Ukulele Guy

So, here's the deal. I want to finally form a Ukulele band. If you live in Missoula, Montana and are into it, you should contact me. Here's some of the songs that I'd like to play. Obviously, we don't have to do all of these songs, or even more than one type of song. I'm leaning towards the sillier songs right now, but I can be talked into anything.

kid's songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbyqgGIyj94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yahu4MNRQ7A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I_X7StiFzM
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/simon-alton.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/gettingdresseddance.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/gus_is_picky.mp3

serious songs
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/bed.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBbjxagGNZY
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ukulele-guy-megan-lannegan.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/belated.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/You-Didnt-Have-a-Girl.mp3
http://www.howsyournetwork.com/download/erika-bday2.mp3
http://www.howsyournetwork.com/download/shane%20hickey%20-%20Eva.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCwPBtcqZvs

funny songs
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ukulele-guy-UPS-Girl.mp3
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ukulele-guy-moderation-town.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qpo2YFSrVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_juiXOrbhuI

covers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj-GIAACClc
http://ukuleleguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/strange_powers.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVWCqy5TjJY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX5y1_v2XrE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I_X7StiFzM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CVQ-Zm9xBQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP1To9wG7uA

I realize that this is a bit of a haphazard post, but just need to link all these songs in one place so I can post it on Facebook because it's not letting me post a bajillion URLs into one update.... probably for good reason.

Related Items:

Mahalo U-30BU Painted Economy Soprano Ukulele (Blue)

Mahalo U-30WT Painted Economy Soprano Ukulele (White)

Now that I got your attention... Nah, I'm not joking. This really is a poontang video. Heh. I'm having a pretty good time here using the word poontang in a somewhat legitimate manner...... POONTANG!

Ok. I think I got that out of my system.  We can start for real.  As you may or may not know, I'm a freaking sucker for novelty songs.  I know what you are thinking, "Wait a minute, he likes ukuleles and novelty music?  High school must have been awesome for him!"  Surprisingly enough, it wasn't, but that's neither here nor there.

On one of my various novelty compilations, I first heard the song Poontang by the Treniers and I was amazed!  Frankly, I wasn't even sure the word poontang existed in 1953.  Turns out, it did.  After I heard the song I did a little bit of research and it sounds like The Treniers were pretty much party animals.  The drank and recorded rad songs.  In fact, to promote this song, they made custom labels for beer cans that said something like "Sweet Alabama Poontang" on them.  Then they sent the beer to radio station disc jockeys to get them to play it.  Freaking rad!

Anyway, I've been wanting to make a video for this for ages but kept putting it off.  So, today I just grabbed my aNueNue Banjolele and my Flip and busted out this video in a single take.  Boosh!

If you want to hear the original, check out this video:

And if you wanna play along (and who wouldn't, right?) here's some chords that I wrote up for Poontang!

Poontang by The Treniers
covered by Ukulele Guy

                  10 9 8 8
...POON is a hug!
                  10 9 8 8
TANG is a kiss!
C x7 (5433)
F
I've been marooned on an isle in the South Pacific
Bb
Missing my loving each night
C
Now that I'm home I'll go right
                    E  F
Out and get me some POON-TANG!
F
Tired of talking to tigers and kangaroos,
Bb
Or singing a song to a goose.
C
Now that I'm home on the loose,
                  E   F
Gonna get me some POONTANG!

Bb
Now Poon is a hug. I wanted a hug so badly
      D# (3331)
I was Blowing my tropical top.
C
A Tang is a kiss, I wanted a kiss so badly
       C                 E
Wanted Poontang never to stop.
F
I don't want to eat And I don't want to sleep;
Bb
I've got a yen that I'm dying to please.
C
Till I get weak in the knees,
                  E   F
Gonna get me that Poontang.
F
POON-TANG!
F
POON-TANG!
Bb
POON-TANG!
F
POON-TANG!
C
POON-TANG!
F
POON-TANG!

