All is right with the world. Big Hand himself led the expedition and my precious egg shaker has been recovered. It was rough for a while, but I made it.
In the meantime, we had a great practice. Everyone was present and accounted for and it lasted a long time. We played a few that we had never played before and we played a few that we hadn’t practiced for a while. It was a good mix. There is always some inexplicable occurrence during our practices and last night was no exception. “Another One Bites The Dust” kept mysteriously creeping in. But, to quote P, “It’s all ‘Louie Louie’.”
We started out with 1985 (first timer) and moved on to “I’m Gonna’ Be (500 Miles). It was the first time we played it, but it sounded pretty good. We may want to speed it up a bit and maybe P can come up with some interesting guitarage to make it our own. That’s one that also has a lot of fun backup vocals, so we’ll want to work on that.
Then it was jam time. “For What It’s Worth” made an appearance.
We played “Bittersweet” (first timer) and it was really nice. I think that’s going to be one of our favorites. I need to get a chart for that one. Next we played “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” and it’s just too much fun to hear those guitars on that song. That one might be one to lead into another, possibly the next one we played, which was “Get It On (Bang A Gong)” (first timer) and we need an ending for that one.
Next we played one of Dave’s faves, “The Boys Are Back In Town” (first timer). Our orchestration on that one was done really well. Kudos to P, who made an impossible song manageable. Next we played “Secret Agent Man.” I like that intro more each time I hear it.
And then it was jam time. I had no idea what the song was, but I got to shake my egg.
After that we played “Soul Man”, which I need a chart for and we need an ending. Then we played “Drift Away” where we incorporated the best idea of the night. Wes suggested that he and I sing it together, switching off on the verses. It was great! Even Big Hand’s lewd remarks about it being a sweet duet couldn’t make it dirty, though he tried. Sicko. After that we played “My Sharona” a couple times.
Then Dave made an announcement that Rodney’s official nickname had been changed from HotRod to Pump. The motion carried. Next it was a slide blues jam with a very strange “Lump ‘o Blues.”
After that we played “Right Place Wrong Time” and “Good.” Big Hand nailed the ending on that one and P had some good feedback going. We played “Real Wild Child” which is a great guitar song. We played “There she goes” which is very painful to sing. We dropped it down a bit and with a little tinkering that one may be viable.
Then… SNACK ATTACK! The Doritos were simply violated. After the snack attack was an extended jam of “Pride and Joy” and other stuff, from which we nearly didn’t recover.
We played “What’s Up”, “Chevy Van” and “All Along the Watchtower” which is a really good jam. Then we played “Wild Thing” and wrapped up the evening with “Tainted Love.” Yep, I love that song.
Dave and I are still planning our shopping trip to purchase a PA. Wes mentioned that he knows of one that is available. It is more than we had planned, but a bargain that we may not be able to pass up. We are going to investigate.
As always, there were innumerable memorable quotes.
“He hasn’t topped me yet!” ~Dave (not so much for that quote, but the ones that followed, which I cannot list out of decency)
“He was almost dethroned!” ~P
“Your beat should be on his back.” ~Rodney (much hilarity ensued)
“You could use that on a woman.” ~Wes
“Drummers gone wild!” ~JD
“I move like a cat… for a big man.” ~P (after which he was accused of merely trying to be mentioned in the newsletter)
“You DO have a big hand.” ~Rodney
“I’m letting it Fester.” ~Wes
“My bag was unzipped and my tuner fell out.” ~Rodney
“My egg!!” ~JD
“Put the drummer down” ~Dave
“I think you have ‘I Love Beach Music’ in your head.” ~Wes
“However so brief, a success is still a success.” ~Dave
“Is there already a band called Subterranean Herculaneum?” ~Wes
“I didn’t pick that one too, did I?” ~Rodney
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