The Steel Guitar Forum

Jimbeaux, I agree with your two, SGR and SW. Achy Breaky is the Bridesmaid.

Pete, be thankful you're not a piano player.
I've grown to hate "Last Date" too. There's one guy who shows up at my gigs, very drunk and very loud, who pesters me to no end to play it every time I gig around here. I've had him charge the bandstand screaming it at me in the middle of tunes, I've been physically dragged out of conversations with my friends by this lout yelling his request at me, I've even been driven out of house parties by his relentless badgering. I cringe at the sight of the guy, and resent being treated like a wind-up doll, and have tried to explain that to him, but he's too dumb to figure it out.
Some day you'll read about the conclusion in the newspaper, I'm sure
-John

John, I think you should invite him out on a "last date"...

Keep some hatred in reserve guys!
You have not heard the Crazy Frog version of Axel F yet- but you will, and you will hate it more than anything.
Read about it here- but don't worry, there's no sound! http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1496444,00.html

"Mocking Bird" by Toby Keith and his daughter. Who wrote that awful piece of S..t?

<SMALL>Any song that starts out simple, nice, and smooth...and then throws in some weird chord that really serves no purpose.</SMALL>

Christine McVie did it to a couple of tunes on her 2004 CD. Bummer... The tunes had such promise at the start.

Steel Guitar Rag and Harbor Lights. One night a few years ago a gal came up and requested SGR. The following conversation took place...
Can you play SGR?
Can't recall ever hearing it!
What? You've never heard SGR?
Can't recall it!
I can't believe that!
Nope! Who sings it?
It doesn't have words (which it does).
Is it a new one?
Oh no. It's old.
Sorry, I'll have to see if I can get a copy and learn it.
You'll like it when you hear it!
With that she said OK and walked off.
Then another night the band leader introduced me and said I was going to play HL. When the music didn't start, he looked over at me, I looked at him and said "I ain't playing it"
He said "You've got to, I just announced it"
"I ain't playing it" With that he just shook his head and sang one. Why he didn't fire me I'll never know. Those are the two I most hate. Two refusals in 45+ years. I just couldn't hack them those nights.

I would love to play The Steel Guitar Rag again, No one wants to hear it any more. The band I work with will not do it. Take away Sleep Walk form our play list,and I might just as well stay home. Well I need to go over the new song where playing to night-- I played Chicken With A Train-Oh boy,at least I'm playing . Joe
www.willowcreekband.com

I haven't had to play, even one (1) of the songs mentioned so far; in the past (5)-yrs.! Wish I had a job to complain about again! But, it probably wouldn't last very long¡

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“Big John” Bechtel
’04 SD–10 Black Derby w/3 & 5 & Pad
’49-’50 Fender T–8 Custom
’65 Re-Issue Fender Twin–Reverb Custom™ 15” Eminence
web site

*.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Barbara Hennerman on 21 August 2006 at 01:45 AM.]</p></FONT>

"Desperato", and pretty much any other Eagles song, with the exception of "Take It Easy". <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Bob Watson on 06 June 2005 at 12:26 AM.]</p></FONT>

Muskrat Love.

save a horse ride a cowboy

Here's my list:

"Smoke on the Water" - if I never hear this gem ever again, it will be too soon. What a piece of crap!

"Steel Guitar Rag" - I don't even consider this music; it is pure evil and needs to be destroyed!

The collected works of Toby Keith - I hate everything he has ever done, ever will do, or even thinks about doing. That should pretty much take care him.

"Wipe Out" - The SGR of drums. Again, pure evil; written by the devil to enslave the simple-minded!

"Friends in Low Places" - more like musicianship in low places. This one gives new meaning to the word "stinky".

The collective works of the Steve Miller Band - not sure why I dislike them but I do. It probably has something to do with their near total lack of talent.

I feel alot better now (bad day).

Bob<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Bob Storti on 06 June 2005 at 12:52 PM.]</p></FONT>

Just to interject something constructive -
I stand by this method when someone approaches you about a tune you won't/can't play;
When they say:
"Can you play __<font size=1>(insert name of dud tune here)<font size=3>__?"
then I muster up my biggest smile and say with enthusiasm:

"No, I don't play that song. But that's a really great tune, I should learn it !!"

Voila. You're rid of them, you've offhandedly complimented their bizarre taste in music, they're happy, you're happy...works every time.
Not only for songs you hate to play, but for songs that are not practical to play in the band's context, or inappropriate for the situation.
-John <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by John Steele on 06 June 2005 at 01:52 PM.]</p></FONT>

Gee, I never thought of that approach, John. It might work better than my usual response which is typically:

"What? You actually <u>like</u> that song? What a piece of cr@p! If I had a nickel for every time I thought about murdering the guy who wrote that song, I could be retired now instead of sitting in this lonelyhearts club wasting my talents on a bunch of half-drunken losers..." <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Jim Cohen on 06 June 2005 at 02:56 PM.]</p></FONT>

Bob Storti--Are you working with a band? You must have a short song list .I'm 65 years old, check out my band's song list. www.willowcreekband.com I know I should act my age,but I'm having fun.
The two songs I don't like are YOUR CHEATING HEART and WALTZ ACROSS TEXAS. Never thought Ernest Tubb was much of a singer,always had a great steel player and band to make him look good. Joe

Jim, that's the line I usually use on the "Last Date" guy.
As you well know, if you say "I've never heard of it", you end up trapped in the lengthy discourse Les describes above.
If you say "We don't know the words", then they start singing the chorus to you. (textbook guaranteed), (they don't know the 47 verses, they just know the "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" part) or worse yet, offer to get up with the band and sing it.

My favourite response came as a sound clip from a friend in Texas, who captured for posterity the leader of a honky-tonk band retorting:
"I don't give a !&%#@ what you want to hear, this is our band and we play what we want. If you want to call the tunes, get your own !@$%& band !"
-John

Oooh; I like that one! I'm gonna hafta practice sayin' that line ('cept I'm not so sure of some of the pronunciation... Is it Quebecois?)

I hate doing any "prison" songs when it is painfully obvious that the singer has never been in prison. Songs like "Folsom Prison Blues" where the singer has to go through a line like "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" come across as L-A-M-E LAME!!!

Joe

Anything by Lobo.

Nobody's ever heard of any of these songs down here so I don't have to play them....except one...."Achy Breaky Heart". Some guy translated it into Spanish and had a huge hit on it here and now it's standard fiesta fare. Re-titled it "No rompas más". Funny thing is now I don't mind playing it, since it's just about the only country (if you can call it that) songs they know here, and it took a year and a half to find a band so at this point I'm happy to play anything.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 07 June 2005 at 01:53 PM.]</p></FONT>

Anything by Barf Brooks

There are a few songs that get on my nerves but the thing that really pisses me off is when some country bar band I'm playing with starts doing some crappy white funk jam in between songs. The perfect way to let the audience know that you are a 3rd rate band at best and that the players are hacks.

Bob<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 07 June 2005 at 02:05 PM.]</p></FONT>

Bob Hoffner: Well Put

Joe Alterio: Can you accept that the singer/songwriter is just telling a story? Why does the songwriter or singer have to have experienced what the song is about? That is a new one on me. In my opinion, there is very little about the Legendary Johnny Cash that is lame. That is a tall comment from a 'musician'.

Not a knock, just an observation