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X-mas Music Arghhh
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Subject: X-mas Music Arghhh From: SlickerBill Date: 23 Oct 02 - 10:36 PM Anybody out there dreading the XMas season as a musician ? A number of years ago I was asked to play guitar for a family Christmas party. I was honored and went about my duties, learning as many of these tunes as possible. And Christmas music, at least for guitar is NOT easy as far as I'm concerned. Most of the stuff is written for key boards and takes a good deal of work to get it down. but the worst is when you actually get to the party. Why? Well for one thing there's always someone who insists on tunes you don't know. some times they're bleeding obvious and you're going "How in H*** did I miss that?". other times it's the unbelievably obscure, but of course the requestee acts like everyone and their dog knows this tune, and what's your problem? And then there's the keys! oh Lord what key to play in. In every crowd you've got one dame who figures she missed her calling and the Xmas bash is the time to "Blow us all away" and everything you play is too low or too high or what ever. finally, you can't go anywhere from about November to the end of December without playing Xmas music almost exclusively. Everywhere you go it's this music, over and over, endless versions of the same songs, every day for TWO BLOODY MONTHS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!! okay. i think i'm better now. thanks for listening. bye. SB |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Sorcha Date: 23 Oct 02 - 10:38 PM I'm with you! I hate the Christmas Season.......mid October until Jan...aaarrrggghhh! |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: SlickerBill Date: 23 Oct 02 - 10:50 PM I guess wht really gets me is it's so rushed. we're in such a hurry to get into christmas we kind of skip fall. there was actually a group last year in Quebec who threatened businesses that put out decorations too early with vandalism if they didn't ease up. not that I'm for vandalism, but I sure get their point. I think I actually like Christmas but hate the overkill that seems to take all the fun out of it, so I'm sick of it by the time it gets here. And I just resent that so much. And then when you have to play the music wherever you go...well it's just too much. SB |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: khandu Date: 23 Oct 02 - 11:14 PM "Forget the poor, the sick, the needy Fa la la la la... Tis the season to be greedy Fa la la la la Blah blah blah" I hate what Christmas has become, and I do grow so weary of "Felice Navidad" (sp?), et al, during the season. Stress, depression, suicide, all enjoy a very high rate at this time of year. Not to mention finacial catastrophes for many. (And cynicism for me!) And that incessant music does not help at all! When I was a child, one of six children in a poor family, we were too poor to suffer from the stress of it all. Christmas was a magical time of year for us all and, we revelled in the Simplicity of it. We were told of Santa, who somehow managed to leave us gifts under the tree year after year, but he was not the central figure. The Babe in the manger, who He became, and what He did...that was where we found the magic. Times and people change. Things are more complicated now. The Simplicity is not so simple to find. And that incessant music does not help! khandu (sorry for the creep!) |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 23 Oct 02 - 11:17 PM I have a working musician friend who loves Christmas music. She hates to see the season end because it means she doesn't get to do Christmas songs any more. She is nuts! Am I the only person who thinks that it's insane for a musician to spend a lot of time and energy learning songs that he or she is only going to play or sing one month out of the year? My entire Christmas repertoire consists of one song: John McCutcheon's "Christmas in the Trenches". And I don't consider it just a Christmas song. I'll sing it any time of the year, just like John does. If someone wants to pull out a book of Christmas carols with the words and chords in it, I'll play along if they'll sing 'em. But I will not sit down and commit them to memory. Bah! Humbug! Bruce |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 23 Oct 02 - 11:42 PM Bill - UP YOUR Repetoir!!!
