Crazy Days!

The Capitol Years; Frank Sinatra

On about the third Thursday in July, in Brookings, South Dakota, nearly all of the stores and businesses in town took part in the city-wide “Crazy Days”. Main Street closed off all access to cars so that bargains, deals and sales could pour out into the streets and sidewalks. I don’t remember the actual items up for grabs as much as I remember the business owners revealing their “craziness” by wearing wacky costumes, getting into the spirit of the day and having genuine fun with their customers.

I remember the time that Mom, K., D. and I stopped at the Dakota Music store. Mom found a music book called “The Legal Fake Book”. We all thought it was funny, it only cost two dollars on Crazy Days, so Mom bought it. Not knowing anything about copyright issues, the title of the book remained a mystery to all of us for many years. But that didn’t stop D. and me from laughing hysterically at senseless titles like “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” and “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum”.

It took me a few years to realize the legality or “legalness” of our fake book. All of the songs included in the book came from the same publishing house: Warner Brothers.

Which leads me to reveal the underground world of illegal fake books. The most popular and usable one goes by the title “The Real Book”. Virtually all of the tunes included in the book have been written down in pen and photocopied, probably several hundred times. No copyright or publication dates are included.

Since the time I’ve touched a piano, I’ve reserved bragging rights on an ability to pick up a song off the radio, TV, CD, cassette tapes, even hearing songs and hymns in church. And over the years it has saved me from having to purchase loads of fake books.

On my second night on the job on the Golden Odyssey, the bandleader, R., called me over during the break and said, “Erik, you’re doing a fine job. I understand that you don’t have a large background in the type of music that we’re playing. I wanted to let you know that that doesn’t bother me. You’re catching on pretty fast, even better tonight over last night. However, I can’t wait for you to look in a fake book every time I call up a tune that you don’t know. So, here’s the deal. For thirty days, I’ll allow you the time to look up tunes in the books as I call them, but after that, I’m starting without you.” Well, let me tell you, R., that I learn tunes and commit them to memory faster by listening to them rather than by reading them off of a page. “That’s good to hear. Tell you what. I’m a big Sinatra fan and I like to call his tunes for the dance sets. I just bought a three CD collection of his music during his years on the Capitol label. Borrow the collection for a while if it will make things easier for you.”

The CD's were a huge help and I learned most of the tunes in the half of the time that R. had allowed. I eventually acquired my own “The Capitol Years” collection. But, here’s the sad part of the story. My box set took an involuntary ride with Nelson (my Durango) one day. Nelson came home; Sinatra did not. Someday, I’ll have to replace it. I wish iTunes had “Crazy Days”.

Credits: To R., for his patience. Thank you. You were a great bandleader.