# Music by Genre > Bluegrass, Newgrass, Country, Gospel Variants >  Not "Wagon Wheel" again - are there other popular band songs?

## Cryo

Is Wagon Wheel one of the most common songs played or what?

Here is our Jam group doing our version of this classic - written by Bob Dylan.

http://youtu.be/y9LtZ-yF__g

Even though this is overplayed, the crowd just loved it.  We had 50 or so folks behind where we placed the camera dancing and swaying.

Hope you like it.  Are there other common songs covered by country/BG bands that appeal to the masses?

This will help us with thinking about evolving our jam group set list.  Keep it easy to play please - chords for newbies are a plus!

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## Phil Goodson

'Friend of the Devil' usually goes over pretty well, and is not quite so beaten to death. :Wink:

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## MikeEdgerton

> written by Bob Dylan.


Kind of. I actually recently read an article where Dylan gave credit for his part to somebody else. I think Ketch Secor should get most of the credit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_Wheel_%28song%29

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Perry Babasin

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## Jon Hall

Speaking of Bob Dylan songs, there are 4 more of his songs, that our band plays, that get good audience response: "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", "Buckets of Rain" and "One More Cup of Coffee".

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## JeffD

Wagon Wheel and Old Home Place. They seem to dominate.

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## Mike Bunting

> I think Ketch Secor should get most of the credit


Or blame.

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FLATROCK HILL, 

Jeroen, 

Michael Weaver, 

mrmando, 

Tom Smart, 

Walter Peterson

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## allenhopkins

Chestnuts:

_Rocky Top
Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Country Roads
Take It Easy_

I'd include _Foggy Mountain Breakdown,_ but you'd need a banjo.  Or _Orange Blossom Special_ if you had a fiddle.

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## journeybear

> \I think Ketch Secor should get most of the credit.


That's my understading, too, though I believe they have a shared credit. Apparently Dylan is just fine with the arrangement, and is surely enjoying the income the song has generated. I've also heard there is a co-write coming on the next album by OCMS. The bass player in my band goes way back with Kevin Hayes, so I think his info is good.




> Or blame.


Yah. I like the song, even though I have heard it hashed around so much here. My previous band did a really nice version of it, if I say so myself. After all, the bass player (also in that band) knew it inside and out, and I figured out some good licks and an interesting arrangement. But yeah, it's a little "done." Always gets a good response, though, which is what the OP is looking for.

Some other songs more or less in the same vein:

You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
Up On Cripple Creek
The Weight

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## Michael Bridges

I know a lot of people are resistant to playing "Man of Constant Sorrow", but people know it and love it. "Hey! That's that song George Clooney sang in that movie!"

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## Cryo

http://youtu.be/W3uBoOyoqo8

Same jam group doing Take It Easy.  We will pass around the other suggestions.  The nice thing is that the group is amenable to trying different things.  Keep trying to find songs that have the right chemistry.  Any other suggestions are much appreciated.  We have been going through the songs in the Coen Bros. movies with some success.

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## Bigtuna

I would be happy to take the blame and all the paychecks as well! However, I agree it's over played.

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## mandocrucian

(You folks do realize that _"Achy Breaky"_ is just a ripoff of _"Tulsa Time"_?

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## mandocrucian

(Requires a lot more vocal harmony chops than Old Crow has.) So you may want to consider the jazz sax version ala Sonny Rollins....

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Mike Bunting

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## Drew Egerton

I did not come to this forum this morning and expect to see Achy Breaky Heart. Lol.

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## Michael Weaver

> I did not come to this forum this morning and expect to see Achy Breaky Heart. Lol.


I couldn't bring myself to click on it. It's like intentionally putting your finger in a mouse trap.

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Denman John

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## montana

Who's worst Billy or Miley?

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## wsugai

Just curious - how does a song get on the overplayed list? There are a whole bunch of Bill Monroe songs that are probably overplayed as well but they never make the list (I think).




> I would be happy to take the blame and all the paychecks as well! However, I agree it's over played.

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## Denman John

Was at a jam last night and Wagon Wheel is one of the songs we were working on.  Overplayed, but a fun song to play none the less.  People seemed to like it.

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## journeybear

> I know a lot of people are resistant to playing "Man of Constant Sorrow", but people know it and love it. "Hey! That's that song George Clooney sang in that movie!"


When I was playing in a duo, mostly classic country, we got a lot of requests for this when the movie was out and for ever after. The request was most often phrased, "Hey, play 'O Brother.'" Every now and then I would respond, "The whole movie?" Blank stare. Same thing with "Duelling Banjos." "Hey, can you play 'Deliverance?'" Again, "The whole movie?" Blank stare. People!  :Laughing: 




> I did not come to this forum this morning and expect to see Achy Breaky Heart. Lol.


