John Prine song contest

Am I posting too many videos? I'm having a lot of fun with it but I'm new to this game so I don't know if there is some kind of spoken/unspoken etiquette involved and I don't want to step over the line. There's three more songs I'd like to do and could probably do even more. I have a lot of John Prine worked up in my songbooks! 😬 😄
 
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I was paying attention to the lyrics and what you had changed. The song still stands powerfully with its message. This seems so relevant today where the only connections that many of us are comfortable making are with people behind a computer or phone screen.
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I think it's only 5 words and I'd venture that a lot of people maybe wouldn't even notice because the change still serves the song in the spirit that was originally intended.

I think that Prine's rebellious, irreverent nature and sense of humor are a large part of his appeal but here and there I can see where he could have gone a different direction with some of his lyrics. For example, there's a lyric in "That's The Way That The World Goes Round":

....Starts drinking heavy gets a big red nose
Beats his old lady with a rubber hose...

I sing it as:
...Starts drinking heavy gets a big red nose
Treats his old lady to a world of woes...

I think it works and still serves the song without changing the meaning or intent. In the former the subject does something that is reprehensible that would hardly be made up for by a dinner and new clothes. In the latter it is suggested that the subject is just a big pain in the a** and tries to make up for it with dinner out and new clothes.
 
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mikelz777 said:
Am I posting too many videos? I'm new to this game so I don't know if there is some kind of spoken/unspoken etiquette involved and I don't want to step over the line. There's three more songs I'd like to do and could probably do even more. I have a lot of John Prine worked up in my songbooks! 😬 😄
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I did say there is no limit. So go for it, Scott!
The more important thing is, are you comfortable with seeing a thread with many of your videos on it?
I know if it were me, I will not want to see my videos one after another on a thread which is open to other participants as well.

But if you do post a lot more, I will not think you are hoarding the thread. I will think ( and I can see!) that you really enjoy playing and sharing.
I hope you can get as many people watching your videos as possible. Sometimes people stop watching when we post a lot of videos.
Another thing, an unspoken etiquette perhaps, is to show an interest in other participants' videos. This will maybe get you more views and interest in what you share. It is all about sharing what you do and like, and also showing an interest in what others are doing, isn't it?

I will put everything on the playlist, but I may or may not comment on everyone of them if you are going to post a lot more.

Although I enjoy listening to different people bring JP songs, and the Seasons which I am currently hosting, I have a full time job and other things which require my time, so I may not be able to give every of your JP cover a listen. Hope you understand.

This thread started as a contest, where I want to give away a portrait I did of John Prine. (see page 1)
And to be totally frank with you, I kind of know who my winner will be from listening to 1-2 songs each person brings.
The rest of the entries here are really for people to play the JP songs they like, and for others' listening pleasure.

I say - play and post as many as you like and want to if you are fine with not getting many views or comments.
 
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joo said:
I did say there is no limit. So go for it, Scott!
The more important thing is, are you comfortable with seeing a thread with many of your videos on it?
I know if it were me, I will not want to see my videos one after another on a thread which is open to other participants as well.

But if you do post a lot more, I will not think you are hoarding the thread. I will think ( and I can see!) that you really enjoy playing and sharing.
I hope you can get as many people watching your videos as possible. Sometimes people stop watching when we post a lot of videos.
Another thing, an unspoken etiquette perhaps, is to show an interest in other participants' videos. This will maybe get you more views and interest in what you share. It is all about sharing what you do and like, and also showing an interest in what others are doing, isn't it?

I will put everything on the playlist, but I may or may not comment on everyone of them if you are going to post a lot more.

Although I enjoy listening to different people bring JP songs, and the Seasons which I am currently hosting, I have a full time job and other things which require my time, so I may not be able to give every of your JP cover a listen. Hope you understand.

This thread started as a contest, where I want to give away a portrait I did of John Prine. (see page 1)
And to be totally frank with you, I kind of know who my winner will be from listening to 1-2 songs each person brings.
The rest of the entries here are really for people to play the JP songs they like, and for others' listening pleasure.

I say - play and post as many as you like and want to if you are fine with not getting many views or comments.
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Thank you for your response, it's both encouraging and direct and you make some excellent points which I appreciate. I am indeed uncomfortable with so many of my submissions showing up back-to-back and thus it prompted the question. I think my excitement is showing. I have been thinking about figuring out how to post videos here on UU for years and it wasn't until now with the opportunity to celebrate John Prine songs that it finally pushed me over the edge and finally got me to do it. It's new, it's fun, it's exciting and I'm still trying to find my way. It's kind of a bottled desire finally let loose and I think I'm getting a bit carried away with it. It would have happened whether there was a potential reward involved or not so it's not a competitive thing. There's so many great songs! I don't think I'd even be able to do this with another artist. When going through my song books I even surprised myself with how many John Prine songs I had. I'll rein it in a bit and hope to see more contributions from others.
 
