This evening's jam starred, Me (Arlene), Ken, Jen, Dan, Dave, Frank, Tom, John, Wendysue, new Christine, Mike, Ann, Bill, and new comers Scott and his cute son Sam.

Tonight's theme was male names and we started off with some of Wendysue's picks: Johnny Angel, which I remember Shelley Fabares singing on the Donna Reed show way too many years ago. Wendysue tried valiantly to lead us though this piece but the group result was rather haphazard. The young'uns amongst us were not familiar with this song. From there we tried Hat's Off to Larry. We substituted Em for E but even that could not help us. My summary: OY VEY! Not to many of us knew the song. Hat's Off to that one!

Christine gave us Daniel by Elton John which was nice but a little challenging and A Boy Named Sue which was very difficult to sing. Next up was Vincent (Starry Starry Night) which was very pretty and we all played relatively together. We were supposed to dedicate this song to Vin but he was away for some fun in the city. Sorry Vin, no one knew Pancho and Lefty so without you here we passed on it.

Moving on to 2 of my suggestions: Mac the Knife (do watch the Dee Snider version... it's a hoot) and Limbo Rock. Both were fun and easy. The chords near the end of each line of Limbo Rock need to be moved over to the left a wee bit.

Nathan gave us the Beatle's Hey Jude which we played well and ended with perhaps a touch too much energy, enthusiasm and volume because someone from the library closed our door!!!

Frank brought us Popeye the Sailor Man which we did sometime last year when we did TV themes. Another fun one with several Popeye impersonations by John and Ken.

Jen brought us Janis Joplin's Me and Bobby McGee which we played fairly decently.

Larry, we miss you but thanks for Sloop John B which we all know from the Beach Boys but I was surprised to learn it was written in 1917. Dan gave us Bennie and The Jets which Ken had a lot of fun with. He also brought Loggins and Messina's Danny's Song. This one was a bit tricky to sing but we were nice and strong on the chorus.

Ken brought Bill Bailey. Interesting because while everyone 'knows' this song, no one was familiar with how to sing the verse so we skipped right on the chorus and enjoyed the pretty chords. Ken also gave us Maxwell's Silver Hammer which was fun and performed well by all. John suggested Fats Waller's On the Sunny Side of the Street (mentions Rockefeller). From there we went back to 2 more of Wendysue's suggestions. Mr. Bojangles was pathetic and Duke of Earl we gave up on.

And finally we played Danny Boy and Johnny Be Good.

The theme for our next get-together will be parts of the face. I can't wait to hear what comes out of our mouths when we contort our faces and flap our lips in song. See you then. Get it? Eyes, ears, mouth, lips....

Respectfully submitted,

Arlene