The Steel Guitar Forum

I have been asked to sit in with a band to do a sixtieth wedding anniversary gig. The reason I have been asked to join in is, I am supposed to know the old dance tunes. They want only a half dozen vocals with all the rest being instrumentals. We have two weeks to rehearse and I have to teach some of these guys these old tunes in that time.

I need some of the older tune reminders guys. Remember those old time country dances:?: So far I have come up with:

Kentucky waltz;
Missouri Waltz;
The West a Nest & You Dear
Tennessee Waltz; (vocal and instrumental)
Music, Music, Music (Teresa Brewer)
Over The Waves;
Blue Skirt Waltz
Blue Canadian Rockies
Golden Slippers

I need a few Fox Trots, Two Steps and so.

Put your little foot.
Waltz you saved for me

“Someday you will want me to want you “ ( 1944 )

“Saint Louie Blues “

Boumont Rag --- more of a fiddle or Mandolin tune

Hey Les, "Put another nickle in", the title to that one is actually "Music, Music, Music"...

How 'bout some of these:

Somewhere My Love
Mansion On The Hill (makes a great instrumental)
Pennsylvania Polka
In The Mood
C Jam Blues
Honky Tonk
Alley Cat
Stranger On The Shore
Sail Along Silvery Moon
Marie (The old Tommy Dorsey tune)
San Antonio Rose
Home in San Antone....... JH in Va.

Jerry Hayes wrote:Hey Les, "Put another nickle in", the title to that one is actually "Music, Music, Music"...

Thank-you Jerry. I realized my mistake after I posted the question but was just too lazy to go back in and change it. I met Teresa Brewer in about 1960 and had no idea how tiny this girl was. She really did live up to her name of “Little Ms Dynamite”

Wow, some of the tunes mentioned by you guys has been a real memory refresher. When I first got into playing dances, most of those songs were on our play list. I have spent the last three hours this morning picking out these old tunes on my steel, electric guitar and pan flute.

I'll be Loving You, Always

Keep them coming guys, this is wonderful. I have received several PMs with some great suggestions as well.

I was even reminded of an old tune titled "Life In The Finland Woods". Jeez, I haven't heard that tune in about 4o years.

Now for the major problem. How in hell do I get a bunch of 30 something year olds to learn these old tunes in two weeks?

Let's not forget another nice waltz that goes well at weddings and anniversaries:

"I Love You So Much It Hurts Me"

Les, where you said, "Now for the major problem. How in hell do I get a bunch of 30 something year olds to learn these old tunes in two weeks?" it reminds me of a similar situation that happened to me when I was "young" (both in age and experience) in my music. We had to do a 50th wedding anniversary gig and our band leader, who was in his early 60s (we were all in our twenties), said to us: "Okay, guys, we need to learn a lot of old songs in a short time, so how well you get paid at this gig depends on how quick and how well you learn these songs!" LOL I'll never forget that. We did learn them quick and well, by the way.

*All of Me
*I Don't know Why (I Love you Like I Do)
*Blue Spanish Eyes
*Careless
*I left My Heart In SanFrancisco
*Drinking Champaign
*Moon River
*L.O.V.E. (Love was made for me and you)
*Up a Lazy River
*Sugar Moon

Les
Maybe you could look up a list of songs on YT and email them to the young pickers and they could work at home and learn them

Here is “slipping around “ 1949 Click on Jimmy Wakely's name on the top and a bunch of old tunes by Jimmy come up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox4QWkijsK8

Bob Hickish wrote:Les
Maybe you could look up a list of songs on YT and email them to the young pickers and they could work at home and learn them

Bob, we will be getting together tonight to go over the music list that the guys in here have laid out for me. Being that I have played 95% these old tunes in my past days, I will do the lead and let the others chord along until they get the melodies in their heads. Your YouTube suggestion will be implemented.

I am having a blast getting my fingers around the fret boards of the steel and my electric guitar to play these oldies. My trusty old chromatic harmonica is my saving grace to pin down the tunes in my rusty memory banks. I can workout the tunes much easier on the harmonica than on my steel or other instruments.

