We had an intimate gathering (Mark, Arlene, Vin, Jen and Ken), die-hard ukulele enthusiasts all, on this rainy and windy evening, to play songs from the movies.

1. The Rose, Bette Midler, 1979 (Arlene)

From the movie "The Rose" (1979). We took this very slowly and made no mistakes. Good start. I never much cared for this song, but Ken saved it for me by doing the happy-ukey version.....a big improvement.

2. (Someone to) Lava, 2015 (Arlene)

A Pixar short film included with the movie "Inside Out" (2015). This was very easy, though no one had heard it before. The story follows the love story of two volcanoes, Uku and Lele. We all need someone to love, but a volcano needs someone to "lava". Watch and play-along to the short movie here. Here's an another chord sheet but it's not perfect either.

3. Paper Moon, Ella Fitzgerald, 1945 (Arlene) [paper hand-out]

From the Oscar-winning film "Paper Moon" (1973). We've played this several times in the past (click here for the Al Jolson version), and to my ear it has always sounded a little off. It must be something about all those chords jammed together and the fast changes that need to be made. I wonder if there couldn't be some way to simplify it even further without ruining it.

Aha. I just played the chords for the handout sheet and I have solved the problem. The chords were not over the correct lyrics. We were changing too fast or too slow. I'm going to put the chords in the proper spots. Let's try it again. I bet it'll work better.

Wait! Not so fast. Disregard the previous paragraph. I listened to Ella Fitzgerald doing the song on YouTube, and SHE seemed to be a little ahead of or behind the beat. Therefore, I must conclude that I'm wrong. The chords on the handout and Ella Fitzgerald are right. I'm flummoxed. This song has defeated me.

4. Vin did a good job on a solo instrumental version of the Bee Gees How Deep Is Your Love from the movie "Saturday Night Fever" (1977). We watched his YouTube video. At the time Saturday Night Fever was out and the Bee Gees and disco dominated Top 40 radio, I lamented that the once great Bee Gees, the singers of I Just Gotta Get A Message to You and To Love Somebody, had sold out to the awful disco genre. Forty years later, I've softened my stance and now find a lot of that music nostalgic.

5. Ain't Misbehavin', Fats Waller, 1929 (Arlene)

From the movie "Stormy Weather" (1943) and the musical "Ain't Misbehavin'". I hardly know this song, but I like it. We did fine on the verses and chorus but not the bridge.

6. Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler, 1988 (Arlene)

From the movie "Beaches". Here's another Bette Midler ballad I really did not like. However, we played it slowly and correctly. My cousin, Laura Ann, danced at her wedding with her father to this, and everybody was quite weepy with emotion.

7. I Just Called to Say I Love You, Stevie Wonder, 1984 (Arlene and Ken)

From the movie "The Woman in Red". This was pretty smooth.

8. Old Time Rock and Roll, Bob Seger, 1979 (Arlene)

From the 1983 film "Risky Business". We played good old C F and G7 and couldn't make a mistake, but it didn't sound that interesting.

9. Beyond the Sea, Bobby Darin, 1960 (Ken)

From the 2004 Kevin Spacey movie "Beyond the Sea". What a gorgeous melody. I love this song. It was very tough to play. It went best when Ken played it and we all sang along.

10. You've Got A Friend in Me, Randy Newman, 1995 (Ken)

From the movie "Toy Story". Mark sang this well. The chords were tough. I never heard this.

11. Twistin' the Night Away, Sam Cooke, 1962 (Vin)

From the movie "Animal House" (1978). Not bad, but the timing was a little off.

12. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, B.J. Thomas, 1969 (Joe/absent)

From the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". This was our best effort of the evening so far.

13. Grow Old With You, Adam Sandler, 1998 (Ken)

From the movie "The Wedding Singer". We did a version, then Mark played and sang it alone quite competently. I never heard this one either.

14. You're the One That I Want, John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John, 1978 (John C./absent)

From the film "Grease". There was a chord missing on the chorus, which messed us up some, but it's a fun song.

15. Time Warp, from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975 (John C.)

Some parts of the song were not easily playable. In the beginning, there was talking. You could play "Let's do the time warp again," plus the directions on how to do the dance ("It's just a jump to the left......") Only a few of us knew it. I'd recommend this album (and the kooky movie, for those of you who haven't seen it). It had half a dozen good songs on it.

16. Edelweiss, Christopher Plummer (from "The Sound of Music" movie), 1965 (Dan)

We were together on this. No mistakes. This has an impossible-to-resist melody.

17. Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen, 1984 (Jen)

From the movie "Shrek" (2001). Here's a tearjerker. We've done it in the past and it's always gone well.

18. I Got You Babe, Sonny and Cher, 1965 (Arlene)

Was this in a movie? Here was another opportunity missed to take parts and perhaps do a little harmony. However, this may be unrealistic, because we aren't spending hours rehearsing with a musical director. To capture the complexity on the fly, in one or two go-rounds, probably is too much to hope for.

I'm not clear on the topic for the next session. It was suggested we do the songs of people who have died in accidents, or it might be Halloween songs (besides Monster Mash, are there any other Halloween songs?), or songs by men who died between the years 1968 and 1976. I'm pretty sure it's a morbid theme, something to appeal to your inner ghoul. Check in with NEXT CLUB JAM SESSION to find out the answer.

-- Dan.