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mikelz777 said:
Thank you for your response, it's both encouraging and direct and you make some excellent points which I appreciate. I am indeed uncomfortable with so many of my submissions showing up back-to-back and thus it prompted the question. I think my excitement is showing. I have been thinking about figuring out how to post videos here on UU for years and it wasn't until now with the opportunity to celebrate John Prine songs that it finally pushed me over the edge and finally got me to do it. It's new, it's fun, it's exciting and I'm still trying to find my way. It's kind of a bottled desire finally let loose and I think I'm getting a bit carried away with it. It would have happened whether there was a potential reward involved or not so it's not a competitive thing. There's so many great songs! I don't think I'd even be able to do this with another artist. When going through my song books I even surprised myself with how many John Prine songs I had. I'll rein it in a bit and hope to see more contributions from others.
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I sense no competitiveness from you at all. I see love for JP's songs. And i understand the excitement. Both from posting videos online for the first time and for playing songs from a musician we love.
I hope nothing will hold your enthusiasm and passion back.

A gentle suggestion, since you feel uncomfortable seeing your videos showing up back to back here -
Play and record as many as you want to, and select your favourite videos to share.

I have admitted this but i must say again, i am not so familiar with JP songs. I drew his portrait the day after his passing because friends around me were all talking about it, and i had found Prine's looks interesting. So i drew the portrait and forgot about it. I looked at the drawing again the other day and thought it didn't really look exactly like him, although an essence was captured( i hope!).. I did try to capture that slight awkward angle in the way his head is tilted in the photo i drew from, one of him playing at what i think was the NPR Tiny Desk.

I found the drawing when i was going through my art stuff and started this thread to give this to someone who loves JP's music.

Anyway, been great hearing your covers. You know what i think about your playing and singing.:--)

The current Seasons of the Ukulele (SOTU) has a place for a few JP songs.
The theme is Ron Sexsmith's songs and songs he has covered, and JP is one of the songwriters RS has covered.

Check that out. I am hosting.
I share this because i think it is nice to have more people listen to what you do, and also for you to check out some of the entries there. The regulars there are all very encouraging. Lovely people.

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

SOTU 605 - Gold In Them Hills

Welcome to Season 605 -Gold in Them Hills Gold in Them Hills is a song by Ron Sexsmith from his 2002 album ‘Cobblestone Runway’ . “I know it doesn’t seem that way /But maybe it’s the perfect day /Even though the bills are piling /And maybe Lady Luck ain’t smiling /But if we’d only open our...
forum.ukuleleunderground.com forum.ukuleleunderground.com
 
I absolutely love this video of John Prine singing How Lucky Can One Man Get with John Burns. I believe they were performing this in the back yard of his childhood home. Watching this and other videos I don't know that Prine played with more than his thumb and forefinger on his right hand. There looks to be some movement of his third finger but that may be incidental. While I love Prine's playing I envy the talent of Burns and his ability to play along and improvise a solo over the song. It would have been great to hang out and just listen to these guys play!

 
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Thanks Scott! Thanks also for that video of Prine and Burns!
I was so sleepy I didn't watch the whole thing, although it's a short video.

Looking forward to what others will bring....I am sure there are more JP fans lurking around?
ANyway, if they don't play, we play. :--)

Will check back again.
 
Have you ever had a rough time getting a song down? There are two songs I've tried at least 20 takes each and I just can't get them down. They seem to break down at different points each time so it's not a specific thing that's tripping me up. I gave up on those and tried this one which didn't go too badly. The uke is a bit quiet but I managed to make it through.

Until the last week or so I always thought that The Great Compromise was just a song about a relationship gone sour. While it is that, I learned that it was also and allegory about the disillusionment of the country during the Viet Nam War so it's a protest song as well.

 
mikelz777 said:
Thank you for your response, it's both encouraging and direct and you make some excellent points which I appreciate. I am indeed uncomfortable with so many of my submissions showing up back-to-back and thus it prompted the question. I think my excitement is showing. I have been thinking about figuring out how to post videos here on UU for years and it wasn't until now with the opportunity to celebrate John Prine songs that it finally pushed me over the edge and finally got me to do it. It's new, it's fun, it's exciting and I'm still trying to find my way. It's kind of a bottled desire finally let loose and I think I'm getting a bit carried away with it. It would have happened whether there was a potential reward involved or not so it's not a competitive thing. There's so many great songs! I don't think I'd even be able to do this with another artist. When going through my song books I even surprised myself with how many John Prine songs I had. I'll rein it in a bit and hope to see more contributions from others.
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I’m not the host here but am thoroughly enjoying your submissions, Scott (EDIT: and those of everyone else!) I vote for all of you submitting as many as you can post. Great stuff honoring one of my musical heroes.
 
we have 10 more days till this contest ends!

that thing about feeling uncomfortable with seeing our own video one after another on a thread that is open to everyone-

for me, i think it is the feeling that i am possibly being a "nuisance" posting lots of videos on a thread, and that after a while very few people actually bother to watch the many videos i post, especially when i see myself as an average player.

i think about it again, and i think it is all very silly. Too much overthinking!

