Well, I must have listened to Pretty Good Musician's ukulele songs about two dozen times today. The end result was that I really, really, really want to get my ukulele novelty band off of the ground. But, today I had to settle for recording a version of "Help me scrape the mucus off my brain", by Ween. I played this one with my Kala Pocket Ukulele because it's been awhile since I used it in a video and because I look pretty ridiculous playing it. It's just sooo damn tiny.
Anyway, this song is off of the Ween record 12 Golden Country Greats. It's definitely one of their better records and songs.
Well, I'm finally back from the whirlwind Volumen Mini-tour of the northwest. I feel like I'm still recovering, though. This morning Simon (my five-year-old) asked me when I was getting my normal voice back. I wish I knew kid. I wish I knew. Anyway, we played 4 shows in 4 days and after the 2nd show I had already lost my pillow and my voice. After the 3rd show I had lost my credit card and any dignity and sanity I used to have.
The tour was awesome! We had really great turn-outs and we sold buckets of CDs and shirts and whatnot. Actually, the t-shirt sales weren't all good news. We discovered after the Seattle show that we had sold at least one shirt that still had the security tag on it. Whoops. Sorry about that folks. Just drive to Montana and we'll unlock it for ya.
Anyway, this is all leading up to a Ukulele video, right? Umm... yup. Here's the story. We played at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard (Seattle-ish). We played with Summer Babes (who are awesome) and two other bands who were fine, I guess? I was a little grouchy on stage because we weren't allowed to drink on stage. It's apparently against the law. But, for some reason $37 white belts and tight pants are totally legal. I'll let you figure that one out. So, after our set we all made up for lost time with something I like to call "Extra Beers". Then we loaded up our gear and drove to the afterhours at Jeff's house (Jeff is in Summer Babes and The Lights).
After arriving safe and sound we went across the street to The Buckaroo and had $2 cans of Olympia, pickled eggs and Misfits played super loud. They ran us out of there by bringing a motorcycle inside the bar and peeling out inside the bar. It was nuts.
So, we ran back to Jeff's house and decided to chill out. This started the impromptu Girl From Ipanema session you are about to witness. Keep in mind, Bob is our drummer and we'd never seen that keytar before. K. Here goes.
So, a few weeks (months?) ago a good friend of mine (and Missoula's award-winning bartender), Al Pils, sent me a Youtube video of the great Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters song from the 1979 movie, The Jerk. I decided I had to learn it. Especially because if you want Steve's fingers it seems like the sound is especially fancy for what he's doing. Wait... what? You mean movies aren't always real? Huh. I'm not buying it. Anyway, take a peak at the video first to get some context:
Anyway, I went looking for tabs but everything I found was in the wrong key or too simplified or both. Then I found the following video from mbrenne72. I feel like he pretty much nailed it. Although, some other folks seem to think you should tune your C string down a full step and every other string down 1/2 step, but that seemed much too difficult. Anyway, if you tune your uke down 1/2 step and play it like I do then it sounds pretty good with the movie. And, no, I didn't tab the coronet solo.
So... here's my video:
And for those of you who want to do this from the comfort of your own home, here's the tabs:
Tonight You Belong to Me
Tabs: Ukulele Guy – http://ukuleleguy.com
Based almost entirely on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib6-FxuHTwo
If playing along with the movie, tune your ukulele down ½ step.
NOTE: I'm Ukulele Guy, not Music Theory Guy or Ukulele Expert
G = 0232
Gsus4 = 0233
G6 = 0202
G#6 = 1313
G7 = 0212
G7sus2 = 0210
G+5 = 0332
A7 = 0100
D7 = 2223
D#-5 = 0330
Cmaj7 = 0002
C6 = 0000
Cm6 = 2333
E9 = 1222
E7 = 1202
F#maj = x121 (3121)
Walk Part:
Dmaj-D7-D6-D = 2225-2223-2222-2220
Intro:
G6 G#6 G6 plucked G string
G6 G#6 G6 D7
G
I know (I know)
G7-G7sus2 Cmaj7-C6 G+5-D#-5
You belong to somebody new
G D D7 G Gsus4 G Dmaj-D7-D6-D
But Tonight you belong to me
G
Although (although)
G7-G7sus2
we're apart
Cmaj7-C6 G+5-D#5
Your part of my heart
G D D7 G Riff Part
And Tonight you belong to me
Cm6 E9 Cm6
Way down by the stream
E9 Cm6
How sweet it will seem
G F#maj E7
Once more just to dream
A7
In the moonlight
D7
My honey
G
I know (I know)
G7-G7sus2 Cmaj7-C6 G+5-D#-5
With the dawn that you will be gone
G D D7 G
But tonight you belong to me
D G 77710
Just to little old me
There ya have it. Now, get out there and have fun and don't let anyone give you hard time. Ukulele elitism isn't good for anyone... plus, it's silly.
I wanted to keep my momentum going, so I recorded this little video today. Before I get into the song, I wanted to bring something up. See, I guess when it comes to music and art, I'm sort of a Marxist. By that I mean, if you are telling someone they can't appreciate art correctly unless they know Art History then you are basically saying, "You can't appreciate art because you are poor and didn't go to college". That's lame. By the same token, sure if all you can afford is a $20 ukulele, then that shouldn't mean you can't make art with it!
