Great piece on Melanie.<\/p>\n
I interviewed her for my \u00c2\u00a0podcast just last week, so it was probably her final one.<\/p>\n
Melanie was very gracious and told some fantastic stories that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think people know about her.<\/p>\n
First, her husband\/manager\/producer, whose office was across the hall from Michael Lang\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, asked if Melanie would play a garden party that they were planning for next summer. This was July of 1968. She agreed and thought nothing of it until late spring 0f 1969. So, she was actually the first artist to be booked for Woodstock. As it got closer to the date in 1969, she realized this was no garden party.\u00c2\u00a0She followed Sly and the Family Stone, who, just before they played their final song, passed out candles to the audience and asked that everyone light them. Out came Melanie, who hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t played for more than a couple of hundred people in the clubs of NYC. She looked out across the concert site and saw thousands of people holding candles. She went on from her appearance to become an\u00c2\u00a0international star. When she got home later that year, she was moved to write a song about her experience. She wrote the song, “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)”,\u00c2\u00a0and got the Edward Hawkins Singers who were recording in the studio next door to sing backup. They nailed it in one take.<\/p>\n
Next came \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 Look What They Done To My Song, Ma\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and then she left Buddha Records to start her own label, Neighborhood\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Records (distributed by Paramount.)\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0She then released a single that went to number one around the world, “Brand New Key.” As you correctly pointed out, she was really becoming a superstar. But it killed her career.<\/p>\n
At the time of her death, she was just about to be back in the spotlight. She had been asked to sing a song for a tribute\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0album for the late Pete Ham. She chose the classic, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Without You\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which Ham wrote. It had been a big hit for Harry Nilsson, Mariah Carey, and others.<\/p>\n
She truly was a star and I miss her\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n
Denny Somach<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
She was our next-door neighbor until\u00c2\u00a0about a\u00c2\u00a0year or\u00c2\u00a0two ago, when she moved away. She and her son Beau had us over for dinner a few times, or we’d go out to eat. I hung out a lot with Beau – he’s a helluva musician with *killer* chops – and helped him sometimes with recording tech issues.\u00c2\u00a0Melanie and I also had a mutual connection, Ron Frangipane. He had produced her and Mandrake’s third album, “Puzzle.”\u00c2\u00a0FWIW she was the first female artist to have three records in the top 40 at the same time (“Brand New Key” and the next two follow-up singles). That was a big deal in those days.<\/p>\n
Melanie was a sweet lady. We were at her place one night and she played a new song she was working on, I don’t remember if the title was finalized but I think it was “Ruins.” To paraphrase, it was about being a ruin yet persisting.\u00c2\u00a0She was\u00c2\u00a0always looking to the next project, she didn’t stop.<\/p>\n
BTW she got\u00c2\u00a0very\u00c2\u00a0little financial benefit (as in virtually none, from what I could\u00c2\u00a0tell) from her hits. She didn’t talk about it much, and I didn’t press for details.<\/p>\n
I really can’t tell you too many stories about the celebrity part of her life, we always just related to her as Melanie, the neighbor who was also part of the music biz. She didn’t need us to be fans, she had plenty of fans.\u00c2\u00a0She didn’t have any airs about her.\u00c2\u00a0She sure looked comfortable in her own skin.<\/p>\n
Rest in peace Melanie, but preferably peace includes a home recording studio for you.<\/p>\n
Craig Anderton<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Thanks for writing your excellent piece on Melanie. I was fortunate to spend a few hundred hours in the studio engineering for her. We did a very unique double album,\u00c2\u00a0live\u00c2\u00a0(in the studio with a live audience) in 1977 or ’78, called\u00c2\u00a0Ballroom Streets.<\/p>\n
We started another record a couple years later with the Bee Gee’s rhythm section backing her, but I don’t think it was ever finished or released. Hopefully, her kids have Mel’s cover of Lay Down Sally in their archives.<\/p>\n
Each night, we had an audience of 30 people from the Miami\/Ft. Lauderdale area sit on the floor in the live room (Triiad Recording Studios, Ft. Lauderdale) while Melanie and her band (usually about 6 or 7 musicians) played the entire set list from beginning-to-end, LIVE.<\/p>\n
Melanie and her husband\/manager\/producer Peter Schekeryk wanted to capture her live “vibe,” but with studio quality sound.<\/p>\n
After many nights of doing the same “show,” over and over, I edited the 2″, 24-track tape of the best takes\/performances\/minutes\/sections into what became the double album, released on Tomato Records. There were virtually no overdubs, and all but one of Melanie’s vocals on that record were the live vocals she sang with fans sitting at her feet, clapping along. No Autotune, vocal punch-ins, or comps!<\/p>\n
