Was "When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)" the first rock song to use a harpsichord?

[SMiLE-addict]

I suppose the next question would be, Why did the harpsichord suddenly become a popular instrument in rock/pop bands (aside from the fact it sounds kinda neat  ). Seems ironic that a genre of music which started out as a youthful rebellion against classical, swing and in general the music of the "establishment" ended up using the very same kind of instruments those other genres did!

Maybe the kids grew up and decided the music their parents listened to wasn't so bad after all. 

[guitarfool2002]

I suppose the next question would be, Why did the harpsichord suddenly become a popular instrument in rock/pop bands (aside from the fact it sounds kinda neat  ). Seems ironic that a genre of music which started out as a youthful rebellion against classical, swing and in general the music of the "establishment" ended up using the very same kind of instruments those other genres did!

Maybe the kids grew up and decided the music their parents listened to wasn't so bad after all. 

It became a trend, the whole "Baroque" sound coming into pop and rock music in the mid 60's. Once a hit record has a certain "new sound", it gets copied by others. One of the main reasons I can cite would be that many of the keyboardists playing on those records had come from a classical background, and I can point to the examples of Peter Tork and the guy from The Left Banke as two musicians who added harpsichord to their hit singles of the day and who had a classical background in how they learned to play. Tork for one loved the harpsichord and playing Bach, and it's neat to hear him tell the story of how they rigged up a harpsichord onto a bicycle for him in a Monkees episode (the one with Julie Newmar).

That influence just found its way into their current music, which happened to be pop/rock. Just like Robbie Kreiger worked his Spanish and Flamenco guitar styles into Doors songs.

[I. Spaceman]

I think the best usage of harpsichord in a rock context is on The Mothers Of Invention's Why Don'tcha Do Me Right. Most rock usage of the instrument leans toward classicism of the rock form. Frank used the instrument to underpin a dirty, churning blues-rock groove, dirtying up the classical.

[Theydon Bois]

It became a trend, the whole "Baroque" sound coming into pop and rock music in the mid 60's. Once a hit record has a certain "new sound", it gets copied by others.

There may also have been an element of bands opportunistically making use of instruments that had been hired in for other musicians' sessions and which had been left in the studio.  (The Zombies are a classic example of this.)

[guitarfool2002]

I think the best usage of harpsichord in a rock context is on The Mothers Of Invention's Why Don'tcha Do Me Right. Most rock usage of the instrument leans toward classicism of the rock form. Frank used the instrument to underpin a dirty, churning blues-rock groove, dirtying up the classical.

That's an interesting example, and compare that to the Harrison song Piggies where I've seen at least one writer be critical of using the harpsichord to play "blue notes" on the instrument. I guess there is/was a certain bias among some music critics when a classical instrument is used outside the box. One of my favorites is Smokey Robinson using bassoon as the hook on "Tears Of A Clown", since the bassoon was used as a comic kind of instrument in some classical music, and Smokey (or whoever it was that made that call on the arrangement) laid it on a killer R&B/rock groove.

[guitarfool2002]

It became a trend, the whole "Baroque" sound coming into pop and rock music in the mid 60's. Once a hit record has a certain "new sound", it gets copied by others.

There may also have been an element of bands opportunistically making use of instruments that had been hired in for other musicians' sessions and which had been left in the studio.  (The Zombies are a classic example of this.)

+1 The Monkees did this too, with a celeste that had been in the studio and which Micky on the HQ Sessions is heard playing and if I remember he didn't know what it was called! That celeste turned up on the album, if I recall, and probably wouldn't have if it were not in that studio.

[Dave Modny]

Anyone know of any - perhaps obscure - rock songs from the early 60's or even the 50's that used a harpsichord?

Certainly don't know if it's one of the earliest, or exactly how much "rock" is needed to qualify, but the first song that popped into my head was Sam Cooke's "That's It - I Quit - I'm Movin' On" from early 1961.

[SMiLE-addict]

Well if there's one thing I can say about this thread, it's that I've heard a lot of songs I never heard before!

That in itself made the question a good one to ask.

[Mitchell]

As an ardent lover of the sound of a harpsichord this thread has some great stuff in it.

Summertime, Summertime was later covered by "Jan and Dean" (actually Dean & friends, I think). That version was produced by Gary Zekley who also had several great harpsichord tracks on the Yellow Balloon album. I imagine Brian would have been familiar with it. J&D also covered Gee and Barbara Ann...

[Mitchell]

Oh, also, according to some liner notes I recently read, the Ronettes' Walkin in the Rain was recorded in September 1964. The Ronettes album is incredible... I wouldn't be surprised if it were a huge influence on Pet Sounds (it also has Be My Baby), even though I never really hear about it (I know Brian's quoted as loving the Christmas album).

[SMiLE-addict]

^
halblaineisgood brought up Walking in the Rain on pg. 2, but we weren't sure when it was recorded. Thanks for the info!

But if it was September, WIGU still beats it by a month (not that it means anything more for this discussion).

[SMiLE-addict]

^
Really? I never noticed it in that song before.

And now that you mention it, it does appear to be in there, though it's completely buried.

Well then ... maybe I Get Around was the first rock song with a harpichord!

Somebody commenting in that link says this song here from 1963 also features a harpsichord, but if it's there it's very hard to discern, even harder than on I Get Around.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I promised myself I'd never come back here but just one last message.

I was listening to a song yesterday and it made me think of this thread and then I thought of another major track that no one here made mention of.

The first is Roy Orbison's Blue Bayou and the second, and perhaps more important is Frankie Avalon's Venus which Brian Wilson on Facebook (I know) mentioned as "one of my top 10 All Time Favorites!" on August 1, 2011.

[SMiLE Brian]

Come back Rockandroll!

[Jim Rockford]

I wonder. What was the last hit song that used one?

[RangeRoverA1]

I promised myself I'd never come back here but just one last message.

I was listening to a song yesterday and it made me think of this thread and then I thought of another major track that no one here made mention of.

The first is Roy Orbison's Blue Bayou and the second, and perhaps more important is Frankie Avalon's Venus which Brian Wilson on Facebook (I know) mentioned as "one of my top 10 All Time Favorites!" on August 1, 2011.

That sentence is totally relevant to the subject of the thread, yep. Only thing's missing is you didn't name any reasons of your leaving. Like how everyone treated you so badly here, falling out with drbeachboy (one of the good posters, btw) etc. etc. But, at least we've got "Blue Bayou" & "Venus".

[halblaineisgood]

.

[JK]

Check out this topic (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15344.0.html) for more examples....
 

[bringahorseinhere?]

does this count??... a big hit in some countries...

jimmie Rodgers - English country garden  (1962?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUyxCP5Rvco&list=PLD288D83D38671F3D

RickB