Season 112 of the Ukulele: The Primate House

Can't believe I went 111 weeks without singing a Pixies song.



Ah, now I feel better.


Just brilliant, Ralf! I had considered doing this song, but I simply could not figure out how to pull it off. You just schooled us all-- great way to make a song your own while still maintaining the feel of the original.
 
I dont think I will have time to enter this week due to work
SO
Not an official entry as I did this for a contest in 2010 but I shortened it and reuploaded it with SOTU branding

 
The Monkey speaks his mind.

You don't really want to see me playing two chords (G6 & Em) for two minutes so
instead here is a look behind the scenes of the garageband tracks. You may have
to view full screen to see the tracks.

Dave Bartholomew had a funkier groove.

 
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One last one for me today, wanted to do some Nirvana to mark 20 years since Kurt Cobain's death so here's 'Very Ape'. Short and sweet.

 
I have already done (at least) two songs for the Seasons that fit this theme, but I have another up my sleeve. Maybe when I gig, I should put together a little medley.
 
I took a few minutes away from a conference in Manhattan to shoot this one in my hotel room. This is my take on I Wanna Be Like You from the Jungle Book (with a silly adlibbed extra verse that happened when I realized I just messed up a lyric).

 
I'd never heard the phrase "one monkey don't stop the show" before, but the video links to the right lead to three different songs with that title, and Google mentions some more.

Not one I've heard before either but it is popular song wise.
I'll be doing Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee's song of the same name tonight if I can get the harp part sounding ok.
I hope to give Kids With Guns a went too. But I reckon Ralf would do a great minimalist version and Rob could go all out with a techno arrangement.

Interesting theme Jim with a lot more songs than I thought there would be with primates in the title.
 
A quick one take for Jim's season. As a fun fact, Apeman was a nickname I had a few decades ago when I worked at a party store in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And any Season with some Kinks is a better Season, yes?

Thought I would take my new (to me) travel tenor out for a spin on this one. Took a mild liberty with the Season title, since I didn't know exactly what to call it. Oh, and those of you who stick around until the end will get to hear me go a bit native. Hope you enjoy it.

 
Someone could do a song by Ol Lemurs!
 
King Of The Swingers --- I know ..Greyghost already did it, but I had this one up the spout, in the can and ready to go at three PM this afternoon ...and I am not one to waste an afternoon...so here it is as well.

CJ

 
Not one I've heard before either but it is popular song wise.
I'll be doing Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee's song of the same name tonight if I can get the harp part sounding ok.
Yeah, I listened to bits of the three other songs with that title I saw beside your video. The Sonny Terry one was the best of the lot.
 
Someone could do a song by Ol Lemurs!

This is why I limited things to only Monkees, Arctic Monkeys, and Gorillaz. I looked up different primate names on iTunes, and for practically every one there was some band or artist with that animal in their name. For example, there's a woman alternative singer who goes by Tarsier. One of the better-known ones is a '70s jazz-funk group called Mandrill.


Edit: Though you can do an Ol Lemurs song as a bonus track. Southside Mike can do a song from a Monkee's solo album as a bonus track.
 
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The Monkey Time ~ Major Lance (1963)

The Monkey Time - written by Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield was a Chicago high school friend of Major Lance, who recorded this in 1963, when it went to #2 R&B and #8 on the Pop charts.

Wiki reveals that when Major Lance toured the UK later in the 60s, his backing band included an obscure piano player named Reggie Dwight, who never really amounted to much later in life.

This clip is from the Shindig TV show in 1965: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMRLrf4pNn4




 
RAB11 - Mardy Bum (Arctic Monkeys) - I like this. You have a good voice for alternative rock. Where are those occasional rim shots coming from? I've got to admit that while I chose the Arctic Monkeys as one of the bands for this week, I'm not that familiar with their music. Their lyrics are a lot better than I knew.

RAB11 - Jimmy the Exploder (White Stripes) - I really like the intro. I always like when people use the upper part of the fretboard without fear. This wouldn't have been monkeyish enough for your official entry, but it's fine for a bonus. On this one, I could see you hitting the soundboard when I heard the percussion.

RAB11 - Very Ape (Nirvana) - Thanks for doing this one. I love that line, "If you ever need anything please don't hesitate to ask someone else first".

TheOnlyUkeThatMatters - Monkey Gone to Heaven (Pixies) - I never pictured this song as a gentle ballad, but it sounds great this way. I'm honored to have you jump in on the first day of a Season. And if Eric wants to do this song too, he should. I'm more than okay with multiples of this song.

myrnaukulele - Space Monkey (John Prine) - Nice one, Myrna. I've never heard this song before. "Comrade, we just fire the rocket and then 'this monkey's gone to heaven'. We have whole different agency to make monkeys fall from sky." I like the whole image of a monkey in a karaoke bar -- that should be a song in itself.

wee_ginga_yin - The Monkey Speaks His Mind (Dave Bartholomew) - This makes me wish I had GarageBand. (Or had ever bothered to use the tutorials and learn the Cubase software that came with my synthesizer.) Fancy looking dashboard. I always appreciate that you make ukulele music that doesn't sound like ukulele music is expected to sound.

greyghost - I Wanna Be Like You (Jungle Book) - - Nice take on a Louis Prima voice. Actually, you didn't really mess the words up, but I still liked the extra verse. I'm looking forward to all the versions of this song this week. I used to play to my daughter from a Disney songbook when she was young. Every time she saw me playing the uke, she grabbed the Disney book from the shelf. This was one I played a lot.

greenie44 - Apeman (Kinks) - Like the song, like the performance, like the monkey beads, like the ending. The ending has me missing this fantastic monkey puppet I once had, and eventually gave to my nephews. It was perfect for that kind of thing.

Jazzbanjorex - (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (Monkees) - This is great. I've never heard this song done uptempo like this. That hyperdrive ending is really something. This was my favorite Monkees song growing up. I was given a copy of the "I'm a Believer" single when I was very young, with this as the B side.

CeeJay - I Wanna Be Like You (Jungle Book) - Great job. I like how several people can do this song and all make it their own. On the verse your strum sounds almost like reggae, on the chorus it sounds almost like country, and then you go into that great solo.

eugene ukulele - I Wanna Be Like You (Jungle Book) - As expected, you brought it. Although I had bet on mouth trumpet instead of whistling. I never heard that third verse before. It's not in my sheet music. My daughter's room contains large boxes full of plush animals, but when I looked for a primate to use this week, nothing.

~dave~~wave~ - The Monkey Time (Major Lance) - Dave Wave, how'd you get so funky? Dave Wave, did you do the Monkey?
I never heard the song before. Or heard of Major Lance, for that matter. But this is pretty great.


The name Lance makes me want to point out that there was an all-chimp rock band called The Evolution Revolution in the Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp show. Of course, any of their songs will be acceptable for this Season.


 
This is a great theme this week.

Too bad the the original soundtrack to any of the five films created for 'Planet Of The Apes' (1968-1973 )[Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowel] by Jerry Goldsmith does not really translate well to ukulele, nor even multi-track.

Ha Ha - maybe somebody else will try it, but for me - 'challenge not accepted' as I already have 1 primate song almost good enough to record, and ideas for 2 others - it just depends upon how much time I have this week...
 
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