Operation 365... Blog 288

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 294 Jefferson Jay Band "The Best You Can" 5-14-09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vh4PP5hmwk


Back in '03, my band did a tour of the Northwest, about 30 shows that summer in our van Betsy. It was a three piece version of the band, with Phil Palmejar on drums and Damon Stoll on bass. Back then, we were called Brainstorm. We had tons of fun. We did a handful of shows with a cool group called The Station. They featured my buddy Darren Nelson for the old Jumbo days and their main guy was an extremely friendly fellow named Don Gallardo. Don is the kind of guy you pretty much can't help but like. As we played more and more shows with him, his style of songwriting got into my brain. Don is doing well now. He has been based in Nashville, TN for awhile and is now finishing a tour in the United Kingdom. Pretty cool, Don. Congratulations! Hope to catch up again some time.

On one trip when we were travelling to a gig, Phil was driving and I started writing "The Best You Can" as an homage to Don's cool work. When we got to our next stop, on the road, (I think it was a gas station) I asked Phil to strum the chords on the guitar so I could make sure my song worked. It did I was happy. It is a nice song, with a positive sentiment. "The Best You Can" would later become the first song on my CD, "Blue; A Kids Album," which you can get by clicking here. http://jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com/album/blue-a-kids-album

Oh, by the way, we are playing Winston's, tomorrow night in Ocean Beach, 1921 Bacon St. SD, CA. The show starts at 8PM. We play at 11PM. It's free.

On this clip, from May 14, 2009, I was joined by Richard Romero on bass, Paul Lopez on percussion, The Soul Man on guiro and Blowski on keys.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 294 Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) by Katy Perry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amFG8qSJNfM


When I first heard this song the other day, I was convinced it was the worst song I ever heard hands down. I decided I would do it so I could tear it up. Then I watched this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A.

That has happened roughly 102,335,367 times so far.

It was pretty funny. I realized this song was not as serious as I thought it was. Of course, it a perfect pop song. So in the process of learning it, with the video and all...

I went from hating that song with the white-hot heat of a million suns to thinking it was pretty cool. I like it better than a lot of songs. I might start a Katy Perry cover band now. I was getting all loosed up at the end there. Shout outs to my dogs on the couch there, Josh, Gordo, and Nigel, the latter two who of whom are actual dogs. Int eh time it took me to write this blog, it went up to 102,429,725. These folks helped MP write this tune, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Bonnie McKee... in case you were wondering. I just read this is her 5th consecutive #1 single. I had no idea. I just read that Katy said, "There’s nothing better than an impromptu dance party with my friends. My track 'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)' is a song about debauchery because I had one of those nights in Santa Barbara. We went out to this place called Wildcat and got crazy,” Perry admitted: “We had a couple of beers and danced until we died, then brought the party back to the hotel room.” She added: “Most of that song is actual truth, apart from the ménage à trois… unfortunately! (Thanks wikipedia)

I don't even know what to think anymore. And now I'm stuck liking this song.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 294 "Powerless"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyuySmYzgM8


So the other night, during that power outage, I experimented with this song about being powerless and powerful and I played with that whole juxtaposition. In the light or lack there of, that seemed cheesy to me, after a few and I moved to writing something else. Today, I went back and gave it a go and it came out far better than I was expecting. Without the context of the blackout, singing about being powerless doesn't seem so cliche. When I pulled the plug on this tune, last Thursday night, I wrote in the book "This will not go." I was talking about my song. When I went to play it I forgot, and found myself a pretty cool chorus. Funny life. There's oh, so many ways to say it.