No one does. Or should!  :Mad:  BTW, I don't see it as having anything to do with "Tulsa Time," other than the similar chord pattern. It stands on its own as a terrifying achievement in undeserved popularity and one of the worst songs of all time, in fact, nearly THE worst, edged out by "We Built This City" by Starship.

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KevinM

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## Dan Hulse

I respectfully submit "Ball and Chain", by Social Distortion.

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## Nick Pooch

"This must be the place (Naive melody)"by the talking heads covered by cornmeal the jam grass band of chicago always made the crowd go nuts!

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## jesserules

Wagon Wheel = Rocky Top 2.0

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## Tobin

I would really like to hear bluegrass jam versions of Knockin' On Heaven's Door.  We could make that the next overplayed song sensation.

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## Alex Orr

A new guy at our jam last night asked if it was a "Wagon Wheel" friendly jam and was promptly told by the bass player and guitarist who have anchored the jam for at least a decade that it was not and that we don't play that song here.  I actually thought it was pretty amusing to see it be turned down.  That said, it's a fun tune that doesn't get called often around here, and since I never listen to country radio, I have yet to have it become overplayed in my life.

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## allenhopkins

Jams where certain songs are banned seem odd to me; if someone had suggested _Foggy Mountain Breakdown_ or _Rocky Top,_ would the answer have been the same?  I resurrected _Fox On the Run_ at a join-in open mic a few months ago.  "Back in the day" that was played over and over again, perhaps not so much now.

Ya know, one of the reasons songs get overplayed is that they're *good songs.*  We had a "Dylan night" at our folk club tonight (Bob turned 73 this week, can you believe it?), and I led _Blowing In the Wind._  Someone said to me, "Well, I guess we can sing that song now, since everyone's not singing it any more."  So I guess, if everyone _else_ is singing a song, we "cool people" can't?

No bluegrass content, but I went to a Tom Paxton concert a year or two ago, and he sang _Last Thing On My Mind_ -- a song he wrote 50 years ago, that's been covered by many, and sung at a zillion hootenannies and sing-arounds, open mics and campfires.  He said, "People ask me if I get tired of singing that song.  I say to them 'Would you?'"

So, I try not to be snobbish.  If someone wants to do _Will the Circle Be Unbroken_ or _Mountain Dew,_ well, what's the harm?  Doing seniors' programs as much as I do, I must sing _You Are My Sunshine_ 150 times a year.  Still a good song, and people know it and join in.  That's not necessarily a *bad* thing, is it?

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2Sharp, 

farmerjones, 

John Lloyd, 

journeybear, 

KevinM, 

Michael Bridges, 

Misty Stanley-Jones, 

Perry Babasin, 

Philippe Bony, 

robert.najlis

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## journeybear

> Ya know, one of the reasons songs get overplayed is that they're *good songs.*


True enough. Of course, this isn't always the case - the confounding popularity of "Achy Breaky Heart," for instance - but yes, many songs that enter the public consciousness and linger forever after do so because something about them resonates with a great many people, well beyond their original time period.

I wonder how much this part of the discussion is any help to the OP.  :Whistling:  I hasten to point out that _every song_ 
Allen mentioned in this post is a possible candidate for inclusion in the OP's repertoire. I'm not sure if this was his intent, oblique or not, but there ya go all the same.  :Wink: 

BTW, heckuva good post to be your #11,111.  :Cool:  FWiW, natch ...

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allenhopkins

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## Shelagh Moore

> A new guy at our jam last night asked if it was a "Wagon Wheel" friendly jam and was promptly told by the bass player and guitarist who have anchored the jam for at least a decade that it was not and that we don't play that song here.


Hmmm... the music police again. Over here it's still popular and IMHO it's not a bad song.

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roscoepwavetrain, 

Tony Pearce

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## BradKlein

_Wagon Wheel_ really is a fascinating case. I LOVED that song when the first Old Crow CD came out and I would teach it to friends who, universally, had never heard it live, on radio, or covered. But it did sour for me really fast, and by the time folks started requesting it, I no longer had any desire to play it. I've thought hard about it, but I'm still not sure how this happens.

In part, I think, because it gets called out at bluegrass jams, and it's not a bluegrass song. Whereas even a chestnut like Old Home Place, or Rocky Top still fits in to a BG jam. And maybe another part of the problem is that the verses are personal and idiosyncratic in a way that's more typical of a pop song than a 'folk' song.

Anyway, I still think about from time to time and wonder at how unpredictable matters of musical taste and appetites tend to be.

