# Music by Genre > Bluegrass, Newgrass, Country, Gospel Variants >  Other Songs Converted to Bluegrass

## ChrisStewart

Excuse me if this is a duplicate thread.

I think it is interesting to find other songs and convert them to bluegrass. Although after hearing Dolly Parton do "Stairway to Heaven" I know it doesn't always work.

Here are some I do: (some done by the Country Gentlemen)

Redwood Hill -Gordon Lightfoot
Early Morning Rain - "
Teach Your Children -Simon & Garfunkle?
The Boxer - "
Time for me to Fly -REO Speedwagon
Fire -Bruce Springsteen 
Brain Damage -Pink Floyd
Somewhere Over the Rainbow -?

Anyone else have some good ones?

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## Jim Garber

I've Just Seen a Face -- The Beatles

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## billkilpatrick

more nashville than bluegrass - but "misty" by ray stevens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRZcQsGQbE0

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## Jim Broyles

Teach Your Children = Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Good BG conversion number.

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## JeffD

When I think about taking tunes and "bluegrassing" them, I can't help but think of Prairie Home Companion's Robin and Linda Willians in their roles as Marvin and Mavis Smiley, doing bluegrass versions of just anything - Fiddler on the Roof, or is in this link, high opera solos.

Its a hoot.

http://www.amazon.com/Marvin-Mavis-S.../dp/B0010W7A78

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## ChrisStewart

Oh yea, thanks Jim (and I even have that album)  :Redface: 

I've Just Seen a Face -- The Beatles -that's a good one
also - Don't Pass me By

"misty" by ray stevens: -that may take an actual vocalist

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## Fred Keller

One After 909 makes a great bluegrass train song.

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## billkilpatrick

> "misty" by ray stevens: - that may take an actual vocalist


... with or without adenoidal whine?

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## GVD

> ..Time for me to Fly -REO Speedwagon...


Don't know about that one but the Cafe's own Ron Pennington and the Lonesome Road Band sure worked up a good version of REO's "Keep On Rolling". I really the second break Ron does about 3:05 into it.



GVD

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## GVD

> Teach Your Children = Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Good BG conversion number.


Man I pulled out one of my old CS & N cd's just the other day and got to thinking the same thing. I started working it up and played it for the rest of our band at our next practice. Turned out only one other person in the band was familiar with the song. It's hell getting old!  :Wink: 

GVD

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## mandozilla

'Peaceful Easy feeling' by the Eagles works.

 :Mandosmiley:

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## mandopete

One of the best rock cover projects ever was Larry Cordell's excellent tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd called *Lonesome Skynyrd Time*.  I was really impressed with how well all of those tunes worked with bluegrass instrumentation.

Another project worthy of mention if you can find it is the Charles River Valley Boys' *Beatle Country*.

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## auteq

> One of the best rock cover projects ever was Larry Cordell's excellent tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd called *Lonesome Skynyrd Time*.  I was really impressed with how well all of those tunes worked with bluegrass instrumentation....


I concur. I like "call me the breeze" (which I think is a cover for LS too??) to a) do myself and b) listen too- the mandolin solo in Cordell's version is very good. 

Also "Honky Tonk Woman" Stones.... and more popular now thanks to OCMS "Wagon Wheel" Dylan

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## ChrisStewart

[QUOTE=GVD;654118]Don't know about that one but the Cafe's own Ron Pennington and the Lonesome Road Band sure worked up a good version of REO's "Keep On Rolling". I really the second break Ron does about 3:05 into it.


Yes that does well

here is my version of time for me to fly: other than we aren't very good I think it works

The Country Gentlemen did Teach Your Children I have it on 25 Years CD

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## Barb Friedland

My band does a bunch of oldies that audiences seem to enjoy :
Blue Moon (the rock and roll tune)
Hello Mary Lou
It Doesn't Matter Anymore
Hand Jive
Don't Be Cruel

We also do I've Just Seen a Face and want to work up more Beatles tunes.

We are delving into broader territory. We currently do a smoking version of Fever and I plan to work on:
Dream a Little Dream of Me
Angel from Montgomery

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## mandozilla

I just thought of this one, the early R & R song 'I'm Walking' by J.D. Crow & the New South'...can't remember who recorded it originally.

 :Mandosmiley:

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## MikeEdgerton

We do I've just seen a face, The Boxer, Teach your children, California Dreamin', Sea of heartbreak, and of course our re-write of the theme from the Godfather, Don Corleone's Breakdown.

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## mrmando

> I just thought of this one, the early R & R song 'I'm Walking' by J.D. Crow & the New South'...can't remember who recorded it originally.


Fats Domino if I'm not mistaken.

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## Fretbear

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow"

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## AlanN

A gorgeous solo mandolin version of SOTR is on a John Reischman workshop tape I have buried in the stack. The voicings and sustain he gets are luscious.

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## mandozilla

> our re-write of the theme from the Godfather, Don Corleone's Breakdown.


Wow Mike! I'll bet that's cool. Got a sound file of that one?

BTW, "Don't ever let anyone outside the family know what you're thinking!"  :Laughing: 

 :Mandosmiley:

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## journeybear

Demolition String Band - Like A Prayer

Elena Skye, the singer, plays mandolin - not in the video but on the recording (I think), buried in the mix.

I play a bluegrass version of "Little Wing" which I will put up on youtube if I can sort out the technology.  :Mandosmiley:

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## mandozilla

I can hear the mandolin chopping in there. The guitar picker needs to chuck that electric and get himself a Martin and they need to 86 the drummer and get a, gulp, 5 string b**jo going in there...IMHO.

 :Mandosmiley:

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## journeybear

> I can hear the mandolin chopping in there. The guitar picker needs to chuck that electric and get himself a Martin and they need to 86 the drummer and get a, gulp, 5 string b**jo going in there...IMHO.


Get a - WHAT?   :Disbelief:  Hush yo' mouth!  :Mad: 

They kind of got all gussied up for the video shoot. Didn't want to appeal to a bluegrass (that is, acoustic) audience. Love the wig, though. And the twang. Twang is good ...  :Mandosmiley:

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## mandolooter

Carrie has a nice version of Turn the Page on her Myspace pagehttp://www.myspace.com/carriehasslerandhardrain

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## bobby bill

Lotta votes for I've Just Seen a Face.  I heartily concur except for one thing.  It doesn't need conversion - it always was a bluegrass song.

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## journeybear

> Lotta votes for I've Just Seen a Face.  I heartily concur except for one thing.  It doesn't need conversion - it always was a bluegrass song.


Yep - they just had the instrumentation wrong!  :Grin: 

Once upon a time, back in the 70s, my college hired a bluegrass band that played a version of "From Me To You."

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## MikeEdgerton

> Wow Mike! I'll bet that's cool. Got a sound file of that one?
> 
> BTW, "Don't ever let anyone outside the family know what you're thinking!"


I don't discuss family business with anyone outside the family. You've got a PM with a link.

