Tonight’s theme was Astronomical Objects. In attendance were Howard, John, Ken, Jen, Arlene, Keith, Larry, Vin, Dave, Frank, Tom, Bonnie and Suzala.

Vin filmed himself playing the Cincinnati Flow Rag. We all watched it. Brilliant. There was thunderous applause, and well-deserved. (We were wondering what constitutes a rag. What is a stomp? Are these musical terms easily defined?) Well done, Vin.

Besides suggesting the theme, Dave led off with the first six songs.

Man on the Moon, R.E.M., 1992. Here’s a nice one not many of us knew, regarding the late comic/provocateur Andy Kaufman.

Galaxy Song, Eric Idle, 1983. Two chord changes needed to be made. When made, the song was coherent. Dave and I practiced it before everyone was assembled. But at the jam, there is no opportunity to have chords changed on an overhead projector on a moment’s notice. Therefore, I played Dms and everyone else played Fs. Also, there was a fun A7 and D7 in the last line of the verse which was omitted. Nevertheless, we plowed through. It’s such a bouncy, old-fashioned number that it didn’t sound half terrible. I’ve had the lyrics memorized for 30 years. It’s my basis for understanding cosmology and anything Stephen Hawking has to say.

It’s Only A Paper Moon, 1933. Awful. I’m not sure if it’s the way the chords were presented on the sheet, but I couldn’t follow this for anything. I just tried it again and noticed some chords weren’t in the right spots. It’s a nice song, but we’re never going to get it right. It was cacophony.

You’re My Best Friend, Queen, 1976. Queen hit it big with Bohemian Rhapsody, and this song was on that album. I don’t know why we didn’t play this all the way through. I think it was straightforward.

White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplane, 1967. Only Ken seemed to be able to do the Gb (F#), but when we got to the part when she sings, “Go ask Alice…..,” it sounded pretty interesting. The bridge had the impossible E chord to lead off. A cheater’s E7 didn’t work here. Altogether it was a partly unplayable song. It would have sounded great to have a bass guitar and a military-style snare drum. This was Grace Slick’s finest hour.

Earth Angel, Penguins, 1954. This is the easy C Am F G7 loop on the verse, but for some reason we were terrible on the easy bridge.

Fly Me to the Moon, Kaye Ballard, 1954. We gave up early on, thwarted by difficult chords.

(Shine On) Harvest Moon, Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth, 1908. I know this is just my impression of events, but as far as smooth playing and no mistakes or very few mistakes, this one stood out. The song "Moonlight Bay" is on the same chord sheet for some reason (maybe it was because it had roughly the same chords.) When I was in 6th or 7th grade, I saw a group of 8th grade Catholic girls linking arms in the school playground and belting this out. Mr. Fisher, the young math teacher, seemed quite amused as he passed by. Was this my first encounter with this song? I’ve loved it ever since.

Mr. Spaceman, Byrds, 1966. This was John’s pick. I knew so little of the Byrds when I was younger. They did a lot of Dylan songs. David Crosby was a Byrd. I didn’t know the verse, but it was easy. I halfway knew the chorus, and that was fun. There are some funny lyrics.

Blue Moon of Kentucky, Bill Munroe, 1947. Arlene picked this to go with the celestial theme. Vin picked it months ago to go along with the state theme that Liz wanted to do. (Jen claims to hold the record. Her Deep in the Heart of Texas pick satisfied no fewer than four themes: Astro, Animals, Heart, and State nights.)

I’ll Follow the Sun, Beatles, 1965. McCartney wrote this while still a teenager, but they didn’t record it then because this ballad didn’t fit with their tough Teddy Boy image. They did it about five years later. There were good opportunities for us to try harmonies.

Moonlight Bay. I don’t know why we tried this a second time.

Spirit in the Sky, Norman Greenbaum, 1970. (Vin) Fabulous one-hit wonder. The signature sound of it is an A…D C A bit as the intro and between each verse. It isn’t the easiest thing. There are fast changes. We didn’t get it. If we focused on getting that right, I bet it’d sound impressive.

I mentioned that I wanted to try this Rolling Stones song at the senior center to take the measure of their sense of humor, and sang, “What a drag it is getting old,” from Mother’s Little Helper. This opened the floodgates. Will you still need me? Will you still feed me when I’m 64? Suzala suggested that by the Beatles, and also Harry Nilsson’s declaration: I’d rather be dead than wet my bed, from the Son of Schmillson album. Vin thought to use the one we had tried minutes earlier: When I die and they lay me to rest…..(from Spirit in the Sky.) John thought of this line from the Who’s My Generation: Hope I die before I get old. Thus was the brainstorming session to come up with "Songs Which Are Not Appropriate for a Nursing Home Concert". While there is an element of bad taste here, surely this does not make us bad people.

Buffalo Gal, John Hodges, 1844. Tom went way back for this one. I always liked this but only knew the chorus. The verse was the same C to G7. It can’t get easier.

Dancing in the Moonlight, King Harvest, 1973 (Dave) Fun song. Not everyone knew it. It was a little hard.

Rainbow Connection, Kermit the Frog, 1979 (Arlene) I never heard of it, but it was fun to play along, and we did well.

Here Comes the Sun, Harrison and Friends, 1969. (Jen) I don’t know what happened with this song we’d played successfully on our hot-weather themed night, but we were all over the place. Terribly messy. It was towards the end of the evening. Maybe we were getting sleepy and losing our focus. Too bad. Great song.

Let the Sunshine In, from the Hair musical, 1968. (Suzala) I thought this was going to be the 5th Dimension song Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, but it wasn’t. No one knew the verses. We did very well on the chorus, going around a few times in an attempt at harmony. Interesting and worthwhile.

Stars Fell on Alabama, 1934 (Suzala). We watched a YouTube video of a guy doing a nice but slow version, on ukulele, much slower than Sinatra’s version. We didn’t attempt this because Satan came up with these impossible chords to torture and torment ukulele players. Try an F#7, E9, E augmented, A maj 7, C diminished, E13! or Dm6. You couldn’t play it if you had three hands with ten fingers each. I’d recommend the YouTube video done by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

The Spaceship Song, Tiny Tim. Dave is a big fan of Tiny Tim. Most of us know only his big hit. Dave had to sing this by himself. It was simple enough, though, that we could play along with him.

Before we got underway, I huddled with Ken and Vin, trying to refine a list of songs to do at the upcoming concert. We discussed playing mostly group songs with some limited solo performances. I just couldn’t restrain myself from trying a quick version of a song I’d been practicing, You Made Me Love You, while the folks were packing up to go home. Out in the parking lot, a few of us were talking and Suzala asked if I was going to do that one. I said I would if Ken allowed it. “Listen,” Suzala said, “if he gives you any problems, I can handle Ken.” Thanks, Suzala. I’ve always wanted my own personal thug.

Due to a scheduling quirk, we will assemble again this Friday, May 29, instead of skipping a week, as we normally do. We’ll be practicing the songs we’ll perform at the upcoming nursing home concert.

-- Dan.