Download Instrumental   If there was ever a “laid back” song, this is it.  Think of walking hand-in-hand with your lover in a park on a lazy Saturday morning – birds singing in the trees and kids laughing and sending toy sailboats skittering across a pond.  Or picture you and that same lover (or a different one – maybe you’re the kind that gets around) strolling barefoot along a sandy beach – margaritas in paper cups and waves gently pushing you away from the water’s edge.  The background music for all that?  “Groovin'” by The Young Rascals.

The “Rascals” released it in May of 1967, even though the record company was reluctant to do so.  They didn’t like the fact that there were no drums – only a couple of congas and sticks (however, I added a bass drum for a little more bottom).  To me, that’s part of the charm of this happy little tune.  Well, it soared to # 1 on the charts almost instantly, stayed there for four weeks, then plunged almost as quickly.  It’s still considered one of the best five hundred songs ever produced.  I think it’s one of the top ten.

Whenever “Groovin” came on the radio, I turned it way up just to hear the soulful harmonica behind the vocals and the beauty of the backup vocal mix.  Backup singers don’t get the credit they deserve.  Most times I’d rather listen to the second-line vocals than the lead.  My Yamaha keyboard has great vocal sounds and I get a huge kick out of creating the vocal mix.  If you’re a solo performer, you’ll have a nice full sound with this sequence.

Oh… and if you listen real close to the beginning and end, you can hear the birds that sang in the original record.  Yep, this keyboard has birds!  Yamaha makes me so happy… and so does this song.

  Download Instrumental    Since the goal this month is to keep things happy and upbeat, this piece is right up our proverbial alley.  Thanks to Keith Anderson for reminding me of this one.

There once was an Indian spiritual guide named Meher BaBa who claimed he was the Avatar – or God in human form.  He thought that the universe was largely just imagination and that every soul was God passing through that imagination on it’s way to divinity.  Well, alrighty then.  He also spent the last 44 years of his life in silence, refusing to speak in this world.  Probably a good idea.  His favorite expression was – you guessed it – “don’t worry, be happy”.

Singer and musician Bobby McFerrin noticed a poster of Meher BaBa in somebody’s apartment with the words “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” written underneath his picture.  Bobby liked the simplicity of such a philosophy and wrote a song about it.  He chose not to use even one musical instrument in his recording, instead opting to use his voice for all the parts.  So…  a few studio musicians lost some income on this one, but we won’t go there.  It’s the only a capella song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts and did so in 1988.  This tune was also featured in the movie Cocktail.

It’s a happy one.  And maybe even uplifting.  If you can whistle, mute track one and have at it.  Our arrangement is a little more reggae than McFerrin’s, but it works well on your beach gigs.  Have fun with it – I’m sure Mr. BaBa would approve… whereEVER he is in this universe.

  Download   There’s a certain caliber of nightclub where, about one in the morning, a fight will break out.  It’s inevitable.  You’re in the middle of “Wind Beneath My Wings” (boy, I sure hope not), when a woman suddenly screams (I think it’s the same woman in every bar) and a scuffle ensues at the end of the bar.  It goes on for 10 minutes while the bouncers do their thing and the club cuts the power to the stage.  I’ve never understood why they do that – must be a Southern thing.

The offending parties have been escorted out, power’s back on, weapons put away, and everybody looks at you with a “now what” expression on their face.  Well, you better kick it up, and fast.  Get your dancers back on the floor with a driving beat and a song with a message.  “It’s All Right Now” is perfect for this situation and will calm the savage beasts – I promise.  You want to make them happy in spite of themselves.  At least until that woman screams again.

  Download Instrumental   At one time I worked with a cruise ship singer who insisted on doing 70’s sitcom themes. I hated it, but she was calling the shots and I was along for the ride.  Night after night I “moved it on up” with The Jeffersons  and boarded the Love Boat with promises of love “exciting and new”.  However, she did do a killer version of Edith Bunker (as did Karen in later years).  I had to be Archie, but that was easy.

And then there was this theme from the sitcom “Happy Days”.  Richie Cunningham was no friend of mine – his sister was just sappy – Ralph had a big mouth – Potsie was (well, anybody named Potsie) – and Fonzie was like a guy I knew in high school… who beat me up… twice.  I was no fan of the show but I liked the start-up music.  So I didn’t mind (so much) playing this one for Miss Cruise Ship.  If you are determined to perform television theme songs, you would do well to start with this one.