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## mandocrucian

I think some of the *very best* bluegrass renditions of non-BG material have been done with the involvement of *Jimmy Gaudreau.* (Eddie Adcock has done some good stuff too and the two founded IInd Generation and that 1st album is one of the great "lost classics". And Adcock was already in the Gents when Gaudreau came in to replace John Duffey.)  _(I won't even bother to talk about straight C&W or western swing stuff done bluegrass, cause that's all "country music" in the first place.)_

Gaudreau started out playing electric surf guitar and Duanne Eddy/Lonnie Mack instrumentals (south RI beach bar band _Jimmy G & The Jaguars_) before he got into acoustic music and mandolin. So he's always had a feel for non-BG material and _understands it_. His adaptions _work_ without destroying the original song and turning it into some sort of intended, or unintended parody. (_"We all live in a yaller submarine"_).

original *II Generation* lineup:
Old Man (Neil Young)
Up Around The Bend (Creedence)
Love Is Blue (Paul Mauriat)
Hide Your Love Away (Beatles)

*Jimmy Gaudreau Mandolin Album:*
Memphis (Chuck Berry, Lonnie Mack)
Last Date (Floyd Cramer)

*Spectrum:*
Red Rubber Ball (The Cyrkle, written by Paul Simon)
Gone At Last (Paul Simon)

*Country Store:*
Everyday (Buddy Holly)
Memphis
Friend of the Devil (Dead) (the _first_ recorded BG band version of the song, back in 1974)

and of course, when Gaudreau had his first stint with the Country Gents, they recorded _"Fox On The Run"_, a British pop song.  I _think_ it may have been JG who called attention to the song to the band. (I'd have to refer back to old interviews I did wih him)

Peter Rowan's another guy that's had his feet in both the bluegrass and the rock (Seatrain) worlds.

The thing about the really good adaptions is that everyone has now accepted those songs as "bluegrass material", forgetting that it was _new_ at the time.

NH

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## AlanN

Another couple of Gaudreau-involved 'outside' numbers:

They Call The Wind Maria (Gents)
Guess It Doesn't Matter Anymore (Paul Anka, on 1st Spectrum record)

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## earthsave

We do Summertime, but I dont think we do it too bluegrassy, just use bluegrass instrumentation.

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## ManjoMan

And yet another Gaudreau influenced when he was with J.D. Crowe was
"As Tears Goes By" by the Rolling Stones.

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## MikeEdgerton

That would lead to another Stones song done on the best selling bluegrass album ever recorded. The song was Wild Horses.

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## Philippe Bony

You beat me on that one, Niles!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXf3QttUPlI

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## barry k

Big City........Merle Haggard
Hello Trouble......Buck Owens
Jolene.......Dolly Parton
Easy Chair........Bob Dillon
Take Five.......???  think its a Jazz tune
Im Willin.........The Band??
 tons of others

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## journeybear

> Easy Chair........Bob Dillon
> Take Five.......???  think its a Jazz tune
> Im Willin.........The Band??
>  tons of others


I'm nor clear on what you're doing here. Are these songs you do, or would like someone to do, bluegrass-style? Or have you heard them done this way?  :Confused: 

Anyway, get the facts straight. It's "Willin'" by Little Feat, and "Ooo Wee Ride Me High" by Bob Dylan. 

If anyone was adventurous enough to do a bluegrass version of "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck, in 5/4 time, 
I would really like to know. That would be something, indeed.  :Mandosmiley: 

Oh, and yes, I know, it's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," and yes, I know, The Byrds had the big hit with it. 
Just having a little fun ...  :Grin:

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## MikeEdgerton

> ... "Ooo Wee Ride Me High" by Bob Dylan....


Are you referring to the song "You ain't goin' nowhere?" and if Little Feat is the only source you can come up with for "Willin'" ya need to go back a bit.  :Cool:

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## journeybear

> Are you referring to the song "You ain't goin' nowhere?" and if Little Feat is the only source you can come up with for "Willin'" ya need to go back a bit.


'Twas a joke - see bottom of post - and "Willin'" _was_ written by Lowell George and appeared on Little Feat's first two albums. Unless it was done earlier when Lowell was still with Zappa, I'm stickin' with that.  :Smile:

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## Dan Adams

We do "Ball and Chain" by Social Distortion.  It's got great lyrics that lend themselves to the tragedy, self destructive genre that bluegrass embraces.  'An empty bottle and a broken heart...'  Dan

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## journeybear

> We do "Ball and Chain" by Social Distortion.  It's got great lyrics that lend themselves to the tragedy, self destructive genre that bluegrass embraces.  'An empty bottle and a broken heart...'  Dan


That reminds me of all the fine work done along similar lines by Hayseed Dixie and The Gourds, which have been mentioned on other threads. Heartache is universal, crossing all cultural and genre distinctions.  :Mandosmiley:

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## barry k

Thanks for setting me right journeybear, shoulda known better to post !!! Wasnt trying to to muddy the thread, and it wont happen again. I had 2 brain strokes last August and sometimes my long term memory leaves me.

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## MikeEdgerton

Don't worry about it Barry, keep posting and keep building.

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## journeybear

> Thanks for setting me right journeybear, shoulda known better to post !!!



That's all right, Barry, I just wasn't sure what you meant. Didn't mean to have a joke at your expense, though your post did strike me funny. I think a lot of people's memories are a bit fuzzy, and it may be our reliance on computers helps that, since nowadays we don't have to remember as much as we used to, we just need to know how to look it up.  :Smile:  Well, and discern what's true from all we may find out.  :Wink:  In my case I can't blame this all on computers, as my memory has been fuzzy for a _lot_ longer.  :Whistling:  But we'll never know everything until we hear from everybody, so keep contributing.

Also, I didn't mention that your other suggestions were pretty good, and in fact a lot of Merle's and Buck's songs translate well to bluegrass - for instance, "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive," "Silver Wings," "The Streets Of Bakersfield," and "Act Naturally," as do a good many rockabilly songs from the same time period.  :Mandosmiley:

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## Wesley

The new Darrell Scott CD has an uptempo version of Joni Mitchell's "Urge for Going". It works - but I had my doubts before I heard it. Our group has been know to "grass up" Paul Simons "Me and Julio". I'm still working on them to arrange Robert Johnsons "Walking Blues" and "Crossroads". It could make a good medley.

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## bobby bill

> If anyone was adventurous enough to do a bluegrass version of "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck, in 5/4 time, 
> I would really like to know. That would be something, indeed


I believe "Take Five" was written by Paul Desmond who played sax with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

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## MikeEdgerton

Actually Take Five on its own sounds interesting.

I just remembered an amazing performance at Woodstown, NJ a few years ago when Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen did Eight Miles High. They had a bass player with them as well. It was intense.

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## AlanN

The Japanese band Bluegrass 45 recorded this tune, way back. They were ahead of their time, in many ways.