It was an engineering and production challenge I relished, to say the least. Live monitors for the audience out in the room, wedges for band members to hear themselves, and no click track. Real musicians playing real music, warts and all.<\/p>\n
Did the weed-smoking, wine\/beer-drinking audience members scattered around the studio’s floor clap out of time into some of the microphones? Definitely!! And somehow it all worked out incredibly well.<\/p>\n
Because of the skinny budget, each song was mixed in only 1 or 2 hours. Unheard of these days. Unheard of even back\u00c2\u00a0then! No automation, no plugins, and only 24 tracks. The mixes were almost as live as the recordings. I doubt that many engineers or producers today will ever get to enjoy that experience or challenge. My training with legends like Tom Dowd, Karl Richardson, and Don Gehman at Criteria Studios in Miami gave me the skills needed to pull it off, and I remain grateful for that to this day.<\/p>\n
Am I telling you this to brag? No, I’m doing it underscore Melanie’s (sometimes underestimated) chops as an artist. She was authentic and original in every way. BTW, most people knew her as a folkie, but she could rock out with the best of them. Check out the end of\u00c2\u00a0Beautiful Sadness: https:\/\/twtr.to\/8WZrP\u00c2\u00a0from\u00c2\u00a0Ballroom Streets.<\/p>\n
It’s sad that we’ve lost her, but her music will live on as her legacy. There was so much more to Melanie than\u00c2\u00a0Brand New Key.\u00c2\u00a0Hopefully, your readers will do a deeper dive so they can hear what music sounded like when an artist’s performance mattered more than perfection.<\/p>\n
Warm regards,<\/p>\n
Michael Laskow<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Thank you for recognizing Melanie and the huge impact she had during that brief but magical time. Like you, I also first became aware of Melanie when our local FM station started playing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Beautiful People.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I was only 15 but I was drawn in by her unique voice and the positive message of the lyrics.<\/p>\n
A few months later, I heard \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Candles in the Rain\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and immediately went out and bought the album. Thus began my lifelong love affair with Melanie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s music. I soon bought her two earlier albums, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Melanie,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Born to Be,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and the wonderful live album, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Leftover Wine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Most enlightened music lovers were listening to Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Tim Buckley and others at the time but for me, it was Melanie who connected with me more than any other singer-songwriter. Her next 3 albums, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Good Book,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Gather Me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stoneground Words\u00e2\u20ac\u009d showed a growing maturity in her songwriting and voice but like you said, she was unable to sustain the momentum from the previous few years. My tastes in music evolved over the years but my affection for those early albums, never waned.<\/p>\n
Melanie continued to release albums over the next two decades, some better than others and I would still buy them, hoping to recapture that magical connection from my youth. Thanks to YouTube, Melanie continues to reach legions of new fans.<\/p>\n
Fast forward to 2022 and by some stroke of luck and good timing, I was introduced to Melanie by a long time friend, who mentioned to her that I was interested in having her record a song for a Pete Ham tribute album that I was working on. Much to my delight and amazement, she was very excited to be a part of it and her version of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Without You\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a major highlight on the album. \u00c2\u00a0I could not believe it but I was working with one of my musical heroes and I soon became fast friends with Melanie and her wonderful son, Beau Jarred. This led to another release on our label, a 51 year old live radio broadcast from a Miami station (called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Magic Bus\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) that was digitized and restored by Beau.<\/p>\n
Working directly with Melanie these past 2 years has been the highlight of my career and getting the call about her passing has broken my heart into pieces. My thoughts are with Melanie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wonderful children, Beau Jarred, Leilah, Jordie and her beautiful grandchildren. My memories of her will be with me as long as I live.<\/p>\n
Rich Ulloa
\nY&T Music<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Wow. Spot on. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the second person who ever articulated this about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153brand new key\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to me. The first one was my neighbor and friend Harry Chapin, back in Huntington Long island.<\/p>\n
