The theme was directions: north, south, up, down, etc. We had Artie, Ken, Jen, Karen, Bounce, Larry, Jack and Bill, plus some new people. Wayne met Larry at a barbershop-style singing practice. Erin and Martha play in a club which meets at the Patchogue library. Emory and Melanie were here once before, in May. (Emory has a ukulele bag with cats all over it.) Shu Ling was here once before about two years ago. I love it when new people show up.

1. Stuck in the Middle with You, Stealers Wheel, 1973 (Bill)

Gerry Rafferty, a Scotsman, came out of this group to have a decent solo career in the late seventies. I always liked this song.

2. On A Coconut Island, Louis Armstrong, 1936 (Larry)

3. Sloop John B, Beach Boys, 1966 (Larry)

It would probably be hard to make this sound very good. The Beach Boys made it interesting because of the great blending of voices. None of us went high on the "Hoist up the John B sail" part, nor did we echo the lines in the chorus, as they do. Yet it was easy to do an ok job of it.

4. Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley and His Comets, 1955 (Larry)

Here was another one that was easy to do a fair job with. We aren't adept enough to mimic the cool guitar solo in the middle, the part that makes the song exciting.

5. Downtown, Petula Clark, 1965 (Bill)

Classic number, Pet Clark's signature song. It was partially marred by a G7 which should have been a D7 over the "forget" in "You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares." I can't think fast enough to make corrections on the fly, but I recognized it as a clinker.

6. Summertime, George Gershwin, 1935 (Arlene/absent)

Billy Stewart did an unusual version of this in 1966.

7. Dream A Little Dream of Me, Cass Elliot, 1968 (Scott)

There was a mistake in the last line of the verses. Above the second "dream" a bland F was there instead of the correct and interesting Ab. Things such as this take the wind out of my sails as I'm playing. I lose enthusiasm for the song when I see it could be great and ends up being just average. The chords got harder in the bridge. Note from Ken: This chord sheet is really bad. This chord sheet is better but too hard to play for a lot of our club members.

8. Down By the Old Mill Stream, 1910 (WendySue)

WendySue got it going pretty good, but the timing and phrasing were tough.

9. Down By the Riverside (WendySue)

Better. Easy to play. We were together. I especially like the chorus.

10. Lazy River, Bobby Darin, 1961 (WendySue)

This could have been good. I think we all had a different singer in our heads as we tried to sing and play. It turned out messy.

11. It Never Rains in Southern California, Albert Hammond, 1972 (Dan)

Not half bad. Some words and chords weren't exactly right, but it was the best chord sheet I could find. This was a really big hit but the only well-known one that he sang. He did co-write the Hollies 1972 hit "The Air That I Breathe". He's from Gibraltar. I can't name one other person from there.

12. Whiskey in the Jar, Dubliners, 1968 (Bounce)

Never heard of this, but it was fun to play and we were well-coordinated. I'm not sure who knew it well besides Bounce and Jen. Jen seems to know a lot of obscure, Irish drinking songs. Could this be the glorious result of a misspent youth? I vote this our best number of the evening.

13. Under the Boardwalk, Drifters, 1964 (Bounce)

14. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, B. Dylan, 1975 (Bounce)

This always goes well.

15. Up On the Roof, Drifters, 1964 (Bounce)

Some saboteurs let their voice rise at the end of the first lines of each verse, for instance, on "face" in ".....and people are just too much for me to face." Don't do that. It's at the end of the next line, ".....and all my cares just drift right into space," that your inflection is appropriate. We might have to undertake an investigation to locate the culprits and fine them.

16. North to Alaska, Johnny Horton, 1960 (Jack)

This guy had three hits dealing with historical topics, the most famous being his 1959 song "The Battle of New Orleans", which we've done.

17. Blame It On the Bossa Nova, Eydie Gorme, 1963 (WendySue)

What characterizes a bossa nova sound? I don't know if I could pick one out. There's a song I didn't think I knew, but recognized immediately when a friend played it for me. It's by Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, and it's called "Mas Que Nada". It's in Portuguese. Bossa nova? Samba? Something else?

18. On Top of Spaghetti, Tom Glazer, 1963 (WendySue)

Here's how we ended the evening at the first of our new, shortened sessions, two hours long, from seven to nine, instead of the previous 7:30 to 9:45 sessions. I wonder how old I was before I ever heard "On Top of Old Smokey" and realized that's where this song came from.

For our next meeting, Larry suggested a Marty Robbins night. We're going to expand it to include all country music.

-- Dan.