It’s a new day and an exciting time in our country!  Be happy, you old dog!  What the hell do you have to lose?

  Download MP3   It’s time for everyone to just chill out!  No matter which side of the aisle you’re on, it’s been a tough political year for all of us.  But it’s time to move on, for cryin’ out loud – LET IT BE!

This song was the name of The Beatles last album.  The album was supposed to be entitled “Get Back”, but that proved to be entirely inappropriate.  There was no going back to what they were – there was only moving away from each other to pursue their own lives and careers.  It was time to just “let it be” and travel another road.

In a 1972 interview, Paul McCartney revealed who “Mother Mary” was in the song.  Most people at the time believed it to be a biblical reference, but not so.  Paul’s mother had died when he was 14, and she came to him in a dream one night in “times of trouble – speaking words of wisdom”.  His mother’s name, of course, was Mary.

So let’s use this tune as our own inspiration in this troubled time.  If you’re performing this song with these backups, do me a favor –  introduce the piece as a sign of better times to come.  Let’s get with the program, folks… let it go already.

  Download Instrumental   Inexplicably, this song begins with wind chimes. Okay, so all I had were vibes tuned an octave too high, but it’s close to the right sound.  Sometimes, ya just have to make do.  The only reason I can see for such an unusual start is to establish the key for the singer.   Very important!  Ask any singer.

“A Beautiful Morning” is another of those happy songs that makes one feel confident and optimistic.  First line: “It’s a beautiful morning – I think I’ll go outside for a while – and just smile”.  Nice way to start any day, right?  The Young Rascals were a late 60’s band that scored several hits, among them “Groovin” and “Good Lovin”.  They eventually just became known as The Rascals and this tune was their first success under that name.  They were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2010.

There was some contention in the Zobrist household over this song.  Whenever I finish an arrangement, I invite Karen into the studio to listen and critique.  I was using a tenor sax for the lead, but she insisted that a trombone would be much better – something about establishing the right “feeling”.  Humph.  I liked sax – she was vehement about trombone.  So, unless I wanted to be sleeping in that same studio (alone), I’m using her choice….. but I still prefer the tenor (pout -pout).

  Click to Play  Sometimes,  you just have to pick up a fishing pole and find a nice secluded place to drop your line in the water.  And, sometimes, you just feel like singin’ a song about it.  “Gone Fishin” is a “la-la” tune – makes you want to bob your head from side to side and sway your body just a little.  It’s just for fun and not for all venues.  I mean, you’re not going to follow “Sweet Home Alabama” with this little piece in a nightclub somewhere unless you’re feeling especially brave.  But there are times when you just want to make people smile…

I recorded this a couple years ago while searching for a song that didn’t offend anybody (that’s getting harder and harder these days).  You can click on the link to the right of the above picture to hear it.  If you listen carefully, you can hear Karen’s sweet backup vocals helping me stay on key.  Originally recorded by Arthur Godfrey in 1950, it didn’t become a semi-hit until the following year.  Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong sang it as a duet on Crosby’s radio show and it became mildly popular.  I’d like to be the one to bring it back, but times are different.

So if you’re feeling frustrated or cantankerous or just plain rude – grab a fishing pole, head for the nearest lake or stream, and hum this little tune.  You’ll feel better for it, I promise.

But you have to bob your head… just a little.

[Gone Fishing backups on the Pop/Rock List]

  Download Instrumental    File this one under OFM (Old Fart Music).  But if you want to draw your people out on the dance floor (and who doesn’t?), the drum, bass and guitar intro will do the job for you.  The “hook” is those three instantly recognizable guitar chords that play throughout the song (A, C#mi and Bmi). But, it’s really all about the beat, folks… you can dance to it – and they will.

“But It’s All Right” was released by J.J. Jackson in 1966 and peaked at #4 on the R&B Charts.  He recorded the song in the United Kingdom and the studio musicians featured some of Britain’s best jazz players – they would later make up his backup band on the road for a few years.  This one is listed as one of the top ten dance tunes of the ages.  It really should be in your repertoire.

This is dedicated to all the “snowflakes” on our college campuses right now who think their world has come to an end:  “But it’s all right”, boys and girls – get over it!