05
13
2009
Albums in the key of….the same??
Listening to the clips of the new Oaks album, I noticed something that quite a few of the songs have in common….three of the four of the five songs I’ve heard thus far are in the key of E (one major, two minor, and one in E blues, which is essentially E major with a lot of 7’s). This isn’t necessarily a BAD thing, but is somewhat unusual in a group setting, where multiple members usually allow for more versatility in their arrangements.
With soloists, this is a little more commonplace, given their limited range. The first that comes to mind is Conway Twitty’s final album, where many of the songs were in either E or A.
Are there any other albums you can think of where the majority of the songs are in the same key?
1. On the latest Brian Free & Assurance CD, there are four slow songs in a row featuring each respective singer. Every song begins in the key of D and has a piano/strings intro.
2. This wasn’t a CD, but it’s somewhat related. Years ago, my quartet sang with another group at the Gospel Music Center in Chesnee, SC. At the end of the evening, the promoter wanted both groups (total strangers to each other) to sing a song together. We always LOVE IT when they do that.
We agreed on “Just A Little Talk With Jesus.” Their musicians were all guitar players, and they said to put it in the key of G, so I did. When we got to the chorus, their bass singer YANKED the mic from our bass singer’s hand, and took off on “NOW…LET…US.” The only problem was, he was singing it in F. I looked at their players and said, “He’s singing in the key of F, not G.” They said, “We know, but G is the only key we know.”
Needless to say, it was a train wreck. The idea of using a capo was foreign to these guys.
Stevie Wonder had that album where all of the songs were in the Key of Life.