One new guy, Rich, was there tonight. He's been playing about six years and heard about the L.I.U.S.C. from last year's article about us in the Newsday. Also present were Jack, Larry, WendySue, Louise and Bill to do songs of the Everly Brothers, doo-wop songs, and songs from the early rock and roll era.

1. Bye Bye Love, Everly Brothers, 1957 (WendySue)

We began with an upbeat, crowd-pleasing singalong.

2. In the Still of the Night, Five Satins, 1956 (Bill)

For years, the oldies station, WCBS-FM, used to have Top 500 countdowns on holiday weekends. It was a listener poll, and this came in at #1 every time. John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful did this on a live solo album. He said to the audience, "Now we're gonna do a real dumb New York street song." He got everyone to do the background shoo doop doobie doos amidst lots of laughing.

3. Earth Angel, Penguins, 1954 (Bill)

This was very similar to the previous song, with the same chords, the chords sent from heaven, C Am F G7.

4. Bye Bye Love (again)

We tried this in a different key and it was easier to sing.

5. Cathy's Clown, Everly Brothers, 1960 (WendySue)

We couldn't get the song to sound like anything due to a wretched chord sheet. The chords were any which way. I'm going to try and fix it. It's too bad, because it's a neat song, with the chorus and the verse having different tempos.

6. Oh Lonesome Me, Don Gibson, 1958 (Rich)

We all thought we didn't know this cowboy song until we started playing it. It turns out to be one of the best ones we did.

7. Can't Help Falling In Love (correct chord sheet), Elvis Presley, 1961 (Rich)

This went well except for the last line of the bridge, where an Em was omitted and we rushed ahead with an A7. It wasn't the end of the world, but it bugged me. I recall this being one of the first two songs, along with Amazing Grace, that Jen showed me how to do, at my second ever session with the club (the first time I had a ukulele) way back four years ago.

8. Be-Bop-A-Lula, Gene Vincent, 1956 (WendySue)

Should have sounded great but was half awful. Why? It was a missing chord, the usual suspect. This is a three-chords song we should be able to play without looking at the chord sheet, just by the feel of it. You know what the home chord is and you know what the turnaround chord is.

9. Are You Lonesome Tonight?, Elvis Presley, 1960 (Bill)

Dear Bill wrote up this chord sheet just so I could do Elvis' spoken bit in the middle. Years ago I'd do this with friends, without instruments, and everyone would hum the verse as I did the recitation. Tonight I tried to ham it up as much as possible. It's a little tough to recite the lines at the correct speed, so as not to get too far ahead or behind the players who are strumming the verse chords. If you can get the timing down, it's pretty impressive. Thanks, Bill.

10. It's Now or Never, Elvis Presley, 1960 (Bill)

We used Ken's absence as an excuse to get in a few Elvis Presley numbers. (Ken has a feud going with the ghost of Elvis.) For you Italians in the crowd, this is the same song as O Solo Mio.

11. Runaround Sue, Dion, 1961 (Bill)

This went well. Dion and the Belmonts had several good ones.

12. We Belong Together, Robert and Johnny, 1958 (Dan)

My brother had an album by the Belmonts, minus Dion, from 1972, doing all a capella. That's how I first heard of this song. But it was a cover of the hit made by fellow Bronx natives Robert and Johnny. WendySue and Bill were born in the Bronx (as was the absent Arlene), and therefore we had good energy as we did this doo-wop number, my favorite of the night.

13. All I Have to Do Is Dream, Everly Brothers, 1958 (WendySue)

We've done this often in the past, always correctly.

14. What'd I Say, Ray Charles, 1959 (Louise)

The first tough thing was that the song started in E, never a good thing. You can't cheat and make it an E7. We couldn't get the sound right, though on playing it again now, it's not that tough. It just requires a little coordinated effort from us all. We gave up pretty quickly. Then Rich played the part we messed up on, an A E B7 A E B7 sequence. It sounded correct and I saw it was doable. But alas, our time was up, and this is how the session fizzled out. Louise, we ought to give this another chance, perhaps with transposed chords.

There were five Everly Brothers songs posted that we did not get to: Wake Up Little Susie, Devoted to You, When Will I Be Loved, Let It Be Me, and Walk Right Back. Would anyone consider having a do-over night with this same theme? God knows there are still a mess of doo-wop and early rock and roll songs we haven't touched. What about Rama Lama Ding Dong and Who Put the Bomp in the Bomp Bomp Bomp?

WendySue came up with the theme for the next session. Since it'll be the day after Thanksgiving, it will be songs with "thanks" in the title, lyrics, or the theme of thanks or gratitude. She specifically forbids anything by the Grateful Dead, if any of you had thoughts about sneaking them in. If we can't come up with enough songs like that, you may also pick songs with anything to do with the holiday of Thanksgiving, such as Ain't Got No Stuffing Baby, by Little Eddie and the Drumsticks (1966). I've heard it said that this band was a major influence on the Beatles, but I cannot confirm it.

-- Dan.