TRIPSITTER: "Anaheim, Azusa" Vocals - Jan Berry Tribute Album

[Mark A. Moore]

"They come from Anaheim, Auzsa, and Cucamonga too . . ."

If you want to hear a truly authentic Jan Berry vocal arrangement for Jan & Dean . . . with harmonies lifted directly from Jan's original music scores (1964) . . . then check out Tripsitter's new recording of "Anaheim, Azusa" . . . slated for inclusion on our forthcoming Jan Berry / Jan & Dean Tribute Album. (Music and arrangement by Jan Berry, with lyrics by Roger Christian and Don Altfeld).

This stunning "a cappella" rendering of the vocal arrangement for "Anaheim" (which will be one of our bonus tracks) not only reveals that Jan & Dean's vocal arrangements were indeed on par with the Beach Boys in 1964 . . . but it highlights the vocal genius of Tripsitter, one of Las Vegas's finest pop bands.

Tripsiter has played a number of high-profile gigs, including the official Beach Boys Landmark Dedication, and has played shows with orignal Beach Boy Al Jardine, and others.

Musically, "Anaheim" is based on a chorale that late-Baroque-era composer J. S. Bach harmonized in several different formats . . . Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich (a traditional German Christmas song). Jan took a class on Bach at UCLA in the summer of '64 . . . and this will not be the only Bach-influenced piece that ends up on our album.

For those unfamiliar with this song, we urge you to be patient during the brief breaks between the vocal lines. The instrumental track has its own deep level of sophistication . . . but right now, we're celebreating the vocal parts.

Enjoy the preview. . . "Anaheim" is a far cry from "Surf City":

ANAHEIM VOCALS - "A CAPPELLA"

Mark A. Moore

TRIPSITTER: Jeff Celentano, Jon Celentano, Matt Bennett, Rusty Petersen, and Jared Dalley

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Mark:  What a treat to be able to hear clearly all the parts, including ones nearly obscured by the track.  And while of course, in my heart of hearts, I'd prefer to hear Jan and the Baggys presented in a sparkling new A Capella mix, this is really well sung.

I do have a question, though.  I transcribed the J&D recording, and one part of this Tripsitter version doesn't match the recording I transcribed, the reharmonized chorus part right before the "go grannies" tag.  It sounds like some of the parts have been swapped, like the very Bach-like bassline now seems to be in the second tenor part and the baritone part seems to be down an octave.  Did Jan write out a few versions, usng different inversions? Here's my transcription of the part I'm talking about, forgive the messiness:



How does that compare to Jan's score?  I'm sure he was smart enough to notate it in E rather than a neutral key having to use all those accidentals.

Anyhow, thanks for sharing this Mark. 

[Mark A. Moore]

Josh,

Yours is pretty close . . .

Jan did actually score "Anaheim" in a neutral Key, in terms of the instrumentation . . . something he almost never did. But he scored the vocals separately, in the Key of E. (Again, an exception to Jan's usual tact). "Batman," for example, . . . both vocally and instrumentally, was scored all in the same key (as you would expect).

So, in putting our overall score together for "Anaheim,"  I transposed the vocals (using Finale)  to match the instrumental arrangement.

The parts, on paper, are very specific . . . but there's always those few extra tweaks that they made in the studio, on the spot . . . be it for vocals, or instrumentally . . . and thus those are not always reflected in the scores or charts. And Camron and I deal with these issues as they arise.

Thus, you'll find that our album will be a hybrid of sorts. Sometimes we'll be using what was actually written, as opposed to what they actually recorded (simply because it's really cool) . . . and sometimes we'll be making slight changes, to accommodate for their tweaks in the studio . . . to more closely match what they actually played.

For example, Jan and his team wrote some incredible string parts for "Laurel & Hardy" . . . yet they were cut for the final version. But they're so amazing that I restored those string parts to our score, for our version that will appear on the album (for the first time anywhere).

But the bottom line is, it's all still authentic. We're lifting this stuff directly from the original raw materials . . . which means we're really not introducing our own arrangements into the project. We're just adapting Jan's (and his team's) originals as necessary.

Also, in the originals, the time signatures are different than your transcripton. That section before the tag flows between 4/4 and 2/4 time . . . and that's something that Jan did on a lot of his stuff. He liked to throw a bar of 2/4 in the mix . . . and "Dead Man's Curve" and "Batman" are prime examples.

Mark M.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Thanks Mark.

Yeah, I figured there might be a bar or two of 2/4 in there.  If I had to do it again, I'd notate it with the E key signature and put the barlines elsewhere.  I'd lost a step since my college days of transcribing Mahavishnu Orchestra songs...

[Rocker]

Mark, this sounds fantastic. I hope that album will do well...

[Chris Brown]

Sounds absolutely amazing!  I've been listening over and over all night, such a cool vocal arrangement!