Busking tunes

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 1:09 pm

Will keep this in mind. Thanks

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 1:12 pm

livethe question wrote:If Ever You Were Mine
Midnight on the Water
The Leaving of Liverpool
Galway Bay

Waltzs, waltzs, waltzs.......I always stop to listen to a waltz but then my friends, while they love me, consider me strange. While you certainly wouldn't want to have only waltzs, people in love, love watlzs. Just my opinion.

peace

jim d

Share your partiality for waltzes.
Favorite Things is a waltz, by the by.

antstastegood · Post by **antstastegood** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 1:18 pm

I may get shot for this, but the Titanic or Braveheart songs would work well.

The Butterfly seems to have that "popular appeal" to it as well.

I will take unilateral preemptive action to prevent the proliferation of music such as the Barney song.

missy wrote: But - on the subject of "Danny Boy"......we don't DO Danny Boy. If someone comes up and asks for Danny Boy, Tom points to his hat. It says "Pog Mo Thoin". Someone else who speaks Gaelic can translate!

I don't speak Gaelic, but I use Google. It means "kiss my [hindquarters]"

btw, did Jim sneak past 4000 posts a while ago and no one noticed???

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 1:24 pm

Ooops, slipped by me too.

Isn't Danny Boy really London Derriere?

missy · Post by **missy** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 3:13 pm

ants: you are correct!

and Jim - yes, that is why we use that phrase for it!

We tell people we will play Celtic (and that includes tunes from Scotland, Wales, Brittany, and Gallicia), renaissance, old time, blue grass, and folk. We do NOT do "American" Irish.

While I do wear green on St. Paddy's day, I also wear a LOT of Celtic knots, etc. I tell people (even though I know there weren't female druids) that I'm honoring the older traditions! Tom usually wears orange on St. Paddy's day, just for the heck of it.

We're rebels all the way!

Missy

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 4:07 pm

In addition to Summertime another Gershwin tune that sounds great on the whistle is Someone to Watch Over Me. If you played the Barney tune around here people would throw stuff at you but it wouldn't be money.

Ron

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 4:21 pm

Yes, I play Someone to watch over me;
also Just The Way You look Tonight.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 5:16 pm

I agree about "Summertime" and "The Butterfly" having a lot of general appeal. "Amazing Grace" is another.

Do you do "Tsena, Tsena", "Shalom Chaverim Shalom", and "Hava Nagila"? There's a bunch of Israeli songs you can listen to at http://www.musicfromisrael.com/thestore ... -4230.html

Personally, if I were good enough to do it, I'd play lots of slow, mournful airs, with occasional high-class dance tunes, like "Morrison's Jig", since that's what appeals to me.

On the other hand, if you're going for recognizability leading to better contributions, how about throwing out the theme from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" http://www.rowingnz.org.nz/clubs/auckla ... adugly.wav occasionally?

For the kiddies, a medley of the theme from Popeye and "Sailor's Hornpipe" might work. Play once through the Popeye theme, then stop and sing this:

I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man -- toot toot
I sleep in a garbage can -- toot toot
I never go swimmin'
With bowlegged women
I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man -- toot toot
(Learned that from my little nephew, some years before he joined the Army.)
Then break into a really fast version of "Sailor's Hornpipe". This would probably work best for the parents, as most of today's kids probably don't know anything about Popeye--but what the heck, it's the parents who have the money.

"The Streets of Laredo" is recognizeable to lots of folks, but can be done with an Irish feel.

If you're gonna sink to doing American Irish, then you should consider "When Irish Eye's Are Smiling" and "The Sidewalks of New York"-- assuming that vomit (the substance, not the bunny) wouldn't clog your flute. For non-Irish shmaltz, try "Those Were the Days". (Speaking of shmaltz, beer drinkers might want to investigate http://www.shmaltz.com/ and you might like the background music at the end of the "Two Jews Walk into a Bar" QuickTime movie.)

How about show tunes? (By the way, do you do the Coltrane version of "Favorite Things"?)

