Back in 2003, the good folks at Ukulele Hall of Fame decided to create the Fleabag Music songbook, described as “Songs for Uke Gatherings.” It was a labor of love, featuring 10 classic tunes often played on an ukulele—ranging from Hawaiian to Tin Pan Alley and folk.
The idea was to have one simple book (with standard music notation as well as chord charts) so ukulele strummers could be “on the same page” in playing some well-known (and all public domain) tunes.
While most of us know many of the songs, there are some of these old tunes that, ahem, some of us (did you see me raising my hand?) may have heard of but don’t really “know.” That’s where Bruce Evans and his wife, Karol, come in to the picture. The two of them paired up for some delightful strumming and singing to create a collection of MP3s of the 10 songs. That way, those of us who don’t know the songs well don’t have to fudge the melody anymore—we have something to listen to that will set us straight!
In the photos, that’s Karol sharing a hula at the 2005 Midwest Uke Fest (and yours truly is just behind her) and Bruce teaching a strumming class at the same ukulele festival in Indianapolis (boy, that was a great event!).
The MP3s were posted on the Internet for a while, but have been “down” and unavailable evidently for a bit of time. I’m happy to give them a home here, with the permission of Bruce, who points out, “Like everything else from that project, they belong to the ukulele community, not to me. Please share them with everybody.”
Enjoy some old-time fun—the MP3s (and the songbook) are below: