At the risk of sounding morbid, I'd like to mention a wake I just returned from, for a guy, Mike, who used to work at my job. Aside from making traffic signs, he was a history buff and a big music fan, with special fondness for the Beatles, the Grateful Dead and Hot Tuna. As I entered the room in the funeral parlor, something unusual struck me. I heard the song Dear Mr. Fantasy playing, and soon after I'll Follow the Sun, then a song by Three Dog Night, the Dead, the Traveling Wilburys. He composed a tape of songs to play at his wake. This was a first for me.

Fifteen years ago he made a cassette tape for me of Beatle bootlegs. I titled it Mike McDonald's Beatles Rarities. I played it on the way to the wake and back home. There was a crashing, loose version of Dig A Pony, then Paul messing around with the song Teddy Boy, which ended up on his first solo album. It was a little comforting, a little funny, a little sad, but I'm going to take away a positive feeling. It might be too frivolous to say that great music triumphs over death. But we can appreciate it while we're still here, and we DO, brothers and sisters, because we are the mighty ukulele players. If I were to perish in a freak boating accident, and my wife doesn't object too strenuously, I invite a few of you to stand near the flower arrangements and Mass cards and plunk out something nice, something fitting. Would it be too much of an imposition to ask you to learn Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey? No no. That's too long a song at four minutes and forty-nine seconds. How about the advanced version of Dream A Little Dream of Me? (Yes, that does include the difficult Bm, but it's the only wake I'll ever have.)

On the night of this jam, in honor of John, Cass, Michelle and Denny, the great The Mamas & the Papas, there were thirteen of us, Arlene, Bill, Vin, Jen, Ken, Sam, Scott, Jack, Bonnie, WendySue, Carol and Sally, all as alive and vibrant as can be, all digging music and improving on a musical instrument. Here's what we played.

1. Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen, 1984

This artist just passed away at age 82, and here was our tip-of-the-hat to him.

2. Father and Son, Cat Stevens, 1970 (Sam)

Oh, fabulous song.....but why did we play this? Cat Stevens, age 68, neither passed away nor was a Mama or a Papa. Sam was keen on doing it and we complied. Not a bad job.

3. Dream a Little Dream of Me (Bonnie)

This was an easy version to play, and sounded nice, but not quite as nice as the beautiful, but somewhat challenging version. It's a good example of the glorious voice of Cass Elliot.

4. California Dreamin' (Bonnie)

Here's a song which includes "parentheses" (backup vocals), always tough to coordinate to good effect. It's a rock-era standard, and we had some success.

5. Dedicated to the One I Love (Arlene)

These are Michelle's light and airy vocals on the lead. They borrowed this from the Shirelles (1961) and put their own stamp on it, including a rollicking honky-tonk piano.

6. Make Your Own Kind of Music (Arlene)

.....in which Mama Cass strikes a blow for individuality. This is her as a solo act in 1969.

7. I Call Your Name (Arlene)

The Beatles did this originally. The Mamas and the Papas did a different arrangement, pretty sophisticated, using different tempos and great backup vocals. Lennon sang alone, and in comparison the Beatles version sounds like primitive rock and roll (not that there's anything wrong with that.) 8. TwelveThirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon) (Dan) This pretty melody came toward the end of their string of hits and didn't make the Top Ten. John Phillips wrote this after they moved, in 1965, to Laurel Canyon, a Los Angeles neighborhood, home to loads of musicians. Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, Carole King, Canned Heat, Buffalo Springfield, Joni Mitchell and Peter Tork lived there in the mid-sixties. I hear they had some parties.

9. Got A Feeling (Dan)

Here's another pretty but less-famous melody.

10. Creeque Alley (Carol)

I was eager to put this in the Suggestion Box, but when I tried out a few chordsheets, I couldn't make it sound like anything. I gave up. Luckily, others insisted we try it and it seemed easy as pie. It was mostly A, D and E, with one C, all of which actually sound better as sevenths. Why had I been previously stumped? Who knows? It was the surprise hit of the night for me. The funny lyrics tell the history of how the band came to be. This was a crowd pleaser. We ought to consider this in the future since it turned out to be so simple and we did it so well.

11. Dancing in the Streets (Sam)

Along with Dream A Little Dream of Me, Dedicated to the One I Love and I Call Your Name, this was yet another remake (Martha and the Vandellas, 1964) and yet another creative interpretation with the unmistakable Mamas and the Papas sound.

That was the last of their songs we did. One famous one which we didn't really try, because it was hard, was "I Saw Her Again". Look at the video for this song on YouTube. It's just the four of them fooling around in a clothing store, being silly. But if you want to see what a young, hippie chick (circa 1966 California) looks like, have a look at Michelle Phillips.

12. Tangled Up in Blue (Scott)

A cool song from Dylan's 1975 Blood on the Tracks album, this was a holdover from our last session.

13. Blowin' in the Wind (Sally)

This was very easy. It's one of Dylan's signature songs. I never quite understood the title, though. Is the answer that's blowin' in the wind (a) an obvious answer, such as that the cannonballs must stop flying NOW, and that we don't need to wait for any more deaths to realize that too many people have died, or (b) a difficult answer to reach, because the problems are difficult (putting an end to wars has proven elusive) and coming up with an answer is as impossible as catching and holding a handful of the breeze? Who has some thoughts on this? Let's explore Dylan's poetry. After all, he did win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

For our next session, it's going to be an OPEN JAM. Pick your favorite songs from any band and any era. Pick one to do as a solo, to satisfy your Inner Ham. Pick one we've played in the past that you've particularly enjoyed, or something you're dying to introduce to the group. It's going to be a loose, nonjudgmental evening. You may even wear sweatpants and sneakers, if you like.

-- Dan.