Rich Coffey Instrumentals
Customed-crafted arrangements of Standards, Contemporary Hits, Spirituals, etc.
Studio - Arrangements:
- Traditional -
- mixed register trombone, Rhodes electric piano
Cleaned up and Reposted - 6/29/2021
Comments
I have always had a special love of this song. Aside from it’s beautiful stark and simple melody; it’s origin as an early American love song paints a poignant picture of a kind of “Romeo and Juliet” troubled love that tried to reach out and bridge boundaries. A vividly reverent tribute to both nature AND a lovestruck canoe-going trader who wants to marry the daughter of Shenandoah, a Native American chief, this song is an emotional gem on many levels. Shenandoah
Music
Usually in the Key of D, I have lowered it to C as the trombone sounds very rich in the lower register. The harmony in the verse was loosely reworked from a Keith Jarrett version I found online and I added the intro motif and middle vamp.
The beautiful sound of the Fender Rhodes electric piano is featured (I love the Rhodes!). This is handled by the Roland MKS-20, an amazingly expressive rack mounted piano module that I just had repaired (cost a fortune but worth it!).
Details on the Roland MKS-20
The Roland MKS-20 was an innovative rack mounted digital piano module that was not based on samples, but rather on a type of early additive re-synthesis called “Structured Adaptive®” or “SA” synthesis. This ground-breaking technology provided an extremely expressive response, compared to the limited sampling technology of that era.
The MKS-20 design cleverly combined the digital side of the instrument with high-quality analog components and effects, resulting in a far warmer sound than most keyboards of the day. Velocity-triggered algorithms activated harmonic combinations which mimicked the naturally-occurring color changes of mechanical keyboards. Each of the 128 velocities had its own discrete color for each key, resulting in a highly expressive and organic sound.
American Folk Song
I remember singing this southern Appalachian folk song as a kid in elementary music class and it stuck in my head every since! It is also often titled: “Every Night When the Sun Goes In”. It's a very beautiful yet plaintive melody. My simple arrangement features the acoustic guitar with trombones.
Shelby Flint does a beautiful version of the tune, a few other versions are listed below as well.
- Shelby Flint
- Gwyneth Walker - Nice Choir arrangement
View the PDF transcription while listening to the MP3 - Jo Stafford with the Starliters vocal group
Country with with a 40s vocal pop and blues twinge - National Taiwan University Chorus
- I recently learned from online research the meaning of “Marbletown” (Wow - this is a very moving and tragic).
The term Marbletown is referring to the graveyard. She is speaking of dying. The gravestones were made of marble and the cemetery is a small town of marble with many souls dwelling there. This is a desperately sad traditional folk song about a young girl who becomes pregnant and finds that the father of the child will have nothing to do with her once he finds out.
- Source