Betty, Frank, Arlene, Anne, PJ, Larry, Jack, WendySue, Jean, Ken, Jen, Sally and Dawn were here on this St. Valentine’s Day to play songs which mention colors.

1. Big Rock Candy Mountain

2. Whiter Shade of Pale, Procol Harum, 1967 (Ken)

We started the evening off with a mistake-free song. Very encouraging. Bill put together this chord sheet. (He had just sold his house and was on his way to start the next chapter of his life, in glorious upstate New York. So long, dear man! Whenever you visit your family on Long Island, try and make a point to come back and play with us.) Look at both videos Ken posted for this song, done 40 years apart. Singer Gary Brooker, now all grey, hasn’t lost anything in his vocal ability, and it’s hard to hit some of these notes.

3. Red Rubber Ball, Cyrkle, 1966 (Betty)

Another great song, well-played.

4. Yellow Submarine, The Beatles, 1966 (Betty)

5. Red Roses for a Blue Lady, Wayne Newton, 1965 (Betty)

In these first five songs, we didn’t make any mistakes. Did we spontaneously become brilliant players, or did we just have good chord sheets?

6. Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Jim Croce, 1973 (Jean)

In his short career, basically 1972 and 1973, he was constantly on the radio, with a half dozen hits, including three just after his death.

7. Blue Bayou, Linda Ronstadt, 1977 and Roy Orbison, 1963 (Arlene)

Our only fault was not slowing down for the last line.

8. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, The Beatles, 1969 (Arlene)

It’s an upbeat song about murder.

9. La Vie En Rose, Edith Piaf, 1947 (Arlene)

Gorgeous. We all sang it in English, then several of those bilingual among us sang it in French.

10. (I Don’t Know Why) But I Do, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, 1961 (Arlene)

This was great. The video Arlene posted was by a pair of English blokes, Chas and Dave, doing it live, with a rollicking piano. What a fun number. Could it be because of all those sevenths (G7, E7, A7, D7 and C7)? I think this was the best of the night, and I had never paid much attention to this song before.

11. Silver Threads and Golden Needles, Linda Ronstadt, 1973 (Jean)

I know this from her Greatest Hits album, but I don’t remember hearing it on the radio.

12. Kodachrome, Paul Simon, 1973 (Jean)

Catchy tune. After Simon and Garfunkel split, Simon had about a dozen hits through the seventies. This one was a little hard to do.

13. Happy Together, Turtles, 1967 (PJ)

This is their signature song.

14. She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain (PJ)

There were about ten verses, but the chords were only above the first verse, so we quit. “She will have to sleep with grandma when she comes.” It would probably be easy to make up your own nonsense verses to this easy melody.

15. Paint It Black, Rolling Stones, 1966 (Dan)

This song about (I think) the funeral of a woman went well. It’s always fun to sneak in a Stones song.

16. For You Blue, Harrison/Beatles, 1969 (Dan)

The only hits off of the Let It Be album, the last one they released, were Let It Be and The Long and Winding Road. This Harrison number wasn’t well-known, but it’s fun to play the A7 to D7 with the E7 turnaround.

17. Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Ole Oak Tree, Dawn (with Tony Orlando), 1973 (Irene)

We just played one verse and the chorus. I don’t remember why.

18. Song Sung Blue, Neil Diamond, 1972 (Irene)

This is another we quit on.

19. Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter, Herman’s Hermits, 1965 (WendySue)

Great song. We played the verses fine, but the chords for the bridge were wrong. That’s a shame. It partly ruined it for me. If you ever get a chance to see Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits, go. I saw him last summer at a free concert in Tanner Park, Copiague. His voice is still good, over 50 years since his last hit, and he’s very funny.

20. White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplane, 1967 (Irene)

Here’s an “acid rock” song that made it to AM radio. We did a decent job on a vocally-tough song. I love Grace Slick.

21. The Colors of the Wind, from Pocahontas, 1995 (Anne)

This was pretty. I didn’t know it, but I think it might be famous. Bill put together a chord sheet also.

22. El Paso, Marty Robbins, 1959 (Jack)

I messed up the timing, not remembering how long to pause between lines, but we got through this rousing cowboy tale of romance and death pretty well.

23. Flowers Are Red, Harry Chapin, 1978 (Sally)

On this one we watched and listened to the video.

24. Coat of Many Colors, Dolly Parton, 1971 (Sally)

Cruel children mock the clothes of a poor kid. And with this, we wrapped up the session.

For next time, pick a song sung mostly in English that has SOME foreign words in it. Do not pick an aria from an Italian opera, nor a Danish folk song, nor any song sung entirely in Spanish, Greek, etc. A couple of examples which come to mind are The Beatles’ Michelle, and Doris Day’s Que Sera Sera, but you’ll think of many more.

-- Dan.