Alabama

 Uke Fest

2020

(Virtual)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

Always Look on the Bright Side.docx &
Always Look on the Bright Side.pdf (Eric Idle, ca. 1979)

In two-line format:
Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (C).docx &
Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (C).pdf

Written in the British music hall tradition, the song touches on stoicism and the "stiff upper lip" spirit in the face of adversity, so often associated with British people. It became immensely popular, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Charts in 1991.
During the Falklands War, when the destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet cruise missile on 4 May 1982, her crew sang it while waiting to be rescued from their sinking ship, as did the crew of the destroyer HMS Coventry, which was sunk by Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks on 25 May 1982, with the line from the song "Worse things happen at sea, you know" being especially ironic.
When Graham Chapman (who portrayed Brian) died on 4 October 1989, the five remaining Pythons, as well as Chapman's close friends and family, came together at his public memorial service to sing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as part of Idle's eulogy. In 2005, a survey by Music Choice showed that it was the third most popular song Britons would like played at their funerals. By 2014, it was the most popular. Always Look on the Bright Side, Wikipedia.

Always Look on the Bright Side from the 1979 film "Monty Python's Life of Brian"

Always Look on the Bright Side by Eric Idle on The Late Late Show with James Corden (2018)

Anna (C).pdf (Arthur Alexander, 1962)
This song was a small hit when it first came out in 1962, getting to #68 in the pop charts and #10 in the R&B listings, but gained in popularity after the Beatles recorded it. Anna (Go To Him), Wikipedia.

Anna (Go To Him) by Arthur Alexander (1962)

Anna (Go To Him) by The Beatles from "Please Please Me" (1963); in the US it was on "Introducing... The Beatles" (January 10, 1964)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

Baby Beluga.pdf

In two-line format:

Baby Beluga_2 (C & G).docx & Baby Beluga_2 (C & G).pdf

Baby Baluga by Raffi (Live performance with the Rise & Shine Band, 1988)

Beat It The Horse With No Name (A Mashup)

Blame It On Coronavirus (C).pdf &

Blame It on Coronavirus (C).docx (Original lyrics by Cynthia Weil,  music by Barry Mann, 1963; updated lyrics by Keith Fukumitsu)
"Blame It on the Bossa Nova" merges the sensibilities of the Brill Building Sound with the Latin music which Edie Gormé had previously specialized in, describing a romantic relationship begun by a couple dancing to the bossa nova - "the dance of love." The bossa nova is a Brazilian music style in vogue in the United States from the late 1950s. It was the last top 40 hit by Edie Gormé. Blame It on the Bossa Nova, Wikipedia

Blame It On The Bossa Nova by Eydie Gormie (1963)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

Can't Help But Smile.doc & Can't Help But Smile.pdf (Jim Beloff, 2004) found in "The Daily Ukulele" by Jim and Liz Beloff, p. 50.

Can't Help But Smile.pdf (Key of G with chord diagrams), Song 703 from the TVUC Songbook, Version 2.2.5.

Can't Help But Smile Ukulele Playalong by Jim and Liz Beloff

Can't Help But Smile Ukulele Playalong by Jim and Liz Beloff at the Uke New Jersey Too! festival, Aug. 29, 2014

Crayola Doesn't Make A Color (C).doc & Crayola Doesn't Make a Color (C).pdf (Kristin Andreassen & Megan Downes, 2006-2007) (In C)

Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes.pdf (B♭ & F)
2007 winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Children's Category. Kristin Andreassen, Wikipedia

Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes by Kristin Andreassen from the album "Kiss Me Hello" (2007)

Crayola Doesn't Make A Color For Your Eyes by Kristin Andreassen (Video)

Crayola Doesn't Make A Color For Your Eyes by Tyne Daly at the 2009 MAC Awards

Crayola Doesn't Make A Color For Your Eyes by Kristin Andreassen live for the Music Fog cameras in New York at Midtown Live

Crocodile Rock (in D).pdf (Elton John & Bernie Taupin, 1972)
In two-line format:
Crocodile Rock_(D).docx & Crocodile Rock_(D).pdf
A pre-release single from his 1973 album "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player," and became his first U.S. #1 single. Crocodile Rock, Wikipedia.

Crocodile Rock by Elton John (1972)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

Don't Put Your Ukulele On The Shelf (C).pdf

This was an Open Mic performance by the song's writer, Rose Marie Sand.

Dream Baby.pdf (Cindy Walker (1918-2006), ca. 1962)
She originally had little confidence in "Dream Baby", but Orbison's recording was a hit in both the US and Britain in 1962, and was a hit again in 1971 for Glen Campbell and in 1983 for Lacy J. Dalton. It has been estimated that more than 500 of Walker's songs have been recorded and that her songs made the Top 40 charts (country or pop) more than 400 times. Cindy Walker, Wikipedia; Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream), Wikipedia

Dream Baby by Roy Orbison (1962)

Dream Baby by Glen Campbell (1971)

Dream Baby by Lacy J. Dalton (1983) (good bass line)

Dream Baby by Hootie and the Blowfish (1995)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

Feelin' Groovy (59th Street Bridge Song).pdf (Paul Simon, 1966)
In two-line format:
Feelin' Groovy.docx & Feelin' Groovy.pdf
"59th Street Bridge" is the colloquial name of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge in New York City. The song's message is immediately delivered in its opening verse: "Slow down, you move too fast". The studio version features Dave Brubeck Quartet members Joe Morello (drums) and Eugene Wright (double bass).
A popular cover version "Feeling Groovy" was recorded by Harpers Bizarre in 1967, reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Easy Listening chart. Their version featured a harmonic choral a cappella section and a woodwind quartet with a flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon.
The song has been covered by a number of artists, has appeared in TV commercials, TV shows, and movies. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy), Wikipedia.

