You have to be comfortable with a very high level of camp to play a cowboy Fluke. I think Dent May is the man for that job.
Requested by Fiona.
More Dent May
Meet Me in the Garden (Chords)
Oh, Paris! (Chords)
You Can’t Force a Dance Party (Chords)
wow, thanks man! that is fantastic! I wanted to play that song for ages now… thanks again!
I wish Flea Market Music would bring back the Mookulele
and the flame covered (hot rod) fluke. Which conveniently
sets me up – If anyone wants to see really nice photos of
Ami Worthen’s flame covered uke, drop by pohakuukulele.com.
and while there take a good look at the other custom ukes
on display (click on the home page images for photos), including Craig’s mermaid concert and Tippy Canoe’s
custom art concert (used in her music video for the song Mass
Transmissions), plus others. Very nice photography.
I wonder just how ukulele camp plays outside the ukulele
world. Does it help or hinder attempts to get the instrument taken seriously by the “outside” world. And do the people in
the pro-camp camp really care how they’re seen even by those
inside the uke world, much less by those on the outside looking in. Should we be concerned with how the instrument is perceived by others & attempt to marginalize the Tiny Tims amongst us (using peaceful methods of persuasion, of course), or is the sheer fun
coming through with camp good for the uke’s image ( although I can think of one Formbyesque performer I could do without hearing about for a while). And actually, the degree of camp Dent is projecting here (and I do like this performance, despite any impression I may have given earlier indicating otherwise) is not all that great. Just bring Dithyrambe to mind & Dent comes off as positively staid (not Craig staid, of course, but that’s difficult to achieve without years of hard work).
‘You have to be comfortable with a very high level of camp to play a cowboy Fluke. I think Dent May is the man for that job.’ -Woodshed
….amen…..
‘Does it help or hinder attempts to get the instrument taken seriously by the “outside” world. And do the people in
the pro-camp camp really care how they’re seen even by those
inside the uke world, much less by those on the outside looking in.’
…..i hope not…..
‘Should we be concerned with how the instrument is perceived by others & attempt to marginalize the Tiny Tims amongst us (using peaceful methods of persuasion, of course), or is the sheer fun
coming through with camp good for the uke’s image’
…..first off, my two cent input regarding ‘marginalizing’ the Tiny Tims would be to avoid worrying about it altogether (though i see how this question would arise….especially when you really love the uke and want to see it be promoted in a seemingly positive and legitimate way). I say this because folks who dig ‘outsider’ music are gonna dig a tiny tim-esque sort of artist whether they’re playing a corny uke or not. a certain group of folks enjoy fringe music or kitzche music or campy music while most will not….
secondly, you can be playing a cowboy uke or in my case a fluke with lots of awful stupid kid stickers on it, which make it look even more like a rinky toy and you’d be surprised by who will be drawn in by its sound…..i just got down with some flukulele blues the other night for some great blue collar, hard working maintenance workers who probably enjoy blues and hard rock mostly and they were taken by our little four stringed friend despite all my awful graphics….you just never know :)
…Camper than a row of tents full of boy scouts…Just gotta love it…who cares if a none uker doesn’t dig it…It’s a joyful racket and we get it…
if your fluke isn’t camp, your doing it wrong, mine has a beach scene complete with surfer on it!
lovely song from mr may and a great set of chords
Ron;
Let’s call a staid a staid. I wouldn’t pretend to label any other performers, but I have always considered the word “camp” to mean; this stuff isn’t really hip, I’m just pretending it is so you’ll think it is and I can laugh at you because it really isn’t.
I wouldn’t consider Dithyrambe’s act “camp” at all. It is Performance Art and it is musical. Their version of “Highway to Hell” is sensational because they mean it. If I were to cover the song, I would have to find a way to mean it also.
“Staid” is a soccer wife or a bank president. I don’t believe that any musician could be considered “staid”. I simply take my music seriously. Sometimes I get all the way to “deadpan”, but never staid.
I asked Vinnie, one of the guys who sometimes does odd jobs for me, if he knew the meaning of the word “staid. He said, “Sure, boss.” I was doubtful, so I asked if he could use it in a sentence. He said, “If I was ta go see dis guy, I would break his fingers staid of his kneecaps.”
Proper usage is important.
Camp is always welcome in my book, if only because it’s fun. Dent May, regardless of his potential clichés and light subject matter, is always fun to listen to. And isn’t that the point of ukulele playing?
On the camp issue: I think there’s always going to be a large section of camp ukulele players and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. If people outside the ukulele world get turned off by a bit of fun, bollocks to them.
On the staid issue: I think Craig’s music has a lot of humor in it – which I think disqualifies from being ‘staid’.
More on DM – Just stumbled on a video that fans might enjoy, definitely in my top five for the year, too –
Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele-Oh Paris!-live Troubadour,
February 26, 2009
What a nice song! Ummm, any strumming pattern??
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I like the song but i really don’t like the “levi’s” sign..