September 4, 2019 [LINK / comment]
Following up on my previous not-quite-fair-and-balanced self-review, "A history of rock music, Part II: from H to N" (on June 11, ending with "N is for Neil Young"), here is Part Three of my incredible musical odyssey through the alphabet. Each of the sections below covers one of the weekly open mic nights hosted each Wednesday by Fritz Horisk at Queen City Brewing in Staunton.
O is for Ozark Mountain Daredevils: On June 19, I was on the letter "O," and there was less than zero probability that I would perform songs by any other group than my sentimental favorite, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Since they aren't as well known here in the east as they are in their midwestern "homeland," I took a couple minutes to explain their origins and defiantly idiosyncratic career paths. In particular, after their two big hits ("If You Want To Get To Heaven" and "Jackie Blue"), they turned their backs on the commercial rock star world and focused on developing their own unique style, blending folk, bluegrass, and rock musical styles. I played five songs altogether that night, including an extra "encore" song that each of us did. Even though this material was very familiar to me, Craig Austin's percussion helped me out a lot!
* : first time in public; ( # ) = with harmonica
Yours truly, accompanied by Craig Austin at Queen City Brewing on June 19. (Photo courtesy of Fritz Horisk.)
P is for Pink Floyd: One week later, on June 26, I made a 180-degree turn in musical genres, covering some challenging songs by one of the very best British rock bands, Pink Floyd. Until two years ago, I only knew a couple songs by them, but all of a sudden I became almost obsessed with learning and mastering their songs. In fact, now they're one of my specialites. The weather was beautiful, so we played outside on the patio, and the friendly crowd kept getting bigger as the night progressed. It was a very interesting and enjoyable evening of music, as all the performers excelled in the creativity department. At the time, I didn't have a Pink Floyd shirt, so I wore a Police T-shirt, since that would have been another logical choice for the letter "P." The first two songs went pretty well, while the latter two were marred by a couple flubs:
* = first time in public; ( # ) = with harmonica
Q is for Queen: In his Facebook post summarizing the July 3 open mic event, Fritz Horisk characterized the music as "fantabulous," and I have to agree. There was a nice-sized turnout in spite of the stormy weather, and once again the musicians put on quite a varied and interesting show. I was on the letter "Q" in my weekly alphabetical progression, which left very litte choice for me other than to play songs by Queen. (Alternatives included Quarterflash, of which I know exactly one song, and Queensrÿche, of which I know none at all.) Now you might think it simply absurd for a solo acoustic musician to even attempt songs by one of the most daring exemplars of the glamor/progressive rock genre, but if you had been there that evening, I am quite sure you would have been convinced otherwise. To my surprise, I came pretty close to nailing all four songs, and the audience reaction was overwhelmingly appreciative. I was grateful for the rousing applause. Would I dare to attempt something like that a second time? I'm not really sure. But in any event, that was a nice feather in my cap.
* = first time in public; ( # ) = with harmonica
R is for Rolling Stones: July 10 was another night when there wasn't much doubt what I was going to play. The only other group beginning with the letter "R" whose songs I play is REO Speedwagon, and I only know a couple of those. The problem was not choosing the group but rather choosing which songs by that group (Rolling Stones) to play. There were a lot of songs I hated to leave out, such as "Gimme Shelter." I got off to a good start with a song I only learned recently, after learning that it ("Street Fighting Man") was one of the Stones' favorite opening songs. It has a cool bass riff after each refrain, and I pulled that off very well. Overall, it went pretty well after that, but could have been a little better.
* = first time in public; ( # ) = with harmonica
S is for Supertramp: One week later (July 17) I did four songs by that enigmatic British group from the 1970s, Supertramp. (Among the most likely alternatives were Seals & Croft, Sheryl Crow, Simon & Garfunkle, and Steve Goodman.) Two of the songs were first-timers for me, and all four sounded very good. The audience response was very positive, but as Fritz noted right after I played, the crowd noise level was rather high. Supertramp is among my signature specialties that hardly anyone else I'm aware of even plays. Aside from their creative melodic styles, I enjoy playing Supertramp songs because I get to play harmonica of most of them -- usually recreating the saxophone part.
* = first time in public; ( # ) = with harmonica
T is for Tom Petty (and the Heartbreakers): The very next week (July 24) I was at it again, but I arrived a bit late so I was only eligible to do three songs. I could have played Three Dog Night, but there really wasn't much doubt that I was going to pay tribute to the late, great Tom Petty. The atmosphere playing outside was just about ideal, and the crowd response was very nice. All three songs I had performed before, and they sounded fine:
( # ) = with harmonica
U is for U2: On the last Wednesday of the month, July 31, there wasn't much doubt that I was going to do songs by U2. (Uriah Heep was the only other choice, and I hardly ever play those songs.) It was a somewhat underwhelming evening, not living up to my expectations. Since turnout was low, extra time was available, so each of us was allowed two "encore" songs. It occurred to me (too late) that I should probably learn their song "Desire," in which Bono plays harmonica.
* = first time in public; ( # ) : with harmonica
V is for Van Halen (??!!) After making it to Queen City Brewing seven weeks in a row, I actually skipped a week before returning on August 14. (I was busy preparing to teach in the fall semester, and the songs by the "default" group [ -- there being no other real choice -- were more challenging than usual, thus requiring more practice.]) As with Queen and perhaps the Grateful Dead, it was probably a stretch for me to take on Van Halen's hard rock material, but I came through intact, and people really liked it. Obviously, all four songs were "first-timers" for me. A lot of folks were singing along on "Dancing in the Street" and "You Really Got Me," which was nice. Whew!
* = first time in public
The next week, August 21, I set aside my alphabetical odyssey because, for the very first time, I was the host of the open mic event! Imagine that. Fritz Horisk was on vacation, and asked me to take over for him, and since I have a complete set of musical equipment (microphone, amplifier, speakers, speaker stands), I was ready to go. (Fritz lent me his microphones since he always provides for extra performers, just in case.) I wasn't sure how many people would show up, but we had a nice-sized turnout. For the first time, my friend from church Matthew Poteat made an appearance at the QCB open mic night, and he played one song, an original. Several other regulars were there as well, including John Dull, Craig Austin, Dianne Byrer, Melissa Hudson, Christina Dubay, and Den Frumen. A regular audience member named Ron Rammelkamp led the females in an a capella rendition of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."
Anyway, not being bound by the alphabet, I was able to mark the 50-year anniversary of two big events that took place in the summer of 1969: the Woodstock music festival and the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, which happened just a few days after the release of David Bowie's first hit single. Of course, I had to play an Ozark Mountain Daredevils song. After everyone had played (including one extra song each), I closed the evening with a Beatles song (just like Fritz often does) and one of my crowd-pleasing favorites, the first hit single by Billy Joel.
@ written by Joni Mitchell
* = first time in public; ( # ) : with harmonica
W is for (The) Who: Finally, last week (August 28), I resumed my alphabetical fixation by tackling the letter "W" -- The Who, of course. I did pretty well on the first one, but missed some of the special guitar parts on "Magic Bus." Who knows, maybe no one noticed. The last two songs sounded very good, and I was happy how it all went.
* = first time in public; ( # ) : with harmonica
Tonight I was on the letter "X," which was quite a challenge, but I'll put off doing a review of that (and revealing the group/groups) until after I finish the whole alphabet.