With temperatures in the eighties, we tried a cooling winter theme. The players were John, Tom, Vin, Mark, Arlene, Jen, Ken, WendySue and Suzala.

Ken began with Winter Wonderland. The most common modern version is by Darlene Love (possibly with the Ronettes) on a Phil Spector Christmas album from 1963. There's another unusual version, by the Roche sisters, in which they sing with exaggerated, old-time New York accents.

Karen (absent) suggested Dylan's You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (1967), the third line being, "Get your mind off wintertime." Most of us didn't know it by the title, but once we started playing, most recognized it.

Vin picked Let It Snow (Sammy Cahn, 1945).

Joe (absent) picked the Mamas and the Papas California Dreamin' ("on such a winter's day"). We watched Ukulele Mike, but tried a slower tempo on this moderately-tough song. We missed an opportunity for the kazoo, which we could have played during the song's flute solo.

Nathan (absent) selected Elvis' Blue Christmas (1957).

I picked Neil Young's Winterlong (1975), but no one else knew it. It wasn't a hit, but was on the triple album, Decade, which did have lots of familiar songs. We played along to the video.

John picked Foreigner's second big hit, Cold As Ice (1977). This was a little difficult, but it might be worth trying again.

WendySue gets the prize for the song which dispensed the best piece of advice. It's from Button Up Your Overcoat (Helen Kane, 1929), and the line is, "Keep away from bootleg hootch when you're on a spree." There's a worthwhile warning.

Suzala chose Jimmy Helms' 1957 hit Jingle Bell Rock. We've done it before and it came out well. (I think the C to C6 to Cmaj7 is fun to play.) Then she insisted on Sleigh Ride, which I know best from Johnny Mathis (1958) and the Ronettes (1963).

The last winter-themed song of the night was from Tom, who picked Hank Williams' Cold Cold Heart (1951). Hank Williams has simple to play, fun songs (even when the theme is a mournful one.)

After exhausting the night's theme, we still had a half hour to go. Ken had If I Fell (Beatles, 1964), but it had some evil chords (Bbm, G#, C#m) and we didn't play it all the way through.

Then Arlene treated us to a solo of the Roy Rogers' theme song, Happy Trails (1952), and we sang with her.

For the remaining minutes, Ken asked if anyone was working on anything. Jen had You Belong to Me (not the Carly Simon hit.) This is most popular from 1962 by the Duprees, and was a staple for years and years on oldies radio stations and at weddings. It seems impossible, but Dylan has a version of it. It sounds terrible. Some people may also know the Jason Wade version which was made popular from the movie "Shrek".

Ken played a nice version of Vincent (Don McLean, 1971), also known as Starry Starry Night, in honor of our own Vin. Vin played the intro to Sunshine of Your Love (Cream, 1967), then I did a bit of another Cream song, Strange Brew (1967), and John sang the words I didn't know.

John had the last word when he made the suggestion for the theme for the next session: MAGIC. If you like a song with magic in the title, the lyrics, or with a magical theme, post it on the Next Club Jam page and we'll play it on August 21.

-- Dan.