I often play music in seniors’ homes. By now I can usually tell what sort of music they’ll generally like.
At a recent concert, someone else playing in the concert played some old-ish songs on the violin, and the senoirs liked them, and could sing along to most of them.
What are some old-timey songs that seniors might like if I played them?
Big Band and Swing. Glenn Miller is one of the larger names from that genre/era, but there are plenty others just as popular.
Doh! Hit Submit before I was ready!
Anyway, if you’re on iTunes, you can put a year into the search field and get results like “Best of 1942” or somesuch. For 1942, I get hits on Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby, The Andrew Sisters, Tommy Dorsey, etc.
They’d have to be relatively ancient (well up in their '80s) for songs of 1942 to be relevant.
I now have this rather dreadful image of the oldsters in another ten years wanting to hear “It’s My Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To”. :(:eek:
If they are in their 80s they would be familiar with the Beatles from their 40s.
A friend of mine was recently discussing a guy he knows who has been doing free Sunday shows at retirement homes for 40 years. “He’s nearly as old as the people he started out entertaining years ago, but he’s playing the same songs. The people who grew up with those songs are dead.”
Tangerine, Jukebox Saturday Night, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree, Stardust, Boogie Woogie, El Paso, My Woman My Woman My Wife…
These are all songs my grandparents (who are in their 80’s and 90’s) got me into, so there you go! Good luck and have fun.
A friend did a well-received Old Timey Singalong at a nursing home. Some of the songs were You Are My Sunshine, Bicycle Built for Two (Daisy Daisy), Home on the Range, and *Happy Trails to You. *
:dubious: So, what’s your point? My Dad is 85 y/o, and likes everything I listed. My Mom died at 70 y/o in 2004 and liked everything I listed. She was only 9 in 1942.
My point wasn’t necessarily to target a specific year, but to aid the OP in searching for music from certain time periods, with examples of the kind of results I obtained from iTunes. I chose 1942 to appeal to the 70-80 y/o folks, but I in no way implied that 70-80 y/o people could only like music from 1942; my Dad likes Blue Oyster Cult and Pink Floyd (stuff from their post-Barrett acid trip/psychadelic years).
:smack::smack::smack: I really need to stop hitting Submit when I intend to hit Preview.
But I meant to say WRT my Dad’s liking for BoC and PF: I don’t think too many people would look at an 80+ y/o man, who ordinarily dresses in a manner most people would associate with “rural,” and figure that he’d like rock music from the 70’s.
A couple of other suggestions: Look to show tunes from the 40s and 50s. Rogers and Hammerstein, in particular, I think would be well recognized and remembered by that audience.
Wizard of Oz is a big hit, look at musicals from the era also anything Bing C is good.
ExTank, I now have a picture in my head of a bunch of wheelchair-bound octogenarians singing “Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun. Shine on, you crazy diamond”.
I’m trying to suppress the mental image of myself at 90 singing along to Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.
Mitch Miller is a musician that did a sing along show on TV in the USA in the 60s. all the songs were popular hits. any songs he featured would be good.
If you’ve seen Raising Arizona, remember the bank robbery scene where the old timer asks Gale and Evelle, “Well which is it young feller? You want I should freeze, or hit the ground?” That’s pretty much my Dad.
Now picture him humming along (he can’t sing, and knows it, and gratefully he spares the world the torment of his singing voice) to Don’t Fear the Reaper, or grooving to Veteran of the Psychic Wars.
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Al Martino, Tony Bennett, Judy Garland, Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day…they all had hit songs that still float the boats of oldsters I know.
Strangers In The Night, That’s Amore, Spanish Eyes, I Left My Heart In San Fran., The Trolley Song, Come On-A My House, Que Sera Sera.
In this thread I posted several links to YouTube songs they might like, though don’t, for the love of god and potential heart attacks, play the dirty and explicit Lucille Bogan song “Shave 'em Dry.” Some will get a kick out of it, but others will have a stroke. It’s just as shocking today as it must have been back then.
Guaranteed to bring a smile to anyone, any age:
The Boswell Sisters - “(We’ve got to) Put that sun back in the sky”
The Boswell Sisters - “Was that the human thing to do?” (gets VERY cool at about the 2:00 mark) (an alternate take)
The Boswell Sisters - “Shine On Harvest Moon” (iffy, but included because not only do I love the Boswell Sisters, but my gal Happy Rhodes’s grandfather wrote it so it’s a thrill to hear them sing it)
Those are probably too old for even these seniors, though they might enjoy them anyway. Getting more into the songs they would have played (the older ones) or heard their parents play a lot, anything from WWII-era might bring a lot of smiles. The selection is vast, but here are a few classic gems.
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra - “Sing Sing Sing”
Benny Goodman - “Minne’s In The Money”
Glenn Miller - “In The Mood”
Glenn Miller - “Moonlight Serenade”
Glenn Miller - “A String of Pearls”
Duke Ellington - “It Don’t Mean A Thing If You Ain’t Got That Swing”
Duke Ellington - “Take The A Train”
You can’t go wrong with the Andrews Sisters.
“Rum and Coca Cola”
“Bei Mir Bistu Shein”
“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B”
“Chattanooga Choo Choo”
Or Edith Piaf, for the more world-savvy.
“La Vie En Rose”
“Non, je ne regrette rien”
For the younger seniors, just play the soundtrack to American Graffiti.
You could also play the soundtrack to the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? I don’t know of anyone of any age who doesn’t like that.
Oh Lord, ExTank, now I’m picturing the old folks singing Don’t Fear the Reaper.
A YouTube user has uploaded a lot of songs from vinyl albums sung by the men of the Robert Shaw Chorale. Many of the songs date from just before the Civil War! Here are a few samples.
Wait for the Wagon Robert Shaw Chorale (Men) - Wait For The Wagon.avi - YouTube
Aura Lee Robert Shaw Chorale - Aura Lee.avi - YouTube
Just a Song At Twilight Robert Shaw Chorale - Love's Old Sweet Song.avi - YouTube
When You and I Were Young, Maggie Robert Shaw Chorale - When You And I Were Young, Maggie.avi - YouTube
Sweet Genevieve Robert Shaw Chorale - Sweet Genevieve.avi - YouTube
Lorena Robert Shaw Chorale (Men) - Lorena.avi - YouTube
Seeing Nellie Home Robert Shaw Chorale (Men) - Seeing Nellie Home.avi - YouTube
Good Night, Ladies Robert Shaw Chorale (Men) - Good Night, Ladies.avi - YouTube
Stephen Foster songs, if you want real old-timey but still fun. Swanee River, Camptown Races, etc…seniors would know 'em and love 'em.
Honestly, were these people exclusively in the “over-110” demographics? If my parents were still alive, they’d be 99 this year, and they’d consider these songs very old-fashioned.