On this page, all recordings are shown chronologically as published on our YouTube channel, with the newest on top. Apart from the earliest Sofa Lounge recordings, all videos were shot with basic phone and tablet cameras in our own attic studio, which we set up in 2020 so we could continue playing to remote audiences during lockdowns.
Another one of our mandolin arrangements, allowing Nigel to integrate his version of the great Brian Jones recorder riffs from the 1967 hit single
This rock and roll classic has been on our repertoire for as long as we can remember, so it’s about time we recorded it as it’s enduringly popular as a dance number with our live audiences!
This lovely instrumental tune found its way onto our repertoire through a request from one of our local fans – we’re delighted he drew our attention to this little gem!
A dive back into the fifties with this great Everly Brothers hit written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant – we love singing these classic harmonies, which also inspired many of sixties greats!
Back a little further in time to the slide guitar Delta Blues of the early 20th century, with our foot percussion and harmonica added to the original version(s) as laid down by Eric Clapton and his great source of inspiration Robert Johnson
We quickly followed Mrs Robinson with our mandolin arrangement of this 1965 Dylan and Byrds hit, which like many of Dylan’s compositions gained greater acclaim in its cover version
After a busy summer playing to live audiences, we finally found some time to publish a new video in the form of this classic theme tune from the award winning film The Graduate, with Paul Simon winning a Grammy for the soundtrack as well as record of the year 1968
This classic Stones composition and Chris Farlowe hit was recorded in the year in which we celebrated the 40th anniversary of our musical partnership!
Our arrangement of the classic Carl Perkins rockabilly hit Honey Don’t was inspired by Ringo’s rendition on the Beatles For Sale album, with the usual Tickets touch added on the bass, the harmonica and the harmony vocals
Shindig is an energetic Shadows instrumental that’s been on our repertoire since the earliest days of The Tickets some forty years ago, and has continued to be popular with audiences throughout that timespan
We’re back to The Kinks with this dreamy Ray Davies composition, opening and closing with a bass solo playing the guitar part, plus our usual dusting of carefully targeted harmonies to create the impression that there’s more than just the two of us playing and singing in this live take
Our latest recording takes us back to some 1966 Rolling Stones, with our interpretation of the iconic Paint It Black, where the dobro plays the theme melody and Tickets harmonies spice up the vocals
Cliff’s first global number one million seller, when The Shadows were still called The Drifters, with a Tickets twist where Nigel plays Hank’s guitar accompaniment and signature solo on the tenor uke
No intro needed really for this Neil Diamond composition and UK and US number one hit for The Monkees, with the bass taking the solo and the harmonica playing the organ riffs in the intro and the outro of the song
This great song and global 1968 hit has its roots in 1920s Russia, and we’ve used the mandolin to recreate the balalaika vibe that we feel belongs to this composition by Boris Fomin, who sadly never lived to get the recognition he deserved for writing the melody
Many of the Sixties artists we love and admire were inspired by The Everly Brothers’ gold standard harmonies, so this Phil Everly song just had to find its way onto our repertoire, with the addition of a more prominent bass line and a harmonica solo
Possibly one of the most recognisable guitar instrumentals ever recorded, and a prelude to the great explosion of musical creativity that was already brewing in that summer of 1960
Our version of this popular double platinum Elvis hit takes inspiration from a mix of the original with the live unplugged vocal harmony version as performed by Cliff & The Shadows
Our arrangement of this 1965 John Lennon composition uses the mandolin to create a “Tickets” feel to the 12-string guitar sounds from the original
Our most performed number and usually our gig or set finisher is a bit of a multi-tasking tour de force with five instruments being played simultaneously by just the two of us throughout most of the song
We’ve arranged Buddy Holly’s first global hit for the ukulele, with Nigel alternating between rock ’n roll licks and fingerpicking style, and performing the famous guitar solo on the uke
We love this Kinks tune with its iconic opening riff and laid back feel, perfectly suited for some real life lazing on a sunny afternoon
