Today’s coincidence may get a little messy (it involves at least four different artists), but I’ll try to be as concise as I can.
A couple of weeks ago I heard Al Green‘s “I’m Still In Love With You” over at Popdose. At the 1:02 mark in the song there’s a little riff played on the strings. This is it:
Al Green – “I’m Still In Love With You“ (1972) (excerpt)
The first half of that tiny, tiny riff reminds me of one of the riffs melodies* in Tchaikovsky‘s 1812 Overture:
Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture (excerpt)
(Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sian Edwards)
Incidentally, that Tchaikovsky riff melody features rather prominently in another pop song:
The Move – “Night Of Fear“ (1966) (excerpt)
Apparently that was deliberate, so it really shouldn’t be here (i.e., it’s not a coincidence), but what the hey (i.e., why not?). That Al Green violin riff on the other hand was coincidental. (Maybe.)
Here are the full versions:
Al Green – “I’m Still In Love With You“ (1972)
Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture (excerpt)
(Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sian Edwards)
The Move – “Night Of Fear“ (1966) (excerpt)
Oh, and one more thing:
This is the cover of Al Green’s album I’m Still In Love With You:
As soon as I saw that wicker chair I remembered this Al Di Meola album from 1978:
And then I remembered this:
That’s the photo on the back cover of ABBA‘s 1975 self-titled album:
Here’s the front:
Wicker chairs sure were popular in the Seventies.
(*Can you call melodies in classical music “riffs”?)
Posted by Peter 