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journeybear

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## mandocrucian

This one should be revived and put back into circulation:

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## AlanN

or maybe this:

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## AlanN

But, getting back on track:

I was in a band that got hired to play a sorority thing at NCSU. What did the co-eds call out? Little Cabin Home On The Hill? Gonna Settle Down? Down The Road?

Nope - no how, no way. They called out Wagon Wheel.

That job paid pretty darn good...

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## Drew Egerton

The band I was in while in college at WCU had Wagon Wheel as a staple and our "fans" (friends) coud not get enough. As a disclaimer thoug, that was around 2006-2007 which is before it 'exploded' too much I think....and we were in college....playing for college kids.

We made it pretty bluegrass-y. Our bass player who was a very rockabilly-type (and very good) would spin his bass around several times during one of the 'stop' points in the middle and then come back in with a sweet walk before we all joined back in. Pretty good if I say so myself. We even got to play it for Mountain Heritage Day on campus after a band called Whitewater Bluegrass Company, which sported the then-unknown Buddy Melton, now of Balsam Range fame. Claims to fame....lol.

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## sgrexa

The Weight by the Band is always a crowd favorite, easy to play and sounds great with acoustic instruments. 

Sean

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## Richard J

Hey Jon, do you have tabs for "Buckets of Rain" that you would share?

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## sachmo63

Does anybody remember "Freebird" this still haunts me.

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## journeybear

The band I was in here back in '88 was known as the band that actually DID "Free Bird." Not as an encore or only-if-you-ask deal - it was in our set list.  :Disbelief:  The end part, with triple lead played on electric guitar, amplified acoustic guitar, and electric mandolin - unique. I was playing an EM-150 then, with single strings (too much trouble tuning the pairs).

When I was playing in a classic country duo a dozen years ago here, we would get the odd "Free Bird!" The guitarist was fond of saying "Here's your free bird," coupled with an example of non-verbal communication. Being a rather nicer fellow than he, I took some time to devise a more pleasant response. I finally hit on two methods: a bluegrass version and a reggae version. The reggae version was pretty silly all right, but the bluegrass version was nice. And it got it over with real quick. :Wink:  Actually, I hardly ever got to, let alone past, the first refrain. That was enough to make everyone laugh and sometimes even get the fool who had "requested" it blush from embarrassment, having been shown the folly of his ways.

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## Ray Neuman

Music touches souls in ways words alone can not. Having spent the majority of my life interacting with Sr citizens, and seeing music "bring back" more then a hand full, I delight in ANY song that has that sort of power. Not many Christmases ago, we were singing "Oh Christmas tree" and a voice sprang up that had been silent for 10 years! Over played or not, "You are my sunshine", or any tune with that kind of power is a friend of mine! Some day, we all will perk up when a group of youngsters come in and play "Wagon Wheel"!  :Smile:

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citeog, 

farmerjones, 

John Lloyd, 

journeybear, 

Tony Pearce

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## Tom Smart

> Some day, we all will perk up when a group of youngsters come in and play "Wagon Wheel"!


That will be the day I beg my caregivers to pull the plug.

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Mark Marino

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## jaycat

About 20 years ago I bought the brand new John Cale release "Fragments of a Rainy Season" It contained a song that totally blew me away, called "Hallelujah." I checked the liner notes and saw that it was a Leonard Cohen composition.

I could be wrong, but I think that was the first time it was covered (I know someone will correct me!) At least it was the first time I'd ever heard it. Since then, according to Wikipedia, it's been covered at least 300 times. 

Talk about done to death! I don't care if I never hear it again, even though it's probably one of the best popular songs ever written. So, yes, there is such a thing as death by (over)exposure.

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## Jon Hall

I don't have the melody tabbed out. The chords are the basic I, IV. V and V7. 



> Hey Jon, do you have tabs for "Buckets of Rain" that you would share?

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## Jon Hall

In defense of "Wagon Wheel", because the lyrical phrasing isn't easy to sing and the accented up beat of the rhythm guitar is beyond most beginning guitarists, this oft heard song is still interesting.

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## Dan Cole

I had never heard this song until I read this thread.

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## AlanN

I was at a Saturday A.M. jam and somebody opened up a book, put it on the music stand and started to warble On Top Of Old Smokey. I hurredly beat it on down the line...sheesh.

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## sgarrity

A book on a music stand is almost never a good sign!

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## journeybear

> About 20 years ago I bought the brand new John Cale release "Fragments of a Rainy Season" It contained a song that totally blew me away, called "Hallelujah." I checked the liner notes and saw that it was a Leonard Cohen composition.


