iMelody Section 3 – Song – Don Robertson's Musical Kaleidoscope

The iUniversity

Section Three

Song

This is the book that my wife Mary Ellen Bickford, Jim Peterik, and I wrote in 2002. My name is not on the cover because the publisher would only allow three authors’ names, and the third author, Dave Austin, was the person who had negotiated the book deal with the publisher. However, I wrote one-third of the first edition of the book, as well as the initial plan submitted to the publisher. The second edition was released in 2010 and Mary Ellen’s name was removed from the cover, as we did not participate in the extensive revisions made to this edition. Songwriting for Dummies has sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide in multiple languages.
Writing this book gave me the desire to dive into a thorough study of the popular song literature. By 2006, I had also composed a number of songs, and in 2008, Mary Ellen and I released our album Take My Hand: Songs of Love and Joy.
The study of popular song is a fascinating one and an important one for young composers.
Don Robertson

My Song Studies

During the years 2004-2006, I created thirty-seven volumes of “Song Studies” along with an accompanying CD containing the music for each volume. The volumes contain the lyrics, the published sheet music where available, and for many of the songs, I analyzed structure, chords, and lyrics. My wife Mary Ellen and I were living in Nashville and were deeply embedded in songwriting and the songwriting community at that time. (Don Robertson)

Analysis of “To Be Loved by You”

This is a wonderful song sung by country singer Wynonna Judd. It was composed by two great Nashville songwriters, Gary Burr and Mike Reid. My friend, the late songwriter Beverly Ross, introduced me to Mike Reid. I remember watching Gary Burr sing this song at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe in 2004. (Don Robertson)

Verse 1
Love that’s worth fighting forThat’s what this isAnd how, how could I want moreThan the warmth of your kiss?
Pre-Chorus
No matter how many miles and dreamsCome between us nowIn each step I take, with each prayer I makeThis love will live somehow

Chorus
Let the mountains rise, I will climb them allWhen my body’s weak, I will not fallBaby, come what may I’ll find a way to get throughThere’s nothing that I won’t doTo be loved by you

Bridge
And even when we’re worlds apartJust keep this promise in your heart

Analysis of “No One Else On Earth”

This song was composed by Jill Colucci along with Steward Harris and Sam Lorber. Jill Colucci was a Nashville songwriter who notibly wrote the song “Anymore” with Travis Tritt. I met Jill at a home-hosted songwriter round in 2004. (Don Robertson)

Verse 1
I’ve been a rock and I’ve got my fences
I never let them down
When it comes to love, I keep my senses
I don’t get kicked around

Pre-Chorus
I shivered once you broke into my soul
The damage is done now
I’m outta control
How did you get to me?

Chorus
No one else on earth
Could ever hurt me
Break my heart the way you do
No one else on earth
Was ever worth it
No one could love me like-
No one could love me like you

SS-001 – Songs Composed by Diane Warren

SS-002 – Songs sung by Reba and Martina McBride

SS-003 – Songs sung by Trisha Yearwood

SS-004 – Songs sung by Vince Gill, Tim McGraw, and Others

SS-005 – Male Country Groups & Singers

SS-006 – Songs sung by Backstreet Boys

SS-007 – Songs sung by Boys II Men, NSYNC, and Others

SS-008 – Pop-Country Songs

SS-009 – Various Songs

SS-010 – Songs from Europe

SS-011 – Boyzone – British Group

SS-012 – Westlife- British Group

SS-013 – Steps- British Group

SS-014 – Corrs – Irish Group

SS-015 – Songs sung by Celine Dion

SS-016 – Songs sung by Lara Fabian

SS-017 – French Songs

SS-018 – Songs composed by Jean-Jacques Goldman

SS-019 – The Good Shepherd Quartet Volume 1 (Southern Gospel)

SS-020 – The Good Shepherd Quartet Volume 2 (Southern Gospel)

SS-021 – The Isaacs (Southern Gospel)

