Season 567 - Songs From The Back Burner

Happy final week of 2022, Seasonistas!

Del, I hope to join the party but the COVID Grinch visited us last week. I’m recovering, thanks to modern medicine, but I have no idea if I’ll have the voice or stamina to do what I planned.

I‘ll have lots of time to enjoy everyone’s contributions!
Sorry to hear that Rick - glad you’re okay though. Both my elderly parents had it over Christmas! 😩
 
Here's one I used to sing a lot, but have neglected for a few decades. (Well, Imight have done it at a Saturday Zoom open-mic.) I learned it from my friend Catfish Willie from Peterborough.
Normal Martin Mull
I didn't stay absolutely true to Martin Mull's version, partly because of memory lapses and partly because I have no idea what it means to "join the Grange".

 
I have been waiting for an opportune time for a while, this tune was written by Tim Freedman of The Whitlams.
Fantastic song, reputed to be about his friend who got sucked into the hell of gambling.
If you are wondering about the "clacking" sound, its my foot keeping time:unsure:
 
Hi Del! Thanks for hosting again, and for the opportunity to revisit things we missed!
Here's a song I've been meaning to do a few times, but then not done, usually because I've thought of something else. Last time I didn't get around to it was season 555, all the fives, coincidentally also a Del-hosted season. It involves fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders, as well as 25 sacks of mail. I can't remember why I didn't do it that time. Possibly because someone else did? Anyway, here it is. It's another song that sounds a bit strange in an English accent, but I don't care :).



I always liked the story behind this song: that the composer Steve Goodman insisted on singing it to Arlo Guthrie in a bar, and he agreed as long as Goodman bought him a beer. This is clearly the key to songwriting success: find Arlo Guthrie in a bar and buy him a beer. It probably helps if you also happen to have a song as good as this.

Train songs seem to sound better on the 8-string baritone. Also there's a tenor uke overdubbed, and The Steamers join in for the chorus.
 
I love this week's theme. It gives me a chance to make videos of some of the songs I wrote during the FAWM 50/90 (fifty songs written over 90 days) challenge this summer.

I am slow off the mark - but here is my first one for this season. It was inspired by a sub-theme of Wyndham Lewis' novel of the same name. I wouldn't recommend the novel. It is "overwritten" and it takes a very cynical approach to the Spanish Civil War. But the idea that some people will do their best to destroy a couple in love, because they are bitter about love in general is an interesting one... and one I experienced myself in the 1970s.

Hope you like:

 
I have a bunch of songs that I have been working on behind-the-scenes. As a major newbie I am not good enough yet to pick one, learn it, record it and post all within the week. This time I felt that I might know a handful of these songs well enough to maybe give it a go for such an excellent theme. Yesterday I got one put together…and then my phone ran out of space in order to get it uploaded to YouTube. I’m so sad! I really wanted to participate, but maybe soon I can get the proper equipment to not run into these situations anymore (or at least as often.) Happy strumming, friends! 😊
-Tanya 🌸
 
And here’s one from your host.
I played this one at the Zoom open mic meet-up a month or so back, and though it was well received, I was surprised to discover that it wasn’t well known outside of the UK. It’s a song that I love, and one I’ve wanted to bring to a Season for a good while. I’ve resisted adding anything to it, bar a bit of reverb. And it’s a very rare (for me) one taker!

 
I came across this song a long time ago, probably from one of the old music podcasts I listen to, but I back-burnered it partly because I never had a really good reason to try it, but mostly because it's hard to sing. I had to figure out where to breathe, and I still missed one spot in this recording and nearly ran out of breath. I was sick last January with c***** and somehow managed to squeak by with only extreme fatigue and severe shortness of breath problems. I don't think I have ever totally recovered my lung power back to where it was before I was sick. I was breathing pretty hard when I finished this one, I just ended the video before it was noticeable. Anyway this was written by Arthur Le Clerq, a British songwriter who specialized in humorous ("novelty") songs, and I don't have the sheet music for this one, I just did it by ear. Also I haven't listened to it in a while so my memory of the melody is probably not entirely accurate. P.S. The two old music podcasts I listen to are "The Shellac Stack" and "Music From 100 Years Ago."

 
I have a bunch of songs that I have been working on behind-the-scenes. As a major newbie I am not good enough yet to pick one, learn it, record it and post all within the week. This time I felt that I might know a handful of these songs well enough to maybe give it a go for such an excellent theme. Yesterday I got one put together…and then my phone ran out of space in order to get it uploaded to YouTube. I’m so sad! I really wanted to participate, but maybe soon I can get the proper equipment to not run into these situations anymore (or at least as often.) Happy strumming, friends! 😊
-Tanya 🌸
Would be great if you could find a solution to your tech woes by the end of the Season - you have till Sunday! Keeping my fingers crossed! :)
 
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I have a bunch of songs that I have been working on behind-the-scenes. As a major newbie I am not good enough yet to pick one, learn it, record it and post all within the week. This time I felt that I might know a handful of these songs well enough to maybe give it a go for such an excellent theme. Yesterday I got one put together…and then my phone ran out of space in order to get it uploaded to YouTube. I’m so sad! I really wanted to participate, but maybe soon I can get the proper equipment to not run into these situations anymore (or at least as often.) Happy strumming, friends! 😊
-Tanya 🌸

Can you send your file from your phone to your email via Wetransfer.com (it's free)? That way you can open it up on another computer and upload. Anyway, I hope this helps.
 


I started learning the bass line for this before Christmas break but I didn't have time to learn any of the other parts since I was a little occupied with working on my collab with Christine for the Modern English cover (it's on the Misfit Seasons).

Anyway, I found myself working from home this week and since it was a relatively slow work day on Tuesday (12/27/22), I decided to record each individual part all the way through starting around 7am and finishing at around 10pm. It's a little crazy, but I had a lot of fun. Not to mention the fact that I learned a LOT by doing this.

It's a super fun song to play (and I'm assuming, sing, since the vocal melody sounds great to my ears).

The mixing, mastering and video editing took most of my work day today (12/28). Anyway, here it is...It's finally done. I hope you all enjoy it.
 
A song by Michael Hurley. Discovered his music recently. Love it. This one I wanted to play. and I did now.
I used a new lavalier mic that cost me S$20. Plugged it straight to my phone.


Thank you Del for hosting. x
 
Here is my second contribution. It's me bewailing the rise of "belief based" ignorance and the desire for some would-be Emperor to "save us".

Hope you like:

 
Morning all! We’re about halfway-ish through the week and we have 25 gems on the playlist - thank you all for finding the time in this busy week. Actually, it’s nice to host a season when I have a good bit of time to listen and comment without feeling swamped by the deluge of entries pouring in. But don’t let that stop you - please keep them coming! :)
 
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