Batgirlwantingtodoamusicalkindofthingwildcat, I don’t think many know the music from “West Side Story”. I will run off at work a few copies of it, O K about 100 copies off of “A MINI Car”. I just don’t think we can pull off the “Queen Song” without UNNUT being there in drag.

MINIclo is right, I was actually very sick while I was writing it.

AND I've never been sick enough since to finish it.

 

THAT says it all right there.

Ok, so next year we all need advance copies of the soundtrack so we can learn how the songs go. THEN we will be prepared to make MINIfications to the lyrics.

 

BTW neither inioway, Selma or UKNUT will be making the performance at the Off Topic Band night, so do not dense pack the Dragon event this year thinking you’ll be getting this command repeat performance.

 

I was considering bringing my bass.. but then I realized I'd be wanting to play some Primus covers..oh well.. I never was good at "jam sessions".. hell.. I'll probably bring it anyways, but I haven't played in ages..

 

Please do, 3M....this is going to be a laid-back event....or, you could bring your electronic washboard!

 

OK, seriously... Here are a few songs that I think we could handle. They're pretty easy, only a few chords, and I assume familiar to most. I'm going to do one per post, or else this one is going to be a million lines long.

Tangled Up In Blue (Dylan) - This one is pretty easy except for the F sharp minor chord in the chorus, and really if people just did the E throught that whole line instead, it would probably sound OK. I don't even know how many people are playing instruments where chords matter (guitar, keyboard) - Clo, do you have the list?

Verses:
A G
Early one morning the sun was shining
A G
I was laying in bed
A G D
Wondering if she had changed at all, if her hair was still red

...and so forth. And then the chorus goes

E F#m A D
I was standing on the side of the road, rain falling on my shoes
E F#m A D
Heading out for the east coast, lord knows I paid some dues
E G D A
Getting through... tangled up in blue.

And just for the heck of it, here are all the lyrics:

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
I was layin' in bed
Wonderin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
And I was standin' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through,
Tangled up in blue.

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But I used a little too much force.
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out West
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin' away
I heard her say over my shoulder,
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue,"
Tangled up in blue.

I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell.
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
Right outside of Delacroix.
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind,
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
Tangled up in blue.

She was workin' in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer,
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear.
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I's just about to do the same,
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, "Don't I know your name?"
I muttered somethin' underneath my breath,
She studied the lines on my face.
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
Tangled up in blue.

She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
"I thought you'd never say hello," she said
"You look like the silent type."
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century.
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
Tangled up in blue.

I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs,
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air.
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died.
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside.
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn,
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew,
Tangled up in blue.

So now I'm goin' back again,
I got to get to her somehow.
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now.
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter's wives.
Don't know how it all got started,
I don't know what they're doin' with their lives.
But me, I'm still on the road
Headin' for another joint
We always did feel the same,
We just saw it from a different point of view,
Tangled up in blue.

 

Unfortunately NAM won't reproduce a bunch of spaces in a row, so I can't get the chords to line up with the words across each line, but hopefully this is clear...

 

Velvet Underground, "Pale Blue Eyes" - Maybe this one isn't as widely known as I assume it is?

C
Sometimes I feel so happy
F C
Sometimes I feel so sad
C Em Am G
Sometimes I feel just about everything
F G C
Lately I'm just feeling bad
F G C
Lately I'm just feeling bad

(chorus)
G C F C
Linger on your pale blue eyes
G C F C
Linger on your pale blue eyes

I thought of you as my mountain top
I thought of you as my peak
I thought of you as just about everything
I had but couldn't keep
I had but couldn't keep

(repeat chorus)

 

"House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals - in my opinion the greatest version of the greatest song ever.

The whole song is just:
Am C D F
Am C E
Am C D F
Am E Am

Am C D F
There is a house in New Orleans
Am C E
They call the Rising Sun
Am C D F
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
Am E Am
And God I know I'm one

My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new bluejeans
My father was a gamblin' man
Down in New Orleans

Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's on a drunk

ORGAN SOLO - who's bringing the organ?

Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun

Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I'm goin' back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one

 

Chris, I have a favor to ask: can you make up a couple master sheets of these tunes and bring them to me on Thursday at my Cabin #429? I'll get a limited number of copies made for the Jam.

You see, after late tomorrow night/early Friday morning, I will be offline until after MOTD is over.

 

Unfortunately I don't know any of those, except Big Rock Candy Mountain, and that one only vaguely - but I'm game for trying to play along with anything if I know the chords!

 

Sure - I have a binder with printouts of a bunch of songs that I like to play, and all of these are in there. I'm bringing the whole darn thing.

Me too, as of Friday afternoon! :impatient

 

Wait! If you can send me a word document or two of them, sndwave can print them off at work tomorrow! But I'll need them tonight to email to him.

 

Woody Guthrie, "This Land is Your Land"

The whole song is just G D A D!


G
This Land is your land
D
this land is my land
A
from California
D
to the New York Island
G
from the redwood forest
D
to the gulf stream water
A D
this land was made for you and me

As I went walking
that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land is made for you and me

I roamed and rambled
and followed my footsteps
O'er the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
While all around me a voice was sounding, saying
This land was made for you and me

 

Creedence, "Bad Moon Rising"

D A G D

D A G D
I see the bad moon arising.
D A G D
I see trouble on the way.
D A G D
I see earthquakes and lightnin’.
D A G D
I see bad times today.

Chorus:
G
Don’t go around tonight,
D
Well, it’s bound to take your life,
A G D
There’s a bad moon on the rise.

I hear hurricanes ablowing.
I know the end is coming soon.
I fear rivers over flowing.
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.

Chorus

Hope you got your things together.
Hope you are quite prepared to die.
Looks like we’re in for nasty weather.
One eye is taken for an eye.

Chorus

 

Good tunes! I want to announce that Chris Neal is the Jam's associate producer and musical consultant. I just love silly corporate titles for what is, essentially, a highland hippie hootenanny!

 

Awesome Chris!!

Definitely going to learn all of those since I'm one of those who can do chords (keyboard)

Thanks for writing all that stuff out!

 

Yeah.....it's starting to come together! YAY!

 

yeah, i'm definitely going to work on these over the weekend on my harmonica. maybe i'll practice at work...could increase the tips!

 

Thanks, Erin! YAY!!!!! Be sure to wear that cute bluesie little hat you posted a piccie of yourself wearing...

 

 

i was trying to decide what hat to wear...it could be that one, or a straw type hat...not sure yet!

 

Bring 'em both.....change 'em out during the Jam to fit your mood!

 

maybe I should just bring my drum machine..LOL!...

okay... I can't read (sheet music) and I have zero music theory... my father taught guitar since before I was born and I just grew up playing along by ear, played upright bass for two years in the community symphonic jazz orchestra before the conductor finally figured it out...LOL!..

never took lessons or nothing, I just popped in cd's listened to it once or twice and figured it out.. wish I had taken it seriously because then I could participate in things like this... I just never did.. there was wayyy too much music in my house as it was, I think I needed a break from it growing up...

that.. and I'm just not a "rules" kind of guy..LOL!

 

You're perfect for the Jam, 3M! All you need is a love of music, people, and hanging out together. Musicians who can play by ear are naturals! Come on down! I can show you the "paddle!"