The first time I heard this song was in an episode of "The West Wing." As I recall, it was playing during the funeral procession for the president's secretary, as it wound through the streets of the capital, to the cemetery, and her body was laid to rest. I sat in stunned silence during and after this sequence. I have rarely been so moved by anything I've seen on TV. I was suitably impressed to learn later who had written the song and who had performed this version (Jeff Buckley). I'm not sure if it is one of the greatest songs of all time - though  it really might be - but that first verse is really well written, a nearly perfect combination of music and words, of self-referential and universal themes. Really well thought-out. And it just goes on from there, with its far-ranging subject matter and captivating rhyme scheme. OK, maybe it IS one of the all-time greats.

I'm not sure if its having been covered over 300 times qualifies it as being overdone. If it showed up in countless jams and campfire circles, that would be a different story. But I don't think I've ever heard anyone pull it out in those or similar contexts. It's a warhorse, rather demanding for a singer, so I would think it unlikely to come up in such a casual situation. And personally, I haven't gotten anywhere near hearing it enough, let alone too much.

BTW, the record for cover versions is "Yesterday," by The Beatles (Paul McCartney, really). Last I checked it was over 2200. But that was the day before yesterday ...  :Wink:

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## jaycat

> . . .  It's a warhorse, rather demanding for a singer, so I would think it unlikely to come up in such a casual situation. . . .


If Leonard Cohen could sing it, anyone can sing it.

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## tkdboyd

Having very little contact with POP Culture of any sorts (barring what I get from the Cafe) I was rather shocked to hear a voice from an old Carolina College band singing "Wagon Wheel". Never back in the early '90s would I have thought Darius Rucker would have gone from playing in places like the Lighthouse Tavern, The Blind Tiger, etc...to top 40 country. That is fine with me, but came as a bit of a shock!

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## journeybear

> If Leonard Cohen could sing it, anyone can sing it.


Well, he wrote it, so he gets to sing it.  :Wink:  I could sing it, but I won't, out of kindness to all within earshot. 

BTW, the movie of his Isle Of Wight show, from 1970, I think, was a revelation about his singing ability. Or perhaps a better way to put it would be his ability to put over a song. After many delays and a riot or two, he and his band went on in the dead of night and put on a very good show. I recall he sang very few notes on pitch but was utterly compelling anyway. Not sure how he did this, but if I ever figure it out and use it for my own singing, look out! I could be the next Leonard Cohen. There is such a demand for this ...  :Whistling:

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## Mike Bunting

My two favorite versions. Both genius.

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## Cryo

> Jams where certain songs are banned seem odd to me; if someone had suggested _Foggy Mountain Breakdown_ or _Rocky Top,_ would the answer have been the same?  I resurrected _Fox On the Run_ at a join-in open mic a few months ago.  "Back in the day" that was played over and over again, perhaps not so much now.
> 
> Ya know, one of the reasons songs get overplayed is that they're *good songs.*  We had a "Dylan night" at our folk club tonight (Bob turned 73 this week, can you believe it?), and I led _Blowing In the Wind._  Someone said to me, "Well, I guess we can sing that song now, since everyone's not singing it any more."  So I guess, if everyone _else_ is singing a song, we "cool people" can't?
> 
> No bluegrass content, but I went to a Tom Paxton concert a year or two ago, and he sang _Last Thing On My Mind_ -- a song he wrote 50 years ago, that's been covered by many, and sung at a zillion hootenannies and sing-arounds, open mics and campfires.  He said, "People ask me if I get tired of singing that song.  I say to them 'Would you?'"
> 
> So, I try not to be snobbish.  If someone wants to do _Will the Circle Be Unbroken_ or _Mountain Dew,_ well, what's the harm?  Doing seniors' programs as much as I do, I must sing _You Are My Sunshine_ 150 times a year.  Still a good song, and people know it and join in.  That's not necessarily a *bad* thing, is it?



Well said.  These songs are played because they are popular.  We should aim to please our audience as much as possible.  Here is a song that was not played very often, but now we are getting requests for it (since the Coen Brothers movie "Inside Llewyn Davis"):

http://youtu.be/gBjwIyYLuzw

A real folk number - Railroader's Lament (or 500 miles, but I don't like using that name because we also play the Proclaimer's song "I'm Gonna Be" which is also known as 500 miles).

We are fortunate to have a great vocalist for this one - Shannon really shines here.

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allenhopkins

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## Beanzy

> Hey Jon, do you have tabs for "Buckets of Rain" that you would share?


Here's what I use;


Buckets of rain
(G 4/4)

G  |  C9/G  |  G   |  C9/G
C  |  C  |  G/Gs  |  G
D/C  |  G/C9  |  G/Gs4  |  G


(I'm using the / to split a bar and | as the bar line)

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## AlanN

I was at a festival campsite jam this past weekend, known for its Stanley Brothers and F&S-centric adherence. During a lull, 2 or 3 pickers started in on W.W. Broke that jam right up.