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## ralph johansson

> and of course, when Gaudreau had his first stint with the Country Gents, they recorded _"Fox On The Run"_, a British pop song.  I _think_ it may have been JG who called attention to the song to the band. (I'd have to refer back to old interviews I did wih him)
> 
> Peter Rowan's another guy that's had his feet in both the bluegrass and the rock (Seatrain) worlds.
> 
> The thing about the really good adaptions is that everyone has now accepted those songs as "bluegrass material", forgetting that it was _new_ at the time.
> 
> NH


fox on the run was introduced into bg by emerson-waldron; they also did proud mary and if i were a carpenter. emerson succeeded adcock in the country gentlemen. 


....


i wonder, what exactly is "non bg material"? e.g., tunes llike silver bell, snow deer, down yonder, and red wing done by many bg groups are pop songs from the early 20th century.
monroe recorded milenburg joy, commonly associated with jelly roll morton. etc. earl scruggs recorded dixieland tunes like farewell blues and bugle call rag.

i like to  play "bg material" in non-bg ways (at least that's what the purists would say i'm doing).
that's more interesting.

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## ralph johansson

> I believe "Take Five" was written by Paul Desmond who played sax with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.


you're absolutely right.

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## journeybear

> Our group has been know to "grass up" Paul Simons "Me and Julio". I'm still working on them to arrange Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues" and "Crossroads". It could make a good medley.


Great idea! If you can, find a recording of The Paul Butterfield Band's version of "Walking Blues" - it has a persistent emphasis on the downbeat, and all you would have to do is switch that to the _backbeat_ and you would have bluegrass. Maybe speed it up just a tad, too ...  :Mandosmiley: 

Love the melody line when it goes to the IV chord too.




> I believe "Take Five" was written by Paul Desmond who played sax with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.


Yup. Sho' nuff. But Barry's list was of songs and performers, not writers. Now, can anyone give an example of a bluegrass song in a time signature other than 4/4 or 3/4 or 2/4? "Take Five" _could_ work, and it would certainly make people perk up. The Allman Brother's "Whipping Post" could do, but it doesn't really count - the riff is in 11/4 but the song is in 3/4. That _would_ be something, though ...  :Mandosmiley:

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## bobby bill

> Now, can anyone give an example of a bluegrass song in a time signature other than 4/4 or 3/4 or 2/4? "Take Five" could work, and it would certainly make people perk up.


I can't think of any bluegrass songs, but if we're talking about conversions, we used to do the themesong to Mission Impossible which is in five.  Not bluegrass by any stretch of the imagination but lots of fun.

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## journeybear

> I can't think of any bluegrass songs, but if were talking about conversions, we used to do the theme song to Mission Impossible which is in five.  Not bluegrass by any stretch of the imagination but lots of fun.


Ooo yeah! Now _there's_ a medley - MI Theme into Take Five. Not "Living In The Past" or "Do What You Like, though - gotta draw the line _somewhere!_  :Grin: 

You used to do that? I'm impressed. Just imagine the MI melody being played by mandolin and fiddle in unison - wow! I'll bet people would go nuts! Especially traditionalists.  :Disbelief: 

Wonder how "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel in 7/4 would convert to bluegrass?  :Confused:  Subject matter is a _bit_ off the beaten track for bluegrass, but still ...  :Whistling:

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## MikeEdgerton

The theme from Mission impossible sounds like a great idea.

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## tkdboyd

I always seem to get scoffed at, but Folsom Prison Blues is an excellent tune to 'Grass Up'-creating that "Boom-Chuck-a" working the bass and mandolin chop..just seems ripe for Bluegrass. I try to work it in my local BG Jam as often as anyone is willing to play it with me!

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## mandozilla

How about the theme from'Gilligans' Isle'? Anybody ever tried to grass that one up just for yuks?

 :Mandosmiley:

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## journeybear

> How about the theme from 'Gilligans' Isle'? Anybody ever tried to grass that one up just for yuks?


Funny you should ask ..

Apart from doing just that at jams for years, I humbly present the following: Sailor's Hornpipe, a cut from Solares Hill String Band - Tunes From The Western Union, the album that I played along with  :Mandosmiley:  at the local Shipwreck Museum for 32 long months. Yes indeed, I actually had a DAY job that included playing mandolin.  :Disbelief:  This is hardly strictly bluegrass - then again, this thread is hardly strictly bluegrass  :Wink:  - but there is a stand-up bass and mandolin, which plays the lead on the third go-round, and if you listen all the way to the end you'll hear what you're looking for. Remember - be careful what you wish for  :Grin: 

Just so you know - I'm not a member of the band, and these guys are a little embarrassed about the way the recording turned out - though I don't think they'd mind all that much.  :Smile:  I've worked with a couple of them, and in fact the bass player is also the one from our annual Cajun/bluegrass/country band.

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## ChrisStewart

Sounds good to me, I bet people would enjoy it.

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## mandozilla

> and if you listen all the way to the end you'll hear what you're looking for.


HaHaHa journeybear that is so cool...I'll bet you guys get a good response from the audience with that one. I never thought of attaching Gilligans Island to Sailors Hornpipe...2 tunes everybody knows! Thanks for that.

 :Mandosmiley:

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## ManjoMan

> fox on the run was introduced into bg by emerson-waldron; they also did proud mary and if i were a carpenter. emerson succeeded adcock in the country gentlemen.


Just for historical clarity...

Bill Emerson was actually the *first* banjo player with the Country Gentlemen. He did not stay long and I don't believe he did any recording with them at that time. He later returned after John Duffey left the Gents.

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## journeybear

> HaHaHa journeybear that is so cool...I'll bet you guys get a good response from the audience with that one. I never thought of attaching Gilligans Island to Sailors Hornpipe...2 tunes everybody knows! Thanks for that.


Oh no no, thenk YEW!!!  :Grin:  But I believe you misunderstood - my job involved playing _along with_ this recording (and other selections from it) as it was played over the PA at the museum, hoping to attract attention among the tourists milling around Mallory Square.  :Mandosmiley:  I had nothing to do with this fine recording, and refuse to take credit for it, nor desire to have such credit foisted upon me. No sea chanteys for me, thankee!  :Disbelief:  (Though I _was_ there long enough with this music swirling around in my brain day after day that I began to write songs of this ilk, and even thought of writing a musical about the wreckers. Maybe it was a good thing I was fired, after all ...  :Wink:  ) My association with a couple of the members of the band came later, or, well, subsequent to the recording of the music.

However, I did sequence the songlist so that it had a good mixture of musical selections, barks, sound effects, and snippets of sailorese utterings, coordinated to coincide with our actual live "theatrical presentations" and timed out to exactly one hour in length so it would repeat ad infinitum (ad nauseum) and maintain this coordination. I described other aspects of this process a bit more fully over at the Weirdest Bluegrass Gig thread, Post #8. Hmmm ... maybe I should append this to my contribution there. The more I think about this, the weirder it sounds ...  :Whistling: 

Nahhh, enuff z'enuff ...

That's Gary Zimmerman, leader of Solares Hill String Band, on the left. Solares Hill is the highest point on the island, about 16 feet above sea level. Bit of a local joke there ...

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## Wesley

Journeybear - I've been a Paul Butterfield fan from WAY back. Esp the Better Days band which included Geoff Muldaur - one of my favorite singers and guitar pickers. I'm not sure if he gets down to Key West - but if he does don't miss him.

