Need Song Ideas

[Skip Ellis]

OK, I just pulled the trigger on the Cordoba Stage electric nylon string - I hope it will kick me in the posterior and get me back to playing. About my only source of gigs right now will be the local assisted living where my late MIL lived but I've stayed in touch and they pretty much said I can play whenever I get my act together. Nice thing is - it's a chain with a few locations nearby ( 2 in my town alone). I'll be doing some of the Chet/Merle/John Knowles/Doc stuff which is my stock in trade but need suggestions for jazz (ier) (GAS) tunes that aren't too esoteric for this type audience and that I can pull off with, basically, just a simple very square 'once through' and maybe a single improvised chorus. Stuff like Georgia, As Time Goes By, Shadow Of Your Smile, Stars Fell On Alabama - things that work well as laid back chord melody - I like saloon songs and tend to listen to Sinatra and Tony Bennett when I'm putting together an instrumental arrangement. Don't want to run a song too long or get too far from the melody because I think I'll lose them with too many extended choruses (probably lose me too - I'm sorta 'square' that way). Anyway, any and all suggestions graciously appreciated. As I said in another thread, I'm a little hesitant to try doing an all instrumental act but at 78, I don't think it's time for me to start singing. Maybe just play background 'behind the ferns' music in the dining room during lunch or dinner would be an idea - worth thinking about.

[AllanAllen]

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Good a place as any to start

[DawgBone]

If I was a nursing home patient I'd yell at staff to bring my cigars and at you to play Mack the Knife. I'd calm down about the cigars if you played Magic is the Moonlight.

[sgosnell]

You might mix in a little western swing and see how it goes over. Maybe some different genres to see what they like. The last time I played nursing homes they loved Bob Wills, but not surprising since that was in Texas. I dunno about Florida. With the reported large population of folks who fled the northeast, I wouldn't be surprised by much. The people who listened to swing and such in their youth is mostly gone, the current residents probably mostly listened to rock & roll growing up. But one can hope.

[Guitlifer]

After decades of marvelling at solo players, I finally figured out how to make up my own simple arrangements of pop tunes and standards. I'm closer to channeling Bill Frisell than Joe Pass or Lenny Breau, but once you get onto it, a lot of tunes work very well. On duo gigs with my vocalist buddy, I just dial back the amount of melody I play behind him. For solo sections, I'll do a chorus of the solo arrangement and I use both electric and nylon string. Here's some of the tunes we cover that I can also do as solo pieces.

Fly Me to the Moon
All of Me
Brandy
Diamond Girl
Maybe I'm Amazed
I Feel Fine
Girl From Impanema
Wave
Isn't She Lovely
Sunny
Sway
Mack the Knife
Get Back
Georgia
Summertime
Look of Love
Misty
Mrs Robinson
Cry Me A River

Currently Under Construction:

Billie Jean
Bright Size Life
Listen to What the Man Said
Green Dolphin Street
Stella By Starlight
Riviera Paradise
Ventura Highway
In My Life
California Dreaming

[DawgBone]

You might mix in a little western swing and see how it goes over. Maybe some different genres to see what they like. The last time I played nursing homes they loved Bob Wills, but not surprising since that was in Texas. I dunno about Florida. With the reported large population of folks who fled the northeast, I wouldn't be surprised by much. The people who listened to swing and such in their youth is mostly gone, the current residents probably mostly listened to rock & roll growing up. But one can hope.

Maybe some "driving nails in my coffin". That's a popular western tune here in Texas. Ernest Tubb.