Given the response to my recent posts about Crosby, Stills, & Nash, I shall continue on the general theme of vocal harmony. It's to some extent a "lost art" in modern music, and that, to my way of seeing, is a pity. It's a high art.
One of the best harmonists I know of in music is Emmylou Harris. In her taste for this artform, she continues in the footsteps of her mentor, Gram Parsons, and his love for the country harmonies he grew up with and introduced her to. Although I appreciate the more formal art of musical composition, and "charting out" harmonies on sheet music before attempting to perform them, for me, there is nothing quite like "spontaneous harmony," the thing that happens between two or more musicians who suddenly find themselves on the same musical wavelength during the performance of the same song, spontaneously. Here are a few examples. With Rodney Crowell (pure Louvin Brothers harmony): <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g8EqgRk-nw> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g8EqgRk-nw> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g8EqgRk-nw <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g8EqgRk-nw> With John Starling (from the folk group Seldom Scene): <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYs2RbCcKsk> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYs2RbCcKsk> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYs2RbCcKsk <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYs2RbCcKsk> With Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnieh0Y1V-o> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnieh0Y1V-o> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnieh0Y1V-o <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnieh0Y1V-o> With Mark Knopfler: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsMO0A1iE0I> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsMO0A1iE0I> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsMO0A1iE0I <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsMO0A1iE0I> With Gram: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO8C9fqC3uk> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO8C9fqC3uk> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO8C9fqC3uk <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO8C9fqC3uk>
