
Doc Pomus
quote:
Wilco
Uncle Tupelo
This post was edited on 4/4/12 at 11:04 pm
Posted on 4/4/12 at 11:05 pm to TFTC
quote:
Doc Pomus
He and Mort will show up soon I'm sure
Posted on 4/4/12 at 11:18 pm to TFTC
I believe there is a 2 CD set of Jeff Tweedy doing covers (I really like the Wilco version of Moby Grape's "I Am Not Willing" -- not on YouTube unfortunately but here is the original) but that also deserves a thread of its own. Want to keep this focused on the Brill.
Posted on 4/4/12 at 11:20 pm to TFTC
"Acuff-Rose" was UT? Oh well...
Posted on 4/6/12 at 7:07 am to Kafka
Girl Groups - The Story Of A Sound (documentary in 5 parts on YouTube)
As I said in the OP, the girl groups were a major market for the songs created by the Brill Building writers. This 1980s documentary features vintage clips of musical performances as well as interviews with singers like Ronnie Spector (The Ronettes, "Be My Baby") and Darlene Love (sings lead on "He's A Rebel" by the Crystals) and writers like Leiber and Stoller. Even Don Kirshner shows up.
Based on a great book by the late Alan Betrock:
(Good luck finding a copy -- try your local public library)
As I said in the OP, the girl groups were a major market for the songs created by the Brill Building writers. This 1980s documentary features vintage clips of musical performances as well as interviews with singers like Ronnie Spector (The Ronettes, "Be My Baby") and Darlene Love (sings lead on "He's A Rebel" by the Crystals) and writers like Leiber and Stoller. Even Don Kirshner shows up.
Based on a great book by the late Alan Betrock:
(Good luck finding a copy -- try your local public library)
Posted on 4/6/12 at 7:28 am to Kafka
While surfing YouTube I found this:
Trailer for Brill Building documentary
In 4 minutes and 19 seconds it gives a (very) concise intro to the subject. Those with short attention spans might want to start here.
Apparently this was a case where a guy made a trailer to raise money to make the film. The clip says the film is being released this summer. I hope so -- I would love to see it
The filmmaker's home page:
brillbuildingdocumentary.com
Trailer for Brill Building documentary
In 4 minutes and 19 seconds it gives a (very) concise intro to the subject. Those with short attention spans might want to start here.
Apparently this was a case where a guy made a trailer to raise money to make the film. The clip says the film is being released this summer. I hope so -- I would love to see it
The filmmaker's home page:
brillbuildingdocumentary.com
Posted on 9/2/12 at 8:52 am to Kafka
NY Times
Marty Robbins - "The Story Of My Life"
Dionne Warwick - "Walk On By"
Love - "My Little Red Book"
Smith - "Baby Its You"
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself"
quote:
Hal David, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning lyricist who in the 1960s and ’70s gave pop music vernacular the questions “What’s It All About?,” “What’s New, Pussycat?,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” and “What Do You Get When You Fall in Love?,” died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 91.
Mr. David, whose lyrics could be anguished pleas, wistful yearnings, sexy mash notes or wry musings, and sometimes all four in the same song, was best known for the long strand of hits he and the composer Burt Bacharach wrote for Dionne Warwick.
quote:
Many years later, Mr. David wrote on his Web site that he strove for “believability, simplicity and emotional impact” in his lyrics. His words, combined with the frequent slaloms of Mr. Bacharach’s melodies and rhythms, often drew — and required — the most skilled technicians and interpreters of the time. Among them were Dusty Springfield (“Wishin’ and Hopin’,” “The Look of Love”), Gene Pitney (“Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa”) and Karen Carpenter (“Close to You”).
Marty Robbins - "The Story Of My Life"
Dionne Warwick - "Walk On By"
Love - "My Little Red Book"
Smith - "Baby Its You"
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself"
Posted on 9/2/12 at 7:20 pm to Kafka
quote:And they succeeded.
When the Beatles came to America in 1964 they were quoted as saying that their goal was to "write songs as good as Goffin-King"
Not taking away G-K's accomplishments, though.
Posted on 11/16/13 at 10:02 am to Kafka
Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman - "It's Great To Be Young And In Love" -- This is the demo for what would later become (with different lyrics) "Teenager In Love" by Dion & The Belmonts (and you can hear an outtake of that here) performed by its composers.
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