[Harp-L] One-Chord Boogie

[Elizabeth Hess <TrackHarpL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I attended a fund raiser recently, and was unexpectedly thrust onstage with a teen band (well, they were in a bar, so MAYBE not teens, but verrry young-seeming to this middle-aged lady), whom the organizer said could play blues, which he knows is my preference for performing.  So, I called, "This is a 12-bar blues in the key of A.  Up-tempo shuffle.  Good?  [eye contact all around] A-one, a-two, a-one, two, three, four!" And launched into "Every Day I Have the Blues".

The band started in vigorously on an A chord, and then after four bars stayed on the A chord, and some random number of measures later changed to some other chord, and the whole thing was quite an adventure.  Hand signals for the changes had no audible effect, though the bass player noted afterward that he had seen them and thought, "Wow, she's really into it!"  I brazened it out, did verses and solos, let the guitar player take a solo (of indeterminate length), did another verse and another harp solo, then signaled to wind it up.  But the band kept going, and going, and going.  (I say!  Who's driving the bus, here?)  Eventually the thing ground to a ragged halt.  I gave the audience my very best smile, exited stage left, and after the set thanked each member of the band for letting me share the stage with them.

People came up to me and said, "You were awesome!" which led me to ponder the fact that the words "awesome" and "awful" are more closely related than one might think at first blush.

Two members of the band showed up at my local jam on Wednesday, and expressed interest in playing with me again.  (I declined as politely as I could.)

Odds are good that I'll be asked to play with them again, at some point....  It's a small community.  Clearly the right song to do is "Shake Your Hips," which just sits on one chord the whole time.  So I'm set for my next encounter.

I'd be grateful for pointers to other one-chord songs whose lyrics I might learn.

Elizabeth H. (aka "Tin Lizzie")