F
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
F
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
Bb
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
F
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
C
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
F
POON-TANG!

Rock break.

Bb
A Poon is a hug. I wanted a hug so badly
D#
I was blowin' my tropical top.
C
A Tang is a kiss, I wanted a kiss so badly
                    E
Want-a-Poontang never to stop.
F#
I don't want to eat and I don't want to sleep;
B
I've got a yen that I'm dying to please
C#
Till I get weak in the knees,
                  F   F#
Gonna get me that Poontang.

POON-TANG!

POON-TANG!

Gonna get me some, gonna get me song... poon tang!

Related Items:

Gold Tone BUT Tenor Banjo Ukulele (Vintage Brown)

Gold Tone Banjolele Banjo Ukulele (Maple)

So, you know who I want in my corner when the S really hits the F.  (Why couldn't I spell Fan?  Good Question).  I don't want Indiana Jones, I don't want Boba Fett.... I need this guy right here.  I can just tell that he's who you need in your corner in a clutch cargo situation.

I'm also thinking how to take this thing to the next level. I mean, how many nerdy instruments can we combine? For example, the accordion appears to be sadly lacking. Not that I'm knocking the Kazookeylele. I would literally kill my own brother to own one. But, while I dreaming, can't I dream of a version that has an accordion and theremin built in? I think so.

Anyway, moving onward. How about the song choice for this video? I think one of my first ever posts was of this same fella doing Bohemian Rhapsody.  I think Final Countdown might even be a better representation of the Kazookeylele, although I'm not sure which video was first.  I think maybe this one was.  So, he might have redone the instrument since then.  I'll find out when I start stalking him.

Related Items:

Mahalo U-30BU Painted Economy Soprano Ukulele (Blue)

Savannah Color Ukulele with Bag, Black

Well, you knew what was coming.  Or, if you didn't, you weren't really paying attention to parts 1-4.  In this particular installment (which started as some sort of crazy promotion for the Eleuke Electric Ukulele) Colin finally puts his nuts where his mouth is.  Err... that didn't quite sound right.  Long story short, he puts his testicles squarely on the electric fence in my backyard.

Yes, I realize that this only barely qualifies as a ukulele video.  Meh.  You can't deny a guy a public forum from which he can humiliate his beloved kinfolk can you?

Related Items:

Eleuke Electric Peanut Ukulele Mahogany Soprano Solid Body / MP3 Feature

Eleuke Electric Ukulele Solid Body Tenor Flamed Transparent Blue/ MP3 Feature

Hmm..  I totally thought I had posted this song already, but it looks like I was wrong.  So, here's the deal.  This Christmas, Erika (my wife) and I agreed to not spend very much money on presents for each other.  So, I had to sort of get creative.  Luckily, I'm the king of pulling a song out of my hat with a moment's notice.  And, this time I had helpers!

Or, rather, anti-helpers as the case may be.  You see, I decided to involve my two sons in the recording process.  In hindsight, this was a terrible idea, but the end result turned out great.  It was just incredibly painful.  They fight like cats and dogs on a good day and (as you can tell from their jammies) it was getting on in the day.

Anyhoo, I made the process even more painful by videotaping parts of the recording "session" with my Flip MinoHD.  I had actually forgotten that I had done this until I found the videos today.  So, I decided to finally give Adobe Premiere a shot and try and do some video editing.  This is my first editing attempt so please be gentle.  You should just be lucky I wasn't doing "star wipes" all over the place. Also, I guess I have to figure out how to edit it without that black border around the whole thing. If you are an Premiere genius, then I welcome your input.

If you want to hear the finished product, then give this a listen: Ukulele Guy - You Didn't Have a Girl

Oh yeah, and I was using my aNueNue Banjolele in this song.

NOTE: Of course, after I already uploaded this video and wrote the post I realized what I did wrong in Premiere.  The next video won't have those annoying black bars around it.  I'm not sure I'm going to re-do it, though, because I don't see a way to do that easily without starting all the way over.  And, I'm way to lazy for that.

