Songs that work, but shouldn't

[Shaster]

I do some pretty off the beaten path, or older songs, especially for a solo. I've noticed that there are some songs that people take notice of, and suddenly applaud. For instance, Cold Shot (SRV), The Wind Cries Mary, and Come And Get Your Love (maybe because of Guardians) often work surprisingly well. Who Is He (Bill Withers) sometimes wakes them up, although I thought it would bomb - and sometimes it does! However, the strangest tune that works out of the blue is You Can't Fall Up by Tower Of Power. I don't have horns, and have to do all the Bg's myself. Maybe I do a good job, maybe there's something else going on, but I've noticed that when no one is applauding that tune will often get a big hand. The last time I played it, I heard someone whistling the sax line (which I play on guitar), after the song had finished.

 

Tonight I got a huge hand for New Frontier (Donald Fagen), and I once had a guy go crazy because I played Robben Ford's Talk to Your Daughter. You just never know.

 

Anyway here's the tune. Takes me back to the nineties. I saw this exact band play two or three times.

 

 

[pogo97]

Songs that work best for me as a listener are songs that I've enjoyed in the past (like, a few decades ago) and that I haven't heard since. They're pretty rare given the ubiquity of boomer background music. When I play my 10s to 40s music, it's those songs that people react most to as well. "I haven't heard that since I was a kid. Brought back memories…"

[Bob Dey]

Maybe people enjoy hearing good songs that they don't ever hear other solos do. Or songs that don't get overplayed on the radio. I think it also makes a difference in how much you get into performing a song. An uninspired performance of a well known song often doesn't draw applause as well as a great performance of relatively unknown song.

 

I did an original song a few years ago at a bar and got a really good reception. Like you said, you just never know.