The Steel Guitar Forum

These days I would be happy and thankful just to be allowed to play out in a crowded room again and play and cherish every song, no matter what it is!

The words & melody of "Gilligan's Island" go perfectly with the music to "Stairway to Heaven".

Billy,Dig deeper...get Yer uniform dirty!

I focus on using my least used pedal,and try to stay outta the way....
Oddly,sometimes I actually get to a point I like playing some of them.

We all have to do it.One songs I don't care for is Chris Stapleton's cover of the George Jones song Tennessee Whiskey. I too grit my teeth and deal with. IMHO George Jones was the best for. Chris Stapleton, did a real disservice in recording.
The Possum Didn't Do It That Way.
Hm a song in that for sure.
Tommy Shown
Steel Man From The Bayou Land

Tommy I have to totally agree with you on that .. not my favorite either..but oh well maybe it will bring some younger people too country?

Rich Upright wrote:The words & melody of "Gilligan's Island" go perfectly with the music to "Stairway to Heaven".

Or "Counting Flowers on the Wall..." And while you're at it, it can be transformed into a sea shanty by simply adding a few "me boys" here and there to the wrong melody. The Minnow would be lost, me boys, the Minnow would be lost.

Sorry about topic deflection, but I'm still glad to know I'm not alone in this sick little habit of repurposing lyrics and melodies...

Dave

Rich Upright wrote:The words & melody of "Gilligan's Island" go perfectly with the music to "Stairway to Heaven".

Pinball wizard lyrics with Folsom prison blues melody.

Love the Pinball Wizard idea! That’s hysterical 🤠

My ex-band to do “Rollin In The Deep” (Adele) with a Folsom Prison groove.

Pinball wizard lyrics with Folsom prison blues melody.

This has been around for a long time. Still my favorite version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bfPwtUTP4k

I’ve been guilty of killing my Volume with the volume pedal and faking it while I look around and engage with the crowd. I move the bar up and down the neck without looking etc. One time a guy told me he couldn’t believe how well I played without having to stare at the neck.

Btw, a glass of Malibu on the rocks close by helps.

David Ball wrote:I'm still glad to know I'm not alone in this sick little habit of repurposing lyrics and melodies...

What we used to do to the opening lines from the Mel Tillis chestnut Ruby back when Kenny Rogers was hot would curl toenails these days.

I can only imagine!

Dave Mudgett wrote:

Pinball wizard lyrics with Folsom prison blues melody.

This has been around for a long time. Still my favorite version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bfPwtUTP4k

Works the other way around too - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axHBwXeAaC8

Okay, nobody wants to hear that the joke they just laughed is older than the pinball machine in their basement, but I don’t care those two songs are great and I’m dyin’ here...🤣

Mine is "Guitars and Cadillacs" 3 times a night ...should be a fiddle solo yet "they" keep throwing me solos agrrrrrrr, no more ...no more, out and over !!!!

I've haven't gone this long without playing on Saturday night since I was 16 years old...I'd love to go play a bunch of songs I don't like...tonight.

SH

I hear that Steve Hinson!

I triple down on what Tommy & Steve said.

Well, that hits pretty hard, guys...

I was feeling sorry for myself too, jonesing for a gig with none in sight. I hadn’t thought about what’s going on with the great players. And here we have three of you reminding us of what’s really important.

I will never complain about Takin Care Of Business again. It’s a terrific song and I would love to play it, right now, tonight!

I'd love to go play a bunch of songs I don't like...tonight. ... double down ... triple down ...

I quadruple down on all that. Look, I'd even like to be able to just get together with my friends and play anything in my garage tonight. We're all totally sequestered.

If there's anything positive that comes out of this, one thing will (hopefully) be the ability to truly appreciate just being alive and able to get out and about to do any of our normal stuff.

What Steve Hinson said, we don't realize how we take things for granted and become choosy with songs we like to play and songs we dislike , although crowd likes it anyway. They are having a good time regardless if a "we" like a song or not.
In many situations I have to force myself to like the song.

Now it's music not more ! I hear it's going to be a while ( Down Under at least ) before things get back to normal. This will change the world forever and how things work with everyday life. I certainly hope it will go back to normal but it's a sign of times we live in. I hope Paul and Tommy will get to play soon, we need you guys !
Please pardon my Croatian English : )

Happy Easter to all : )

My experience as a pedalsteel player is if I say that we shouldn’t do that song, 99 times out of 100 they immediately drop it.

Lots of interesting replies here.
Since I've never played for a living, I could at least afford to join or refuse to join a band, based on whether I liked the song list.
what I couldn't - and can't - avoid is having to play particular songs I detest.
Years ago, I was in a typical bar cover band. Along with some pretty good songs on then-current country radio, we did have to do some... shall we say, other stuff.
For me, doing TAKIN' CARE OF BUSINESS was right behind OLD TIME ROCK-N-ROLL in songs I didn't like.
Well, I told the leader to schedule the Seger song if/when I broke a string. Sometimes, I didn't break a string, and had to play it. So I got creative.
I'd pull out my trusty wood banjo bar, crank a bit of treble and reverb, and proceed to mimic banjo rolls.
Didn't get me fired, and I never heard that anyone listening noticed or cared. Gotta be sly...
Nonetheless, I try to grin and bear it when I have to play stuff I don't like, and try to do something that will enhance the song. Even if it's to hardly play.

For me it’s a job, I get paid to guit-sling, I look at it as a business, I don’t get too emotionally involved on my likes and dislikes otherwise it makes for a miserable time, I cut the chops note for note to my best ability, slip some of me in there when applicable, smile and keep on truckin.

The hardest pay I ever made was back in the 90s when Alan Jackson came out with that song ‘ i’m in love with the waitress’ I was doing 6 week road tours with one week off. I had to cover the Mason on Tele ( and I used the boss acoustic simulator pedal for the flat top solo) and I had to cover the Franklin on a D10, (we split the solos up so I could change) it was a lot of work to get to that point, but when it came together it was fun, I never voiced my opinion about how much work it was, that was some wild days and that was hard money, oh brother!!! Lol