Related Items:

I Got a Song Choral Octavo Choir Original words and music by Berta Poorman and Sonja Poorman (incorporating "I Got Shoes")

Eddy Finn Banjo Concert Ukulele w/ Case ~ EF-BU-1

Now, before we get started, I have some defending to do.  Since February 2nd, at least one person in our house has been sick.  For myself, I was sick from like the 6th through the 13th.  So, as you can imagine, all of the Valentine's Day planning and shopping that I would normally do went right out the window.  Now, I know what you are thinking, "Hang on Ukulele Guy, you don't strike me as a real planning type.  How can we accept this excuse when you probably wouldn't have done any planning or shopping for Valentine's Day had you been healthy?"  And, my reply to that is "Shut up!"  Sheesh.

So, anyway, once again I'm left with only my once-quick-but-now-dulled-through-years-of-beer wits and my trusty Ukulele.  Thankfully, driving to my oldest son's Valentine's Day party at school I got stopped at a train crossing.  I swear the train must have been 200 freaking cars song.  For some reason I had the radio off so I just started singing "I'm a mess, but I'm your mess" and that got me started.  Unfortunately, it took me until February 15th to finish the song.  But, on the plus side, I actually wrote a bridge for once.  Anyway, here's the video for it.

Now, I'm not sure why you would want the lyrics and chords to this song. I mean, unless your kids are also named Simon and Gus and you also like all the same stuff that I do and you also drink beer and play Nethack till 4am? If those things are true then we need to hang out.

I'm a Mess - Ukulele Guy
Chords:
Ab - 5343
Cm - 0333
Db - 1114
Gdim - 0101
Bbm - 3111 (sometimes 6564)
Fm - 5543 (sometimes 1013)
Eb - 3331 (sometimes 3336)

Bbm  Gdim
Intro

Ab
I am lying on back lookin' up
Cm
not a star in the sky
Db
or a satellite
Gdim
and I wonder why
       Bbm 3111 6564
wonder why-y-y-y-y

Well I can
Ab
waste time thinking bout stars
Cm
till the early morn
Db
yet year after year I somehow manage to forget
      Gdim
the day you were born

that perfect day that you were born

           Ab
Well I'm a mess
        Fm (5543)
But I'm YOUR mess
                Bbm (6564)
despite all the stupid things I do
    Eb 3331
I'm hopeless-ly
    Eb 3336
craz-y about you

Bb Gdim

Who do you pick
in a battle 'tween a wizard and jedi knight
it's important
that I answer this one right
well I may stay up all night

And when I
don't get up in time to help with simon and gus
it was just because
the question was too tough
but I answered for the both of us
Chorus

Fm
And even if I said that I tried my best to
Ab
warn you
Fm
There is no way you could know
Ab
what you were getting into
Bb                Fm
I am geek on nerd compounded
Bb Fm
I am dorkiness expounded
Eb
But I'm yours
Bb         Gdim
I'm youuuuurss
and I'm a mess
Chorus

Related Items:

Lanikai Standard Soprano Ukulele - LU-21

Lanikai LU-21C Concert Ukulele

Alright, the title might have been slightly misleading, but stay with me.  You see, roughly 6-7 years ago, a good friend of mine, Andy Smetanka, made a video for The Tain, by the Decemberists.  The Tain is basically the Irish Beowulf and the Decemberists' version of it is nearly 20 minutes long, so this thing is pretty much a freaking epic in every possible way.  Anyway, you should definitely watch the whole video, the animation will blow your mind.  Especially when you realize that Andy did it all by hand.  Yup, he painstakingly cut paper with an X-acto knife and filmed all the action frame by frame using an old super 8 camera.

