Ukuleles have become a worldwide trend. Boasting fewer strings than guitars and soft nylon strings that make learning them simpler, ukuleles offer easy accessibility.
As part of learning the ukulele, it’s crucial to learn its correct strumming pattern. Thankfully, this process is fairly straightforward due to four chords which always remain constant.
The Prisoner’s Song
“Folsom Prison Blues,” by Johnny Cash, has long been one of the most iconic songs about jail time. This catchy rhythmic ballad has become iconic and covered by many musicians worldwide; becoming his signature tune and often used as the opening theme at his concerts.
Song was composed by Guy Massey and recorded by Vernon Dalhart in 1924 – it became one of the first million-selling country music songs!
This song is an emotive ballad about prisoner longings for love and companionship, that touches many hearts worldwide.
Original performances were by Henry Whitter; later it was recorded by Vernon Dalhart and became an enormous hit, helping spread hillbilly music across the United States.
The Prisoner’s Song has not only become one of the most iconic American songs but is also an integral piece of American history. It was the first million-selling country song and gave regional country music greater reach among broader audiences.
This song is ideal for ukulele players of any level as its lyrics are easy to grasp and there are multiple chords that can be played on the ukulele.
The story behind this song is unique and captivating: its author was murdered shortly after writing it. This individual had an obsession for music and excelled at playing ukulele; he was highly esteemed in his community and truly enjoyed singing songs of praise to music.
He was an expert ukulele player and would often sing and play his favorite songs with it. Even when arrested, he used it to entertain police officers investigating his case by playing it for them while entertaining with it himself.
The Ukulele Song has become very renowned, being covered by many well-known artists like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Sr. It has also become a very popular movie theme song.
Galloway’s Murder
Vernon Dalhart’s classic ukulele song, “The Prisoner’s Song”, may be known to many, but did you know its original story involves murder? A man named Fred Galloway confessed to killing Andrew Pashuta who played banjo back in 1926.
Galloway had performed as a singer and dancer in vaudeville as a teenager, performing using his voice and ukulele at clubs and schools throughout California. Initially enlisting for military service during World War I he soon abandoned it to perform vaudeville once more under an assumed name named Fred Rowland.
In 1925, a police officer found Galloway’s postcard-sized description of his location in San Jose with its notation that he might possess two ukuleles. The officer shared this information along with details about the boarding house with officers from other towns.
Detectives quickly encountered difficulty when tracking down who may have killed Galloway, given that John Waterman, Galloway’s boyfriend at the time, had prowled around her neighborhood for weeks prior to being apprehended and arrested in September 2016.
Investigators discovered several items linked to Waterman that pointed toward his involvement with Galloway’s murder and an assault that happened nearby; most striking among these was a Patricia Cornwell thriller called Postmortem found at his home.
The book contained passages that eerily paralleled what happened to Galloway and another victim. A crime scene investigation determined that Waterman owned a vehicle adorned with fibers similar to those found on Galloway and had a length of cord matching that found on her body.
As their investigation continued, police discovered that Waterman had two prior felony convictions for aggravated battery on a minor in 1996 and burglary as well as having been charged with sexual assaulting a female in 2004 and served a lengthy sentence for that crime.
Galloway’s trial for Stislicki’s murder is set to commence in March; however, delays could arise from motions and evidentiary hearings concerning challenges to polygraph test results that were leaked to media prior to his arrest.
The Ukulele’s Rising Popularity
Ukuleles have quickly become one of the most sought-after instruments, especially in the United States. Kids and seniors alike have taken to playing them with increased frequency; recent research indicates they’re one of the top school music instruments.
Why has the Ukulele become such an increasingly popular instrument in America? For starters, it’s an easy instrument to learn. Plus it’s inexpensive and portable – not forgetting it’s fun too!
History of Ukuleles The first recorded case of the ukulele dates back to 1879 in Hawaii when Joao Fernandez from Portugal started playing a Portuguese braguinha, an instrument with four strings that is similar to guitar but features fretless fretting instead. Hawaiians became so captivated with his performance they gave him the name Ukulele, meaning either “jumping flea” or “jumping bird.”
Ukuleles quickly gained widespread acclaim across the islands and were frequently featured in Hawaiian shows and tourist luaus. Ukuleles also became very popular souvenirs among visitors from mainland.
A piano was also an indispensable instrument in American popular music during the 1920s and 1930s, sparking an unprecedented craze that even became the top-selling instrument by 1925, according to studies.
The ukulele was an integral component of Jazz Age culture, often being featured in popular tunes such as “Sweet Georgia Brown” and “House of the Rising Sun.”
Today, the ukulele remains a wildly popular instrument and many people enjoy playing it for entertainment or professional purposes. Some play regularly while others just dabble with it for fun.
Many Americans are taking up learning how to play the ukulele because it is enjoyable and simple to do so. Some have even started their own ukulele bands! A select few have even become experts at it so much so that they are teaching others how to do so as well.
Tim Bowers’ Ukulele Club
An amazing year in the saddle has provided Bowers with well-honed fingers and an insatiable desire to share his musical passions. Therefore, a bespoke ukulele club is being established at Woodward Opera House. Their inaugural meeting is set for Thursday night in one of two smaller rooms; expect some mishaps and misperceptions but overall Bowers is excited by his opportunity to play music with others who share his enthusiasm; hopefully this marks a lifelong journey that leads to many happy faces and few less headaches over time.