Members pogo97 Posted March 11, 2019 Members Share Posted March 11, 2019 I've been to many jams and, generally, I know most or all the material that other players bring to the table: rock, country, blues etc., it's all okay. A couple of weeks ago I went to a jam and the hosting band was 1) a decade or two younger than me 2) metal. I had lots of fun playing 'way too loud (Deluxe at 10) and the band had fun having me there. But I didn't know a single song they did. Obviously the metal kids have a common repertoire that I don't know. Which got me thinking… What *are* the "everybody knows and still enjoys playing" songs for a range of ages. For people about my age (63) you can haul out "Crossroads" or "The Wind Cries Mary" or a half-dozen Van Morrison songs and feel pretty safe that good players can follow without rolling their eyes. (I got kicked out of a bluegrass jam once for playing "Rocky Top." Bluegrassers, sheesh.) Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kbeaumont Posted March 11, 2019 Members Share Posted March 11, 2019 Surprisingly enough there are a lot of songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival that work with a vastly diverse audience. And its usually not the over done ones like Proud Mary. So many people know their songs and they are simple songs with simple arrangements. And my guess is that's why they last so long. People just want to play and sing along. Tom Petty was another composer that everyone seems to know his songs. Same with the Rolling Stones. But as Ricky Nelson sang, "you can't please everyone so you got to please yourself". I play in a band where everyone is about 15 yrs my junior. The guitar player is an aging metal head. I come from 70's blues based rock guitar & keyboards and have sang more country and southern rock than I care to admit. The drummer likes R&B and raps. We have a female singer who likes Bonnie Raitt, Heart, Janis Joplin and a wide range of 80's & 90's music. Most of the bands around here you would swear they all have the same set list just re-arranged. So its good to be different, our method of song selection is throw it out there if its received well we keep it. Until we find something to replace it. But most of the stuff that sticks seems to be simple songs people remember but haven't heard in awhile. So we ended up with bit of everything from Johnny Rivers to Journey to Slick Rick and everything in between. I have never enjoyed playing out more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted March 11, 2019 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2019 Can't go far wrong with Johnny Rivers. Keep in mind, though, I'm interested in songs for jamming: musician-pleasers not (necessarily) audience-pleasers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted March 11, 2019 Moderators Share Posted March 11, 2019 not specific songs, but my rule of thumb [after several years of hosting jams] is if a song has more than 4 chords, someone will miss the 5th one and ruin everything. Simplicity and recognizability are not the same thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members senorblues Posted March 12, 2019 Members Share Posted March 12, 2019 I went to a garage jam once where the host had multiple laminated copies of the lead sheets for a boatload of songs. I went to another house jam a while back where the host had a boatload of lead sheets but there were no chords, only lyrics. Gee, Thanks! I tend to overthink things, but tell me why this won't work . . . " I'm coming to your jam next week. Can you send me a set list with keys? Here's mine. If I sing a few of them, can you play 'em? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted March 12, 2019 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2019 … I'm coming to your jam next week. Can you send me a set list with keys? Here's mine. If I sing a few of them' date=' can you play 'em?[/quote'] I've asked the host for a list of metal songs I should listen to. I think we've settled on three or four of my songs for my setlet. All of which have three or four chords in nice predictable places. They worked fine last time anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted March 12, 2019 Moderators Share Posted March 12, 2019 I went to a garage jam once where the host had multiple laminated copies of the lead sheets for a boatload of songs. I went to another house jam a while back where the host had a boatload of lead sheets but there were no chords, only lyrics. Gee, Thanks! I tend to overthink things, but tell me why this won't work . . . " I'm coming to your jam next week. Can you send me a set list with keys? Here's mine. If I sing a few of them, can you play 'em? Asking for his setlist? Might help, but at the jams I go to, whoever is singing calls the song...which can waste a lot of time unless the singer is an actual musician. Your other request, for him to learn your material wouldn't work because if he has twenty five people doing that to him, he has 75 songs to learn, that's why. Better to get his list and find the overlaps. Plus...hosting jams is not a fun gig. I would rather be playing a gig instead of trying to make sure people can play in roughly the order they arrived, and the classic oh, sure I can put you up with your friend...what does he play? ah, drums and you play...drums, so, um, no,sorry, I can't do that. The issue I still have to spend time on is fitting the 'unknown' newbie in with compatible players...once you have enough regulars, you can slide right through, but in my present case, I'm on my third hosting at a new venue...and the mix of knowns to unknowns is still running 50/50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted March 12, 2019 Moderators Share Posted March 12, 2019 I've asked the host for a list of metal songs I should listen to. I think we've settled on three or four Enter Sandman and...3 other songs....that I have probably heard the signature lick/riff played ad nauseum at GC...but I have no idea what the song is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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