Most of the time I honor requests. At one of the Assisted Living places there is a woman who asks for the same 3 songs EVERY time I, or anyone else, plays there. I've been told the other residents cringe when they see her heading for the bandstand. Once, while she was heading my may, someone in the audience yelled out: DON'T DO IT.

I will usually play one of her songs, keep it short and move on.

In a recent post elsewhere about John Denver the writer said: I went to his concert I wanted him to sing Annie's Song so I yelled for him to do that he yelled back and said it was his concert.

I'm guessing Annie's song was not performed that night.

Eddie

Saturday I had three requests to quit and go home early, but I didn't.

The issue for me is how to handle requests on tunes I don’t know. I had one guy request some 200-year-old classical piece (some sonata in c#, or opus in Gb----can’t recall the exact title). He said “All piano players know that song”. Not me.

People like that are just trying to impress you, or someone, and are not worth your time. I would politely tell them I must not be a piano player! Be sure and smile when you say it! Like this:
Sometimes I say I know every song every written except for seventeen; that must be one of the seventeen I don't know. Be sure to

A good joke is when a person ask "do you have something from Sinatra?" (example) answer: Yess five records and a signed photo !!

or

"can you play the entry of the gladiators?"
answer "i have only the music sheet of outside of the gladiators"

The people who request frequently are normally looking for attention; it makes them feel part of. A few smile and nice talk usually satisfies them.

For all others I play the request if I know it. If not --- “I apologize and tell them when they come next week they will hear their song playing”. It’s all about satisfying their need to add and be important.

It is not the end of the world when a song is requested unless you feel it is.

The people that came often, regulars, and had requested a song in the past got their song played as they were walking to their table. – If it was a good song.

John C.
PS, It is all about how you relate to people. They never have a chance dealing with the Gary or Don personalities. These guys are dangerous. (smile)

If it fits into the flow of the preformance without going into left field and of course if I knw it no problem. But sometimes people feel like they have to play Stump the Musician.
I also say I can play any song written on a $20 bill. That slows them down.

One thing that irritates me is when little kids want to "dance" to the latest fad dance because their parents think everyone wants to see how precious they are. I sometimes have to accommodate them, if the party is spending hundreds on dinner and they are leaving big tips. I just play the song from Youtube and let 'em dance. Just one per set though, so it doesn't bother the other people.
It's all part of playing the game, but you always must use good judgement!

At the beginning of each job, I always said "If anyone has a special song they wish me to perform, just write it down on the back of a $20 bill and send it up - I'll be glad to do it for you." I figured that would slow them down. Well, when I was performing in the Florida Keys, and in Baltimore's Little Italy, you would be amazed at the number of $20s that came to me with songs written on them, mostly in lipstick. I loved that part - but Carol was a bit upset.

Most of the time, the songs requested were ones I already knew and had no trouble performing, so it was really never a problem. The part I always hated was when some wise-ass drunk would ask for something really stupid that no one would perform. I just ignored them, which usually worked out OK. Sometimes, though I would take a 2 minute break and have a serious talk with either the bouncer or manager and they would have a serious talk with the customer.

Early on, when I first began doing nite clubs and bars in my early 20s, I would create a list on a yellow notepad, one that I had my wife, and some friends write song titles upon using pen, pencil, left handed, right handed, etc..., to make it look as if lots of people had already made requests. When they asked for a song, I would tell them to put it on the list and I would be more than happy to perform the song as soon as I did the others. That worked great for a decade or more until someone stole my note pad.

All the best,

Gary