The Ukulele Orchestra That Didn’t Use Their Ukulele

Did you know that Great Britain had an Ukulele Orchestra?

Unrelated, but here’s Jake Shimabukuro doing his best Pete Townshend pose

They have wonderful arrangements of classic songs, mixed with a subdued but visible sense of humor. The absurdity of being an ukulele orchestra is not lost on them.

But for one song, the concept of playing their uke’s is lost on them. Enter their cover of The Who’s Pinball Wizard…

I’m in awe, for conflicting reasons

Ok fine, this isn’t a bad cover. As an A Cappella cover of Pinball Wizard, it’s arranged and performed well.

But if you’re an orchestra of Ukulele’s, then why on Earth aren’t you using them for Pinball Wizard? It’s a triumphant song carried along by a quick forceful guitar rhythm. I don’t care that The Who uses a loud amplified electric guitar. Nor do I care that it’s fast. I do care that it’s not being utilized by an Ukulele Orchestra. A group of people, with ukuleles in their laps, sing a song that utilize their instrument.

It’s not farfetched for a rock song to be covered using smaller acoustic strings. The Steve n Seagulls made a career out of it, and so has this very orchestra.

Exhibit A…

Got it, so they could play fast. They can arrange chords to support the whole song. They have the freedom to flex because they can support each other. They’re bringing a rock and roll energy to the song without a distortion pedal or amplifier. I’m glad they did for Highway to Hell. I really am. I like it because it sounds good.

I still can’t fathom why Pinball Wizard didn’t get that treatment. If they liked the arrangement they sang, couldn’t they have put this to strings? Could they have mixed the strings with this vocal arrangements?

This is a group that arranged Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), Smells Like Teen Spirit, and (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.

The more I watch this group, the more I’m confused

I really want to enjoy the Pinball Wizard cover as it stands. But not hearing the Ukulele gets in my head. I can’t tell if it feels wrong, or if I’m the one with the problem.

Maybe I’m spoiled because I love seeing random covers crush their originals. This is and should be no different. And I know that this Orchestra can perform incredible stuff. Their cover of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is one of the coolest covers I’ve ever seen.

This has everything I didn’t know that I asked for

Well, rant over. I’m gonna listen to some bluegrass now. Someone in the jam band music scene can probably scratch this itch for me.