Who invented sitting in?

jgsbass · #1 10-08-2006, 09:56 AM

If I brought a hammer and a screwdriver to a construction site, could I just "sit in" with the crew and work aimlessly around the job? How about if I brought a scalpel, some scrubs and washed my hands real good, think the doctors in an operating room would let me open for an operation? Then how come amateurs think they have the right to perform at a gig?
Last nights gig was the straw that broke this camels back. Some (drunk) guy kept asking to sit in and kept playing his harmonica from offstage all night. This was not a blues club or a bar gig but a wedding. Our leader politely told him we would let him sit in later but this guy kept pestering us all night long. The later we got into the job, the more obnoxious he became. He would play it without regard for the song we were playing or the key we were playing in. He became violent at 2 points during the night and the groom had to "bounce" his own guest. Nothing like a solo guitar playing "Lullaby of Broadway" while hearing some yahoo noodle in the key of C over it. Too bad the guitar was playing in A flat. Then he spent 2 hours screaming " Play the blues. Play the frikkin bloooooos". Mr. harmonica went over to the drummer to pester him about the same thing and knocked over a mike stand, causing our sax player to run to the stage to grab his Selmer before that was destroyed.
We are professionals, hired to provide a service and our performance usually determines repeat business, so our livelihood is at stake. Don't people recognize this fact? Nowhere else is it acceptable for anyone to attempt to do what professionals are paid to do as their job. I don't ask a traffic cop if I can direct traffic. People don't come in off the streets to my school and ask if they can teach a lesson. What gives with this?

and don't even start me on encores.

addylewis · #2 10-08-2006, 10:21 AM

Well...thats par for the course as a musician isn't it? Some guy/girl comes up to ou and says "Can I sing this one?" so you give them a go, they look like an ass then go away?

Over here the singer usually asks someone who's not too pissed to come onstage and sing...hell, it shuts them up and stops them going on and on at you all night...but if its a big fat drunk who's falling all over the place knocking things over then you HAVE got the right to tell them to go away...why didn't you just jam some blues and give him a go behind the microphone with his harmonica for a few minutes?

**cheezewiz** · #3 10-08-2006, 11:21 AM

Mitch Cumstein. He invented the sit in during the early part of 1967. He was also first to use the line, "Dude..come on. Lemme play a song with you guys. If she sees me on stage, I'm SO gonna get laid!"

anonymous38457747 · #4 10-08-2006, 11:46 AM

You know I got stuck in a similar situation but it was an anniversary party and the guys son wanted to play his trombone out of key all night.

My guitarist told me, let it go. We still get paid no matter what.

It still sucks

zilla

anderbass · #5 10-08-2006, 12:07 PM

You could tell him he needs to attend at least one band practice,
before sitting in with the band. Then give him a bogus ph.#

Chunk-O-Funk · #6 10-08-2006, 01:06 PM

Ahh, it just happens. Look at it as an occupational hazard. My advise when someone persist on sitting in is to get'em up on stage and off real quick. Give them praise so the audience will clap. They will usually go away after that.

At weddings you usually get the drunk relative that has the need to dedicate a song and then precede to sing poorly over it. For me it was a Roy Orbison song that only a couple of the band members knew. Someone in the band was calling out the chord changes as we played. Hacking our was through that tune was the only way to get rid of him.

We use to have a harmonica player follow us around and want to sit in. He had a case full of harmonicas but never knew which to pick. We let him sit in once or twice. I think the singer tactfully said something like "keep on working on it and you'll sound better". After that we didn't see much of him. The worst one was someone we dubbed Mr. Tambourine Man. He was always at a particular club we played and probably tormented every band that played there. I think the singer had to take a more direct approach with him. IIRC the poor rhythm-less Tambourine man was a tad insulted when asked to sit out on a Motown tune. Oh well, he was a pro tambourine player after all.

Jared Lash · #7 10-08-2006, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

Mitch Cumstein. He invented the sit in during the early part of 1967. He was also first to use the line, "Dude..come on. Lemme play a song with you guys. If she sees me on stage, I'm SO gonna get laid!"

You know Mitch?!

dangnewt · #8 10-08-2006, 09:50 PM

That was a bad situation all around. Not fun for you and embarrassing for the bride and groom.

It doesn't have to turn out that way.
Last wedding I was at, the band a very tight funk/motown group allowed Uncle Jack sing with them. He was awesome, turned out he was a bit of a ringer as he sang semi-professionally. His Louis Armstrong "What a Wonderful World" was spot on. The band enjoyed it so much that they had him do one more song in the second set and a few in the third set.

We did a Christmas party for my wife's office. One of her coworkers has sung in a GB band for years and we went into the gig knowing that we would have to find a song for her to sing. We settled on "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About" and she nailed it. The folks went home happy and they certainly had something to talk about at work that week.

