Daily Ukulele for 2/24/11: The Sloop John B.

I've been tapped to pick one today, and I will hopefully not disappoint!

I went with the old-fashioned "close your eyes, flip to a random page, and plop your finger down" technique for this one:

The Sloop John B.
Page 214

According to Wikipedia, this is a traditional West Indies song, and it has gone by (and been recorded under) several different names over the years, including "John B. Sails", "I Wanna Go Home", and "The Wreck of the John B."

The best version is, of course, by the Beach Boys:



Doesn't get any cooler than that, eh? The version in "The Daily Ukulele" follows the Beach Boys chords pretty closely, although in a different key (F instead of Ab).

Now there's no ukulele in that recording, but is does feature Lyle Ritz on upright bass. Close enough for me!

JJ

Thanks JJ. I'll have to check it out in my book when I get home from work later.

JJ - I love this one! The guitar line is killer in the Pet Sounds version, I play it in G and do that line, picking from G to Gsus. Sheriff John Stone, please leave me alone!

One of the earliest songs I learned to play on the guitar. Always enjoyed it in groups/jams because everyone knew the words and chords.

JJ...if you want to do another one of these at some point, just PM me the night before so I get it before I post in the AM...so long as you don't mind me continuing what you've started, with some help from eugene of course!

Also, cool song choice!

Great choice of song. "Sloop John B." has the distinction of being the song that was played at the London Ukulele Festival in June 2009 to set the new Guinness record for most ukuleles played at one time (851).




To help people prepare for this event, Ukulele Mike (Mike Lynch) posted this tutorial in May 2010.

joeybug said:

...so long as you don't mind me continuing what you've started, with some help from eugene of course!

Click to expand...

I love you that guys have picked up the baton and run with it. Keep it up!

:shaka:

JJ