Raindrops
Keep Falling On My Head
From the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
this must be one of Bacharach and David's finest songs.
The original BJ Thomas record has an instantly
recognisable ukulele intro, and it was simply that which
prompted me to put the song into my cabaret routine one
night. I soon realised how popular it is - it's one of
those songs that just about everyone seems to know.Swimmin'
With The Wimmin
Another comic song, this time from the George Formby
songbook.
Limehouse
Blues/Alabamy Bound/Alabama Jubilee
Alabamy Bound was originally
introduced by Al Jolson but it was a superb 1944 Cliff
Edwards recording that inspired me to cover it. Alabama
Jubilee, by the giant of ragtime George L Cobb,
seemed an obvious choice to go with it. But Limehouse
Blues found its way into the arrangement by accident;
whilst trying out the other two songs on the piano, I
absent-mindedly found myself playing Limehouse Blues,
probably because the chord sequence is the same as Alabamy
Bound and its rhythm matches Alabama Jubilee!
So I put them together and I hope you'll agree they go
well!
Classical
Gas
When Mason Williams wrote this famous guitar number in
1968, he meant it as 'fuel' for the classical guitar
repertoire (that is, 'gas' as in gasoline). Since then
however, the piece has taken on a life of its own, and
has been covered countless times in all sorts of guises,
so I'm sure Mr Williams won't object to my using the
Stratocaster for this version!
I
Only Have Eyes For You
There are so many 1930s classics that sound
great on the ukulele, it's hard to choose. I first
considered this song for my Ukulele Mania album,
but I dropped it in favour of Isn't This A Lovely Day.
So when starting work on Bring Me Sunshine, I
recorded this track first, to ensure it wouldn't be left
out again!
Happy
Days Are Here Again
I love a song with an optimistic message, and they don't
get much cheerier than this one! This is a remix/remaster
of the Ukulele Mania version.
Somethin'
Stupid
By way of a contrast between two 'fast and furious'
tracks, here's my ukulele version of a famous Sinatra
song. The only previously-released track on the album,
this first appeared on Ukulele Mania.
Lover/The
World Is Waiting For The Sunrise
Perry Botkin (Snr) is one of my musical heroes. In a long
and varied career he played guitar for Bing Crosby and
provided the music for the Beverly Hillbillies.
But he was also one of the first artists to make records
of melody-style solos on the ukulele. These two songs
were two sides of such a record so I medleyed them in
tribute to him.
Andy Eastwood, October 2007
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