Season 123: The Berni Show

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Please watch the vid and/or consult the suggestions/requests below. There are several ways you can participate this week. If you have questions, please make up an answer and go forward to make awesome music videos!

Playlist for Season 123



Season 123
The Berni Show
“rules” I guess. Really, more like thoughts and requests

I. Covering a Berni Armstrong song is the first way to have a great time making music this season

Berni Armstrong’s You Tube Uploads are mostly orignal songs he has written for the Seasons. He normally puts the lyrics in the You Tube Descriptions. First have a great time listening to some of his songs. You may want to read along with the lyrics to get a good feel for the tune, I often do. Then, and here’s your skill building bit if you don’t do this already, try playing along with him once you’ve chosen a song to cover. Learning to jam with a solid player like Berni will help your playing a great deal. You should be able to find a few chords to match up with a little effort. Another good thing about B is that he tends to show his hands in the videos and you’ll be able to get a little idea of the chords just by watching him.

II. The next way you can participate is by continuing with TCK’s brilliant idea of honoring you other fellow Seasonistas by covering the songs they’ve posted here over the years. I asked Dave when we signed up about joing our adjoining weeks to make a sort of season that didn’t have to end quite so quickly. We only discussed it once and then just briefly, BUT he’s made such a warm and awesome place for us to express our admiration and love for each other here that I can’t see letting that go right away. Keep spreading the joy and you’re in this season, too.

III. Finally, my initial thought for this season was to ask you to sing about your familes or a family member actual or adopted through love. If you think of someone as your Auntie, Brother, Mom, Significant Other, they count here. Heck that means I could write a song about one of you or cover one of the many folk ballads about family members like “Wily O’ Winsbury” or even a dirisive one like Lyle Lovett’s “She’s no Lady, She’s My Wife”. Keeping the love of family in sight would be nicer than those last two, though.

IV. So knock yourselves out.
Create something new for this week please. Retreads have other places to be.

Writing your own song is always encouraged. Remember, practicing writing is like practicing the uke, you can’t help but improve if you share in a mutually respectful community like this one.

Saying the season number or name is fine if you want to but if it’s here I’ll presume this season, this is why it’s here.

Don’t like any of these suggestions? Make the video you DO want to make and take it to the Island of Misfit Seasonistas. I love going there to see what people are enjoying playing especially if it’s newly created.

Multitrack or whatever if you want to.

Wear (or don’t wear) whatever you want.

Just bring us some beautiful and/or amazing songs. It’s ALL about the songs and the songwriters and the singers and the players.

V. Oh, and a personal favor, please? Regarding the above, may I point out that (and I’ve certainly been guilty of this) this isn’t a vlog but a music video. LONG intros are something I usually skip over to get to the music. If the song really requires some setup or there’s a brief statement about how much you love Berni or something like that please move it along or maybe put it in the text introducing your video. Likewise, splash screens before the videos don’t really need to be there for more than a couple of seconds if you use them. When I skip over them, I sometimes miss the first part of the song. Think of how you feel about commercials on television and you’ll get the idea. Thanks very much for this.

VI. We don’t have nearly as much problem with this as we used to but for gosh sakes Tune Up before you record (or go on stage, or play something for your family) the drill should be Pick up Uke, check for tuning issues (or if you’ve EVER been told you’re out of tune when you didn’t know you were, check with an electronic tuner every time, please) THEN play.

VII. Participants will be on the Sharpie Stab(™) list once. I think the prize may be a download of Berni’s new CD with his Blues band. There’s some great music there and I’ll get you a link to the site that you can use in case you don’t get Sharpied this time.

Love to each of you Brothers and Sisters and eternal thanks for allowing me to be among you and for sharing your talents with all of us.

alan

 
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Alan...Bless you, bless you, bless you!

I was planning on doing Berni's "In Search of Fire" for week 122 but I got a severe oral infection starting on Tuesday and can barely speak, let alone sing. It was looking like I was not going to be able to do anything but post a link to the original vid because my face is still pretty twisted out of shape and while Berni's songs are amazing, matching up to his playing style is tough at least for me!

So, now I can relax a little, as I have a whole week, and surely this second shot and round of stronger antibiotics has to start bringing this swelling down before then!

Ironically, I had to take three sick days this week and would have had "lots of time to record" ... if I'd just been able. :(


John
 
This is gonna be a fun (and busy) week. X3. I can feel it.
 
Hey John Oldephart,
Sorry you've been in trouble with that stuff.
Hope you feel better and recover quickly.
Alan
 
It's the Solstice and the longest day of the year. It's just now getting dark here at 12:40AM. I know it won't be midnight in Hawaii for another 20 minutes but I'm going to bed. So I'm breaking the rules. Here's my version of Berni's 1564. He wrote this one for J-peg's I V VIm IV week. I thought it was brilliant to combine the pattern with a song based on the year 1564. When the theme was announced this morning I knew this was the song I wanted to cover.
 
I'm glad you continued the theme Alan! There are others I'd like to pay a tribute to that I'm still trying to figure out how to so thanks for giving me time.

And pa! wow! thanks for covering my cover of krabbers. I love that song. It's message is so special! i'm glad i can hear someone sing it too! first thought that came to mind was how do you fingerpick an 8-string? I never had one so I don't know. i feel like my fingers will get caught up in all those strings :eek:

alright, off to get ready for a picnic and think about how i'm gonna berni's song and more seasonista tributes!

Have a great sunday everyone in the US and week to the others!
 


I'm posting this under rule variation 3. It's about my Aunt. This is not a new song, I started writing it last September. However, I don't think its been in a season before and I have been juggling the lyrics.
The video is from an open mic on Friday night.

If I get some time, I'll do a Berni cover but it looks like a busy week ahead. The uke group that I'm in is doing a mashup at a show on Sunday "House of Gold, Ob La Di and Soul Train". I needs to practice for that.
 
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Hey John Oldephart,
Sorry you've been in trouble with that stuff.
Hope you feel better and recover quickly.
Alan

Hugely better, just since yesterday. Late yesterday afternoon the swelling finally switched directions and started going down. Today I can eat solid foods again though I can't quite open mouth wide enough to eat a burger without a knife and fork! LOL

Hoping to be able to get something easy in the can for season 122 today, and then do the tribute to Berni's In Search of Fire for 123 later this week.

John
 
I have been so busy working on a huge translation with a looming deadline that I have only just gotten around to peeking in here to see what the theme is for this week. GULP....

What can I say? I am so honoured that Alan chose my songs as the main theme for the week. It’s funny, but I always said to Carmen that if I were to die suddenly, could she inform you guys and ask for one of the Seasons' Hosts to have a tribute to Berni week. Well, this week will be like reading my own obituary ;) (Hope it’s not a premonition ;) )

In addition to my youtube site
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheBerniArmstrong/videos

There are a few things on my vimeo site:
https://vimeo.com/user22591631/videos

Other “sound only” alternatives you might like to consider? Here are five sites on which you can hear songs of mine – most of which are not on YouTube:

Berni Armstrong
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=3220&content=music

The Magic Ox Band (my old Folk Band)
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=101777&content=music

Aaron Armstrong (my country avatar)
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=26512&content=music

Pere Flipat (My Catalan Rock band (most Catalan songs have an English Translation sung lower down the list.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=609568&content=music

Or “The Saturday Blues Project” – My latest Band
http://hotblues.bandcamp.com/album/the-first-sip

If anyone wants me to send you lyrics or chords for any song, then just drop me a PM.

Thanks again for this honour, Alan.

Moltissimes mercès,

Berni

PS I can do any of my songs this week and it'll fit the theme, yeah! ;)
I hope I can get a moment to record a couple that I would like you to hear, but that have not fitted an existing theme to date.
 
After what I said above about Obituaries, look what cropped up as a YouTube suggestion when I listened to Rob's version of my song:

Obituary.jpg

Is the universe trying to tell me something? I hope not ;)
 
After what I said above about Obituaries, look what cropped up as a YouTube suggestion when I listened to Rob's version of my song:

View attachment 68122

Is the universe trying to tell me something? I hope not ;)

Rest easy Berni... I saw that movie and it was Bernie who was giving the obituary to someone else who had died.

However I may have to realign the balance of the Universe and do the Seasonista anthem straight.

I was just doodling around with Crazy Bob's everybody must get stoned and your words just popped up,
and not wanting to miss an opportunity to throw a curved ball I recorded it in one take on the spot...
it really could have done with UkuleleDaveey on Kazoo to give it that authentic Dylan feel.

I hope I have not tortured your child... some parents are sensitive about what happens to their children.
 
Hah! Berni I noticed this and. although our language here is nearly unfailingly informal and fun, that this could even have been a sly implication by Brian suggesting just as you inferred that we were having something of a "lifetime achievement award" flavor. It's rather like the old joke, "Have you lived here all your life?" "Well, not yet, no." isn't it?

I'm glad you are pleased with the season. As you can imagine I'd much rather do this now than to do so at some point far in the future when you (if I don't do so first) shuffle off. I'm very happy that you are here to enjoy the tributes and that I am, too.

Now I have found one of your politically satirical songs without a set of lyrics attached and didn't understand the reference in one of the verses. I wonder if you'd mind if I sang it and substituted a jibe of my own in the one verse and then ask you for the explanation of the original later. I'd attempt not to render it unlistenable and would be happy to include a disclaimer so that folks would not think you'd made the weaker joke (mine). Are you up for such a deal?

Happy Berni Week!

alan

Hey I know i mentioned reading my obituary, but seeing my name in "simple past tense" like that is unnerving ;)

"Berni has done...." please :cool:
 
Hi Alan, Dave (TCK) and everybody!
I've been very quiet recently and haven't joined in the fun recently, so I thought I'd make myself work doubly hard... I'm aiming to submit TWO videos this week (in effect for both Seasons 122 and 123) to honour two fellow seasonistas

The first one is Berni Armstrong (I spent the afternoon learning his song "The Far Side of the World", but I can't quite match Berni's passionate singing!):-

The second one... is work in progress :)
 
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