DigableGrooves · #9 10-08-2006, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgsbass

If I brought a hammer and a screwdriver to a construction site, could I just "sit in" with the crew and work aimlessly around the job? How about if I brought a scalpel, some scrubs and washed my hands real good, think the doctors in an operating room would let me open for an operation? Then how come amateurs think they have the right to perform at a gig?
Last nights gig was the straw that broke this camels back. Some (drunk) guy kept asking to sit in and kept playing his harmonica from offstage all night. This was not a blues club or a bar gig but a wedding. Our leader politely told him we would let him sit in later but this guy kept pestering us all night long. The later we got into the job, the more obnoxious he became. He would play it without regard for the song we were playing or the key we were playing in. He became violent at 2 points during the night and the groom had to "bounce" his own guest. Nothing like a solo guitar playing "Lullaby of Broadway" while hearing some yahoo noodle in the key of C over it. Too bad the guitar was playing in A flat. Then he spent 2 hours screaming " Play the blues. Play the frikkin bloooooos". Mr. harmonica went over to the drummer to pester him about the same thing and knocked over a mike stand, causing our sax player to run to the stage to grab his Selmer before that was destroyed.
We are professionals, hired to provide a service and our performance usually determines repeat business, so our livelihood is at stake. Don't people recognize this fact? Nowhere else is it acceptable for anyone to attempt to do what professionals are paid to do as their job. I don't ask a traffic cop if I can direct traffic. People don't come in off the streets to my school and ask if they can teach a lesson. What gives with this?

and don't even start me on encores.

were we playing the same wedding?

I was doing on last night where some relative of the groom had driven from New Hampshire, and brought 6 harps and a green bullet. We did let him play with us for two jams, but once the song started, he began to solo, and once the song ended, he was still soloing. essentially it was the worst concept of a jam. but he was a good player.

Phalex · #10 10-09-2006, 09:36 AM

Last weekend we played the Radisson. There were a couple of Brazilians staying there last weekend for some sort of event in town. One of them was 70 years old and asked if he could "sit in" on the drums.

He laid down the coolest, oddest time rhythm I think I have ever heard! I couldn't keep up with him.

It was very very cool!

buzzbass · #11 10-09-2006, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

Mitch Cumstein. He invented the sit in during the early part of 1967. He was also first to use the line, "Dude..come on. Lemme play a song with you guys. If she sees me on stage, I'm SO gonna get laid!"

Wasn't he Ty Webb's roomate in college? He got thrown out of school for "putting" with the Dean's daughter, or something. Right ?

dain bramage · #12 10-10-2006, 10:27 AM

Jesus invented the sit-in. Gawd, you don't know anything.

Lazylion · #13 10-10-2006, 02:45 PM

Last Saturday we had a guy in an Earnhardt ballcap insist that he was in a band, he could sing and he "wouldn't embarrass us". By the time I heard of it, he had already been told he could come on with us. He had shrewdly selected a song we already do. So he starts the third set with us.
He grabs the mike and hollers out "We got any rednecks in here?!?" I think "Oh jeez, here we go". The crowd obediently hollers back.
He hollers out "Lemme hear ya say 'Git-R-Done!!" Suddenly I'm ready to take a break. And we just got off break! Crowd hollers back, and I'm groaning inwardly. Our own little Larry the Cable Guy. Oh Joy.
Did I mention that he'd chosen a song that he and I have to sing together on? I'm mentally preparing for a train wreck, or at best, me having to force the song through while he makes an a** of himself.
But it turned out he did good, no problem at all. So you never know. And best of all, he didn't try to extend his moment in the sun to a second song!

**cheezewiz** · #14 10-10-2006, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazylion

Last Saturday we had a guy in an Earnhardt ballcap insist that he was in a band, he could sing and he "wouldn't embarrass us". By the time I heard of it, he had already been told he could come on with us. He had shrewdly selected a song we already do. So he starts the third set with us.
He grabs the mike and hollers out "We got any rednecks in here?!?" I think "Oh jeez, here we go". The crowd obediently hollers back.
He hollers out "Lemme hear ya say 'Git-R-Done!!" Suddenly I'm ready to take a break. And we just got off break! Crowd hollers back, and I'm groaning inwardly. Our own little Larry the Cable Guy. Oh Joy.
Did I mention that he'd chosen a song that he and I have to sing together on? I'm mentally preparing for a train wreck, or at best, me having to force the song through while he makes an a** of himself.
But it turned out he did good, no problem at all. So you never know. And best of all, he didn't try to extend his moment in the sun to a second song!

Now that one is funny! Our lead singer has such a devout hatred of rednecks (he's a college professor), he would have left right then and there. When anyone requests Skynard, he always responds, "I'm sorry, we can't do that. Do you know why we can't do that? Because..I HATE REDNECKS".

Lazylion · #15 10-11-2006, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

Now that one is funny! Our lead singer has such a devout hatred of rednecks (he's a college professor), he would have left right then and there. When anyone requests Skynard, he always responds, "I'm sorry, we can't do that. Do you know why we can't do that? Because..I HATE REDNECKS".

Well I mostly play in Virginia. Saying that on the mike could lead to fisticuffs!
Rednecks have been paying my wages for years. Thanks Bubba!