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## mandozilla

Hey journeybear my bad...but it still is really cool!  :Grin: 

 :Mandosmiley:

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## journeybear

[QUOTE=mandozilla;655625]Hey journeybear my bad...but it still is really cool! QUOTE]

No worries - just get a little more sleep  :Sleepy:  and ease off on the coffee  :Coffee:  a bit, eh?  :Grin:  

And it _is_ cool - kind of forgot that was the original point, didn't I?  :Redface:  That is, a bluegrassesque version of the "Gilligan's Island" theme ... well, chanteyesque ... what_ever!_  :Whistling:

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## journeybear

> Journeybear - I've been a Paul Butterfield fan from WAY back. Esp the Better Days band which included Geoff Muldaur - one of my favorite singers and guitar pickers. I'm not sure if he gets down to Key West - but if he does don't miss him.


The problem with living here at the end of the world is few nationally-known musicians want to make the effort to come here. Even Jimmy Buffett doesn't bother much any more, despite having a recording studio and an interest in the Margaritaville bar. I've been here going on seven years and so far I've seen John Prine with Iris DeMent on a few songs and Greg Brown opening, and Tom Rush with David Bromberg opening, and Sister Hazel, and missed Leo Kottke, Carrie Newcomer, and David Wilcox. I've made the 3-4 hour trek to the mainland a few times, to see Lucinda Williams twice, once opening for Neil Young, and to see Amy Rigby - who dragged me up on stage for her encore! That's a far cry from what's available in other parts of the country, and the amount of music I was hearing before I came here. Especially original music, of which there is very little here.

I would love it if Geoff Muldaur did come here. I've had the pleasure and honor of playing some gigs with him and the late Fritz Richmond, owing to my years spent playing in a couple of jug bands, and Maria too. We also opened for Rick Danko once, and someone in his band was using an amp with a Paul Butterfield Blues Band stencil. Very cool. I also have met Mark Naftalin, the original keyboard player for PBB, a few times. But Spider John Koerner does play here a couple of times a year, and that is a treat every time - always at The Green Parrot, a very intimate setting.

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## Wesley

We honeymooned in Key West. I'm always ready to go back.

At least there's no shortage of cover bands doing Jimmie Buffett material is there? Apologies if you're a member of one of those groups. But growing up in Florida - just north of St Petersburg - I was pretty worn out on Buffetts stuff when I moved to Texas.

In general I think the blues is a great place to find material that can be converted to bluegrass. It is called BLUEgrass after all. The Mississippi John Hurt songbook alone would keep bluegrass bands busy for a long time. Jimmie Rodgers too for that matter.

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## Scott Austin

We play the whistling music from the Bridge over the River Kwai but I usually start laughing  by the end,no idea why though..

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## MikeEdgerton

> The theme from Mission impossible sounds like a great idea.



Jim Richter does Mission Impossible. It isn't bluegrass but it's good  :Smile:

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## Scott Austin

The theme from the Jetsons is also pretty fun.
{and the crickets chirp]

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## journeybear

> We honeymooned in Key West. I'm always ready to go back.
> 
> At least there's no shortage of cover bands doing Jimmie Buffett material is there? Apologies if you're a member of one of those groups. But growing up in Florida - just north of St Petersburg - I was pretty worn out on Buffetts stuff when I moved to Texas.
> 
> In general I think the blues is a great place to find material that can be converted to bluegrass. It is called BLUEgrass after all. The Mississippi John Hurt songbook alone would keep bluegrass bands busy for a long time. Jimmie Rodgers too for that matter.


Actually, there aren't that many bands here, just a few, and they don't do much Buffett. It's much more common for the bars to hire a single act, usually a guitarist, to entertain tourists. It's less about music than selling drinks, and all they want is to shell out $100 for someone to play familiar songs and keep customers hanging around and drinking. If that's all you want why pay $500 for a band? This generally accepted attitude tends to stifle creativity, but I am all for bucking the trend. Now that the Cajun/bluegras/country band is on a 9-month hiatus, the fiddler and I are working up a duo - he also plays guitar, I also play tenor steel and mandola, so this could work. The bass player is pencilled in, and there's a guitar/bass/singer also interested, so we can turn this into a band pretty easily. It's gonna be different - no Cajun, that was the guitarist's thing, ditto bluegrass, though we'll do some - but it'll be more country and blues, which suits me fine, plus some originals, which have been on the back burner too long. We'll see how things progress.  :Mandosmiley: 

But no Buffett. Not that I don't like his stuff - I do - but it's so _done_. I haven't played any of his songs at a gig for going on three years, and that's just fine. There are other songs to do. And if a tourist wants that as part of his Key West vacation that's fine, there are any number of badly done Buffett songs to be had within walking distance.  :Smile:  I do have a comedy routine - I start by saying that there's a well-known song everyone thinks is a Buffett song but it was actually written by Bob Dylan, then sing "Wasted away again in Maragaritaville/ Searching for my lost shaker of salt," in my worst Dylan imitation - sounds more like Bullwinkle, actually - and that's as far as I have to go, because people just crack up!  :Laughing: 

But to ease back threadward ... you've got a couple of good suggestions there. Heavy blues might not translate well to bluegrass, maybe depending on particular songs, but country blues, like John Hurt, and bluesy country, like Jimmie Rodgers, could be great possibilities for bluegrass treatment indeed. Jimmie Rodgers used a lot of yodelling, too, just a natural choice for bluegrass. Also ragtime pickers, people like Dave Van Ronk, some of their songs could work well too.

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## man dough nollij

> The problem with living here at the end of the world is few nationally-known musicians want to make the effort to come here.


You got nothin' on me, buddy.

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## journeybear

> You got nothin' on me, buddy.


Oh, man!  :Laughing:  True dat! You are much further south, so far south it's gone north!  :Grin: 

On the other hand, if you put together a band, you'll have a corner on the market. You'll be able to name your own price, choose your own material, have the pick of the groupies ... unless your audience is only penquins.  :Whistling: 

You must have satellite TV, though, right? So you can get some music that way. Also interweb, of course.

----------


## journeybear

Here is a version of "Radar Love" by The Ploughmen, which includes member Rick Cadger. More of a skiffle group than bluegrass, but still an interesting take on a classic rock song. The captions alone are very entertaining.

----------


## journeybear

Not sure if this is really bluegrass, but there's a mandolin and a standup bass, and it's a spirited if a little ragged version of a pop song, so without further ado:



There's also this three-song appearance on a local (San Diego) TV show, in which the sound and their performances are much improved.

----------


## 300win

The song "IF" done by the band Bread. First I heard it done Bluegrass was at Camp Springs Festival in '71-'72 by Eddie Adcock's band, I think their name was The Second Generation. Martha {can't remember her last name} was picking with him then, and on mandolin was a skinny kid named Gene, I can't remember his last name either. There are probably some on here that do. I believe at that same time best I can remember that Jimmy Goudroue[ spelling incorrect} and Bill Emerson were part of the Country Gentlemen, along with Charlie Waller and Bill Yates.