Now, let me get off of my soapbox because I'm pretty sure I just called my song "art". Heh. It isn't. It is, however, a goofy novelty song and that's plenty good enough for me. I wrote this song for a project with my brothers Colin and Bryan and we were going to call it "Those Damned Hickey Brothers". But we never practice, so I'm not sure if we're really a band or not. You know how sometimes you get drunk with your friends and talk about ridiculous things like road trips to Mexico that you are never going to take? Well, I guess our band is like that.
I'm playing my wife's purple Mahalo ukulele in this video. I bought it for her because I was already buying two Mahalos for my little boys and she expressed an interest. For $20, it's pretty much the best Ukulele you can get, if you ask me. This is especially true if you are buying a ukulele for a younger kid. Sure, in a perfect world you'd buy Jr. a Kala, Ohana, Pono or other bitchin' ukulele. But, let's be honest, they are going to break it in like 6 weeks... tops.
So, get them a Mahalo because it's inexpensive and totally playable.
So, I'm actually cruising down the road at 70mph right now (thank god my wife is doing the driving) but I really wanted to do a post because it's been for-freaking-ever. Somehow, real life (especially work) got insanely busy. So, here I am in the car and I don't quite have enough room to actually play the ukulele and record myself so I need to use something I've already recorded. After a quick search I came across this crazy-ass video footage of a bachelor party I was at last week.
I'll set the stage for you here. Imagine, if you will, roughly a dozen dudes decked out in their finest Bavarian attire (think Oktoberfest). The groom-to-be has already been tied up in the middle of the farmer's market and pelted by water balloons (that were sold to passersby). Then there were at least three stop-offs at various breweries for refueling. By the time we got to our campsite there was just enough time to shoot about 3 bags of potatoes, through one of the 4 potato canons onsite, and then enjoy the campfire.
I had my Lanikai CK-TEQ Ukulele, Doug played guitar, Bryan (my brother) had his acoustic bass, I think there were some makeshift drums and Greg had a squeeze box. So, we were pretty set for merriment. Well, at least, we thought we were.
Then Greg whipped out his Roland Micro Cube amp and we realized what was missing. Loudness and total effects insanity, that's what. Ahhh yeah! There's just something a little surreal (and totally fucking awesome) about playing through a loud amp with tons of sick effects in the middle of the forest. It was like if there were such a thing as bad hobbits. You know, using their magic and whatnot to make bourbon from corn and make their music creepy and slightly evil.
After dicking around with the various effects, we launched into an impromptu version of Captain Fantasy by Ween. Here's the video:
I didn't know anything about these Micro Cube amp before, but I'm totally getting one. They're like $129 and you can power them with freaking batteries! The night in question is a little bit foggy (*cough* Bourbon *cough*) but I remember there were quite a few built-in effects. Delay, Chorus, Tremalo, Phaser and more, I believe.
Looks like they actually come in Red and White as well, if you'd prefer that over the normal black. Here's a picture:
Two weeks ago I was running pretty much ragged with work and family visiting, etc. I pretty much didn't know which direction I was headed. But, sometime during the two weeks window of insanity, I had the clarity of mind to order some new Aquila Ukulele Strings and then pack them into my ukulele case (for my Lanikai CK-TEQ). Then I surprised myself even further by remembering to pack my Ukulele and my flipVideo when I had to leave town for a week-long job. Long story short? I had new strings and the means to make a before and after video in my lonely hotel room. Boo-yah!
Hopefully you can tell a difference from that video, but I think it's definitely more clear during the single note stuff. On the Aquila Strings it's just so much more percussive and it really rings out. I'm totally loving these strings!
I mention Musicguymic in this video. He's a big eBay seller and I would consider him a great resource for any ukulele-related purchase. Hell, he's got almost 600 ukulele-related items up for auction right now. I'll include a few sample items at the bottom of this post, or you can check out Musicguymic's eBay Store.
I was going to make a video showing everyone how to string their Ukulele, but I'm not a big fan of re-inventing the wheel and Aldrine from UkuleleUnderground.com already made this great video:
So, if you need to re-string your uke (and if it's been so long since you've done it that you can't remember, then it's time), I would highly recommend Aquila strings!
As promised, here's some listings from Musicguymic!
So, first off, sorry I've been gone for so long (assuming you noticed). My work schedule has ramped up into insanity mode. But, no excuses. Anyway, I'm not sure how I found this video because I haven't watched Scrubs in several years and even then I barely watched it to begin with. I think it aired right before or after something I did want to watch but I have no idea what that even was anymore. I don't even have cable these days, so it's hard to remember what life used to be like when I had to watch commercials and shows I really didn't give a rat's ass about just to watch the ones I did.
Anyway, apparently there's something to be said for watching shows accidentally because if I was still sitting through Scrubs I would have seen this super charming video. I think I remember the bald guy as the defeated hospital lawyer, but I don't recall the girl character at all. Maybe she was later or something. Anyway, watch the video and then you can learn more about her.
