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Thread: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

  1. #26
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Whenever I pick up a mandolin, I seem to start playing Red-Haired Boy. Dunno why.
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    Lurkist dhergert's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    Whenever I pick up a mandolin, I seem to start playing Red-Haired Boy. Dunno why.
    If it had been me, it would be because I'm trying to play Salt Creek.
    -- Don

    "Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
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  4. #28

    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    i only play two tunes - possum up a gum stump, and (a variation of it) chicken up a gum stump. Some folks like it. Others don't can't please em all

  5. #29

    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    I play mando/guit in a trio with bass fiddle and flute. We can't go wrong with John Reischman's Choro for Shadow and/or Birdland Bounce... and Moe Koffman's Swingin' Shepherd Blues.

  6. #30
    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    My band does a lot of classic bluegrass and Country like "Workin Man Blues, I saw the Light etc...many instrumentals, A lot of Gospel, People like when myself and the fiddle player do note for note stuff like Old Dangerfield-We call it "Lets play that Rodney Dangerfield tune!" Jerusalem Ridge, Smokin Joe-fast Old Joe Clark, too many to list.

  7. #31
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    If my wife is around, will have her sing Metsakukkia while I play melody behind her. Otherwise, my first few go to pieces are often Ringnesen Reinlender, Ellin Polkka, Mouth of the Tobique or Reel de Pointe-au-Pic. Sometimes, if I feel confident, will play Lokakuun Polkka.

    As one can guess, I don't play bluegrass. Or even a lot of American old-time. Although I've been playing Rickett's Hornpipe more and more. Thanks to Howard Rains for posting a good take on the tune recently using his Kalamazoo KM-11.
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  8. #32
    Registered User tree's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Almost anything in 3/4 time.

    Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes
    In The Pines
    I Always Get Lucky With You
    Precious Lord Take My Hand
    White Dove

    There is something about 3/4 time that just goes well with mandolin.
    Clark Beavans

  9. #33

    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Summertime
    Barnyard Dance
    Lazy Bones

    With lyrics

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  11. #34
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    It all depends on the scene

    Saltspring
    Atlantic City
    Minor Swing
    King of the Pipers

  12. #35
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Thanks James, this is a great song!


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  14. #36
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    As I understand your question, the audience is composed of folks not familiar with the musics that naturally feature a mandolin. My experience is that unless you know the three chord versions of the popular Beatles songs, (in a pinch the band Kansas or the Eagles will do) and can sing the words, nothing you do will impress them or even please them. They will be polite and listen and even clap at the end.

    I think a more fruitful course might be to wander around the campsite with your mandolin, and see if you can find a jam to your liking.
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  15. #37
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    My go to song is "Back Home Again in Indiana"

    If there's a lot of kids, I start with Old Joe Clark - it has verses that they can laugh at.

    Joseph Baker

  16. #38

    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    More seriously however, I'd most often start with grandpa's spells, or a rag i picked up from eddie davis which i dont recall the name but is cool - by the second B part people be moving with the "Spanish tinge" which really got me ultimately. Then maybe autumn leaves..

  17. #39
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    If the music is going over like a lead balloon, I pull out Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother. That gets the Texas C&W crowd singing along. An up tempo Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright can get people dancing. I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal is another. I have a stack of crowd pleasers. If you get folks on your side, some will sit still for the murder ballads I like, or the lengthy Mr. Bojangles.
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  19. #40
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Quote Originally Posted by tree View Post
    Almost anything in 3/4 time.

    Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes
    In The Pines
    I Always Get Lucky With You
    Precious Lord Take My Hand
    White Dove

    There is something about 3/4 time that just goes well with mandolin.
    WARNING: You may actually be addicted to playing waltzes. You may have to go into a three-step program!

    Crowds keep asking me if I can play "Somewhere Else" but I haven't been able to find tab for it...

    Seriously, my go-to is Ashokan Farewell. I play it well and everyone always seems to know that tune and like it, probably due to the Ken Burns "Civil War" series. That's so ironic, because it is not a Civil War era tune, but sounds like one. If I need another tune, it is usually Angeline the Baker. I can do it in two octaves and most of it with double stops.

  20. #41
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Quote Originally Posted by John Flynn View Post
    WARNING: You may actually be addicted to playing waltzes. You may have to go into a three-step program!

    Crowds keep asking me if I can play "Somewhere Else" but I haven't been able to find tab for it...