----------


## Chris Keth

This is pretty off-topic except in the loosest possible way but I'll post anyway. I played in a metal band a couple of times for parties (wasn't a steady thing) and we played a reggae version of "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden. We'd get going and invariably half the crowd would recognize it and cheer and the other half wouldn't recognize and boo and then we'd jump right in with the big loud metal intro and do the rest of the song the "cool" way.

----------


## Eddie Sheehy

David West and friends have a few "Pickin' On" albums but they seem to be hard to get...  I've heard his "Picking On Hendrix", "Picking on Neil Young", "Picking on Crosby, Stills & Nash" and "Picking On Aerosmith"...

----------


## ManjoMan

> The song "IF" done by the band Bread. First I heard it done Bluegrass was at Camp Springs Festival in '71-'72 by Eddie Adcock's band, I think their name was The Second Generation. Martha {can't remember her last name} was picking with him then, and on mandolin was a skinny kid named Gene, I can't remember his last name either. There are probably some on here that do. I believe at that same time best I can remember that Jimmy Goudroue[ spelling incorrect} and Bill Emerson were part of the Country Gentlemen, along with Charlie Waller and Bill Yates.


The "Gene" is Gene Johnson now of Diamond Rio.

----------


## MikeEdgerton

> ...Eddie Adcock's band, I think their name was The Second Generation. Martha {can't remember her last name} was picking with him then...


Perhaps Martha Adcock before they married.

----------


## timv

> Wonder how "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel in 7/4 would convert to bluegrass?  Subject matter is a _bit_ off the beaten track for bluegrass, but still ...


Any further off track than the Del McCoury Band's version of Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"? (I actually have that CD on right now.)

From what I've heard, Gabriel wrote "Solsbury Hill" after going to a Bruce Springsteen concert and deciding that he didn't want to be member of Genesis anymore. That's about as bluegrass as anything I can think of, considering how band members constantly come and go. How long were Flatt and Scruggs actually Bluegrass Boys anyway?

Also: I pulled out some of the old Linda Ronstadt albums over the weekend--anticipating this coming Sunday at MerleFest--and heard her version of Karla Bonoff's "Lose Again," and it reminded me of how brilliant Alison Krauss and Union Station's revved-up bluegrass version of that song is. Same for their take on Shaun Colvin's (and also Maura O'Connell's) "I Don't Know Why."

----------


## Dennis Ladd

Our bluegrass got this idea from Tim O'Brien when Hot Rize visited Hawaii many decades ago:

"The Letter" by Alex Chilton. It works really well.

----------


## Dennis Ladd

Our bluegrass band got this idea from Tim O'Brien when Hot Rize visited Hawaii many decades ago:

"The Letter" by Alex Chilton. 

Try it, it works really well. There's plenty of space for the instruments to work out.

----------


## journeybear

> Any further off track than the Del McCoury Band's version of Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"?


Wow! My favorite bluegrass band doing one of my favorite songs - how have I missed this?  :Confused: 




> ... Alison Krauss and Union Station's ... take on Shaun Colvin's (and also Maura O'Connell's) "I Don't Know Why."


Another wow! This is a great place to learn about cross-pollinated music! I first heard this song when I was _playing_ it  :Disbelief:  in a jam band. An adjunct member brought this into the repertoire, as a jammimg vehicle à la Cream's "Spoonful." Strange but wonderful. Also I first heard "1952 Vincent" at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, by Greg Brown - no slouch as a songwriter, himself.

Music knows no boundaries, limited only by the imagination.  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## aphillips

> David West and friends have a few "Pickin' On" albums but they seem to be hard to get...  I've heard his "Picking On Hendrix", "Picking on Neil Young", "Picking on Crosby, Stills & Nash" and "Picking On Aerosmith"...


Hey Eddie let me know if you want to find some - David is a friend of mine and recorded my album (not to mention played on).

----------


## ChrisStewart

I like that -1952 Vincent Black Lightning, I need to listen to more Del McCoury

Yeah the Letter could work out also but I can't seem to work out a good bg translation

----------


## journeybear

> ... Yeah the Letter could work out also but I can't seem to work out a good bg translation


Just brainstorming here ...

Without even changing the tempo much, changing to a 2/4 feel and chopping on eighth-note backbeats will do it. That is, with the bass hitting the downbeats 1 3 5 7 and the chops on 2 4 6 8.

Tough to type this out because the singing is so syncopated, and it looks different in the edit box.

----------


## Dan-0

Some of my favorites:
Little Martha- The Allman Brothers
Summer Breeze- Seals & Crofts
Ooh La La- Rod Stewart / Faces
Norwegian Wood- Beatles
Because- Dave Clark Five
One Toke Over the Line- Brewer & Shipley

Those are just a few personal faves that work great for mandolin & guitar.  :Smile:

----------


## ChrisStewart

I don't really know what 2/4 is -a time signature but I don't know what it sounds like. I worked with it a bit more -speeding a song up almost always helps give it a bg feel. It would be interesting to hear it, maybe next time my little band gets together we will give it a go.

----------


## mandozilla

Here's one I've been thinking about working up into bluegrass style vocal, *"Last Train to Clarksville".* Now I know what you're thinking...What! a Monkees song? Well they didn't write it, the lyrics are kinda neat, and it was covered by *Jim & Jesse* back in the 60's as an *instrumental*.  :Grin: 

Oh, and Jim & Jesse did a cover of Johnny B. Goode way back when.

 :Coffee:  :Popcorn:

----------


## GVD

> Here's one I've been thinking about working up into bluegrass style vocal, *"Last Train to Clarksville".* Now I know what you're thinking...What! a Monkees song? Well they didn't write it, the lyrics are kinda neat, and it was covered by *Jim & Jesse* back in the 60's as an *instrumental*.


I think that would make a good grass song too. As I recall Mike Auldridge did an instrumental version and if I once heard Red Allen do a full blown vocal version.

GVD

----------


## mandozilla

> I once heard Red Allen do a full blown vocal version.


That's cool GVD. Do you know if Red recorded that one and if so, what's the name of the album?...I love Red Allen but only have a handful of his records and it ain't on any of them.  :Crying: 

 :Coffee:  :Popcorn:

----------


## ChrisStewart

"Last Train to Clarksville" -Oh yeah that would be a good one.

----------


## mandolirius

Speaking of The Monkees, I've been trying to sell a dobro-playing friend on "Daydream Believer". I just have a feeling it would sound great on that instrument.

----------


## journeybear

> I don't really know what 2/4 is -a time signature but I don't know what it sounds like. I worked with it a bit more -speeding a song up almost always helps give it a bg feel. It would be interesting to hear it, maybe next time my little band gets together we will give it a go.


The song is already in a good tempo for bluegrass, doesn't need to be sped up much if any. More of a change in its "feel."

