PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Who ya gonna call?

As some of you know, I am a full-time, career musician. I've played with pop music stars, jazz giants, and I even gigged for Motown during their Detroit days.

In 1985, the future Mrs. Notes and I left a 5-piece band due to personnel problems, and started a duo, The Sophisticats. Since Florida is a retirement destination, we targeted the mature audience. At that time we played music by Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, and other songs of that era.

As time went by, and the old folks went to the great gig in the sky, replaced by the early Baby-Boomers, we did Elvis, Buddy Holley, Chuck Berry, Drifters, and other early rock songs.

More time passed, and it was the music of our peers. Beatles, Aretha, Sting, Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, and so on,

Lately, quite a few musicians have left the earthly stage. They didn't go as young folks, like Hendrix O.D.-ing, Otis falling from the sky in an airplane, or Lennon getting shot by a crazy person. Instead, they are expiring from old person diseases. (Aaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh.)

As time movies on, there are more and more songs that were recorded by artists that are dead in our songlist. Not just those of my parents/grandparents generation like Count Basie, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, or my older sister's generation including Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Sam Cooke and others. But of my own generation - and even those who belong to people from younger generations, Adele, Zac Brown, Bruno Mars, and so on.

Other than the younger peole songs, so many artists in our songlist are no longer with us, I realize that more and more we are playing ghost music.

So instead of The Sophisticats, perhaps we should change our name to Ghost-Buskers (Who ya gonna call?).

But since we are firmly established as The Sophisticats, we'll leave the name Ghost-Buskers to someone else.


Insights, incites and a little humor by Notes ♫

Wow.... that's quite an impressive song list. Back in the day, there were a few musicians in our town who had such a list. One guy in particular, a so-so guitar player..... name an obscure song and this guy knew the key, could play it, and knew every word without referring to a cheat sheet. The other guy..... I played in a band with him for a while and he'd have a few favorites that we always played but he'd pull out stuff I'd never heard on every single gig. That was one of those tuxedo wearing bands playing country clubs and ritzy events. I wasn't in that band for very long. Just not a good fit.

Yeah... sadly, the bands I have had the privilege of being a part of, and the musicians in those bands..... very few are still left. The tuxedo guy, he's long gone. The band I was in that was a full time band, I'm the only one left. The last band I was in, as a house gig for 2.5 years, 3 of the 6 members are gone. No one gets out alive, but I'm thankful my time hasn't come due yet. I just want to outlive my dogs so they don't feel like I abandoned them.

Since I started playing professionally at 12, I know many songs that I shouldn't know for someone my age. For example, Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White was huge, but disappeared quickly.

However, I think the jazz standards survive between generations. The increasingly few people who follow jazz will mostly recognize the full range. For other genres, I don't know if that is true. Who ya gonna ask?

Yes, its sad to see all the great musicians go, though we probably don't like to think about it, we will not be that many years behind them.
The old adage three score years and ten for a lot of people still applies, and being in my late sixties myself, I always say that the seventies and onwards are bonus years.

Still as my partner who is a very positive person says, "Don't count the days, make the days count"

Matt, I actually played "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White"! I also sat in the pit band for the old musicals like Oklahoma, South Pacific, etc. At 16 I was playing with older musicians playing hit of the 50's. Yes I am that old.

I hear you Herb. I am very tired of going to funerals for old band members and good friends.
I guess that is just part of the cycle.

Yes, Mario, you could easily have been one of the high school or college folks I was playing with who were five years older than I was. One of the resorts near my home in the Adirondacks hired only staff that had musical talent, so the boat attendants, chamber staff, cleaners, waiters etc. all played or sang in the resort's musical productions. I put my horn in my canoe and played in all of the shows, for pay.

I played "Cherry Pink", and remember when "Satin Doll", "Just A Gigolo" medley, and "Stardust" were among our most requested songs. This was music from my parents and grandparents generation. I was a weird kid, and didn't reject my parent's music, and in turn, my parents didn't hate mine.

In my teens and 20s I played mostly rock music though. One band I was in eventually ended up opening concerts for artists whose songs were currently in the Billboard top 10. We almost had a record deal with Motown, but our manager and their people couldn't agree on money (Motown wanted to p!mp us).

Years later, when we targeted the retirement audience, I was in my 30s. The old standards were the bulk of what we played. If the time was right, we could sneak in a Horace Silver or Freddie Hubbard in the middle of a set, but any rock 'n roll was verboten.

As much as enjoyed playing rock, this was a new and interesting adventure, getting the right feel and learning to improvise solos in the right style. I was also beginning to do my own backing tracks then, with a Teac A3440 reel-to-reel, 4 channel tape deck.

We hardly play those tunes anymore, and I miss putting that musical hat on. But we still play variety, Rock, Pop, Country, Disco, Latin American, Reggae, Soca, and various other varieties. I do like the challenge of being authentic in each genre. It's not the notes, that's easy, it's the expression, phrasing, timing, groove and ornaments that make it sound real.

Nightclubs don't hire bands much in the middle of the week anymore, although we are still doing a Wednesday between lunch and dinner gig at a restaurant/bar, and it's in our 17th year. So we fill in other week days playing for Assisted Living Facilities. One hour shows on weekday mid afternoons. We still get to pull out a Sinatra or other standards, but only one per day, and they have to be recognizable to the "younger" residents. So "Summer Wind" is good, but "Perdido" would probably fall flat.

We recently learned these requests, "Harvest Moon", "I Won't Back Down", "It's The Same Old Song", "Take Me Home, Country Roads", and just fielded a request for anything Joni Mitchell (put that on the list). For a special person in one of the Assisted Living Facilities, I just started Sinatra's "All The Way". To see this guy smile will make the labor of learning it worth the effort, even if we only play it for him.

We still play general audience gigs on the weekends, where we see people from their 20s and up, so we aren't totally rooted in the past. And since it's Florida, we get to mix in Caribbean music to a general gig.

But, as long as I'm still playing for the retirement audience and filling the gaps with ALF gigs, we'll be GhostBuskers.

Who ya gonna call? Hopefully, us.


Insights and incites by Notes ♫

PS. I know I'm at the age where many people retire, but I have no intention of doing that. Why should I? Gigging is the most fun I can have with my clothes on. Retirement seems like early death to me.

I'm good with it because I'm not the "guest of honor".

[i][/i]
Going to three this month, one of which I’m organizing. “Getting the band back together” means something different these days.

Unfortunately that is so true.

The tragedy of life is that it ends. Sooner or later, and hopefully later.

We started doing some gigs for the local VA nursing home, and that led to some of the area Assisted Living Facilities.

Although it's emotionally rewarding when someone with a stone face comes alive with a song/memory we are playing, it also punctuates that everyone's days are numbered.

That's why it's important to get as much joy out of each day as you can.

I went to one a couple of weeks ago. He wasn't a band member, but a technician who repaired musicians gear for many years. His wife went to the store, got back, and he was dead of a heart attack. RIP Gary, and to your family, you know we are there for you.