SS-022 – The Singing Cookes (Southern Gospel)

SS-023 – The McKammeys (Southern Gospel)

SS-024 – Southern Gospel Volume 1

SS-025 – Southern Gospel Volume 2

SS-026 – Bluegrass Music

SS-028 – Boy Bands and The Corrs

SS-030 – Classic Ballads sung by Josh Groban and Lara Fabian

SS-031 – Various Artists Volume 1

SS-032 – Various Artists Volume 2

SS-033 – Various Artists Volume 3 (Ballads)

SS-035 – Various Artists Volume 4

SS-036 – Various Artists Volume 5

SS-037 – Art Song

Song Study Book 4
Vince Gill, Tim McGraw, and Others

Song Study Book 1
Songs composed by Diane Warren

Song Study Book 30
Classic Ballads – Josh Groban & Lara Fabian

Song Study Book 33
Various Artists No. 3 (Ballads)

Song Examples

Popular

** Early **

The 1920s

This Musical Kaleidoscope video presents an hour of great records from the 1920s USA. The Record labels identify the songs and the artists.

The 1930s

This Musical Kaleidoscope video presents an hour of great records from the 1930s USA. The Record labels identify the songs and the artists.

The 1940s

This Musical Kaleidoscope video presents an hour of great records from the 1940s USA. The Record labels identify the songs and the artists.

The 1950s

Clever instrumentals were very popular with radio listeners during the early 1950s. This Musical Kaleidoscope video will take you through an hour of the best of these instrumentals, along with images of the records themselves.

** Movie Musicals **

1935

Roberta (1935) is a classic RKO musical romance starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Irene Dunne, and Randolph Scott. Based on a Broadway hit, it follows an American football player who inherits a posh Paris fashion house and partners with the chief designer, featuring iconic Jerome Kern songs like “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”.

1936

Released by Universal Pictures, the 1936 Show Boat is a critically acclaimed cinematic adaptation of Edna Ferber’s novel and the landmark 1927 Broadway musical. Directed by James Whale, it is widely celebrated by musical theater and classic film enthusiasts as a highly authentic representation of the original stage production.

1942

For Me and My Gal (1942) is a classic MGM musical-drama directed by Busby Berkeley. Set during World War I, the film famously marks Gene Kelly’s screen debut alongside Judy Garland. It follows two ambitious vaudeville performers whose dream of playing the Palace Theatre is complicated by love and the draft.

1944

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) is a beloved Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Technicolor musical directed by Vincente Minnelli. Set in 1903–1904, it follows the affluent, warm-hearted Smith family as they face a life-changing move to New York right before the highly anticipated Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World’s Fair).

1946

Song of the South (1946) is a live action/animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Set in the American South during the Reconstruction era following the abolition of slavery, it remains the most controversial film in Disney’s catalog.

1948

Released in 1948, So Dear to My Heart is a heartwarming Disney live-action and animated hybrid film set in rural 1903 Indiana. It follows a young boy named Jeremiah who adopts a mischievous black lamb named Danny, striving to raise the animal into a champion at the county fair.

1950

Tea for Two (1950) is a classic Warner Bros. musical comedy romance starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRae. Set just before the 1929 stock market crash, the film follows a wealthy heiress who bets her uncle $25,000 that she can answer “no” to every question for 48 hours to fund a Broadway show.

1952

Singin’ in the Rain (1952) is an iconic American musical romantic comedy directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. Set in late-1920s Hollywood, it hilariously chronicles the film industry’s chaotic transition from silent movies to “talkies”, following a dashing silent-film star (Gene Kelly) who falls in love with a chorus girl (Debbie Reynolds).

** VIDEOS **

Back to the Early 1950s

This Musical Kaleidoscope video showcases live television performances of some of the most popular songs of the early 1950s in the USA. Included is a live performance by Les Paul and Mary Ford and a comedy sketch by Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca.

