The Big Hurt (song)

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The Big Hurt (song)

"The Big Hurt" was a hit for singer Toni Fisher

Toni Fisher

Toni Fisher was an United States pop music singer.Fisher is best remembered for her 1959 song, "The Big Hurt " written by her husband Wayne Shanklin....
(billed as "Miss Toni Fisher") in 1959. The song was written by her husband, Wayne Shanklin. The song went to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard Single popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on airplay and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the airplay tracking-week runs from Wednesday to Tuesday....
music chart in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. "The Big Hurt" is notable because it featured phasing effects

Phasing

In the compositional technique phasing, popularized by composer Steve Reich, the same part is played on two musical instruments, in steady but not identical tempo....
which at that time were rare in popular music; DJ Dick Biondi

Dick Biondi

Dick Biondi is a Radio Hall of Fame Top 40 and Oldies disc jockey.Biondi gained national attention in the 1950s and 1960s as a disc jockey on leading AM broadcasting in Buffalo, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California....
on WKBW

WWKB

WWKB is an AM broadcasting radio station in Buffalo, New York that operates on a frequency of 1520 kHz. It is owned and operated by Entercom Communications....
would introduce the record as "Toni Fisher's weird one."

The song was covered numerous times in the mid-to-late-1960s.

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Encyclopedia

"The Big Hurt" was a hit for singer Toni Fisher

Toni Fisher

Billboard Hot 100

United States

Phasing

Dick Biondi

WWKB

Del Shannon

Del Shannon , was an United States rock and roller who had a Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1961 hit ,"Runaway ", in 1961....
1966 version for Liberty records reached No. 94 on the Hot 100. Shannon's version, produced by Snuff Garrett, also included the phasing effects.

On the sheet music (copyright 1959 by Music Productions, Hollywood, CA), the song is in the key of F major, the time signature

Time signature

The time signature is a notational convention used in Western culture musical notation to specify how many beat s are in each bar and what note value constitutes one beat....
is 4/4, and the tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, 'tempo' is the speed or pace of a given musical piece. It is an extremely crucial element of composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece....
is indicated as "Moderate Beguine Tempo." The melody begins with a triplet on beats three and four, a motif that appears throughout the song in every second measure. In the other measures, however, the duple meter is reinforced by using eighth notes in the same location, presumably to prevent the tune from becoming a waltz

Waltz

The waltz is a ballroom dance and folk dance dance in Time signature, performed primarily in closed position....
. Although Miss Toni Fisher does use the triplet in her performance on the record, she takes liberties with it and often uses some form of duple rhythm. She also deviates here and there from the notes as written, but well within the usual range employed by singers for expressive purposes.

The main harmonic idea uses the tonic

Tonic

Tonic may refer to:*Tonic , a concept of musical theory*Tonic , an American post-grunge rock band*The Tonic, a Christian rapper and member of The Cross Movement...
chord alternating with the Neapolitan chord

Neapolitan chord

In music theory, a Neapolitan chord is a major chord built on the lowered second scale degree. It most commonly occurs in first inversion so that it is notated either as ♭II6 or N6 and normally referred to as a Neapolitan sixth chord....
(the flattened supertonic

Supertonic

In music or music theory, the supertonic is the second degree or note of a diatonic scale . For example, in the C major scale , the supertonic is the note D; and the supertonic chord uses the notes D, F, and A....
major chord). (The sheet music has an error that occurs three times, but in the chord symbols only, not in actual piano notation: the A flat diminished chord

Diminished chord

A diminished triad chord is a Triad consisting of a minor third and a diminished fifth above the Root ? if built on C, a diminished chord would have a C, an E and a G....
should really be the E major chord

Major chord

In music theory, a major chord is a chord having a Root , a major third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord has these three notes alone, it is called a major Triad ....
with a G# bass note

Bass note

The bass note of a chord or sonority is the lowest note played or notated. While the bass note is often the root or fundamental of the chord, it does not have to be, and sometimes one of the other pitches of the chord will be the root....
.) The release (contrasting middle section) is in the key of A flat.