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## farmerjones

I'm in line with Mr. Hopkins. One man's over-played is another man's beloved. 
I play the fiddle, so I have to play Orange Blossom Special every gig.  W.W. is almost a breath of fresh air. Like James Taylor playing Fire & Rain, every night. He doesn't argue. He plays it. Those songs belong to the people. Take it Easy, is another.

In jam mode, I might grab a banjer and play a bunch of Crosby, Stills, & Nash, with a Scruggs style roll. As you can imagine, some laugh, some cry, some leave. And the ghost of John Hartford whispers, "yeah buddy."

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allenhopkins, 

Marty Jacobson, 

Michael Bridges

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## wsugai

Players may be tired of "Wagon Wheel" but listeners seem to enjoy it, so it stays on my play list.

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## allenhopkins

As a rule, I've found musicians get tired/bored/sated with a song long before their audiences do.

Which is why songs unwelcome at jams may be very welcome onstage.

Each of us must decide to whom we're directing our efforts: our fellow musicians, who are rolling their eyes and sticking their fingers in their mouths, or our less sophisticated listeners, who are shouting "Yahoo!" and boogying in front of the stage.

Now, _who's_ determining how much (or whether) we get paid?  With whom do we have to ride home in the car?  Who's going to invite us back (or not)?  Whose respect do we value?

Tough questions…?  I dunno.  Wanna hear _Puff, the Magic Dragon_ in the key of A?

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## mandogoshen

> Who's worst Billy or Miley?


With respect for all the Billy and Miley deriders:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFZsunzjDXU or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSpkaBeZckY  Ok, how about this?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg0vfZBDgxE

While they may or may not be to one's taste I would offer Mr. Montana to post a youtube video demonstrating abilities anywhere _close_  to these.

While not a fanboy of either there're usually reasons why people become stars in the music business and others purchase or don't purchase a given artist's product.

In other words Mr. Montana if you think you can do better?  Cowboy up.

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## Mike Bunting

I don't think that it is incumbent on Montana sing better than someone in order to criticize (rightly or wrongly) a performer. You are making an ad hominem argument and as such, it has no validity.
Often, the reason that some become "stars" has more to do with marketing than talent.

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Michael Bridges

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## mandogoshen

> I don't think that it is incumbent on Montana sing better than someone in order to criticize (rightly or wrongly) a performer. You are making an ad hominem argument and as such, it has no validity.
> Often, the reason that some become "stars" has more to do with marketing than talent.


Bunk.  Did ya even watch the videos?  At a given point one has to be able to deliver the steak as well as the sizzle.  Your turn.  Non sequitur boy.

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## Cryo

OK.  We went a bit off the beaten path here with regard to song choice.  Here is our band again going for something a bit catchy:

http://www.reverbnation.com/kentland...-follow-rivers

What do you think?  Certainly not Wagon Wheel!  Mandolin, Guitars, Accordion, Stomping Feet combine to provide a backdrop for our talented vocalist!

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## Michael H Geimer

> Now, _who's_ determining how much (or whether) we get paid?  With whom do we have to ride home in the car?  Who's going to invite us back (or not)?  Whose respect do we value?


^Great post. Important considerations for each of us as we decide what songs to keep under our fingers. I'm in it for the chicks, mostly. Got WW down, ready to go.  :Mandosmiley:

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allenhopkins

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## Michael Bridges

Well, at least ya got yer priorities straight!


> ^Great post. Important considerations for each of us as we decide what songs to keep under our fingers. I'm in it for the chicks, mostly. Got WW down, ready to go.

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## Cryo

> Well, at least ya got yer priorities straight!


I agree.

Is that what the "she" is in your signature line?

Here is us doing Midnight Special.  It was starting to get windy when we started our set yesterday.

Nice song to start off a set with.  Gradual mike check.  Allows the sound man to check levels.

http://youtu.be/cnpeGhHqokU

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## John Ritchhart

Michael Geimer already has a chick. And she's great.

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## Mandomonte

Several years back, I was one of the first people to do Wagon Wheel at local jams and area festivals. Some purists referred to it as " that Damn hippie song" Yet they had no problem with "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" which has been around a lot longer. There have been festivals where we had to do "Wheel" 3-5 Times a day. Every time every one in the room was grinning' and singing along. I was in group Fox Run and ed opened with it every show and it was always well received. Have done " Knockin' On Heaven's Door" a few times. Have even heard " Turn the Page" a few times. SOME OLD Standards get played 10-20 Times in a weekend, and several times in a jam where people keep coming in.  If it's fun to perform and people love, it every time, what's the problem ? Are we there to do what we " think" people ( we) want to hear, or what they like and enjoy ? I often did " Vincent Black Lightning", which not to many people, I know do. It is always well received.

