Friday April 25, 2008 at 11:03
—Peter Himmelman, “G-D Don’t Have To Teach You This Way,” From Strength to Strength (1991); background vocals: Bruce Carpenter
When I wrote about Suzanne Vega’s “Book of Dreams” and noted Shawn Colvin’s background vocals in that song, I started to think about how guest background vocals are one of my favorite little pleasures in music. And the first example I came up with is this one.
If I described how Bruce Carpenter’s background vocals work in this song objectively, it would sound like an outtake from a “Real Men of Genius” ad. It’s just two words and then a few “oh no!s”. But in song that describes twin feelings of being completely alone and of connection between people who share a deep-rooted love, the brief appearance of an additional, distant voice works perfectly.
The whole album is fantastic, by the way. There’s a great duet with Karen Peris from The Innocence Mission and a handful of other stunning songs.
