Tag Archives: Halloween Downloads

Witchcraft

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

Download Instrumental    Let’s switch gears for a moment.  You’re not playing a raucous Halloween bash at the Elks Lodge in Fairhope.  Your gig is Bucky’s Birdcage Lounge at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear.  This calls for a little more laid-back approach.

“Witchcraft” was released by Frank Sinatra in May of 1957.  He recorded the song three times in a studio setting.  The first in ’57 as a single, then re-recorded it in 1963 on his album Sinatra’s Sinatra.  Finally, in 1993, he went back into the studio and trotted it out one more time with Anita Baker on his Duets album.  It’s a standard jazz favorite and will work well at the Grand Hotel.

I kept the arrangement simple.  You’ll only get one chord on the piano to set your key, so be prepared to jump right in.  They’ll love this at The Grand or anywhere else with a touch of class.

Ghostbusters

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thDYZSXIH8  Download    For all you keyboard arrangers out there, this is the time of the year to dig deep into your instrument and find the sound effects page.  It’s Halloween, after all, and you’ve no doubt got some scary sounds in there.  Be creative and use ’em in your Halloween party repertoire.

We’re not doing a job on Halloween this year – it’s on a Thursday.  We’re doing a private party on Friday instead – the day after Halloween and in a completely different month! Doesn’t seem right somehow.  But it’s still a “spooky” gig and we’ll be doing a lot of Halloween-type music.  “Ghostbusters” is our opener and you might consider using it that way too.  Great beat, pounding bass, and well-placed scary sound effects kinda sets the mood.  I can’t duplicate the back-up vocals (obviously) or the “speaking parts” in the song so this sequence is missing gems like “Who ya gonna call, Ghostbusters” and “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts” – but you can fill in the blanks.

Through the rest of the month of October, I’ll be featuring songs with a Halloween theme.  Your crowd wants to hear spooky music that night so… BOO!

Thriller (for Halloween)

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

th1EPZT3A4  Download    We’re going to change up this year. Instead of using “Ghostbusters” for the opener, we’ll try this one. It’s got that driving Michael Jackson beat that should get your audience on their feet right away.  You can use the last 32 kinda empty bars at the end to introduce the band (or yourself as the singer) and then go directly into “Ghostbusters”, or whatever.

The video for “Thriller” is quite remarkable.  Who knew Jackson could act as well as put out incredible music?  Yeah, he had some issues, but he was a genius.  Click on the link below to see the video…

As an aside, I’m using a shehnai as the lead instrument.  It’s a musical instrument very similar to an oboe, common in places like India and Pakistan.  It has that somewhat eerie tone that is perfect for a song like this – but, of course, you’ll be singing it so who cares.  Get it off the Halloween list on the home page.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=thriller&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=8E0893D58A0E4E68F3AC8E0893D58A0E4E68F3AC

Purple People Eater

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thG2U7K7S4  Download with Lead    This song was recorded by Sheb Wooley (under duress) in 1958 and soared to the top of the charts. It’s about the silliest piece ever, even for what is termed a “novelty song”. It’s about a Purple People Eater who descends to earth to join a rock’n’roll band.  He has one eye, one horn, and flies.  But he won’t eat Sheb cause “he’s too tough”.  Told you it was silly! Actually, the creature wasn’t purple – he only ate purple people – but this confusion made the song even more popular. They were hurtin’ for entertainment in the late 50’s.
Anyway, it makes for a good Halloween song. Go to the home page and download it from the Halloween list without the lead and sing it yourself.

Ghostbusters

Posted by Dave Zobrist on

thDYZSXIH8  Download    For all you keyboard arrangers out there, this is the time of the year to dig deep into your instrument and find the sound effects page.  It’s Halloween, after all, and you’ve no doubt got some scary sounds in there.  Be creative and use ’em in your Halloween party repertoire.

We’re not doing a job on Halloween this year – we’re doing one on Friday, the night before.  But it’s still a “spooky” gig and we’ll be doing a lot of Halloween-type music.  “Ghostbusters” is our opener and you might consider using it that way too.  Great beat, pounding bass, and well-placed scary sound effects kinda sets the mood.  I can’t duplicate the back-up vocals (obviously) or the “speaking parts” in the song so this sequence is missing gems like “Who ya gonna call, Ghostbusters” and “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts” – but you can fill in the blanks.

Through the month of October, I’ll be featuring songs with a Halloween theme.  Your crowd wants to hear spooky music that night so… BOO!