Am............................F
Give me a ticket for an aeroplane
G..............................D
Ain't got time to take a fast train
Am..........................F
Lonely days are gone, I'm a-goin' home
.....E............................Am
My baby just wrote me a letter

In 4/4, four (quarter note) beats per measure, each letter indicating the start of a measure. Four quarter notes equals eight eighth notes. Standard accompaniment is strum a chord on the downbeats, in eighth notes, 1 3 5 7.

In the following, the bass should play on the chord symbol and /; chops come on the |. Ignore the dots - the software doesn't read spaces as spacers. Locations are approximate - we're talking about a feel here.

Am..|./..|.Am..|../...|...F.|../..|..F.|./.|
Give me a ticket for an aeroplane
G..|../.|..G....|..../...|...D..|../..|.D.|./.|
Ain't got time to take a fast train
Am...|../.....|....Am||/|F..|../..|..F.|./.|
Lonely days are gone, I'm a-goin' home
.....E..|./.|....E.....|../.|..Am.|./.|.Am.|./.|
My baby just wrote me a letter

In 2/4, two (quarter note) beats per measure, each letter indicating the start of a measure. Two quarter notes equals four eighth notes. Bluegrass accompaniment is a chord chop on the backbeats, in eighth notes, 2 4.


Note to self: Next time, just play it and put it on youtube - much easier!  :Grin:   :Mandosmiley:

----------


## allenhopkins

> Perhaps Martha Adcock before they married.


Martha Hearon back then, I believe...

----------


## GVD

> That's cool GVD. Do you know if Red recorded that one and if so, what's the name of the album?...I love Red Allen but only have a handful of his records and it ain't on any of them.


As a matter in fact he did. The album is in the Smithsonian Folkways series and here's a little info on it  http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org...ys/FW31097.pdf

I also see where Amazon has it available as an mp3 download if you only wanted the one song http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...1117051&sr=8-1

GVD

----------


## mandozilla

Thanks GVD, I'm on it!  :Grin: 

 :Coffee:  :Popcorn:

----------


## ChrisStewart

Here is my hack of the letter. With a bit more practice it is coming along I noticed my chord selection is a bit different. I think it will be a fun song.

----------


## journeybear

> Here is my hack of the letter. With a bit more practice it is coming along I noticed my chord selection is a bit different. I think it will be a fun song.


Hey Chris

That's it! You pretty much nailed it - concept _and_ execution. I think you got the chords right too. You can show this to all the doubters.  :Grin: 

Good going!  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## ChrisStewart

Thanks, It's fun to work up new versions, everyone has come up with lots of good ideas.

Here is Don't Pass Me By (sorry -same old tired tired strum pattern I give everything)
I can give it a chop if I have accompaniment but on my own I need a fuller rhythm 

The last verse is a little silly- maybe it could be changed

----------


## ChrisStewart

Here is Redwood Hill -Gordon Lightfoot and covered by the Country Gentlemen

----------


## Tim Heenan

Hey all.......

I've just seen a face      Beatles
Norwegian Wood            Beatles
Jessica                        Allman Bros
Rambling Man                Allman Bros
Act Naturaly                 Beatles...

Tim :Mandosmiley:

----------


## roanokejake

The New Deal String Band out of Raleigh/Durham used to do a great BG version of "Love Potion #9".
I've had good luck with "Something Tells Me I'm into Something Good."
I'm surprised no one had mentioned Run C&W. Russell Smith (also of The AmazingRhythm Aces) is terrific.

----------


## mandozilla

I heard a band do a cr*ppy rendition of "Smokey and the Bandit" during a jam at a festival last week. I think it was lame...it was late at night and I guess they ran out of bluegrass numbers  :Mad:  ...after all, there's only hundreds and hundreds, and maybe thousands of bluegrass numbers to choose from including good versions of 'Other Songs Converted to Bluegrass'. HaHaHa  :Grin: 

BTW, welcome to the Cafe Jake! 

 :Coffee:  :Popcorn:

----------


## Bob Asher

Our group does"i've just seen a face."

suggestions:
It's all over now (stones)
should have known better (beatles)
eleanor rigby

a good recent example: Dailey  & vincent's "i kissed the bride years ago." that was written by don & harold reid and recorded by the statler bros about 1980.

I might add this: Those old statler albums are a good source of great songs that could be converted. Other than the songs that were pushed by radio as a hit, avery album had about 11 other great songs...most written by don & harold.

Bob asher

----------


## journeybear

Speaking of The Statler Brothers, there's always "Flowers On The Wall." Which somehow reminds me of a couple of George Jones songs from about the same time, "The Race Is On" and "White Lightning."

Also, I can't believe this thread is this long and old (over 100 posts in five weeks) and no one has mentioned "Glendale Train" by NRPS!  :Disbelief:  Maybe because everyone is so used to it that they've forgotten where it came from - some dang hippie country rock band from the 70s - and that John Dawson wrote it, not A. Nonymous or Trad Itional, who get _way_ too much credit ...  :Whistling:

----------


## bobb

Since I didn't see this posted already:

Marty Stuart at the Ryman

----------


## Jim Broyles

> Since I didn't see this posted already:
> 
> Marty Stuart at the Ryman


That was great, and the ending was perfect.

----------


## journeybear

> Here's one I've been thinking about working up into bluegrass style vocal, *"Last Train to Clarksville".* Now I know what you're thinking...What! a Monkees song? Well they didn't write it, the lyrics are kinda neat, and it was covered by *Jim & Jesse* back in the 60's as an *instrumental*.





> I think that would make a good grass song too. As I recall Mike Auldridge did an instrumental version and if I once heard Red Allen do a full blown vocal version.





> "Last Train to Clarksville" -Oh yeah that would be a good one.


Speaking of which:

----------


## GVD

Everybody knows Jimmy Martin was the *King* but what if _The Artist Formerly known as Prince_ played bluegrass? Wonder no more!

----------


## Chris Rogers

Came out of a movie the other day humming the closing song and thinkning about it in a BG context: Norman Greenbaum's "Spitit in the Sky". Why, it's practically gospel!

----------


## Ivan Kelsall

I went to a Bluegrass festival this weekend & heard a group of pickers do a great version of Buddy
Holly's song *"Raining in my Heart".* They had to up the tempo a bit but it worked really well,
       Ivan

----------


## Chad Thorne

First off, let me say that I have no problem with "converting songs to bluegrass." I love Del McCoury's versions of "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" and "Nashville Cats."

I just want to digress for a moment to ask  - do you think that playing these songs on acoustic guitar, mando, etc. make them "bluegrass?" Would an authority on the music, say, Bill Monroe, call them bluegrass; or is that faint whirring sound I hear Big Mon spinning in his grave? Again, more an academic query or "coffee talk" than an objection.

My newly-formed acoustic band are preparing to "bluegrassize" The Hollies' tune "Stop Stop Stop..."  :Grin:

----------


## mandozilla

> do you think that playing these songs on acoustic guitar, mando, etc. make them "bluegrass?"


