WendySue, Bill, Larry, Louise, Jean, Irene, Dawn, Betty, Frank, Dan, Arlene, Anne, Ken, and myself were all gathered together for this night of "OLD Songs" since we just covered "NEW songs" in our previous jam. We were all completely delighted with a special treat this evening- Frank brought his fiddle!

1). BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN

Our opening song.

2). GROW OLD WITH YOU by Adam Sandler (WendySue)

This song is from the movie, "50 First Dates" with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in which Barrymore suffers an illness from an accident where she wakes up and each day she is on the same date with Adam Sandler, sort of like Groundhog Day.

3). GROW OLD WITH ME by John Lennon (WendySue)

Only a few of us knew this slow ballad which is on the Milk and Honey album by John and Yoko.

4). THINKING OUT LOUD by Ed Sheeran (WendySue)

I am a fan of Ed Sheeran. This was a bit difficult and awkward to sing except for the chorus.

5). I DON'T NEED YOUR ROCKING CHAIR by George Jones (WendySue)

This song was perfect for the theme except no one but WendySue knew it. We had to move on.

6). STREETS OF LONDON by Ralph McTell (Jean)

Jean led us through this sad song about the homeless and poor people on the streets of London. Originally it was written for the streets of Paris but metamorphosed into London. The message is universal and it could've easily been written for New York, San Fransisco, Portland, Chicago, etc. It's a beautifully written song. There's a video on YouTube that's heartbreaking and made me cry.

7). BROWN EYED GIRL by Van Morrison (Jean)

We tried picking out the intro and dividing the room between Uke1 and Uke2 which needs practice. We all sang together and everyone sounded great!

8). IN GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME BY George Evans and Ren Shields, 1902 (PJ)

Short and sweet but it was freezing outside and we're singing about summer.

9). WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR by John Lennon and Paul McCartney (Betty)

Arlene's banjo uke sounded really nice on this song. There was a question about what "2h3" meant and Ken explained it is something called a "hammer on" where you strike the note with your finger a certain way.

10). SOMEDAY SOON by Judy Collins (Betty)

Frank played a beautiful solo on his fiddle.

11). LANDSLIDE by Fleetwood Mac (Louise)

Someone mentioned that Lindsay Buckingham does a travis pick on this song. It was pretty but the chords sounded weird. This is not on the list. Is that a list?

12). GLORY DAYS by Bruce Springsteen (Louise)

We had to skip this one because the chord sheet was off.

13). HOUSE OF GOLD by 21 PILOTS (Louise)

Louise introduced me to this song in the Sachem jam the day all the teenagers showed up. Louise sings this really well. It has some fast strumming but you can play along with the 21 Pilots.

14). TURN, TURN, TURN by the Byrds (Louise)

Dan led us through this song which has lyrics from the Old Testament. Nicely done!

15). ON TOP OF OLD SMOKEY by The Weavers, 1951 (Irene)

Most of us never listened to the depressing, heart wrenching lyrics of this song about a girl who was wronged by a man (we covered this theme in the past), and I think we all preferred On Top of Spaghetti!

16). AN OLD FASHIONED LOVE SONG by Three Dog Night (Irene)

Great song! Tough phrasing towards the end and for some of us, the [Bb] is still tricky.

17). OLD PIANO ROLL BLUES by Freddy Cannon, 1962(Arlene)

Arlene once again sounded terrific on her banjo uke and Bill added a nice touch with his kazoo.

18). GET UP AND GO by Pete Seeger (Arlene)

This song was both funny and cute! I'd put it on the list. Great pick, Arlene!

19). TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME (Arlene)

Let's go Mets!

20). WAGON WHEEL by Old Crow Medicine Show (Ken)

This song was the highlight of the night. We've played it many times before when Nathan and Chris used to attend our meetings but this time it was especially good. Frank did a fantastic job playing the fiddle for us as we strummed and sang along. What a treat! Thanks so much, Frank! Great job!

21). GING GANG GOOLIE (Arlene)

We did this song just for fun. Never heard it before, but it's very catchy.

22). MY OLD SCHOOL by Steely Dan (Ken)

Not too bad! This song is in the original key so you could play along with Steely Dan. It would've sounded better with an entire brass section though.

23). OLD MAN by Neil Young (Jen)

We played along with young Neil Young on YouTube. He is such a talented artist.

24). EVE OF DESTRUCTION (Abbie)

Abbie wasn't here tonight, but she posted this one. We were all together and it sounded pretty good.

25). KING OF THE ROAD (Larry)

No phone, no pool, no pets.

26). OLD MACDONALD

To conclude our Old songs night, Frank played his fiddle and we all sang Old MacDonald.

Betty came up with the theme for our next jam which will be on Friday, January 31 and the theme is all songs having to do with Birds. Some already thought of songs by the Eagles and the Partridge Family. It should be a hoot!

Happy Chinese New Year to all! 2020 is the auspicious year of the Rat!

Cheers,

-- Jen.