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: wysiwyg Date: 23 Oct 02 - 11:47 PM And Advent is no (*^%^%^ fun either! I hope I saved last year's Advent file, it was hell finding them all! ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: GUEST Date: 23 Oct 02 - 11:54 PM Santa Claus roasting on an open fire |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: open mike Date: 24 Oct 02 - 02:07 AM yeah-when the orange and black halloween stuff gets put away all of the sudden the aisles of stores go red and green... earlier every year i think...yikes! I do like the music, especially little drummer boy-- the best gift is the gift of music you know... I plan to share a horse-drawn wagon ride with friends carroling as we go...and also go to several rest homes singing songs for folks... |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Nigel Parsons Date: 24 Oct 02 - 05:27 AM Khandu: "Forget the poor, the sick, the needy Fa la la la la... Tis the season to be greedy Fa la la la la Blah blah blah" Is there more of this? or did you just put it in as a filler? Scrooge was a much maligned man. but I feel you may just be quoting part of His Christmas Carol (Prior to his visitations). And if it hasn't been written yet, it should be! "Humbug" anyone ? Nigel |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Hrothgar Date: 24 Oct 02 - 05:37 AM Sounds a bit like Tom Lehrer, but I've just checked his song book "Too Many Songs By Tom Lehrer" and it is not part of his "A Christmas Carol." Maybe Allan Sherman? |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Mr Happy Date: 24 Oct 02 - 05:46 AM will carol singers &/or sally army type bands need a pel to perform on the streets or in shop foyers in uk? |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: DMcG Date: 24 Oct 02 - 05:52 AM One Christmas staff party I bought a packet of humbugs and went round offering everyone one - "Humbug?" About 100 people there and not one person spotted the reference. |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Nigel Parsons Date: 24 Oct 02 - 06:09 AM DMcG: try offering a "BumHug" instead! (Whilst still proffering the bag) Nigel |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: DMcG Date: 24 Oct 02 - 06:22 AM Mr Happy - your comment was probably in jest, and I'm sure the Salvation Army will not need one. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to see PEL requirements being used whenever other groups were seen as a nuisance. I heard some years ago about tension between a traditional carol visit round farmhouses etc and the yuppie/second home-owners who now lived in many of them. The need for a PEL sounds a gift to such people. |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Mr Happy Date: 24 Oct 02 - 07:37 AM DMcG no jest- see 'licensing reform' thread. |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Mr Happy Date: 24 Oct 02 - 08:24 AM ,. |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: MMario Date: 24 Oct 02 - 08:28 AM I sing a LOT of Christmas Carols - Every weekend from Thanksgiving to Christmas - and by the time I'm through am pretty thoroughly sick of the entire season - but somehow the day itself manages to be special. |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: artbrooks Date: 24 Oct 02 - 08:33 AM It was fairly miserable, sonically, when my daughters were still at home and we went shopping...translation: "you sit here, Dad, and we'll let you know when we need you to come pay for something." So, I'd sit in the middle of the mall and listen to Xmas Muzak until it was oozing out of my ears. But then, I don't get asked to play it much. After all, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" sound fairly similar when played on the bodhran! I also don't spend any more time in the mall than the absolute minimum. We'll probably do one or two nursing home trips with a group of friends, and I can stand listening to the "Messiah" one more time. On a related note, Cost Plus Imports in San Francisco, before they had stores in every boutique mall in the US, used to sell Bah Humbug wrapping paper. Does anybody have a current source for this stuff? |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: GUEST,Slickerbill Date: 24 Oct 02 - 05:04 PM (Excuse the guest thing; different computer/ no cookie) Gargoyle, I'm great with Christ's birth, but the commercialisation and bastardization of the holiday has rendered it an X, (though in fact "X" in the Greek was a reference to Christ and is quite appropriate). |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Amergin Date: 24 Oct 02 - 05:14 PM my favourite christmas song is the grinch song...every year i try my damnedest to aspire to be like him..... |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Ron Olesko