Sure, why not? To me, bluegrass is more than just the lyrics of the song and the songs' source. BG has drawn songs from the Blues, Jazz, Black Spirituals, British Isles balladry, Southern Gospel, Tin Pan Alley, Old Time Country music, and so forth.  :Disbelief:  

As long as the song has a melody it can be bluegrass music. Feeling, drive, timing, and tempo can convert almost any song into a bluegrass song. Granted, some lend themselves to BG music better than others.  :Wink: 

Conversely, BG songs can be played in other genres as well, Blue Moon of Kentucky (Elvis/McCartney) and Walk Softly on this Heart of Mine (Kentucky Headhunters) are a couple off the top of my head.  :Grin: 

 :Coffee:  :Popcorn:

----------


## JeffW

I haven't read to the end of the thread yet, so someone may have mentioned this...

but i always get a kick out of Grisman's version of 'Hot For Teacher'.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/david-gri...cher--31972055

*EDIT*  Although I guess the version wouldn't qualify as bluegrass  :-)

----------


## 300win

I begin yesterday of working up "Freebird" by Lynryd Skynyrd. I believe it's going to sound pretty good. Sure is fun to play anyway.

----------


## Amandalyn

Beatle songs are great- the Butch tribute album has a version of 'Two of Us' by John Reischman & the Jaybirds.

----------


## journeybear

> I begin yesterday of working up "Freebird" by Lynryd Skynyrd. I believe it's going to sound pretty good. Sure is fun to play anyway.


How about that? I used to do the same thing in one of my country duos, as a humorous response to endless not-so-humorous requests for it (or any Skynyrd - it was a classic country duo, after all) from tourists at the bar we were playing. I'd just go through the first verse, up to "and this bird you'll never change," maybe throw in the riff, and end with the punch line - "Well, at least that gets it over with a lot quicker!"  :Laughing: 

Feel free to use that.  :Wink:

----------


## 300win

> How about that? I used to do the same thing in one of my country duos, as a humorous response to endless not-so-humorous requests for it (or any Skynyrd - it was a classic country duo, after all) from tourists at the bar we were playing. I'd just go through the first verse, up to "and this bird you'll never change," maybe throw in the riff, and end with the punch line - "Well, at least that gets it over with a lot quicker!" 
> 
> Feel free to use that.


I got it down pretty good on my recorder, but the end I don't like what I did, so I;m going to record it again. First off did it in the same key they did, G major. I just basically done a intro with mandolin like Skynyrd, sang the first verse, did a break with mandolin, sang the last one, then I'm punching it up to fast 4/4 timing and doing some picking solos with mandolin, and banjo, with a little guitar in between doing some of the licks on it they did. My first recording I didn't kick it fast enough at the last part, other than that, it sounds pretty decent. That "G"-"Bb"-"C" progresssion is fun to play, it's much like what Boone Creek did on "One Way Track". I know a band that could have nailed this tune, the original Newgrass Revival could have blown us all away with this one.

----------


## Tracy Ballinger

> Everybody knows Jimmy Martin was the *King* but what if _The Artist Formerly known as Prince_ played bluegrass? Wonder no more!



I saw Monroe Crossing on Saturday, and they did several songs bluegrass style; including "Wild Thing" (The Troggs) and "At Last" (Etta James).  There were a couple others, but those stuck in my head!

----------


## journeybear

> I got it down pretty good on my recorder, but the end I don't like what I did, so I'm going to record it again ...


Wow! Sounds like you are pretty serious about this. As I said, I used to do this bluegrass style just for comic relief, but it definitely could work at that tempo, and you seem to have a good approach to it.

Back in the day (twenty years ago) I was playing in a band here called the Southernmost Blues Band, and we were known as (among other things) the band that actually _would_ do "Free Bird." Though we definitely did it differently, because of our instrumentation (electric guitar, amplified acoustic guitar, EM-150 electric mandolin), we also did it faithfully, including triple leads in the G-Bb-C section.   :Mandosmiley:   :Mandosmiley:   :Mandosmiley:  My favorite part, though, was doubling the intro riff with the electric guitarist. Fun stuff.  :Wink:

----------


## 300win

> Wow! Sounds like you are pretty serious about this. As I said, I used to do this bluegrass style just for comic relief, but it definitely could work at that tempo, and you seem to have a good approach to it.
> 
> Back in the day (twenty years ago) I was playing in a band here called the Southernmost Blues Band, and we were known as (among other things) the band that actually _would_ do "Free Bird." Though we definitely did it differently, because of our instrumentation (electric guitar, amplified acoustic guitar, EM-150 electric mandolin), we also did it faithfully, including triple leads in the G-Bb-C section.     My favorite part, though, was doubling the intro riff with the electric guitarist. Fun stuff.


Always serious about working on new stuff, no matter if it's what I wrote or someone else. You know yourself man, get it down as good as you can, then it's time to start having fun with it when you're playing it. Sad thing about this is most of my picking friends who are really accomplished musicians would just laugh at me if I mentioned doing this. Oh what I'd give for a bunch of players that would form a band with me that had large open minds about music material.

----------


## journeybear

> ... Oh what I'd give for a bunch of players that would form a band with me that had large open minds about music material.


I hear you loud and clear. I've been working on this rock mandolin thing for most of my life though it's real hard to get anyone to give it a chance. Ain't gonna give it up, though, because it's what I do, and it makes perfect sense to _me._  :Mandosmiley:  

But sometime it gets pretty darn frustrating, like I'm just beating my head against a wall that just ain't gonna budge, no matter how I try. As Homesick John O'Leary said, "Beat your head against the wall / Pretty soon, son, you won't feel nothing at all."  :Crying:

----------


## Dan Johnson

I'm not always sure our band is really a bluegrass band... But we do

Last Train to Clarksville (Monkees)
Yer So Bad (Petty)
It's All Right (Traveling Wilburys)
After Midnight (Clapton)
Friend of the Devil (Dead)
Brown-Eyed Women (Dead)
The Weight (The Band)

etc... I think, since so many bands are using acoustic instruments now anyways, what really separates the bluegrass bands is the drive and the harmonies... we don't always have either one...

----------


## ChrisStewart

I don't really care what Bill would think, there is a lot of precedence for adapting popular songs to bluegrass. I think anything that makes it more relevant to modern society is better in general. Not that there where not some nice tunes written about the civil war that deserve to be remembered but we also need to move on.

Hey that Purple Rain is not to bad.  :Smile:

----------


## onassis

Ive had this idea swimming around in my head lately........"In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", with bluegrass instrumentation. I'm envisioning a straight recreation of the studio version, but with a different instrument taking over each part, i.e. acoustic guitar=Duane Allman, mandolin=Dickie Betts, Banjo=Gregg Allman, bass=rhythm section. Had fun imagining this while listening to the original the other day.

----------


## journeybear

> ... It's All Right (Traveling Wilburys) ...


Tangential, I know, but my old jug band used to do this.  :Disbelief:  Don't know why, not really a good fit, but I didn't mind because I like the song, and when the guitarist who sang it left the band we scrapped it. I think it's actually called "End Of The Line?" Been a while ...  :Confused:

----------


## 300win

Just found another and got it down this morning. It is "Chevy Van " by  Sammy Johns, recorded back in the '70's. One of my praise bandmates told me about it at practise. So I cam home gave it a listen, printed the lyrics, and worked it up. Not too bad a Bluegrass song, anyway it's fun to play. Lyrics kind of remind me of my younger days, although I didn't have a Chevy van, did have a '69 SS 396 Chevelle that the ladies seemed to like, and man it would run like a scalded dog.