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## BradKlein

> I often did " Vincent Black Lightning", which not to many people, I know do. It is always well received.


I was so surprised that Vincent became a bluegrass hit. Loved Richard Thompson's writing and performing… and the song always seemed so English to me. And now, most BG fans probably think it's always been set in Tennessee! Not that there's anything wrong with that!

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## journeybear

I had to stop and think for a minute or two about this. I first heard "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" done by Greg Brown at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival mid-to-lat 90s, and then found out it was written by Richard Thompson. I have since seen RT a few times and thus heard his version (and the recording). Years later I learned that Del McCoury had done it, and did it quite well, too, so I assume that's how it got into the bluegrass lexicon. If other are doing it as well, all the power to them. It's an excellent song, and moves along at a good clip even in the original version, so it fits in well in a bluegrass context. If purists kick up a fuss, gently inform them that "Fox On The Run" is a Manfred Mann song and watch their jaws drop. So many songs cross over into other-than-intended genres, it's hardly worth kicking up a fuss about it, most of the time.

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Perry Babasin

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## pezdork

> ...Ya know, one of the reasons songs get overplayed is that they're *good songs.*...


Thank god some one said it. When I hear a good song I almost don't wAnna hear anything else. I come from an indie/punk rock background and those scenes tend to be very anti pop music and very snobish. Which I never got as a songwriter the hard part is coming up with something meaningful that is also accessable to the audience, also known as catchy.

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allenhopkins, 

Michael Bridges, 

Perry Babasin

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## Michael Bridges

Problem is, too many people feel that if a song is popular (meaning people want to hear it), then the writer/artist has "sold out" or gone too "commercial" (however you define that).  Guess a performer is supposed to educate and raise the listener's awareness by playing what they want you to hear, on the assumption that audiences are really too stupid to know what's good for them.

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Mark Wilson

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## wsugai

If you think "Wagon Wheel" is overplayed, you obviously have not lived through the "Proud Mary" era. Eons ago, I used to play electric guitar during summers and it seemed like we played that song 20 times per night, practically non-stop in the last hour before closing when the audience was really lubricated. There is something about the rhythm of that song that just appeals to drunks, I guess. Can't play anything in the key of D any more that doesn't remind me of that song.

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## RobP

> Does anybody remember "Freebird" this still haunts me.


Now, how did that go again?  :Smile:

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## jaycat

> If you think "Wagon Wheel" is overplayed, you obviously have not lived through the "Proud Mary" era. Eons ago, I used to play electric guitar during summers and it seemed like we played that song 20 times per night, practically non-stop in the last hour before closing when the audience was really lubricated. There is something about the rhythm of that song that just appeals to drunks, I guess. Can't play anything in the key of D any more that doesn't remind me of that song.


I don't think you have to be a drunk to appreciate that Proud Mary is probably one of the best pop songs ever written.

But your point is well taken. Enough is enough.

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## allenhopkins

Leaving the bluegrass domain, some overplayed songs from my personal performance experience:
_Country Roads
Sweet Home Alabama
Blowing In the Wind
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Friend Of the Devil
Take It Easy
Tennessee Stud
Last Thing On My Mind
Ripple
Early Morning Rain
Night They Drove Old Dixie Down_

Now, I *like* most of those songs, and still play them on occasion.  Can't even begin to tell how many times I've played _This Land Is Your Land_ or _Goodnight Irene,_ and won't stop doing it just because they're "chestnuts."  But in a jam session with other musicians, not the ones I'd immediately suggest.

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## journeybear

Huh? :Confused:   I thought most of those songs ARE bluegrass!  :Confused:

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allenhopkins

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## Steve Ostrander

It's an age-old question for a band: do you play what YOU want to play, or do you play what THEY want to hear?

I would submit that if you are getting paid and the people want to hear Wagon Wheel, Man of Constant Sorrow, or Foggy Mountain Breakdown, then you are giving the people what they want. One of our most requested songs is "Ring of Fire". When we play that tune, people sing along and really enjoy it, so I don't mind playing it.

A jam is a different story. If it's a BG jam, and nobody is getting paid, it's pretty easy to say, "That ain't BG"....and that's why I don't go to jams.

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## Markus

Steve, in general i think the Johnny Cash classics are quite reliable crowd pleasers. I am quite sick of Folsom Prison but a couple people cheer, hoot, or madly applaud whenever we play it, so it stays on the playlist. 