Date: 24 Oct 02 - 05:31 PM Cynics and cranks! What a bunch of people who love to commiserate in their self-pity! When did being a cranky bastard become so fashionbable? "oh woe is me, the holiday's are here again!" "shopping" "commericalization"..... etc, etc, etc. Stuff it!!!!!! Why don't you all just hibernate for the next few months and we will hook up again in January? Who needs you to mess up a good time? Seriously, I for one relish the hustle and bustle and the crowds. I enjoy shopping for gifts for people that I care about. I love hearing Muzak renditions of great songs. No, I'm not big on celebrating the religious significance of the day, but the spirit of the holiday is nice. Love and peace is not a bad thing to remember. And I LOVE the music. I can't wait to pull out the TRADITIONAL CD's and LP's and start sharing some wonderful songs. By my definition, these are folk songs. So to all you "humbugs", have a wonderful season. The rest of us won't miss you one bit!!!! Ron O. P.S. - Happy Holidays!! :) |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Genie Date: 24 Oct 02 - 05:44 PM Well, I'm totally with you folks re the commercialization of Christmas and all the stress it creates. (That's one reason I've taken to giving "gifts" from <a href="http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=41795#800645"> the Alternative Gift Market </a> to most friends and family, instead of material stuff.) [Check out Jackson Browne's "The Rebel Jesus," (done with The Chieftains), BTW. You'll love it.] And, I, too, get kinda sick of "Rudolph," "White Christmas," etc. being played in elevators <i>ad nauseum</i>. But, like gargoyle and MMario, I have a huge repertoire of Christmas songs. The ones I do can be old, new, and some of my own; folk, C/W, classical-inspired, pop, jazz, satirical, etc.; in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Latin, and English (plus Hanukkah songs in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, and English). I look forward to the "Holiday" season (which I generally define as starting about Dec. 1, or at least after Thanksgiving), so I can perform things like not to mention as well as some more commonly heard favorites like "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear" When I am performing, unless the gig is supposed to be a sing-along, I try not to do the same old seasonal songs that everybody hears seventeen times a day during the holidays. And if it IS a sing-along, sticking to "the ones everyone knows" is no more boring to me if the repertoire is Christmas songs than if it's general "songs everyone knows." I do have a bone to pick with Christians, though, re Christmas songs. The churches tend to stop singing songs about the birth of the Savior the day after Christmas. (Do you ever hear a church use "Joy To The World, the Lord is come" as a congregation hymn or anthem a week after Dec. 25? When churches buy into the trend of doing Christmas carols for 3 or 4 weeks before Christmas and stopping on Dec. 26, they seem to be being co-opted by the secular, mercantile Christmas idea. Genie |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Gareth Date: 24 Oct 02 - 06:55 PM I have a sudden urge to dig out the Mistltoe and sacrifice a few prisoners so that the spring will return. The sacrifficial flames should be fed with the mass of Xmas smaltz etc already for sale at our local supermarket. Garydd |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Leadfingers Date: 24 Oct 02 - 08:01 PM I hate Christmas,I hate Christmas,Sorry but its true And whats the fun when its all done 'Cos I hate New year too. Thank you Adrian May--- One of me favourite Chrisatmas songs. |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Maryrrf Date: 24 Oct 02 - 08:16 PM While I do enjoy some Christmas carols and have a modest repertoire of lesser known Christmas songs, some of them already mentioned, such as The Friendly Beasts, that isn't what people usually request. Most of what we seem to hear all the time is stuff like Jingle Bell Rock, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, etc. And most of these as well as the popular traditional carols ARE hard to play with a guitar - they're not written for that instrument. If I have to play Christmas music I try to do the lesser known stuff hoping people will enjoy it. BUT PEOPLE STILL WANT TO HEAR THE JUNK THEY'RE BOMBARDED WITH AD NAUSEUM in the malls, on the radio, etc. I don't understand it. I've had good Christmases and not so good ones but I prefer to think of it now as the Solstice and have to confess I'm glad when it's over. As many have pointed out, there's so much hype and it starts so early that by the time the day comes I'm sick of it. |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Stephen