We’ve converted this Peter Green dual guitar number to the dobro to create the impression that there’s more than one solo being played
Our version of this 1966 Stones number has Nigel playing the original Brian Jones marimba part on the bass, adding some harmonica and vocal harmony parts, while Dave gives it his lead vocal treatment and foot percussion groove
Harmony vocals, a dose of bluegrass mandolin and some bluesy harmonica bends are the basis for our version of this Carl Perkins classic
Recorded by The Beatles and The Shirelles, we love the early Sixties feel of this number, with Nigel taking the bass solo as well as a few extra Tickets riffs
Our version of Cecilia has the uke playing the guitar part as performed by Paul Simon, with a couple of added harmonica verses to give it a Tickets groove
We love Ray Davies’ compositions, and this one is always an audience favourite, with our version featuring a bass solo, some carefully placed harmonica riffs and a chorus with a high singalong component
Instrumentals are an integral part of our repertoire, and this popular one is known for being the theme tune for the BBC radio Sound of the 60s programme for 34 years
We’ve arranged this 1969 George Harrison tune for the mandolin, as we think its unique double stringed sound fits the vibe of the overdubbed instruments in the original Beatles recording on the Abbey Road album
The advent of Rock ’n Roll was a great inspiration for many Sixties bands, as you will see it is for us too with this Eddie Cochran classic that a young Paul McCartney impressed John Lennon with on their first meeting
Our version of this atmospheric Otis Redding hit features a dobro accompaniment plus outro solo and is spiced up with some signature Tickets vocal harmonies
This catchy tune with its classic vocal harmony chorus and the uke taking the iconic guitar solo was the first of our 2021 weekly recordings in our newly set up studio
CHRISTMAS REPERTOIRE
Having set up and extensively trialled the audio and the video in our new attic studio over October and November of 2020, our first published recordings were from our Christmas repertoire, which we’ve since added to with the Elvis classic below.
As we approached the end of 2021 and a second Christmas full of limitations and restrictions, we hoped that listening to our version of this Elvis Christmas classic would help bring some festive cheer
Our second recording was this timeless tune with a classic Shaky bounce, which we hope we’ve captured with our duo setup
The very first of our attic studio recordings to go public on the 12th of December 2020, played with the intent we’d built up during rehearsals for our cancelled Christmas live performance
BUILDING OUR OWN STUDIO
The re-closure of restaurants and other public venues in October 2020 lead to a focus on recording our repertoire so we could continue to play and share our performances online. This is something we’d long been planning to do, but never had time to because of our performance schedule. We felt a home studio would be the best fit, as our time would then be our own and with only two of us involved, we would be less likely to be affected by social distancing rules. The technical side of our studio was gradually built up over the course of the month, with the first stage of positioning ourselves and our instruments shown below.
SOFA LOUNGE STUDIO
Little did we know that the COVID pandemic was just around the corner, when on the 11th of February 2020 we booked into the Sofa Lounge Studio in The Hague, to convert the live stage experience of 50+ recent gigs into some quality recordings. We set up as we would for a live performance and played six of our favourite numbers as they were recorded and filmed. The results are shown below the Facebook post, in the order in which they were recorded:
We often use this Beatles rooftop concert classic as our gigstarter, with the harmonica replacing the original guitar solo and a punchy walking bass line added to the bridge
This Lovin’ Spoonful number is one of our favourite uke arrangements, with a harmonica part and harmony vocals giving it our own style
A bit of blues often calls for the dobro and the harmonica, as is the case with this Howlin’ Wolf classic that is more widely known in the 1964 Rolling Stones version
Guitar instrumentals are always popular with our audiences and this Ventures tune finds its way onto most of our playlists
Back to the bass for a bit of early Roy Orbison which – as often – features some bluesy harmonica parts
And finally some folk featuring mandolin cross-picking, harmonica and vocal harmonies to create our version of this Bob Dylan classic