Happy circumstance, i got to be part of one of Harry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s songwriting workshops that he did all the time for free, then I became friendly with him and he told me a million stories and he dragged me around to Gigs\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand it was really really fun. He became famous about the time the Melanie did. They did some gigs together and he talked about her once in a while. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure about your 1971 date. I thought it was A couple of years later than that. Whatever.<\/p>\n
(Harry was an amazing guy, kind of insane but smart as a whip and had more energy than any six people I ever met. He liked to talk about the business and he had LOTS Of opinions. I loved hearing them, he was usually right. And his stories and named dropping were unparalleled.<\/p>\n
I do remember him saying that because they were career contemporaries, he felt that the most egregious mistake Melanie ever made was releasing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153brand new key.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He said it was a bullsh*t bubble gum song that totally worked against her entire image, disappointed her fans, confused everyone about who she was and what she did, and pretty much trashed her career. (Just like you said in your post.) I recall he told me that about 1975.<\/p>\n
She was a bigger star, but Harry was true to what he did, and his fans adored him, and he put on the most wonderful live shows. I was always amazed that he could make chicken salad out of chickensh*t no matter where he was or what he did. I still miss him. He put out some clunky songs too, but nothing ans awful as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153brand new key.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lol<\/p>\n
Rik Shafer<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
For a short window of time, our agency Blue Raven Entertainment represented Melanie and booked her shows exclusively. \u00c2\u00a0She was a very unique person like so many of the talented. \u00c2\u00a0Interestingly, we had her booked on the ill fated Woodstock 50. \u00c2\u00a0Michael Lang paid Melanie in full and in the end, she was able to keep that which was meaningful to her at the time. \u00c2\u00a0Alas, the Woodstock\u00c2\u00a0era comes to a close. \u00c2\u00a0She was a sweet, gentle soul and we enjoyed our association with her.<\/p>\n
Rachel Hill<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
I never let my lack of love for “Brand New Key” affect my ardor for “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)”. It’s one of THE records. Great writing, great performing, great production. Some may chafe at her voice, but the power, the passion, is indisputable. And she WAS weird, fey. But to be herself so completely, without care for modern concerns like “image”, was a beautiful thing, something to love her for. We were hippies, for Christ’s sake, being who you were without caring what others thought — the lame OR the hip — was the ideal. Probably why I shrugged off “Brand New Key”. So she wants to be silly this time: let her. God knows her early stuff had enough angst and open wounds to tide us through the goofy grins.<\/p>\n
I revere her work and mourn her loss.<\/p>\n
Berton Averre<\/p>\n
P.S. “Close to It All”: https:\/\/twtr.to\/tPtd_<\/p>\n
Sincere\/Confessional\/Philosophical has over the years become pretty dreary. But if we apply the positive aspects people tout — “It’s clearly coming from the heart”, “You can tell she’s singing about her life” — well I’d put this odd sprite up against the blatant babes. The difference being Melanie Safka could whisper her screed, pull you in. And then take it to the height of pain, or fear.<\/p>\n
Not many Melanies in our world. And isn’t that a pity?<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
A funny Melanie story. I was at Woodstock with my Jewish summer camp, Camp; Willoway, when I was 13. I was probably the only person there in chinos with a button down shirt studying my Haftarah. \u00c2\u00a0We had tickets for all three days, but after the concert reached the news parents made us leave Saturday morning. We ended up on the back cover of the Life Magazine special and the centerfold also\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6just our backs.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, we slogged through folk night, which was fairly terrible to a kid who only knew a few rock acts on the bill and wanted to see the Who, Jimi, the Airplane\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.and Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez.<\/p>\n
If memory serves, it was like 2 a.m. when Melanie came on and Arlo and Joan were scheduled next. But more rain was coming and Melanie seemed interminable.<\/p>\n
The rain picked up and I kept wishing Melanie would end so I could see the two artists I knew that night.<\/p>\n
But then there was a long rain break and I missed them, falling asleep and cursing Melanie the whole time.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I came to appreciate her later and always laugh at how much I hated her that night.<\/p>\n
PS: No one talks about the guru who rambled on for I think 40 minutes Friday night. He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make the movie either. He was total pain for me also.<\/p>\n
Peace and Love
\nbrad kava<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Wow. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Some of your best words.<\/p>\n
“Candles..”(on repeat\/ long version) was one of my early experiences with good heavy headphones. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0And it was today that I learned that it was the beloved Edwin Hawkins choir in the hauntingly beautiful BGVs.