L. Rich Date: 24 Oct 02 - 08:54 PM Try this as a way to deal with the problem. You may not make it happen until next year, but it's something to think about. Every year, at one venue or another in Madison,WI, I put together my annual "Holiday Party For People Who Can't Stand The Holidays". Sometimes it's a solo effort. Sometimes I'll invite some of the local "open stage" talent to perform (with one rule:at least two holiday songs in your set -- one positive, one negative) I've found this to be a dandy way of (if you'll pardon the expression) taking back the Holiday Season. The negative songs provide enough of a catharsis that one can then listen to regular Christmas music with fresh ears. Further, someone always brings music which is rarely or never heard (due variously to it's originality or obscurity). If you can find a venue wich isn't already booked to the eyeballs for December, then think about it for next year. The pervasiveness of Holiday Music is one of the things that, as musicians, we can fight in a very real and direct way. Stephen Lee |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: WFDU - Ron Olesko Date: 24 Oct 02 - 09:02 PM What a bunch of altercockers! Okay, let's get real. Most of the songs that you are talking about - Frost the Snowman, Rudolph, Jingle Bell Rock, etc. are NOT aimed at the crowd that hangs around on Mudcat. They are aimed at children who deserve to hear what they want to hear. There is nothing wrong with ANY of those songs. The Folk Police can turn their heads and let the children enjoy the holiday. For musicians who are asked to perform holiday concerts and feign surprise at getting such requests, what the hell did you expect? Suck it up or don't take the gig! I made my post earlier with my tongue-in-cheek, but now I am really getting amazed! What a whiney bunch! Everybody has a choice and if you don't like shmaltz or commercialism, tough. It won't kill you! If you get that upset over a song, I really wonder how you get through the other 365 days. Please let me know if you plan to move into the neighborhood!!! I'm 45 years old and it won't be a holiday unless I sit down and watch Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, and Charlie Brown with my family. We will go to the mall, sing White Christmas at the top of our lungs (not the way Bing intended), stuff ourselves on gingerbread and candycanes, and have a great old time that we will remember. It is better to build memories like that then to sit around remembering how we groused about how the holiday sucks. Ron |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: dick greenhaus Date: 24 Oct 02 - 09:20 PM For a timely--and traditional--change, give a listen to Coope, Boyes & Simpson's "Garland of Carols". Magnificent! |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: WFDU - Ron Olesko Date: 24 Oct 02 - 09:30 PM Great artists Dick! I haven't heard it yet but I am sure it is wonderful! I just received two Village Carol CD's from Ian Russel. Wonderful! Some of the other CD's that I recommend - Artisan (they have two excellent CD's, one "Bygone Christmas" may be harder to find), Telynor's "Off The Beaten Path", Jean Redpath, Harvey Reid, and Linda Russell. There are enough good traditional recordings out there to keep even the purists happy. (Something you can put on when you send the kids in the other room to listen to Jingle Bell Rock!) Whatever your choice - enjoy!! Ron |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Joe Offer Date: 24 Oct 02 - 09:42 PM Hey, Bill - don't get frustrated! At Christmas, you can sing Merry Christmas from the Family. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Genie Date: 24 Oct 02 - 11:50 PM Maryrrf and Slicker Bill, there is at least one very popular Christmas song that was specifically composed FOR the Guitar. If you don't know the story of how "Stille Nacht" ("Silent Night") came to be composed, do check it out. That song, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, and Es Ist Ein' Ros' Entsprungen are wonderful on the guitar. And I, who am hardly a virtuoso, have no problem playing nearly all the well-known Christmas songs (secular and religious) on the guitar. (Torme and Wills's "The Christmas Song" requires a couple of "non-folk" chords," but most don't.) Genie |
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Subject: RE: X-mas Music Arghhh From: Ron Olesko Date: 25 Oct 02 - 09:26 AM Mary Coogan of Cherish the Ladies has a wonderful Christmas CD featuring her brilliant guitar work. Mary plays guitar, mandolin and banjo on the CD and the recording proves how lovely the music can be on those instruments. Harvey Reid's The Hear of a Minstrel on Christmas Day is also another great example. |
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