Friday, August 5, 2011

"All She Wants To Do Is Ride..."



Ride, Sally, Ride...

One of my buddies wants me to come and sit in tomorrow night... and play with their band. This is always a great deal of fun!!  Invariably when something like this comes up, the conversation turns to, 'well, what songs... what kind of music are you going to be playing?'


We all have our favorite songs... I've been accused of having my favorite songs change on a whim, but it's ok... but for a performing musician, there are some songs that we just get tired of from time to time...


Two of the songs that come to mind are Van Morrison's 'Brown Eyed Girl' and Wilson Pickett's 'Mustang Sally'...


A group could probably play each of these songs in each set they play, and the people there would be happy... but from a performer's standpoint... ARGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!


But... I can't think of too many other songs that will get people up and dancing like these two songs will...  and watching women dance can be a great deal of fun...


Of course, unless it's Elaine...




Anyway, while screwing around online researching an economic topic, I ran across this 'decision-tree' which will help a band decide if they are going to play 'Mustang Sally'...



According to this chart, it seems those attending a serious blues festival wouldn't want to hear it... but it also seems that whether or not there are women in attendance also carries a great deal of weight as to whether or not it should be played...


Of course, I'm thinking if Buddy  Guy is performing it, I would most definitely WANT to hear it!!



This version is off of Buddy's 'Damn Right I Have The Blues' featuring Jeff Beck...


Back when I was a kid, one of my favorite bands of that time was 'The Yardbirds'... The original guitarist for 'The Yardbirds' was none other than Eric Clapton... Clapton left to pursue another interests (Cream) and was replaced by Jeff Beck... after a short time, Jeff Beck left and was replaced with Jimmy Page...  the band didn't last much longer after Page joined... Page went about re-organizing the band and named it 'The New Yardbirds'...  Keith Moon, of 'The Who,' after hearing this story about the reorganized band, made a comment about how that would go over like a 'lead balloon'...


... and that's how Led Zeppelin came to be...



~shoes~
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18 comments:

  1. FranceAugust 5, 2011 at 1:35 PM

    Hahaha I think that chart should be modified... after "good looking"... to include: "chicks potentially getting wasted enough to flash their boobs?" :P

    There are a few songs I'm tired of hearing, just like some you're tired of playing. :)

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  2. red.neck chicAugust 5, 2011 at 2:09 PM

    The Chicken Dance.

    ;-D

    xoxo
    Have fun!!! Watch out for adoring groupies... LOLOL!
    gobbles

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  3. Rubye JackAugust 5, 2011 at 2:31 PM

    I never get tired of watching Elaine's dance.
    And as for Mustang Sally, well I'm with the serious Blues fans on this.

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  4. Cocaine PrincessAugust 5, 2011 at 2:34 PM

    I'm sure you and the band will bring the house down no matter what song you sing. Good Luck and Have Fun

    The Elaine~dance scene is a classic. Whenever my friends and I see someone dance badly we always refer to them as "Elaine".....male or female!

    P.S. That flow chart is too cool!

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  5. Red ShoesAugust 5, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    @ France... I think that's a given... :op

    @ Gobbles... I always loved everyone's expressions when Elaine would dance...

    I ain't skeert of no groupies...

    @ Linda... tell us how you REALLY feel!!! Re: Elaine... it's kind of like a train wreck, you don't want to watch, yet you really can't look away... hahahaha...

    @ Princess... we will have fun. We always do... I am glad that people, though, have the confidence and the where-with-all to get out and try to dance. All in all, it adds to the quality of Life.

    ~shoes~

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  6. Riff DogAugust 5, 2011 at 5:13 PM

    Heck, you should play it even if here aren't any women there. Maybe some guy with man boobs will flash you. Almost as good, right? Right???

    Funny, this brings back memories of playing in cover bands and refusing to play songs like Proud Mary.

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  7. Red ShoesAugust 6, 2011 at 9:58 AM

    Man boobs???

    ARGHHH!!!!!!

    I don't think so, Scooter!!!

    ~shoes~

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  8. MaxAugust 7, 2011 at 12:27 PM

    Nice post. I love the Mustang Sally flowchart.

    I hope you'll let us know how it went. :-)

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  9. MarnieAugust 7, 2011 at 8:14 PM

    I LOVE the Elaine dance!! I know a guy who dances like that! Great post!!

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  10. Red ShoesAugust 8, 2011 at 2:05 PM

    @ Max... it went GREAT!! We DID play 'Mustang Sally'... if nothing else, it sure gets people on the dance floor!!

    @ Marnie... for some reason, a guy dancing like Elaine is one thing... but it should never be a girl...

    (ponders a stripper dancing like Elaine...)

    ~shoes~

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  11. nitebyrdAugust 8, 2011 at 2:33 PM

    The Rascals did an amazing version of Mustang Sally. I'm glad you decided to play it, it's a great song!

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  12. Red ShoesAugust 8, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    @ nitebyrd... They certainly DID!!! I've always been a Rascals' fan!!!!

    ~shoes~

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  13. KrippledWarriorAugust 8, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    way cool flow chart.

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  14. AnonymousAugust 9, 2011 at 5:43 AM

    They should definitely have one of those funky flowcharts for every song!

    Mustang Sally is a classic. But after four years of listening to it every Wednesday night with drunk men dressed as women, bunnies and firemen, and drunk women dressed as slags, bunnies and cats... it's sort of lost its appeal :S

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  15. Steve BaileyAugust 9, 2011 at 12:52 PM

    I love me some Yardbirds....... you should cover Heart full of Soul....

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  16. KimberlyAugust 10, 2011 at 9:11 AM

    After enough drinks --- the crowd doesn't care what you play as long as you don't stop! "All you wanna do is Ride Sally Ride..."

    ReplyDelete
  17. Red ShoesAugust 11, 2011 at 12:32 PM

    @ Kurt... Yeah, it is... I would imagine that it works for just about any song.

    @ Elisecrets... HA! That's what I just told Kurt... As for your other statement, I totally understand!!!

    @ Steve Bailey... is that NOT the best song?!?!? I've worked up a somewhat countrified version of 'For Your Love'... the bridge needs work however...

    @ Kimberly... I have thought that alcohol has caused us to sound better...

    ~shoes~

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  18. shrink on the couchAugust 18, 2011 at 12:46 AM

    I do love Brown Eyed Girl by VM. It's just one of the greatest love songs ever written and a great dance tune.

    There's a band here in Austin, The Eggmen, that we love to see periodically. A Beatles cover band with sets that also cover a bunch of British 60's bands, The British Invasion, they call it: Stones, Kinks, Zombies. You can check out this link to read a typical set list.

    http://www.eggmen.com/setlist/index.htm

    You would think a cover band would largely suck but this is such a fun band to see. You cannot stay seated. By the middle of the night they have the whole crowd on their feet.

    All this to say, have a great night performing!

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