See. Wasn't that rad? Anyway, using my super sleuth skills, I was able to determine that cute ukulele-playing girl's identity. She is Kate "Oates" Micucci. Oates, you say? Yup, more on that later. But, first, you probably want to know how to play that song right? Yeah, me too. So I started transcribing it and then I had the brilliant thought to search first and see if anyone else has already cracked that egg. Well, of course, Woodshed over at UkuleleHunt.com has done it already. If you wanna see why I have a real man-crush on him, check out his post where he has the tabs for the Scrubs Screw You song.
Anyway, back to this "Oates" business. Yeah, so apparently Kate is in some sort of non-New Zealand folk/parody comedy duo with Riki "Garfunkel" Lindhome. You know, like Flight of the Conchords only the American lady version. Yup, they call themselves Garfunkel and Oates and I might have as much of a crush on them as I do Jemaine of the Conchords.
So, apparently the Screw You song is one of theirs, only their version is called "Fuck You" and it has a kazoo. Can't go wrong with a kazoo and extra swearing, I always say. See, take a peak.
Yup. Adorable, right? Anyway, I expect I'll be posting more Garfunkel and Oates in the coming days, assuming my work load lets up.
Holy crap. It's almost been a month since I've posted something. How freaking embarassing. In my defense, we had family in town for a week and we built a shed, compost pile and a mess of raised garden beds. Also.... I'm lazy. But, I made myself hop on Twitter today and try and get caught up with "the gang". Minutes later, I know exactly what I'm going to post, thanks to @AnIdleDad (check out his blog at cookingwithtoomuchsalt.wordpress.com).
He sent me a link to a Ukulele Rap Novelty video by Fully Sick Rapper. I hadn't heard of this guy before, but I'm a sucker for rapping ukulele novelty acts (*cough* Mr. B, The Gentleman Rhymer *cough*). Also, I'm not sure that I've mentioned this before, but I was actually in a White Trash-themed rap band somewhere around '98. We were called PWT and we had songs about Convoy, BBQ, attractive cousins and the like.
Anyway, back to Fully Sick Rapper. The video rules and was, apparently, made from his hospital room. Unless this is a gag (and I don't believe it to be) he was diagnosed with TB and was in quarantine when he made the video. If you wanna learn more, you can follow him at @FullySickRapper on Twitter, or on FaceBook. His Youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/ChristiaanVanVuuren.
So, without further ado, I give you "F you, I'm a Ukulele". Hooray!
Yeah, say that title three times fast. I dare ya! Heh. Well, I'll let the video do most of the talking on this one since I, apparently, can't record a Ukulele video without talking through half of the damn thing. I really like the sound of my own voice, I guess?
If you are intersted in the chords or words, I've posted them below.
F
The plowhorse went lame
Gm
the wheat crop failed
F
when the well went dry
A#dim (0202)
I knew that the rest was sure to follow
Bb C
looks like the pretty life we planned yesterday
A7 A Bb
gonna turn to dust tomorrow
Bb C A7
and the day after that is gonna be more of the same
Bb C
Well you said that it wasn't my fault
A7 Dm
but I know that was a lie
Bb C A7 Bb
it's just that you couldn't bear to let all that pain and sadness back inside
Gm C
You just couldn't admit
Gm C
that maybe it was wrong
Gm C F
to fall for a guy cause he wrote you a pretty song.
F
The roof still leaks
Gm
The Barn's collapsed
F
It hasn't rained for weeks
A#dim
and I know that the worst has yet to get here
Bb C
You said youy'd stay with me forever
A7 A Bb
but we both know that's not right
Bb C A7
Why you and the children run off the farm tonight
Bb C
Well you said that it wasn't my fault
A7 Dm
but I know that was a lie
Bb C A7 Bb
it's just that you couldn't bear to let all that pain and sadness back inside
Gm C
You just couldn't admit
Gm C
that maybe it was wrong
Gm C F
to fall for a guy cause he wrote you a pretty song.
Gm C
So baby, if this is it
Gm C
If this is the very last so long
Bb C F
I'm still glad it was me what wrote that pretty song
So, I spent the whole weekend pretty much ignoring my computer and living in the backyard (when it was nice) and the movie theatre (when it was crappy out). So, as a result, I didn't see a tweet from @gotanda until just a few minutes ago. That's a shame because it means I could have watched the Youtube video he sent me a few more dozen times. Heh.
The video is by someone known simply, as Pecker. Yup. Pecker. I did a "D-" amount of research and I believe he's something like the Barcelona version of Gunther only with more (or is it less, I can never tell) ironic value. If you wanna check out his site, you can find it at http://www.pecker.es/.
Anyway, the video is just Pecker and a ukulele (is it a Mahalo maybe?) covering The Ramones song "I wanna be your boyfriend". That's one of my favorite Ramones songs and my son and I actually cover that ourselves when we are transformed into our Ramones cover band (we are called "Second verse, same as the first").
Anyway, the video is fun and I like his accent. I'm especially glad that it's not faked (the accent, I mean).
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