\nThe short version? I loved it too when it flowed out of the AM radio in my 64 Plymouth Valiant. I’d never leave the car until it was finished and faded with my head full of wonder and pulse rate a bit higher.<\/p>\n
The time we have is somehow both long and oddly brief. \u00c2\u00a0These tracks, these artists ( breathing or not) are our communal stepping stones across the turbulent water…. till death do us part.<\/p>\n
From your Melanie piece, \u00c2\u00a0I have all of your aforementioned singles. \u00c2\u00a0Heck, thanks to streaming we all do.\u00c2\u00a0Unlike you, I count “Brand New Key” as a plus but I so get your point.<\/p>\n
I’m gonna miss Melanie like I miss Mary Travers and Laura Nyro….the long-dressed poetic hippie-chicks with style, talent and swagger-ish attitude.<\/p>\n
But with all our clocks ticking, I’m going to focus not of missing things but making things. \u00c2\u00a0Like Buffett told us, we’re just living and dying in 3\/4 time.<\/p>\n
Much Peace,<\/p>\n
Skip Bishop<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Been listening to Melanie while I read your email. She had a great voice and a couple of hits. But back in the 70s was she on mine or my friends radar, I’d have to say no. I was 12 in 69 so Woodstock was not much of a concern to us and I really hadn’t got into “music” yet. That happened a few years later when my older brother bought a stereo and Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Average White Band, Gordon Lightfoot and many other artists entered my consciousness. We listened to that stereo constantly.<\/p>\n
As we got a bit older and had parties at Mom’s house, there was one constant at every party and I’m not sure why, it was Bob Dylan-Blood on the Tracks and dope, lol!!<\/p>\n
It’s sad Bob that all these champions of our musical past like Melanie are passing. David Bowie was a tough one, my one serious regret was not seeing Bowie in Toronto when I had a chance. I’ve seen Dylan 9 times but when he passes that is going to be a tough one.<\/p>\n
I’m 66 Bob still working and like you I think that one day it’ll be my turn. I try to enjoy myself as much as I can but it’s tough.<\/p>\n
I’ve lost two brothers, a sister and her husband in the last few years. Three of my sisters have Alzheimer’s.<\/p>\n
I never thought it would happen like it has. I am the least healthy, my brother and sister were very health conscious, yet they are gone and I’m still here.<\/p>\n
Anyway Bob I hope you stick around for a very long time as I enjoy your emails and will sorely miss you if you were gone.<\/p>\n
Doug Gillis<\/p>\n
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Thanks Bob,lot of memories.I wish I couldn’t remember Brand New Key,but now I have that earworm.Stay well,Ted Keane<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Great job describing that point in time from FM vs AM, to the Woodstock movie to Melanie. Only problem is now I have Brand New Key as an Earworm!<\/p>\n
Lyndon Virkler<\/p>\n
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Melanie, another voice I hadn’t heard, just added two of her songs to my spotify list, thanks Bob.<\/p>\n
Jeff Watz<\/p>\n
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Her hip period was overshadowed by the true stars of Woodstock and I could never go back once Brand New Key came out.\u00c2\u00a0 How do you screw it up.\u00c2\u00a0 It was too awful to get past.<\/p>\n
John Brodey<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
I went to see Melanie 10 years ago in NYC at a small venue called The Cutting Room. She was pretty good! She was accompanied by her very talented son on guitar.Made me want to keep writing my little songs for fun.<\/p>\n
Russ Turk<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Candles in the Rain on WNEW-FM.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0I bought that album when I couldn’t afford to buy albums, and listened to it end to end.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 Everything that seemed right about hippie folk 60’s music was right there for me in my tween mind.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0And the songs held up for a lifetime,\u00c2\u00a0they hold up now.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Look what she did with her songs.<\/p>\n
Michael Alex<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