All of Me
Dont Get Around Much Anymore
Birth of the Blues
Undecided Now
Sugar Moon
Somewhere My Love (I know not FT, but still a pleeser)
5 foot 2
Panhandle Rag
Love Letters in the Sand
It's a Sin to Tell a Lie
Slow Poke
Mansion on the Hill

South
Maiden's Prayer
Moonglow
In The Mood
Night Train
September In The Rain

AFRAID
I Love You Because
Foggy River
Bone-parts Retreat (sp?)
I Love You So Much it Hurts Me
Steelin' the Blues
It's a Sin
Molly Darling

and on and on...............

Wow, two full practices and our young musicians cannot get past the chording stage and rolling their eyes to all the tunes listed by our members.

"The Blue Skirt What??????"

Jeez guys, have we moved so far ahead into the future that the past is no longer reachable?

If this gig was not already half paid for and such an important event for the old couple, I think I'd pack it in.

Tonight I will have a sax player sit in with us to give us some harmony when playing these old tunes.

Fake books can get a band through anything.
I think we live in an age where we have forgotten about those fake books (Words, Melody notation and chord symbols) that most folks relied on for many years.
A most if you’re playing older music.

Most of the old standards were written by a composer sitting at a piano, and contain a lot of chords you wouldn't come across in C&W. Unless you're very proficient you'll have a difficult time, especially since they want you to play instrumentals. At least when backing vocals you can muff something on one or two strings, but if you're playing a tune which everyone knows you don't have much leeway.

One thing I've always been taught is to remember that, while you're playing an instrumental, the audience are singing the words in their heads, so make sure that your phrasing follows the words, even if no-one is singing them.

Les Anderson wrote:Wow, two full practices and our young musicians cannot get past the chording stage and rolling their eyes to all the tunes listed by our members.

Les
Its a whole new world with some of the young pickers - been there done that - not always good . Maybe you need to find / or / make same backing tracks and the young pickers can do there best air-guitar behind you wile you pick out the lead .

I say this in Humor , but maybe its not that funny where you sit - wish we could help .

Alan, you couldn't be more right. The sax player and myself cut our teeth on these old tunes when we got our first instruments. Some of the chords are zingers; however, they are what makes the melodies sound like they do. I don't want to simplify it unless I really have to.

I have to agree with you guys that this is an eye opener for some of these bang, bang, warp, warp musicians. Three of the four of them do not connect to melodies all that well . They are used to a free ride on their instruments when they play rock. With the old fashion melodies, everything is much more structured and subdued.

We had a sax player with us tonight who is in his sixties. Between the two of us, we harmonized all the tunes we practiced and the younger guys seemed to pick it up not too badly. The lead guitarists is the one who needs a ton of work to get his mind around structured melodies.

We taped our practice tonight and cut a CD for each right after. Monday will see a different bunch I think. I am not going to give up on them just yet.

There is something I forgot to add in my previous post, I got a PM from one of our members recommending a metronome so the guys can hear and watch the beat.

I think that is a great idea. Trying to explain 4/4 time or 3/4 time to them is proving to be a bit of a challenge.

My experience with younger musicians is that they seemed to be very knowledgeable in music theory.

Young folks do however have a lower tolerance for genres that they are not particularly familiar with and don’t really want to compromise their music agenda.

However some older musicians will just jump right in with no hesitation more often and with more often disastrous results.

I think I would go with the what the young folks would do here and turn the gig down.
Like my daddy always says “why sign up for a butt kickin’”

Your old dad is right as usual.

This gig has already been determined by the would be performers to be something they would have to spend a great deal of time and effort on and still appears a lack of positive feeling about the final outcome.

This thing is screaming "let it go!" or at least negotiate your own material.
Have them look at your present play list and say pick from there.

At their age, there's a chance that at least one of the honored couple may not make it. In that case, you're off the hook..

sorry I didn't mean to

Les Anderson wrote:

Jerry Hayes wrote:Hey Les, "Put another nickle in", the title to that one is actually "Music, Music, Music"...

Thank-you Jerry. I realized my mistake after I posted the question but was just too lazy to go back in and change it. I met Teresa Brewer in about 1960 and had no idea how tiny this girl was. She really did live up to her name of “Little Ms Dynamite”

Wow, some of the tunes mentioned by you guys has been a real memory refresher. When I first got into playing dances, most of those songs were on our play list. I have spent the last three hours this morning picking out these old tunes on my steel, electric guitar and pan flute.

I always thought the very petite Brenda Lee was labeled 'little Miss Dynamite'
I guess they both had been both using the name in the 60s.