Christmas Tunes

A lot of the Xmas songs are trivial, especially the kids' ones: Frosty, Rudolph, Housetop. But the old-time jazz standard types are a lot more interesting than most current (and by that, I mean "20 year old") pop tunes. Working those out is what got me to the level that I can do things like "You Don't Know Me", "Someone to Watch..." etc. (whether or not that's a good thing).

I'd be tempted to do only the jazz classics at Moxie Java: "Have Yourself...", "I'll be Home...", and maybe (if I can pull it off), that Eagles "Please Come Home for Christmas" blues tune. Seems like I learned two Elvis tunes: " Santa Claus is Back in Town" and "I'll Have a Blue Christmas" last year, as a joke, but they both worked pretty good. I'd expected to be embarrassed to do them, but they sound good, so I wasn't.

I guess I'd want to have the lamer songs handy, just for the kids, if any, by request -- that always bumps up the tipping.

I've had a spurt of new song learning this week (already) -- "Homeward Bound", "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" (in D, I think), "Mister Postman" (haven't settled on a key yet -- maybe C (i.e., C, Am, F, G, all the way through)), and "All I Have To Do Is Dream" (in C (hey, it's C, Am, F, G, too!)).

The latter three are all trivial, but I thought they might be fun, in the vein of "Standing There". But "Homeward" is deceptively tough. Maybe I'm trying to play two guitars (and the bass) at the same time, but the chorus is hard (and fast). The verses are easy, at least half of the way through. But that intro/outro riff has to be right on the first try, which will take some practice, and luck. The original is too high, of course -- it's in G, capoed three, but if I just leave the capo off, I think I'll be OK.