----------


## KenR

My band, Backeddy Bluegrass, does a fair amount of non-bluegrass material in "bluegrass style.  If you go to http://www.myspace.com/backeddybluegrass, you'll find several from our cds including Stephen Still,s 4+20.

----------


## Dan Johnson

> I think it's actually called "End Of The Line?" Been a while ...


yep... thanks!

----------


## Martian

WE do guite regularly Midnight rider,I've just seen a face, (always was a BG song ,and a friend of mine and me have been doing Little red riding hood,(double fast) and for fun we do the flintstones theme re-named the bedrock breakdown

----------


## Dennis Ladd

> I just want to digress for a moment to ask  - do you think that playing these songs on acoustic guitar, mando, etc. make them "bluegrass?" Would an authority on the music, say, Bill Monroe, call them bluegrass; or is that faint whirring sound I hear Big Mon spinning in his grave?


Remember, Uncle Bill did the pop pseudo rural song, "Y'all Come." prob'ly some others, too. (I do like that song.)

Dennis

----------


## Keith Wallen

Here is Stevie Wonder's Superstitious. This was like the second time we played the song all the way through so we definitely didn't have it all worked out. Especially the ending... I hope to get a better recording to put up and share. Our fiddle player is out right now recovering from by-pass surgery and I can't wait to hear him on it. He will be playing the horn section along with the dobro from the original 1971 version which is what we modelled this after.

----------


## Ransome

OK since no one posted Hayseed Dixie, I thought I'd add my wooden nickels worth...

Walk this way


Ace of spades


Breaking the law


There are plenty more on YouTube...

Ran$ome

----------


## Matt DeBlass

I saw these guys at a pub in Trenton years ago. Wheetstone Bridge.
They do Beatles, Pink Floyd and a really cool version of "Purple Haze," among other things. 

The camera work is a little goofy, somebody was apparently playing with his new videocam.

----------


## Dan Hoover

heres one...very cool...there's others in the bunch...just follow the yellow brick road...

----------


## mandroid

Heard a BG version of 'Yackety Sax', that any one who has watched Benny Hill  hears frequently with those clips .
was the last song on KPFA 'Across the Great Divide' show 11-13:00 on sunday [archived for a fortnight]

----------


## Mandobart

Many years ago I was quite a metal fan.  My teenage son now is one.  He found this interesting bluegrassification.  You can find lots more by this band, Ironhorse, on youtube

----------


## JeffD

Took me by surprize.

----------


## Darren Bailey

Hey Dan. I just loved that Bluegrass floyd, really hit the mark, thanks for posting.

----------


## Darren Bailey

Hey Dan, back again, what is the name of the band covering the Floyd? Do you know if they have a Cd available? I'm really taken with their sound.

----------


## goldfox

we do this and its really nice song..

----------


## ChrisStewart

Here is one I just learned -Always On My Mind

----------


## CTH Man

We have worked out versions of the following...we tend to do them for fun... never include them in a set....
"I wanna hold your hand "
"Slip Slidin' Away"
"Hooked on a Feelin"
"Words"
"Groovy kind of Love"
"Nowhere Man"
"Seven Bridges Road"
"You A'int goin' nowhere"

We do perform "Red rubber ball" and I've just seen a face"and used to do "House of the Rising Sun"....years  n years ago. :Grin: 

Kevin

----------


## Eric Hanson

Kevin
 Do you have I've just seen a Face recorded. I am interested in learning it. A video would be helpful in my endeavor.

----------


## Dan Hoover

> Hey Dan, back again, what is the name of the band covering the Floyd? Do you know if they have a Cd available? I'm really taken with their sound.


 band is called "Poor Mans Whiskey" Album "Darkside of the Moonshine"..i haven't heard the whole cd yet,they played it over this summer on NPR,i caught the last half...you can download it from amazon...i should do that myself...very cool stuff...

----------


## Eric Hanson

Hey Dan Hoover,
 That is so wrong, but oh so right on SOOOOO many levels.  :Disbelief: 
 Pretty cool stuff. :Mandosmiley:

----------


## Mike Bunting

> Kevin
>  Do you have I've just seen a Face recorded. I am interested in learning it. A video would be helpful in my endeavor.


Charles River Valley Boys, "Beatle Country"

----------


## Bernie Daniel

I might have missed it as it is a long thread -- but did anyone include one of the greatest conversions of rock to bluegrass ever (IMO)  -- that is Dave Harvey's "Moody Bluegrass"  tribute alblum?

http://www.moodybluegrass.com/

I like every song on it especially "Your Wildest Dreams".

----------


## AlanN

> "Hooked on a Feelin"
> 
> "Red rubber ball" 
> 
> "House of the Rising Sun"


1) Done up by The Virginia Squires - The Simpkins boys, Mark Newton, Sam Shelor

2) Done up by Spectrum - Bela Fleck, Jimmy Gaudreau, Glenn Lawson.

3) Done up by CG, Randy Waller still performs this like his Daddy used to do.

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## ChrisStewart

Here is my version of -I've Just Seen A Face

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## Darren Bailey

Thanks dan, I've just ordered a copy, found it on a small seller's site, cost an arm and a leg so I hope the rest of the tunes are as good as that one. It's a double cd too.

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## Norm Buck

I'm a new mandolin player, coming from a Canadian perspective... the first BG album I ever loved was J.D. Crowe & the New South... the one with "Old Home Place" on it. There were a couple of Gord Lightfoot songs on it... "10 Degrees & Gettin' Colder" was one. I'm using an unfamiliar laptop so I can't research on the fly, but there was one other. Viewing You-tube, I get the impression that it was Tony Rice who liked those Gordy songs. He's done more than a few Lightfoot covers...  anyway, here's a few more Canadian artists & songs that I think are worthy of being covered... (whether or not they are BG is irrelevant... I think they are mando-worthy)

Valdy/Diamond Joe White: Let Go of Me
Murray McLaughlin: On the Boulevard, Honky Red, Farmer's Song, 
                           Sweeping the Spotlight Away, Down by the Old
                           Henry Moore.
Fred Eaglesmith: Sweaburg General Store, I Like Trains, He's A Good Dog,
                       30 Years of Farming (written by an American, again, I 
                       can't do research on the fly right now)
Sarah Harmer: A lot of songs from the "I'm A Mountain"  and some from 
                    earlier releases.

I know I'm missing a lot here, perhaps some of my countrymen can fill in some gaps?

Norm

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## Darryl Wolfe

Back in my Knoxville Grass days I spent hours going through older pop and country records playing 33's on 45 and 78 and such.  That is how we came up with numerous songs that had not been done before.  Darby's Castle-KK, Long Gone-Neil Diamond, Can't Stop Now-Reba(yes) and many others

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