I mean, we are not posting rude stuff or anything, but are actually playing songs we love, wanna play and share, and JP songs are good songs.

So @mikelz777, please don't feel uncomfortable posting as many as you want, as i had said earlier.
I might not comment on everything, but i will definitely listen!

i feel what i wrote might have stopped you from sharing as much as you like.

Don't listen to me! Just play as much as you feel to, and share!

I don't own this thread. It is for all UU members.

I think i will try to learn a JP song myself this weekend.

Keep the JP songs coming in!

Later!
 
it's Friday night here and I can't wait till tomorrow to do a John Prine song.
I just heard this one. ( I DON'T KNOW anything about Prine except I wanted to draw him and now I am hosting a thread of his songs???? I better do something about it. 😅 )

Fish and Chips Whistle quick and dirty on the Firefly, clawhammer style. (the bloody phone had to ring...)

 
mikelz777 said:
Have you ever had a rough time getting a song down? There are two songs I've tried at least 20 takes each and I just can't get them down. They seem to break down at different points each time so it's not a specific thing that's tripping me up. I gave up on those and tried this one which didn't go too badly. The uke is a bit quiet but I managed to make it through.

Until the last week or so I always thought that The Great Compromise was just a song about a relationship gone sour. While it is that, I learned that it was also and allegory about the disillusionment of the country during the Viet Nam War so it's a protest song as well.

Click to expand...
oooh i noticed your bee tee! (haha, "bee tee" sounds funny!) We have more and more roof top bee farms here in Singapore. It seems like a rage these last 5 years or so, for us. Think it goes back much longer in other cities. I like the logo of your Heritage Honeybee tee!

Back to the song and what you said: yes there are songs I find difficult to do because of phrasing or...just pronunciation, for me. Timing, pacing, phrasing...which is basically everything, LOL! What are the 2 songs you found difficult to get down? Now I am curious! This one you did here has everything that needed to be here, here. Sometimes, for me though, I don't mind hearing a little stumble in songs.
 
joo said:
oooh i noticed your bee tee! (haha, "bee tee" sounds funny!) We have more and more roof top bee farms here in Singapore. It seems like a rage these last 5 years or so, for us. Think it goes back much longer in other cities. I like the logo of your Heritage Honeybee tee!

Back to the song and what you said: yes there are songs I find difficult to do because of phrasing or...just pronunciation, for me. Timing, pacing, phrasing...which is basically everything, LOL! What are the 2 songs you found difficult to get down? Now I am curious! This one you did here has everything that needed to be here, here. Sometimes, for me though, I don't mind hearing a little stumble in songs.
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I earned that tee when my wife volunteered me for a little adventure. The company that she works for sells beekeeping equipment among other other things. We live in Minnesota and had to drive a big panel van across the state of Wisconsin to pick up a load of honey bees for a bunch of their customers. Once all of the crates were loaded we had over a million bees in that van! It was surprising how much noise they made and how much heat they generated. We had to have the air conditioner on full blast. It was kind of nerve wracking because there were hundreds of loose bees in the van but they pretty much minded their own business.

The first song I was having a problem with was "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore". The other was, "Yes They Ought To Name A Drink After You". It seems to be a strumming and timing thing and probably going too fast but I couldn't get through a take without a major screw-up.
 
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mikelz777 said:
I earned that tee when my wife volunteered me for a little adventure. The company that she works for sells beekeeping equipment among other other things. We live in Minnesota and had to drive a big panel van across the state of Wisconsin to pick up a load of honey bees for a bunch of their customers. Once all of the crates were loaded we had over a million bees in that van! It was surprising how much noise they made and how much heat they generated. We had to have the air conditioner on full blast. It was kind of nerve wracking because there were hundreds of loose bees in the van but they pretty much minded their own business.

The first song I was having a problem with was "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore". The other was, "Yes They Ought To Name A Drink After You". It seems to be a strumming and timing thing and probably going too fast but I couldn't get through a take without a major screw-up.
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just trying to say the titles of those 2 songs is enough to make me stumble. haha. Exaggerating here. I am sure you will get them down if you play them more till you know them super well!
 
I just looked up the 2 songs, Scott.
"Yes They Ought To Name A Drink After You" is like a waltz isn't it?
I find 3/4 time can be a bit hard to keep while playing, for me...
 
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