Nat "King" Cole

This is a Musical Kaleidoscope presentation dedicated to the great singer, pianist, and entertainer Nat King Cole (1919–1965). Starting as a pioneer of the swinging, drummer-less jazz trio in the 1930s, he later became a global pop superstar known for velvety, timeless hits like “Unforgettable”, “Mona Lisa”, and “The Christmas Song”.

Sixties Pop

This is a another Musical Kaleidoscope presentation featuring important popular music live clips from the sixties, from both worlds one and two. Artists such as The Association, The Seekers, The Searchers, The Left Banke,

A Taste of the Sixties

This is a unique Musical Kaleidoscope presentation featuring important popular music live clips from the sixties, from both worlds one and two. For you to experience the wonderful energy of this short period in our past, we begin with Bob Dylan in a 1964 performance, continuing with Joan Baez, Procol Harum, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Greatful Dead, Fever Tree, George Harrison, and more.

Dust in the Wind

Another unique presentation from Musical Kaleidoscope named “Dust in the Wind”, after one of the songs in the show. Featuring artists such as Kansas, The Moody Blues, Mike and The Mechanics, Take That, Mr. Mister, Simon & Garfunkel, David Gray, Drive, Lara Fabian, James Blunt, Phil Collins, Robbie Williams, Libera, Simply Red, Hayley Westenra, ELO, Ronan Keating, Secret Garden, and more.

21st-Century Acoustic Popular Music

This Musical Kaleidoscope presentations features what we have been calling “21st-Century Acoustic Popular Music”. The mainstream branded it “Indie Folk” or “Folk-Rock Revival”. We were hopeful that this new popular music would grow and overshadow the hip-hop and other forms of music that had taken over the air waves, but it did not. Artists such as Blind Pilot, First Aid Kit, Hey Rosetta!, The Vespers, Dry the River, Mumford and Sons are featured.

California Dreamin’ – The Sixties

A Musical Kaleidoscope video presentation featuring great music from the psychedelic era featuring live performances by artists such as the 13th Floor Elevators, Love, Mamas and Papas, Tim Hardin, Spanky and Our Gang, The Turtles, The Young Rascals, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys, and more.

Nashville Pop

A Musical Kaleidoscope show that presents live performances of great songs from Nashville that are country, but pop-oriented country. Such artists as The Kinleys, Restless Heart, Susan Ashton, Vince Gill, Tim McGraw, Wynonna Judd, Lady Antebellum, Sonya Isaacs, Lee Ann Womack, Travis Tritt, Lorrie Morgan, and more.

** Europe **

England

Australia

Ireland

France

Norway

Sweden

England

Country

** Country **

The Nashville Sound and Beyond

The genre of country music called The Nashville Sound was prominent during the 1950s and featured smooth strings and vocals. Televised performances by Sonny James, Ferlin Husky, Jim Reeves, Marty Robins, Patsy Cline, Bobby Bare, and others capture the flavor of the Nashville Sound. (1 hour)

Glen Campbell Concert in Sioux Falls

Glen Campbell was one of America’s great talents. Like Nat “King” Cole, music and entertaining was a natural part of his personality, and like Nat, he started out as an instrumentalist who later became known for his incredible vocals. This 2001 concert in Sioux Falls, South Dakota exhibits all of his abilities and talent in a wonderful way. (1 hour, 20 minutes) .

** Bluegrass **

Bluegrass America!

This is a Musical Kaleidoscope show dedicated to exploring the greatness of the purely American music phenomenon called bluegrass. We begin with bluegrass classics filmed from the 1960s, then bring it forward to 21^st-century bluegrass music performed by youthful bands with a new sound. (1 hour)

Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver

Doyle Lawson is an American traditional bluegrass and Southern gospel musician who is best known as the mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 6-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. “Through the Years” is a full show recorded in 2005 for a DVD release and celebrates 25 years of Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver with a concert that reunited many of the members who have passed through his lineups in that time. (1 hour, 55 minutes)

Gospel

** African-American Gospel **