Chuck Plays “Cold Turkey” at the jam

Permanent hosts: Paul and Willow of Unbound Sound.

Guest host performer: Tim Turner of the Tim Turner Band

Guys on stage with me:

Tim, Paul and his drummer, some guy on bass and crutches, then:

Dave T. Hall on keys (he played bass when some other folks were up).
Sheldon Ziro on Harp. Mean harp player and a great voice.

Also, Jim McLaughlin played harp in another set. A great player.

So this posting is a tale of disappointment, a tale of bad timing, and yes, even a tale of selfishness on my part. I freely admit it.

I knew last night was going to get off on the wrong foot when I wasn’t able to get to the Anchor Pub until nearly 9:30PM. By then, the jam had been going for two hours, and the signup sheet was already two full pages long. I hastily wrote down my name and instrument: “CHUCK E. GUITAR + VOX” and stowed my guitar by the stage. I saw Sean Denton and, after I got my drink, I went over and talked with him for a while as the various groups of musicians took their turns on stage.

There were some very good players. Among them (Sean included) was a fellow by the name of Chester Dennis Jones, who has a wonderful vintage Stratocaster and plays it like he means it. In particular, he started into a long soliloquoy about a marriage gone bad, and how all he had left was that guitar, all the while punching out licks to a slow blues jam from the rhythm section. Before you knew it, you realized he was actually leading into “Red House”. It was really great. I was also impressed by his bass player, Scott. When I complimented Scott after the set, I found out he’s not Chester’s bassist at all, just another guy at the jam. Very cool.

Well, the night dragged on. I twittered a couple of times, worried that I wasn’t going to make it up, and by the end of the night, I was actually starting to pray that I wouldn’t get a chance. The worst thing to happen would be to send me up there nearly alone, near the end of the night, and put it all on my few prepared songs.

After Chester’s set, and one other, a quasi-allstars group got up on stage. It featured Jimmy Wright (guest host of the jam) along with CD Woodbury, who runs the Oxford Saloon jam in Snohomish on Thursday nights. They had a very good set. (See the picture below.) When they left the stage, it was already a quarter past 11 (the jam ends at midnight) and as they packed up and moved their gear out, nearly the ENTIRE CROWD IN THE BAR followed them.

Then Paul, who runs the jam, came up to me. “You have time for two short songs only. It will be you on guitar and vocals, and two other guys.” (A bassist and a drummer.) Joy! (Sarcastic tone noted.) I hastily conversed with the bass player (an excellent player who knew the songs I wanted to sing) and we went up on stage. By the time I was plugged in and got a quick sound level, I looked out into the bar, and where there had been thirty people ten minutes earlier, there were six left. We launched into “I’ve Got a Spell on You” (no Creedence changes). After two run throughs of the solos, there were four people left. I sang the main verse one more time and signaled for the guys to end the song. Four people clapped. I then went into “Baby What You Want Me To Do” and realized this was it. I sang the first two verses, took a short solo (the length of one verse), then sang the last verse and signaled to end the tune. I was a little pissed (at everyone, including myself for showing up so late) and just wanted to get off the stage. The four remaining people clapped. We took our stuff off the stage.

Poor Jimmy actually had to do one last short set to close the night (his duty as guest host) but before he did, he brought me in a brochure he had in his van, a 1990 Ibanez Guitars catalog. (Click the hyperlink to see a scan of the catalog.) He had noticed my Ibanez Musician and complimented me on it. He thought someone who really appreciated Ibanez guitars should have the catalog, and i thanked him. I’m actually going to scan it and post it online with some other catalogs. Jimmy is a great guy and an excellent player.

So the night didn’t end badly, it just sucked from a crowd perspective. But again, “me me me me”.

Tonight, I plan to get to the Oxford early. Wish me luck.

Photo: Jimmy Wright (white strat), CD Woodbury (far right) and friends:

UPDATE: I’ve found several versions of “I Put a Spell on You” (notably, one by Tab Benoit) that don’t use the Creedence changes, so I’m going to add it to my repetoire for the jams. BTW, Tab does a great version of “The Killing Floor” that I’m going to use as a basis for adding that song to my list.

So I’ve been looking up “blues standards” on Live Search. (I honestly use that more than Google, because I like the results. Go ahead and try the link yourself.) I have started downloading them to my Zune (I have a Zune Pass, so basically unlimited access to anything I can find on the Zune Marketplace). One was very easy to learn, since I used to listen to the Hot Tuna version of it all the time: “Baby What You Want Me to Do“. I’ve got that ready for Wednesday at the Anchor and Thursday at the Oxford. (Although this Thursday I’m thinking of making the treck up to Stanwood for Steve Raible’s jam.)

So here are the songs I have ready:

• Baby What You Want Me to Do
• Stormy Monday
• I Put A Spell On You
• Iron Lung (my original)

Plus, I can play any other blues song they throw at me if they tell me the key and warn me about any tricky changes.

See you there!

