Janie Thompson 1980 Then I remembered some Pioneer songs my Aunt Janie used on lots of programs. Janie Thompson was known for her clever reworking of lyrics to match whatever event she was asked to provide entertainment for.
She loved writing parody songs using famous commercials, pop songs, or TV theme songs as a framework, just changing the words. What made the songs funny, though, was how people could remember the original lyrics (maybe even the products) and chuckle at how Janie changed them just slightly to fit the new setting.
I knew about those Pioneer songs because my mother taught them to me to sing for a Pioneer Day celebration she was in charge of in Houston, Texas. (I was probably 12 at the time.) Janie lived in Utah and our family kept moving all over the United States. My mother thought having Janie's songs for specialty numbers was such an ace up her sleeve. "Janie songs" were always a hit no matter where we lived, no matter who mom taught to sing them.
Since I needed to find a couple of specialty numbers for this Jubilee, my mind went straight to Janie's Pioneer Parody songs. I inherited several boxes of Janie's music when she died. Would I get lucky and find these songs somewhere in the stacks?
But honestly, these pages have not much to work with. Janie rarely wrote out the sheet music. She and my mom had great "musical memory" and just needed chord charts with the lyrics to play entire shows.
The bare minimum of what you need is there: the lyrics, the chords, and the name of the tune. For example, the first song of the parody medley is "I'm an old Cowhand from the Rio Grand." If you know that tune and the chord changes, it's simple to fit the new lyrics into the melody. It's up to the pianist to use the chords to make up an accompaniment.
Fortunately, I think I remember enough of the arrangement to figure out the words and the tunes. The transitions between songs is a bigger challenge, but I think I can remember pretty much how Janie played them. So, this is good. I have coerced my sister Barbara to come sing them with me. It'll be fun! Maybe we'll be a hit!














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