What does this have to do with Ukuleles, you might ask?  Hang on, I'm getting there.  If you've ever seen any of Andy's other videos you'll notice that the credits are often as long as (sometimes longer) than the actual video.  And, usually there is some rad music underneath.  This video for The Tain was no exception and that's where I (and to a much greater part, many of my friends) came into the picture.

A big group of us used to meet once a week for something we called The Sharing Shack.  Basically it was like a potluck but the hosts of the potluck would have to teach everyone something or involve everyone in some sort of artistic project.  So, you might all come over to my house and I'd teach everyone candle making while my wife would teach stained glass.  Or, maybe we'd all head over to someone's house to do light painting or tamale making.  Frankly, I can't remember when I had so much free time and I often think back wistfully to these days.

Anyway, at one particular Sharing Shack hosted at my house, Andy wanted us to all help him make the music that would go under the credits of The Tain video he was working on.  So, the whole gang brought all manner of instruments and we got to work.  If you aren't going to watch the whole video (shame on you) then you can start at 19:10 and hear our interpretation of The Tain.  I engineered this recording and played ukulele.  Lots of other people contributed as well, thankfully there are credits for the credits, so you can read about all that.  My wife and (at the time) 6 month old son are also listed in the credits.  Enough gabbing, here goes!

Related Items:

Lanikai LU-11 Soprano Ukulele

Lanikai HU-212 Standard Ukulele Nato Fretboard

So, I'm going to just come right out and admit that I know very little about the inner workings of Youtube.  I mean, I'd always seen these so-called "Video Responses" but I guess I didn't really get it.  It seemed like something that people did to argue more with a political video or something.  Imagine my surprise when I realized that I have two Video responses to my ukulele videos!

I have pretty much been smiling for days.  Anyway, the first video response I ever got was from russelljenkinsfearn and it was actually from a little while back.  He responded to my Kala Pocket Ukulele rendition of Ween's "Help me scrape the mucus off my brain".  In all honesty, his version is better.   Doh!  Anyway, check it out:

My next video response came over this weekend.  It was posted by "TacoBum311" and it was a response to my Eleuke Electric Ukulele version of Halloween by the Misfits.  Their version also features an Eleuke (the pretty sunburst one) and they do a rocking version of the best Misfits song of all time, Hybrid Moments.  Check it out!

Like I said, I feel like a proud father or something. I know it's a little ridiculous but I can't help it. So, if you want to make my freaking day then please post a Video Response to one of my ukulele videos.

Related Items:

Zoom H4n Handy Portable Digital Recorder

Oscar Schmidt OU6LCE Acoustic Electric Tenor Ukulele

Alright, we've rounded the corner on this ridiculous night of beer-drinking, trash-talking and wagering.  If you had told me, before this thing started that I would be able to get my youngest brother to put his testicles on my electric fence and all it would cost me is $20 then I would have never believed you.  This is the guy who said he wouldn't even touch it for less then $75 and that was with this hands.  Heh.

Now, I realize this has absolutely nothing to do with Ukuleles.  However, if you remember from Part 1 of the wager, I was holding my Eleuke electric ukulele.  So, I'm going to allow it.  Also, I make Colin plug UkuleleGuy.com in part 5 of the video, so we can tie it all together. If you are offended by drunkenness, swearing or grown men acting like idiots and talking about their genitals then this might not be the video for you.

Related Items:

Eleuke Tenor Electric Ukulele Sunburst Jazz Full Body with MP3 Feature

Eleuke MP3 Mahogany Concert Solid Body Electric Ukulele

Well, I'm still going through my inbox and now I'm down to just 281 messages left.  What prompted this particular post was an e-mail I got from Rick Carlson over at Kala.  He was just letting me know that Bakithi Kumalo played a U-Bass on the Colbert Report (with Paul Simon).  The video is pretty rad.  Enjoy!

Yup. That does it. I definitely need a Kala U-Bass now.

Related Items:

Kala KA-UBASSFS Solid Mahogany U-BASS - Fretted

Music Sales Paul Simon Acoustic Masters for Guitar (TAB)