What are must know songs for Jam nights ?

[shoulderpet]

Hi All

As a bass player who is generally competent but far from exceptional I am trying to extend my repertoire and was wondering what songs are considered "must know songs" for jam nights ? thank you in advance 

[Japhet]

12 bar in A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G G# - sorted.

[seashell]

I suppose it depends on the type of jam, but in my experience 'Hey Joe' and 'Little Wing' are pretty much expected. Plus any 12 bar, as Japhet points out above.  A, G and E seem to be favoured keys IME. Others that seem to crop up regularly are 'Like a Rolling Stone' and 'The Weight'.  My local jam does cater for the more mature audience, as you can probably tell!!  

 

[KevB]

Red House, Stormy Monday, Sweet Home Alabama, Alright Now crop up with monotonous regularity too.

[obbm]

At the last two  Jams I played

Money For Nothing, Tush, Sweet Home Alabama, Hotel California, Crazy, Play That Funky Music, Born To be Wild, Shake Your Moneymaker, Sex On fire, Summer of 69, Fisherman's Blues

so not all 12-bars.  They were all the guitarists' choices of course. 

I like to make a note of what others play, especially the house band, and then go away and brush up on them.

O.P. Go along,  just listen to what's going on for a couple of times and then do your homework.

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by obbm

[seashell]

42 minutes ago, KevB said:

Red House, Stormy Monday, Sweet Home Alabama, Alright Now crop up with monotonous regularity too.

Indeed,  and thinking of 'Red' .. Little Red Rooster.  IMHO Stormy Monday is worth learning in advance because it departs from your usual '1, 4, 5' chord progression. Although there seems to be a zillion versions of it, so you'll be lucky if everyone is playing the same one, haha! 🙂

[Happy Jack]

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

As a bass player who is generally competent but far from exceptional I am trying to extend my repertoire and was wondering what songs are considered "must know songs" for jam nights ?

Try spending a few hours with your radio tuned to Absolute Radio (or similar Oldies station) and see how many of the big hits from the past you can successfully busk based simply on the fact that you grew up listening to the song.

If you have a talent for that, then you'll do fine at any jam session.

 

[shoulderpet]

Thanks for the replies guys, really helpful

[shoulderpet]

24 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Try spending a few hours with your radio tuned to Absolute Radio (or similar Oldies station) and see how many of the big hits from the past you can successfully busk based simply on the fact that you grew up listening to the song.

If you have a talent for that, then you'll do fine at any jam session.

 

Thats a great idea I will give that a try

[ahpook]

"Going Underground" ?

Edited December 17, 2018 by ahpook

[Geek99]

That’s alright mama went down well. As did Folsom prison blues 

[PawelG]

Chameleon, Cissy Strut...

[skidder652003]

sounds like our set list. jeezzzus!

Edited December 17, 2018 by skidder652003

[josie]

I only put my head above the parapet at blues jams, where a basic 12-bar can take you most of the way, but "Hey Joe" keeps coming up, "Black Magic Woman" and "Hooch Coochie Man" and "Crossroads" are usual suspects too. And "The Thrill is Gone". 

It does bug me that the bass player is expected to just know anything that comes up. I play as many open blues jams as I can - it's really good experience - but almost all the time either the guitar player(s) just announce what they're going to play, or (even worse) everyone else gets together on the other side of the stage and then someone walks across and tells me what they've decided to play. I've had to learn to listen for the first few bars and then blag it, but that's good experience too and I'm slowly getting better at it. 

[bazzbass]

Mannish Boy and Crossroads

[Happy Jack]

14 hours ago, josie said:

It does bug me that the bass player is expected to just know anything that comes up.

In all fairness, you only have to play one note at a time so that's easy, right?

[bubinga5]

A jam in my experience is made up on the spot. 

[Stylon Pilson]

6 minutes ago, bubinga5 said:

A jam in my experience is made up on the spot. 

A jam in my experience is thinly spread on hot buttered toast.

S.P.

[petebassist]

Unless you know every pop and rock song on the planet in many keys,  I doubt you'd be expected to know songs. If someone shouts out the chords then I'd expect to be able to improvise something, and it's easier with some forms that have a regular structure, such as blues n jazz. Or I'd get one of those busker books with chords for hundreds of songs.

[tonyquipment]

Beatles are generally a favourite. Failing that, 12 bar blues for hours on end. 

If the rest of the band doesn’t know 12 bar blues then they are not musicians. #savagetruth

[Low End Bee]

Hells teeth. No wonder I don't do jam nights!

Tell A lie. I got got dragged up on stage in Washington State US of A a few years ago for a couple of numbers as someone had spilled the limey bass player beans.

What are we playing I asked? "Chicago blues in C" How is it different to other blues? <shocked look> "It's... you know....Chicago blues!" It was the same as any other blues to my ears really. 

What's the other song? "Suzie Q" Never heard it before. <even more shocked look> "It's E A C B. You'll be fine" I was. But only just.

Although the musicians were lovely and friendly I found it a very uncomfortable experience and was relieved to get off. Put me off the 'jams' thing ever since. I prefer to be rehearsed before I play in public.

                    

[mikel]

On 18/12/2018 at 00:26, josie said:

I only put my head above the parapet at blues jams, where a basic 12-bar can take you most of the way, but "Hey Joe" keeps coming up, "Black Magic Woman" and "Hooch Coochie Man" and "Crossroads" are usual suspects too. And "The Thrill is Gone". 

It does bug me that the bass player is expected to just know anything that comes up. I play as many open blues jams as I can - it's really good experience - but almost all the time either the guitar player(s) just announce what they're going to play, or (even worse) everyone else gets together on the other side of the stage and then someone walks across and tells me what they've decided to play. I've had to learn to listen for the first few bars and then blag it, but that's good experience too and I'm slowly getting better at it. 

That's because as bass players we are regarded as solid and dependable, reliable and quick to learn. Or is that just me? 

[obi 2 kenobi]

On 17/12/2018 at 13:40, shoulderpet said:

Hi All

As a bass player who is generally competent but far from exceptional I am trying to extend my repertoire and was wondering what songs are considered "must know songs" for jam nights ? thank you in advance 

This one mate...

 

 

[EJWW]

Don't forget Long Train Running.

There is a lot of conservatism at open mic nights. The good thing about them is being able to meet other local musos but in my experience it is mainly rock and blues covers. Not really much potential for meeting people to produce original stuff I think but definitely better than sitting at home looking at bass porn on this forum. 

 

[AntLockyer]

I'm in the house band for a jam night. It's mostly blues but anyone can do anything and I just ask what he chords are before we start. This generally means the guy will realise it is too difficult when he starts rattling off a thousand changes or that it is straight forward enough. Get good at knowing the chords on a guitar so you can watch for the changes on anything you forget and just relinquish control. It made a huge difference to my confidence, transformed the way I play with my normal band to the point that we don't rehearse at all anymore and new songs get added to the list a week before.