From 2016, please enjoy The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra and their quite remarkable cover of Thin Lizzy's classic "The Boys Are Back in Town."
I think at this point we can all agree that you can get an impressive amount of music out of those tiny things; that said, I really would like an explanation for the resurgence of interest in an instrument that -- for most of my lifetime, anyway -- had been mostly associated with the era of bathtub gin and flappers.
Have a great weekend, everybody. Especially (and this is a clue to Monday's post) you, Cait!
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I think the uke's current popularity is related to how easy it is to learn and play. I'm an old fart (I still remember the exact day I purchased Sgt. Pepper) who, over a lifetime, have been too damn lazy to master a six stringed instrument. On a whim I bought a cheap uke last year. Mastering about 4 simple chords on the uke makes possible playing tons of songs.
By the way, Steve, where's that promised review of the best release, so far, of this year? Want to at least give a title?
It's coming Monday. And it's called Third.
It's portable and easy to play. I wish more people found it as fun as I do.
You can probably trace the resurgence of ukulele at least in part to George Harrison, whose penchant for the instrument became better known upon his death, when folks like Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne talked about how George would hand visitors a ukulele when they arrived at his home. I believe there's some footage in the Beatles Anthology of George playing a ukulele, the song "Free As a Bird" concluded with some ukulele strumming, and in the video there's a brief clip of George Formby, the Les Paul of ukulele, of whom George was known to be a great fan. And of course Sir Paul opens his stage cover of "Something" with ukulele in his honor.
Geoge, Paul, Ringo - 1994, Uke
https://youtu.be/v5k-OE0-fWs
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