Some context: Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known mononymously as Dion, is an American singer, songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock and R&B styles--and, most recently, straight blues. He was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del Satins. He is best remembered for the singles "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby" and "Lovers Who Wander", among his other hits.
Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts, (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for nearby Belmont Avenue, and teamed them, with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when "I Wonder Why" (on their newly formed "Laurie" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; "I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'" Their initial hit was followed by "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me," which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated "The Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board; Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, "A Teenager in Love," was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, "Where or When," was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100.
Why The Winter Dance Party tour was ill-fated ?
A: On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue
Some context: "Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the Beatles, released on the 1966 album Revolver and as a 45 rpm single. It was written primarily by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon-McCartney. The song continued the transformation of the Beatles from a mainly rock and roll- and pop-oriented act to a more experimental, studio-based band. With a double string octet arrangement by George Martin and striking lyrics about loneliness, "Eleanor Rigby" broke sharply with popular music conventions, both musically and lyrically.
"Eleanor Rigby" does not have a standard pop backing. None of the Beatles played instruments on it, though John Lennon and George Harrison did contribute harmony vocals. Like the earlier song "Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby" employs a classical string ensemble--in this case an octet of studio musicians, comprising four violins, two violas, and two cellos, all performing a score composed by producer George Martin. Where "Yesterday" is played legato, "Eleanor Rigby" is played mainly in staccato chords with melodic embellishments. McCartney, reluctant to repeat what he had done on Yesterday, explicitly expressed that he did not want the strings to sound too cloying. For the most part, the instruments "double up"--that is, they serve as a single string quartet but with two instruments playing each of the four parts. Microphones were placed close to the instruments to produce a more biting and raw sound. Engineer Geoff Emerick was admonished by the string players saying "You're not supposed to do that." Emerick was starting to develop a reputation at EMI for being a bit of a maverick and not adhering to the strict rules and proceedures prescribed by the Recording Handbooks that all staff engineers were required to follow. Fearing such close proximity to their instruments would expose the slightest deficiencies in their technique, the players kept moving their chairs away from the microphones until George Martin got on the talk-back system and scolded "Stop moving the chairs!" Martin recorded two versions, one with and one without vibrato, the latter of which was used. Lennon recalled in 1980 that "Eleanor Rigby" was "Paul's baby, and I helped with the education of the child ... The violin backing was Paul's idea. Jane Asher had turned him on to Vivaldi, and it was very good." The octet was recorded on 28 April 1966, in Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios; it was completed in Studio 3 on 29 April and on 6 June. Take 15 was selected as the master. George Martin, in his autobiography All You Need Is Ears, takes credit for combining two of the vocal parts--"Ah! look at all the lonely people" and "All the lonely people"--having noticed that they would work together contrapuntally. He cited the influence of Bernard Herrmann's work on his string scoring. (Originally he cited the score for the film Fahrenheit 451, but this was a mistake as the film was not released until several months after the recording; Martin later stated he was thinking of Herrmann's score for Psycho.) The original stereo mix had McCartney's voice only in the right channel during the verses, with the string octet mixed to one channel, while the mono single and mono LP featured a more balanced mix. On the Yellow Submarine Songtrack and Love versions, McCartney's voice is centred and the string octet appears in stereo, creating a modern-sounding mix.
What was recorded?
A:
Microphones were placed close to the instruments to produce a more biting and raw sound.