I have started to watch for the 'drunk people go nuts for' songs for when a tip jar needs filling. Johnny Cash and Wagon Wheel often fit here, and can lead to over generous tips if you're lucky.

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## Mandobart

> I would really like to hear bluegrass jam versions of Knockin' On Heaven's Door.  We could make that the next overplayed song sensation.


It already is in my neck of the woods.

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## Astro

OK, this is the obligatory Wagon Wheel clip from yesterday. You have to do this to get hired now and it is the Farmers Market after all (yeah, they actually paid us something. Came out to about 1 dollar per hour each).

Anyway, I just started in a new band. This is only the second time we ever played this together and the other guys don't know the words so I sang lead but I got to use my new banjo. I've only been playing at clawhammer banjo about a month so cut some slack.

Its a little thin w/o much back up but they will get it quick and will sound better soon and I may switch off lead vocal on it. It was just recorded with a smart phone so sound is poor.

The kid on my mando just learned the 2 finger chords for the song a few hours prior. He usually does lead electric. He did a great job.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6B_...p=docslist_api

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## journeybear

Thank goodness it's just one verse and chorus!  :Grin: 

Hey, I'm kidding. Mostly.  :Wink:  And it could be worse, like nearly the whole song.  :Disbelief:  That's what we've got here ...



What happened is, someone had put $20 in the bucket and requested this, repeatedly, for an hour, even though we kept saying we don't know it. This is mostly true, even though the bass player and I had played it together in another band almost every gig for two years, sometimes twice a night, because it was the guitarist/lead singer who knew all the words, not us. So for the last song, we got a friend to come up and sing it. The crowd went nuts, more than twenty people got up to dance - the biggest such reaction we've ever gotten - and fortunately a friend got most of it on video. It has gotten the biggest reaction of any of our videos as well. 

Prophetically, our guitarist/lead singer quit the band a few weeks later - well, tried to kill the band, actually, snaking our gigs for his other band - and we replaced him with this guy. Ah, sweet irony!  :Mandosmiley:

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## mandocrucian

*"Wagon Wheel"*



Headed down south to the wand of the pines
 I'm thumbin' my way into Noth Cawohwine
 Stehwin' up the woad
 And pway to God I see headwights
 I made it down the coast in seventeen owahs
 Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood fwaawahs
 And I'm a hopin' for Waweigh
 I can see my baby tonight

[Chowus:]
 So wock me mama wike a wagon wheew
 Wock me mama anyway you feew
 Hey mama wock me
 Wock me mama wike the wind and the wain
 Wock me mama wike a south-bound twain
 Hey mama wock me

 Wunnin' from the code up in New Engwand
 I was born to be a fiddwer in an old-time stwing band
 My baby pways the guitah
 I pick a banjo now
 Oh, the Noth countwy winters keep a gettin' me now
 Wost my money pwayin' pokeh so I had to up and weave
 But I ain't a tuhnin' back
 To wivin' that ode wife no mo

[Chowus]

 Wakin' due south out of Woanoke
 I caught a twucker out of Phiwwy
 Had a nice wong toke
 But he's a headed west fwom the Cumberwand Gap
 To Johnson City, Tennessee
 And I gotta get a move on befoah the sun
 I hear my baby cawwin' my name
 And I know that she's the ownwy one
 And if I die in Waweigh
 At weast I will die fwee

[Chowus]

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jaycat

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## John Lloyd

After playing in a bar band Stateside for a few months during the early 1980s, I grew to hate _Freebird_, as in refusing to play it again for literally 30 years. Then one afternoon on the beach last year I fired up a bottle of Bombay Sapphire and a couple of coconuts and started plinking around with it fingerstyle on a ukulele, of all things. It worked surprisingly well with re-entrant tuning, and I've been fooling around with it on mandolin since then. I'm gonna bust it out next time we have an audience, just to see how they react. If no physical injury or property damage results, then you can bet I'll stick it in the set list, or at least the "stuff we'll do if requested" list.

Got a cover version of Hoyt Axton's _Snowblind Friend_ ready to bust out, too. (That veers away from popular and smack into "You _will_ play a happy song next.")

Around here it's the Jimmy Buffet songs that tend to be grossly overplayed, especially _A Pirate Looks at 40_ and _Margaritaville_. We still do 'em, though--cheerfully--and more often than not will throw in _Cowboy in the Jungle_, _Woman Going Crazy on Caroline Street_, and/or _West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown_ during the course of the evening.

The good thing is that nobody cares if you never play the same solo twice, as long as you're in the right key. If they even notice that, by that time of night.

