This was slightly unkempt, raucous session, without benefit of a theme and list of songs prepared in advance. Attendees included: Tom and Chris, Lisa, Nathan and Chris, Jack, John, Karen and Bounce (the Floridian vaudevillians), Suzala and Rick, Ken, Vin and Dan (me).

Before the dozen players arrived, Vin was there with a paper copy of the Rolling Stones' fabulous "Waiting On A Friend". It sounded great. It had my favorite uke chords: F C Am and G. I thought we'd get to try it with the whole group, but events got away from us. We should try it again, perhaps on a Rolling Stones-themed evening.

The first two we did as a group were Vin's picks: "The Gambler" (Kenny Rogers) and "On the Road Again" (Willie Nelson). Then came Jack's pick: "Sweet Baby James" (James Taylor). We did each of these several times.

Next was "Don't Fence Me In" (Bing Crosby), a good singalong, which is getting to be a group favorite.

There was the standard "All of Me". We should try that again.

A surprise hit was the J. Geils Band "Centerfold". It was supremely catchy, especially the "Na na na na na na" part (an easy G F C).

Two Hank Williams songs, "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "Hey Good Lookin'" sounded good. Let's keep them in mind if we play another nursing home.

We rushed through the last bunch (most were from "The Daily Ukulele (Leap Year Edition) book")

"You're Gonna Miss Me (The Cup Song)", from the recent movie Pitch Perfect

"Cecilia" (Simon and Garfunkel)

"Bus Stop" (Hollies)

"Brand New Key" (Melanie). I used to think this was a ridiculous song. Then I saw Melanie Safka at a theatre in Suffolk a few years ago. She told a hilarious, rambling story about writing it-----something about vegetarianism and McDonald's. I've liked it ever since. It has the added benefit of being catchy and easy to play.

"Born to Be Wild" (Steppenwolf)

"Bang on the Drum" (Todd Rundgren) This was mainly done by Chris, never lacking for enthusiasm.

"The Banana Boat Song" (Harry Belafonte)

We meet again Friday, August 29, 2014.

-- Dan.