59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) by Simon & Garfunkel from their 1966 album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme"

59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) by Simon & Garfunkel from the Concert in Central Park (Video)

59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) by Simon & Garfunkel, Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, July 1970

59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) by Harpers Bizarre (1967)

Fifty Ways to Beat Corona.doc & Fifty Ways to Beat Corona.pdf (Adaptation by Theresa Miller, 2020; music by Paul Simon, 1975)

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon from "Still Crazy After All These Years" (1975)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

I Believe in Music.pdf (Mac Davis, 1970)

In two-line format:
I Believe In Music (C & G).docx & I Believe In Music (C & G).pdf

In a 2017 interview, Davis said the song was inspired while he was in England at the home of Lulu and Maurice Gibb:
     I went to the kitchen and fixed myself a drink at the party, and there were a bunch of hippie types and they were gonna have a séance. They asked me if I would like to join them. And I said, "No man, I don’t think so." (laughs). It wasn’t my thing. Then someone asked, "Don’t you believe in the occult?" I said, "No man, I believe in music." And the second I said it, I just went … "I believe in music". I looked around … it was like a God-shot. I saw one of Maurice Gibb’s guitars sitting on a stand, and I picked it up and started strumming it. I had the hook before I left there … (he sings) "I believe in music, I believe in love". Years later, "I Believe In Music" became my signature song. I closed every show with it.

I Believe In Music, Wikipedia.

I Believe In Music by Mac Davis (1970)

I Believe In Music by Helen Reddy (Live at the Troubadour, 1972)

I Believe In Music by Gallery (1972)

I Can See Clearly Now (in-D).pdf (Johnny Nash, 1972)
In two-line format:
I Can See Clearly Now (D).docx & I Can See Clearly Now (D).pdf
This was a single from the album of the same name and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdom when it was released in 1972, reaching #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary Charts as well as #1 on the Cash Box chart. It has been covered by many artists throughout the years. I Can See Clearly Now, Wikipedia

I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash (1972)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

Margaritaville (C).pdf (Jimmy Buffett, 1977)
In two-line format:
Margaritaville (C).docx & Margaritaville_(C).pdf

Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett from his album "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" (1977)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

Octopus's Garden.pdf (Richard Starkey performing professionally Ringo Starr, 1968-69)
The idea for the song came about when Starr was on a boat belonging to comedian Peter Sellers in Sardinia in 1968. He ordered fish and chips for lunch, but instead of fish he got squid (it was the first time he'd eaten squid, and he said, "It was OK. A bit rubbery. Tasted like chicken.") The boat's captain then told Starr about how octopuses travel along the sea bed picking up stones and shiny objects with which to build gardens. Starr's songwriting was further inspired by his desire to escape mounting hostility among the Beatles; he would later admit that he had "just wanted to be under the sea, too". Uncredited assistance in developing the song's chord changes was provided by Harrison, who can be seen helping Starr work the song out on piano, with Lennon later joining in with drums, in the "Let It Be" documentary. Octopus's Garden, Wikipedia.

Octopus's Garden by The Beatles from their 1969 album "Abbey Road"

Octopus's Garden by Ringo Starr (Live, 2005)

Octopus's Garden by Jim Henson's Muppets (1969, 1970, 1978), from the Ed Sullivan TV Show, March 1, 1970

Octopus's Garden by Raffi (1985)

O-O-Child.pdf (Stan Vincent, 1970)
"O-o-h Child" broke out in the key markets of Philadelphia and Detroit to rise as high as #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1970. The track's R&B chart impact was more muted with a #14 peak, although "O-o-h Child" is now regarded as a "soft soul" classic. The lyrics tell the listener that "things are gonna get easier" in times of strife. The song's uplifting message helped it to become popular among pop and rhythm and blues audiences when it was released. The song is ranked #402 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. O-o-h Child, Wikipedia.

O-O-Child by The Five Stairsteps (1970)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

Silver Threads & Golden Needles (C).pdf (Dick Reynolds & Jack Rhodes, ca. 1956)

Silver Threads and Golden Needles by Wanda Jackson (1956); initial recording with over 60 known covers.

Silver Threads and Golden Needles by The Springfields (1962), reached #20 on the US on the Billboard chart, the first single by a British group ever to do so, months before The Beatles and the British invasion.

Silver Threads and Golden Needles by Linda Ronstadt (1973)

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

They All Asked For You.doc

They All Asked For You - 1.pdf (with graphics)

They All Asked For You - 2.pdf (without graphics)

They All Asked For You by the Meters from their 1975 album, "Fire On The Bayou."

Song Sheet

YouTube Link

You're The One That I Want (Dm).pdf (John Farrar, 1978)
From the 1978 movie "Grease", and written especially for Olivia Newton-John. Danny Zuko (Travolta), leader of the T-Birds, has recently lettered in cross-country running in an effort to win back his estranged girlfriend Sandy Olsson (Newton-John); unbeknownst to him, Sandy, who has been conflicted about her upright and proper etiquette in a school full of brash greasers, has herself transformed into a greaser queen to win back Danny. In the song, Danny expresses pleasant shock and arousal at Sandy's transformation, with Sandy responding that Danny must "shape up" to prove himself capable of treating Sandy the right way.
"You're the One That I Want" is one of the best-selling singles in history, having sold over 6 million copies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France alone, with estimates of more than 15 million copies sold overall. It reached #1 in the US, Australia, the UK, and at least nine other countries. You're The One That I Want, Wikipedia.

You're The One That I Want by Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta from the 1978 movie "Grease"