We all gathered on this glorious October evening to strum and sing songs about cities. There was Olivia, Larry (welcome back, Larry!), Jack, WendySue, Dan, Betty, Frank, Dawn, Anne, PJ, Marian from New Jersey and Ken.

1). Side by Side - Written by Harry Woods (1927)

Warm up by playing this fun opening song of the night.

2). Galveston, TX by Glen Campbell. Written by Jimmy Webb and McArthur Park (Betty)

This song had fast changing chords, It was quite nice, but a bit tricky. If you skip the [D7] it was easier to play.

3). El Paso by Marty Robbins (Betty)

Dan sang this entire ballad about a man who fights for his love of a dark Mexican girl named Felina. He kills a man over her and admits, "My love is stronger than my fear of death." Eventually he is confronted by a gang of cowboys and dies with Felina at his side.

4). Honolulu performed by Gracie Allen from the 1939 MGM movie "Honolulu" (Ken)

This song has a nice upbeat strum pattern that I need to practice. In the video there's a great tap dance routine by Eleanor Powell. This is a catchy tune and fun to play. I would like Ken to take me to Honolulu one day.

5). Chattanooga Choo-Choo by Mack Gordon & Harry Warren (Arlene)

This is the four chord version of this song which is usually played by Big Bands. Won't you choo-choo me home?

6). Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash (1956) (Arlene)

Not too shabby once you get the hang of the Johnny Cash Shuffle.

7). Waterloo by ABBA, 1974 (Ken)

This is the song that launched the Swedish pop group ABBA when it was the winning entry for Sweden in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. It also returns in the new 2018 "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" movie sung by Young Harry (Colin Firth is Old Harry). It's a metaphor for when Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, just as a lover was defeated when he met his girl.

8). Fireflies by Owl City (Anne)

Anne sang this song for us because nobody else knew it. It was difficult to play and sing along but the lyrics were pretty.

9). Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel (PJ)

Fast changing chords and I found it hard to change from [D] to [EM]. In the 19th century, it was common practice to send messages to your lover through flower arrangements. It might be possible that parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme serve as a way to send a secret message to the "true love of mine".

10). Babylon by Don McLean, 1971 (Dan)

What an interesting experiment to play this song as a fugue like Row, Row, Row Your Boat. We split up the room and gave it a try. It was really cool and we succeeded in creating a magical harmony together. We must do this again. Thanks for teaching us this song, Dan!

11). I Left My Heart in San Franciso by George Cory & Douglass Cross (WendySue)

Pretty singing by Olivia and WendySue. I love the line that says, "Your golden sun will shine for me."

12). Do You Know the Way to San Jose? by Burt Bacharach (WendySue)

Wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo WendySue carried us through. Lovely.

13). Chicago, Chicago by Frank Sinatra (WendySue)

What a hot mess!

14). Lodi by Creedence Clearwater Revival (Jack)

Jack led us through this song, but we all stopped at the key change.

15). Kansas City by W. Harrison (Jack)

Nice song. We played it well!

16). Abilene by George Hamilton IV (Jack)

Pretty song. Jack started us off.

17). Detroit City by Bobby Bare (Jack)

This song is about making cars in the 60's. We didn't get all the way through.

18). City of New Orleans, Arlo Guthrie, 1972 (PJ)

What a beautiful chorus! I'll never get tired of this song.

19). We played Waterloo again, but this time we played it super-fast (aka normal speed).

Fun night! Until next time...

Due to construction at the library, our next jam will be the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) and the theme will be songs about food.

Cheers and Gobble Gobble,

-- Jen.