Listen to Lawrence Welk reruns on PBS. That should give you lots of material for the older crowd. I disagree about not doing Beatles songs. How about "Norwegian Wood"? "I Just Saw a Face" works great as Bluegrass--don't know how it would do on the flute.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 6:37 pm

no, I can't quite do Coltrane.

In my version Popeye sings,
I'm strong to the finish,
cause I eat my spinach.

America's only vegetarian hero
has no beef with bowlegged women.

Thanks for these!

david robertson · Post by **david robertson** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 6:43 pm

If it's a good echoey place (the underground?) "Concerto d'Aranjuez" by Rodrigues - on a low whistle - might not make much money but it's a nice filler.

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 6:58 pm

jim stone wrote:.........if your children were starving
and your pipes in hock and you had
basically the resources of a G flute,
say, and a crowded street full of
people in a reasonably good mood,
what would you play?

I would play laments
Behind every happy face
Wealthy tears await

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 7:06 pm

T: The Bridge on the River Kwai
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: D

| AF z2 | z FGA | f2f2 | d4 |
| AF z2 | z FGF | A2A2 | G4 |
| GE z2 | z BcB | dA z2 | z AGF |
| EBz D | EA z E | D4 |

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 11:01 pm

I didn't say that people might not like Beatles songs, I just made a personal request

For some (like me), this bird has flown. For reasons I can't explain, I just don't like Beatles music anymore. Overexposed, I guess. Sorta the way I felt about a lot of "light" jazz after that Kenny G guy got famous.

I say stick with Irish (or at least Brit Isles Celtic) music dangit. that's what we study and listen to and love... be an advocate for this wonderful music!!!! What's the distinction of playin Barney or Titanic?? Anybody can do that...I sorta think that its your chance to distinguish yourself, with thousands of tunes in all tempos to choose from. Like others said, to deign to hit Irish Washerwoman or College Hornpipe to reach the masses once in a while ain't so bad... And there;s nothing wrong with PLAYIN' Danny Boy, its singing it that's painful.

But, sigh, I guess there are more tips in the old hat and smiles from John Q Public with generalized rep.

Around here at least, so many people like the celtic music that I think you can stick to it and make the folken happy.

I left out this story in initial post but will relate it here. I had to do a mandatory wedding fair for a local public facility recently. Each year, different groups get to play during the FOUR hour fair and hustle for customers. There was a quartet of violins and cello and harp. They were doing the usual "nice" classical tyunes then after a while started doing Beatles songs in dippy arrangements. I mean it was like being stuck in the elevator to hell. I went over to another music presenter and told him that I was going to mail him a bullet. If I ever started playing tunes like that, I said, I wanted him to use it on me....it was sooooo bad.. "When Im 64" on the violin.... Now, I was the one who felt like the young malcontent while people of my generation perpetrated this audio abomination....

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 11:06 pm

You don't understand, do you?
I'm not in it to present Celtic culture
or to play beautiful tunes or to
brighten people's day. I don't get
off in seeing children's eyes
light up.

I'm in it for the money.
I'm working on Melancholy Baby.

Bye the way, when I played in Paris
I learned La Vie en Rose on
the whistle. Best and thanks to all, Jim

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 12:27 am

jim stone wrote:You don't understand, do you?
I'm not in it to present Celtic culture
or to play beautiful tunes or to
brighten people's day. I don't get
off in seeing children's eyes
light up.

I'm in it for the money.
I'm working on Melancholy Baby.

Bye the way, when I played in Paris
I learned La Vie en Rose on
the whistle. Best and thanks to all, Jim

Even so, I think I'd stick to a mostly Celtic repertoire, with a few exceptions. It shows the kind of virtuousity people toss money in the hat for. It doesn't hurt to know how to play requests, and we all know the kind of requests that are coming up this month ("Danny Boy," "Irish Eyes," all that crap)...I'd rather know it and be able to play it on request than miss a tip. I haven't seen a kid yet who couldn't be got to dance to a double jig, and the parents (the ones with the money) love that kind of thing. And sure...a few "Barney" tunes (they're all rip offs from American folk music anyway).

Redwolf