DIRECTIONS

This Wednesday’s jam will be guest-hosted by Jimmy Wright, an excellent guitarist/singer. And, as always, the jam is run by Paul and Willow, of Unbound:

This particular night, I got up in the third jam grouping, along with another guitarist (who had a stunning Carvin guitar, I think a Carvin model HF2), Stevee on bass, and another guy on drums. I’m lucky that I can both play guitar and sing (well enough, at times, anyway) that I can front a set, because no one else up there could (or would) sing. It was left for me to suggest songs. I tried to offer “Well” (the John Lennon cover, see my previous post) but no one knew it and when I tried to quickly go over the chord changes, Stevee just said, “Why don’t you play something everyone knows.” Sure enough, I thought, and suggested “Stormy Monday”. So we started with that, and it went very well. Next, I decided to debute an original I have been working on, called, “Iron Lung”. It has standard blues changes, and a middle part that does the 4 to 1 to 4 to 5 kinda thing. We launched into it: First verse, good. I was about to sing the second verse when the other guitarist started to take a solo. Fair enough. After his solo, I did the second verse. Then, I motioned for the middle part, and we did that. Great. I took a solo. Then, when I was about to signal everyone to repeat the middle part, the drummer ENDED THE SONG. He just wrapped it up. Boom. Done. That was disappointing. Next, I suggested “Come Together”, since it’s rock and roll, and rock and roll numbers tend to qualify as blues songs at open jams. Again, I sang all three songs and I thought they came off pretty well. But that was it. Our set was short, but ultimately enjoyable. I just wish I had the chance to complete “Iron Lung”.

“Iron Lung” is actually a song I wrote in 1987, but I’ve taken the lyrics and fit them to a blues progression. Here are the lyrics to “Iron Lung” (copyright © 2009 Chuck Evans, all rights reserved.):

Don’t wanna be in an iron lung
Don’t want to breathe in the soot and the scum
Don’t wanna be in an iron lung
Don’t want to breathe in the soot and the scum
Don’t wanna be in an iron lung
Don’t want to live with the things I have done

Don’t wanna be in an iron lung
Don’t want to disappoint my daughters and my son
Don’t wanna be in an iron lung
Don’t want to disappoint my daughters and my son
Don’t wanna be in an iron lung
Don’t want to live with the things I have done

(middle part)

‘Cos when I breathe I hear a thousand tiny screams
And when I sleep I have interrupted dreams
And when I look I see cobwebs floating by
And now I lay me down and wish that I would die…
… instead of live, in an iron lung

(repeat middle part on the other side of the long solo, then repeat first verse, ending with…)

Oh… In an iron lung…. (repeated several times)

On to my contribution to the night. I brought along my somewhat untrusty Marshall 8080 (it needs to be looked at by an amp tech) and my Ibanez 2351AV “Fancy”. This is a very cool Les Paul copy (what some call a “lawsuit” model) from 1977. It has Super 80 pickups (very hot) and a “fancy tail” that distinguish it from a normal LP. Also, the finish is “Antique Violin” which is just amazing to look at:

I was hoping to get up on stage with either Sean or Steve, but instead I found myself up with the usual mishmash of musicians. I played along to a number of songs (one was “Hound Dog”, I remember) and took my solos when it was my turn. Then the guy who had been singing (Rick, I think was his name) pointed to me and said I should sing a song. I suggested “Well (Baby Please Don’t Go)” which John Lennon did on his “Sometime in New York City” live album (actually, with the Mothers of Invention backing him up). It’s got a slightly interesting change in it. In blues talk, from the “one” you go to the “five” first, then back. Then you hit the “four” (which is minor) and it all goes around again. I sang, the band tried to follow, and it came off so so. Next, I suggested “Stormy Monday”, promising to play it as a straight 1-4-5 progression, and we started to play. I then noticed that the bassist (a woman whose name I have of course forgotten) knew the “Allman” changes and I loved it. I began to play those changes too (definitely non-standard blues) and that song came off very well.

Thanks to Paul and Willow, of Unbound, for hosting and running such a great jam!

After the set I got several compliments and Steve said I should come up to the Stanwood jam sometime. I’m sure he said that to several people, but even so, I think I was successful in promoting the “Chuck E” brand a bit more that night. I’m hoping the master of ceremonies sends me some pictures. If he does, I’ll post them here.

But last Wednesday, things were a little different. For starters, I had my own amp with me and had taken the time to dial in my sound before leaving for the gig. I brought my best guitar, my Ibanez Musician MC400NT, because I can dial in a sound right from the guitar. Second, the MC knew me now, and third, I knew enough to start pinging him early about when I was going to play. I also recognized one of the regular players, a guy from a band called “The Wright Brothers Band”, Jimmy Wright, their leader and main singer/guitarist. The MC said I’d go up and play when Jimmy did, and I was fine with that. I love playing with really talented musicians, and Jimmy qualifies. When it came time for our “set”, we also went up there with the “guest musician” for the night, Brian Lee (of Blues Orbiters) and a bassist and drummer whose names I did not catch. Again, I just played along to the songs that either Jimmy or Brian sang, but it was totally different than the previous week. For one, those two guys are pros (literally and capability-wise) and the songs were tight, well sung, and they made sure I had ample warning of when it was my time to take a solo. In return, I kept my solos tight and well within the confines of good soloing etiquette. (Never bogart the solo!) It was a great night. Here are a couple pictures from the evening. That’s me on the far right, in back of the keyboards (no I didn’t play keyboards). Jimmy is the guy with the white Stratocaster and Brian is on harp (harmonica).

Right click on either image and select “View Image” to see it full size.

Supposedly, it was also Jeff’s 50th birthday that night. I don’t have independent confirmation of that, but in any case, several of the folks from the Stewarts jams were there too, and most of us brought our instruments. I brought my Fernandes Telecaster and my Marshall Valvestate 8080 amp (though I didn’t use the amp). I got up to play for the third set of the night, and we launched into what are basically  my “greatest hits” from the jams: Come Together (Beatles), Cold Turkey (John Lennon), and Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young), all of which I also sang. Next, we did Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh) and I took the second verse, which I botched (I sang the second line of the verse as the first.) Then Jeff and the guys launched into Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stones) which is a very easy song to play, and I just went along for the ride. It went very well. People clapped. People danced. A good time was had by all.

Remember you can track me on Twitter: @ChuckE99