Checkers Acousta Kitties Jam 1/4/17-Bargains And Music

Songs:

Diddy Wah Diddy
I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better
Dead Flowers
Games People Play

With
Skip Richards-Bass and lead vocals on Dead Flowers
Joe Hutchcroft-Backing Vocals on Feel A Whole Lot Better
Steve Black Wolf-Backing vocals on Feel A Whole Lot Better and Games People Play
R.Smith-Lead vocals and guitar on above songs, Congas on the Bottom Numbers

Abigail Bunker-Vocals on Bobby McGee, Spiders And Snakes
Belinda Christensen-James-Vocals on Stormy Monday, Fever and Blue Bayou
Mark Randolph-Guitar on Stormy Monday, Fever And Blue Bayou

The Acousta Kitties-Support, and good vibes.

For my final performances of the winter jam circuit, I wouldn't think they were ground breaking as such but rather having fun. There's hope that I'll show up next week for Lorie's birthday surprise but that will be a last minute decision.

Today was my dad's birthday, he turned 78.  Stopped at the shop wished him a happy birthday and then off to Iowa City to do some bargain hunting and passing the time before heading back to Checker's.  I have been surprised of seeing actual drum sets at the local Stuff Etc and Goodwill in Coralville, to which somebody donated a Yamaha Stage Custom and Goodwill had it for 249 dollars, which is not bad of a deal.  The drums were made in Indonesia, rather than China and I think they are a step ahead of the old Yamaha's that were a beginners' model but it did provide some nice recordings for me back in the 1990s and early 2000s.  A shell pack, but I'm thinking some of the drums were missing and there some missing stands and it did have a hi hat stand, no cymbals though.  Had I not bought the Tama set last summer, I would have gotten this set, I do like Yamaha Drums a lot.  But I didn't need another dust collecting drum set around here.  I still need to piece together the Tama set and have yet to make room for it in the basement.

For those who know me, I am a record and CD collecting hoarder and I love all sorts of music and continue to look for the hard to find.  And continue to find off the wall stuff.  I know bargain hunting has held me back in playing live gigs, I always been a record collector first, a drummer second and guitar player third.   Sometimes I'll find a whole bunch of stuff in one setting, sometimes I don't.  I do plan to thin my collection when the weather gets warmer.

For tonight, I started with Diddy Wah Diddy, first time I did that song live and then went the tried and more familiar, letting Skip sing lead most of the time on Dead Flowers, he loves to do that song and sing it.  For Games People Play, I did the lead with Joe and Steve adding backing vocals.  The honorary Kitty, Abigail has really come into her own as a singing sensation and she's only 10 years old.  She's done Me And Bobby McGee for so long that she needs no cheat sheet to sing it and doesn't oversing it unlike the person who did sing the same song Sunday at Rumors. 

After Games People Play, I turned it over to Belinda and Mark who started out with the bluesy Stormy Monday with me back behind the congas again.  After Blue Bayou, I retired for the night and stayed in the background strumming along to some of the songs they played.  I could actually play Sweet Home Alabama on guitar now.  Easier than originally thought.

Below: Lorie Parker's Birthday Party 1/11/17.  I didn't play guitar that night, I was under the weather and was content to play the bongos  for an hour.   Even Terry McDowell and Tommy Bruner showed up to wish Lorie a happy birthday.  Julie Gordon was pretty busy shooting pictures. Here's one of them.