I remember when this aired on the radio. I always thought it was The Beatles. It took awhile to remember its America.
But why? Is it the chords? It starts with a bar of A, one bar Amaj7, and then a bar of Em7, Dm7. The maj7 chord is very distinctive. It was used a lot in the 60’s. The two minor 7th chords in the 3rd bar are so pretty. I love playing this on the piano.
The melody sounds so darn familiar but I can’t point to a specific Beatles song. It just has that warm Beatles feeling.
Do you get the same reaction? Which Beatles song does this sound like?
Honestly, I’m not getting a whole lotta Beatles…maybe a hint of McCartney. (To be fair, I really don’t think any of the “Beatles-esque” bands really sound like the Beatles to me, not even Klaatu.)
Martin did influence the production on this one. I Need You is a departure from the guitar driven, Horse With No Name, Ventura Highway, and Sister Golden Hair.
That’s a good point kenobi. America History Greatest Hits is the album I listen to regularly. I don’t have the original studio albums. It’s the remix of I Need You that I’m familiar with.
That first album, also called America, is a fine debut. Lots of listenable songs in the pop rock CSN/California style. Oddly, it was released without “A Horse with No Name.” When the single hit number one, it was put on the re-release of the album, which then also hit number one. The heat was hot but so were the giant bags of money it brought in.
Well, the first two chords are reminiscent in doing that (somewhat cliche, but not in a bad way) A to Amaj7 thing (“Something” goes C to Cmaj7), but after that it diverges quite a bit, and it doesn’t have the playfulness and musical interest of “Somthing,” IMHO. (Full disclosure: “Something” is perhaps my favorite Beatles tune.)
As Hampshire and pulykamell note, the two or so bars starting at 0:21 does resemble the melody to “Something” (over the lyrics ‘attracts me like no other…’) But I can’t identify anything else that sounds Beatlesque.
The vocal with piano accompaniment reminds me a little of Lennon’s solo work.
I have a short list of songs/albums (mostly from the 80s or early 90s) that give me a distinct Beatles vibe (which in at least some cases I assume is deliberate). Not counting obvious Beatles pastiches like The Rutles or Utopia’s album Deface the Music, my list includes
Love Divine - Phil Keaggy (reminds me of “All My Loving”)
At the first couple of piano chords (and very simple fingering), I thought “Hey, Gerrry Beckley and Paul McCartney are at the same level of skill on the piano.”
At first, it reminded me of “Baby I’m Amazed” or “Let It Be” (but even less soulful…). Halfway through the song I thought “No, I know what this reminds me of… slow dancing at middle school dances.”
(note: that’s not a good thing…)
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I have a short list of songs/albums (mostly from the 80s or early 90s) that give me a distinct Beatles vibe
eta: THIS is a great idea. I’m going to do this… (and it made me realize that the answer to “Which musicians from the mid-60s to the present day were influenced by the Beatles?” is D: All of them
A Canadian song that has often been called Beatles-like is Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy by Michael Pagliaro. In particular when he sings “nobody knows but it’s you-ooh-ooh, whoa oh”, I think.