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journeybear

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## journeybear

As you can well imagine, there is the same - if not more so - overabundance of requests for Jimmy Buffett songs here. So much so that one place I played for a couple years with my former band had a strict no-Buffett policy. That place was high on the tourists' must lists, so we had to field lots of requests, and somehow steer them toward something similar but different. My current band has played there several times, and we did only one Buffett song - "Pencil Thin Moustache" - for two reasons: it fits our general style (swing, ragtime, jug band, skiffle), and it was the then lead singer's grandma's favorite song. We did playit there a few times, and received no hassle from management. I assume they didn't know it was a Buffett song, which is not surprising, since it doesn't sound like one.

Speaking of "Free Bird" ... Soon after I landed here over a dozen years ago I teamed up with a guitarist who did mostly classic country. We played three shifts a week at one of the popular downtown bars - OK, Capt. Tony's Saloon, the premises of which are where Hemingway drank when it was Sloppy Joe's, before that establishment moved down the street in protest over a $1 raise in rent. But I digress ...  :Whistling:  Anyway, at the time the club had a reputation as a songwriters' room, and it was proactive on that front. But it drew in a lot of tourists, who wanted to hear whatever they wanted, with as many yahoo requests as you can imagine. Since we were set up two paces from a corner of the bar, these were often hard to ignore. 

Naturally, we would get the occasional "Free Bird!" from some drunk acting like a big shot. The guitarist had a mean streak and a drinking problem - he was one of the bar's best customers, in fact, downing a quart of Jim Beam shot by shot during a four hour shift  :Disbelief:  every time we played - and his general response was the one-finger salute accompanied by "Here's your free bird!" I got tired of this (nice guy that I am) and devised a couple of ways to appease the requester and defuse the situation, in a less confrontational manner. One was to play it bluegrass-style at bluegrass tempo. It cracked people up, and sure got 'er done right quick.  :Wink:  Just the first verse and chorus was all I needed to do, as patrons were howling with laughter and the requester was sufficiently abashed, perhaps even sort of satisfied. My other approach was to do it mock-reggae style, with an occasional "mon" and such, which got similar results. Your ukulele treatment is what brought this all to mind. Feel free to use this if you wish.  :Cool:

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John Lloyd

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## John Lloyd

The reggae treatment would probably fly here, actually.  :Grin:

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## journeybear

Yah, mon. So Jah seh.  :Cool: 

Back in the day, my first foray down here, I was in a rock band that was known for, among other things, actually _doing_ "Free Bird." It was in our set list.  :Disbelief:  The triple leads at the end got pretty wild, played on electric guitar, amplified acoustic guitar, and electric mandolin (1950s Gibson EM-150). I also tweaked my pedals (compressor, mostly) to get a sound like a steel drum. This worked great on the few Jimmy Buffett songs we did, especially "A Pirate Looks At 40," one of his best songs IMO. Ah, good times!  :Mandosmiley:

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## jaycat

> ". . .  Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood fwaawahs . . ."


When I was a kid growing up in Virginia, our parents made sure we knew that the Dogwood was the OFFICIAL flower (or tree) of the Commonwealth, AND, that if found picking its flowers or otherwise defacing it, we could GO TO JAIL!!!

Looking back over the years, I suspect this was kind of an apocryphal scare tactic aimed at keeping kids off the lawn. But anyway, forewarned is forearmed. Even you, Elmer!

(Oh, I see he picks them in North Carolina, well, never mind).

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## KEB

> I would really like to hear bluegrass jam versions of Knockin' On Heaven's Door.  We could make that the next overplayed song sensation.


Last year's Delfest Academy's band scramble winner played it.

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## Cheryl Watson

"You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is one my band always did that was a crowd-pleaser--but we never played it at the hardcore bluegrass festivals.

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## journeybear

Yes, that's  good one. Seems nearly everyone knows it and likes it. Ending with an a capella round is a great way to go.

BTW, he's still in trouble. Of all the states in the country, guess which two have dogwood as their state flower?  :Confused:   :Disbelief:   :Laughing: 

Then again, I don't see any references to it being protected. I remember there was a similar situation growing up in CT, where the state flower, mountain laurel, is protected. Fortunately, we had a bush on our property, and we could enjoy its delicate aroma whenever we wished while it was in bloom.

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## jaycat

Wow JB, you're right. Who woulda guessed?

You Ain't Goin' Nowhere is fun (we played it yesterday) but I like to sing the 'alternate' lyrics that mention McGuinn and Gunga Din.

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## journeybear

Woulda guessed what? That I'd be right?  :Disbelief:  I tell ya, it's been a little tough, lately ... Whew!  :Whistling: 

Upon further review ... CT's Laurel Law was repealed in 1969. Never heard that then nor until now.  :Confused:

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