    Seriously, my go-to is Ashokan Farewell. I play it well and everyone always seems to know that tune and like it, probably due to the Ken Burns "Civil War" series. That's so ironic, because it is not a Civil War era tune, but sounds like one. If I need another tune, it is usually Angeline the Baker. I can do it in two octaves and most of it with double stops.
    I understand that. Was addicted to the Hokey Pokey for a while. But I turned myself around. And it seems like "Somewhere Else" is related to a request I get all the time - they keep asking if I can play "Far, Far Away."
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  22. #42
    Registered User tree's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Hah, John Flynn, you nailed it - I do love 3/4 time. So much that I often play melodies in 3/4 that are written in 4/4. With the right melody, it works amazingly well.

    But I love fiddle tunes and other stuff as well. My go to fiddle tune seems to be Big Sciota at the moment. Soldier's Joy is right up there too.
    Clark Beavans

  23. #43
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Quote Originally Posted by tree View Post
    Hah, John Flynn, you nailed it - I do love 3/4 time. So much that I often play melodies in 3/4 that are written in 4/4. With the right melody, it works amazingly well.
    I have done that too and it can work well. You are probably aware that arguably he most famous use of that trick was when Joe Cocker changed the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends" from 4/4 to 3/4. It wasn't just Cocker's voice that made that cover powerful.

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  25. #44
    bon vivant jaycat's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Quote Originally Posted by John Flynn View Post
    Crowds keep asking me if I can play "Somewhere Else" but I haven't been able to find tab for it...
    I get a lot of requests for Beyond The Sea and After You've Gone.
    "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
    --Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

    Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos

  26. #45
    Registered User Russ Donahue's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Was staying with friends at a nearby lake last week, and one day we broke out the instruments and played lots of tunes for several hours. The song that got a response from several nearby camps? Wagon Wheel. The least technically proficient or interesting tune we played? Wagon Wheel. Familiarity wins again...
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  27. #46
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Quote Originally Posted by jaycat View Post
    I get a lot of requests for Beyond The Sea and After You've Gone.
    Over The Hill and Far, Far Away
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  29. #47

    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Quote Originally Posted by Simon DS View Post
    Thanks James, this is a great song!
    You are welcome; glad to be of assistance. However, that is not the Barnyard Dance version to which I was referring. With two different songs having the same title, it is confusing.

    This is the Barnyard Dance song that I play.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzeuFFaMbUE

    Martin, Bogan, & Armstrong should have named it the Vegetable Dance instead of Barnyard Dance, since it is about vegetables and not barnyard animals. I like the other version to which you linked, but don't do it. My trio does the MB&A version at the local Farmers Market which is fitting since vegetables are sold there. It has a great ragtime tune.

  30. #48
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Quote Originally Posted by James Vwaal View Post
    ...This is the Barnyard Dance song that I play...Martin, Bogan, & Armstrong should have named it the Vegetable Dance instead of Barnyard Dance, since it is about vegetables and not barnyard animals. I like the other version to which you linked, but don't do it. My trio does the MB&A version at the local Farmers Market which is fitting since vegetables are sold there. It has a great ragtime tune.
    James, did you know that Jay Ungar wrote a second verse:

    The Indian corn put the red dress on,
    Chinese cabbage tried to kick the gong;
    You shoulda seen the French green bean,
    When the watermelon danced with the black-eyed pea!
    But that big zucchini, he was a meanie,
    Picked a fight with a Kosher weenie, said
    'No meat allowed, this is a vegetable crowd!'
    Down at the barnyard dance, this morning,
    Down at the barnyard dance.


    I do this song on ukulele and kazoo; as you said, a farmers' market favorite.
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  32. #49

    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    James, did you know that Jay Ungar wrote a second verse:

    I do this song on ukulele and kazoo; as you said, a farmers' market favorite.
    No, I had not heard that extra verse. Thanks! A friend of mine who does this song at Farmers Markets on the west coast changed the lyric "Old man garlic dropped dead with the colic" to "Old man spinach hip-hopped to the finish" since he didn't want to scare children.

    I'll give that second verse a shot next week when we play at a congregate housing gig.

  33. #50
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    Default Re: What are your go-to crowd pleasers?

    If I'm picking around the campfire on mando the fun bustouts that people always enjoy are Cantina Band from Star Wars, Linus and Lucy theme, maybe some fast fiddle tunes, or some Django stuff Nuages, Djangology, etc. Often as the night goes on I'll pick up my guitar as everyone else is fading away and do Pancho and Lefty which I save for special occasions and a whole bunch of Willie Nelson tunes.

    On stage we'll do Tico Tico, Jethro's Tune, and El Cumbanchero and feature the mando to kick it up a notch.

    If you are just beginning I would practice a few fiddle tunes that you really enjoy and play em till you can smoke 'em. People always love fast fiddle tunes. Through in a few fun covers that aren't normally done acoustic and folks love that stuff.
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