I felt the same way – when I saw the news about Melanie it hit me hard: different from Jimmy and Tom. \u00c2\u00a0She was part of the family, a member of the tribe. \u00c2\u00a0When I was stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky in 1969, hers was one of the albums that was in constant rotation in our barracks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s room; the others \u00c2\u00a0were Its a Beautiful Day, Zeppelin II, Fever Tree and Steppenwolf. \u00c2\u00a0But Melanie carried the flag, her spirit buoyed us up and held us together through those dark days. \u00c2\u00a0Her voice and passion made us feel like we were part of something special, that we could carry on through all the bullsh*t. \u00c2\u00a0I often feel lately that all our heroes are dying, that our known world is coming to an end. \u00c2\u00a0I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that there are still those like yourself that resonate with that, and carry that essence on. \u00c2\u00a0Keep it up.<\/p>\n
Marty Jorgensen
\nSpirit of 66<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
In Joe Boyd\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book \u00e2\u20ac\u0153White Bicycles,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he tells the story of how Melanie came to play that night at Woodstock. The Incredible String Band was slated to go on that evening, but it was raining. The band was skittish about playing in the rain. Maybe they were afraid of being electrocuted or damaging their unique acoustic instruments. And they had plenty of them.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So Melanie, who was going to play in the morning, took the evening slot, played in the rain and was a huge hit. The Incredible String Band played the next morning to a tired, srung out, mud caked audience. And their performance went nowhere.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Timing is everything . ..<\/p>\n
Mitchell Manasse<\/p>\n
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Don’t know if you’ve heard her song ‘Johnny Boy’ but it’s worth a listen if you haven’t. It’s on Youtube.<\/p>\n
Greg Stroh<\/p>\n
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I HATE THAT SONG!!!!!\u00c2\u00a0 NEEDLESCRATCH!!!\u00c2\u00a0 SO moronic.<\/p>\n
Aly Etchison<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
I am apparently feeling quite like you, or at least what you wrote. “Brand New Key” was the breaking point for me, but from my perspective at the time Melanie was a “Jersey Girl” and should have known better!<\/p>\n
Hope you are well.<\/p>\n
Best,<\/p>\n
Mike Marrone<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
A funny Melanie story. I was at Woodstock with my Jewish summer camp, Camp; Willoway, when I was 13. I was probably the only person there in chinos with a button down shirt studying my Haftarah. \u00c2\u00a0We had tickets for all three days, but after the concert reached the news parents made us leave Saturday morning. We ended up on the back cover of the Life Magazine special and the centerfold also\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6just our backs.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, we slogged through folk night, which was fairly terrible to a kid who only knew a few rock acts on the bill and wanted to see the Who, Jimi, the Airplane\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.and Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez.<\/p>\n
If memory serves, it was like 2 a.m. when Melanie came on and Arlo and Joan were scheduled next. But more rain was coming and Melanie seemed interminable.<\/p>\n
The rain picked up and I kept wishing Melanie would end so I could see the two artists I knew that night.<\/p>\n
But then there was a long rain break and I missed them, falling asleep and cursing Melanie the whole time.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I came to appreciate her later and always laugh at how much I hated her that night.<\/p>\n
PS: No one talks about the guru who rambled on for I think 40 minutes Friday night. He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make the movie either. He was total pain for me also.<\/p>\n
Peace and Love
\nbrad kava<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
I’m only 56 but I get it. \u00c2\u00a0It is weird.
\nMelanie was actively working on a new album. \u00c2\u00a076 is not that old.
\nWhen Christine McVie died, I was crushed. \u00c2\u00a0But when I learned yesterday Melanie died, I was devastated. I never met her or even saw her live, but she seemed like she could be my second mom.
\nHer songs were odd, but fun and clever. \u00c2\u00a0Your take on Brand New Key is fascinating and helps to explain why her albums wind up in the dollar bin today. \u00c2\u00a0However, I still see lots of the post-Brand New Key albums come in, so someone was buying those when they came out. \u00c2\u00a0Strange to me, as she didn’t really have any more hits.<\/p>\n
If you haven’t seen this live video of Candles in the Rain from Dutch television, stop what you’re doing and watch it. \u00c2\u00a0When I found it a couple of years ago, it floored me, it’s so outstanding. \u00c2\u00a0And it reminded me of a song I hadn’t heard or thought of probably since I was in Catholic grade school in 1972. \u00c2\u00a0Unearthing those memories is a trip.<\/p>\n