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Strumming
Video Set One
1.
Space Oddity-David Bowie
Bowie
wrote this after seeing the 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie 2001:
A Space Odyssey. "Space Oddity" is a play on "Space Odyssey."
This
tells the story of Major Tom, an astronaut who cuts off communication
with Earth and floats into space. Major Tom is not based on a real
person.
This was originally released in
1969 on Bowie's self-titled
album. It was available only in the UK and timed to coincide with the
moon landing. In 1972, the album was re-titled Space Oddity and released in the US for the
first time.
2.
Father
& Son-Cat
Stevens
This
is about
a Russian family where the son wants to join the revolution but his
father wants him to stay home and work on the farm. Stevens made up the
story.
The
dialogue
between father and son hints at Stevens' lonely childhood. The song
contains a lyrical trick of verse and chorus sung by different people
with different perspectives on the situation.
This
was a hit
in Europe for the Irish group Boyzone in 1995. Stevens, now known as
Yusuf Islam, was happy that the wholesome group had success with
it. This was
released as the B-side of Steven's hit "Moonshadow."
3.
Always on
my mind-Willie
Nelson
This
was written by the songwriting trio of Johnny Christopher, Mark James
and Wayne Carson Thompson. It was originally recorded by Brenda Lee in
1971.
This
song tells the story of a man who admits that he didn't always do the
things he should have to show appreciation for his lady, but wants her
to know he was always thinking about her.
The
Country Music Association named this Single Of The Year in 1982.
Elvis
Presley recorded this in 1972. His version reached #9 in the UK. A
cover version by The Pet Shop Boys made UK #1 in December 1987. They
had released it after performing it on a BBC Elvis tribute show.
4.
Black
Magic Woman-Peter
Green
This
was a hit for Santana, but few people know that this song is actually a
cover of a 1968 Fleetwood Mac song that hit UK #37. Peter Green, who
was a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, wrote the lyrics. The
original's music sounds very similar to the sound Santana added on his
version.
The
original version is based on a Blues song Peter Green wrote for
Fleetwood Mac's first UK album called "I Loved Another Woman."
5.
Boulevard
of broken
dreams-Greenday
This
is about estrangement and the recognition that the American Dream can
let you down. (thanks, Mary - millville, MA)
This
follows the main character from Green Day's song "Jesus Of Suburbia."
He leaves town, has one crazy first night and now it's kind of like the
hangover. He's just walking, thinking about whether it was the right
decision leaving where he used to live.
6.
And I love
Her-Beatles
Paul McCartney wrote this about
his girlfriend, an actress named Jane Asher. For a while, they were the
most popular couple in England. After they broke up in 1968, McCartney
married Linda Eastman and Asher became a proficient author. She runs
her own business called "Jane Asher Party Cakes."
McCartney
also wrote "We Can Work
It Out" and "Here,
There And Everywhere"
about Asher as well
7.
When you
say nothing
at all- R.
Keating
This
was originally recorded by Country artist Keith Whitley in 1987.It was
written by 2 leading country songwriters, Paul Overstreet and Don
Schlitz. The latter also wrote and previously recorded Kenny Rogers'
American #1, "The Gambler."
When
Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz were originally not too impressed with
this song, but when they played it to Keith Whitley, he told them that
they had written a classic and it became the second of 5 consecutive US
Country #1s for Whitley, the last one posthumous - Whitney died at age
34. It was a Country hit a second time in 1995 for Alison Krauss
& Union Station, but neither version reached the UK chart.
8.
Maggie May-Rod
Stewart
This song is about the woman
who deflowered Stewart when he was 16. In the January, 2007 issue of Q magazine, Stewart said:
"Maggie May was more or less a true story, about the first woman I had
sex with, at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival. It nearly got left off because
the label said it didn't have a melody. I said, 'Well, we've run out of
time now, these are all the tracks we've recorded. They said, Alright,
then, bring it on."
Stewart's record company didn't think this was a hit, so they released
it as the B-side of "Reason To Believe." Disc jockeys liked this
better, so they played it as the single instead. The first station to
flip the single and play this as the A-side was WOKY in Milwaukee.
9.
Imagine-John
Lennon
Lennon
was asking us to imagine a place where things that divide people
(religion, possessions, etc.) did not exist. He felt that would be a
much better place.
This
song is a strong political message that is sugarcoated in a beautiful
melody. Lennon realized that the softer approach would bring the song
to a wider audience, who hopefully would listen to his message.
10. Norwegian
Wood-Beatles
This was the first Pop song to
use a Sitar - George Harrison played it. Harrison was new to the Sitar
and took many takes to get it right. He bought the instrument, which he
described as "crummy," and taught himself to play.
It was David Crosby of The Byrds who introduced Harrison to the sitar
shortly after the Folk musician Shawn Phillips had shown him the basic
steps. A few months later, Harrison studied the Sitar with Indian
musician Ravi Shankar, who helped Harrison explore Eastern music and
religion.
Strumming
Video Set Two
1.
Stand
by your Man-Tammy
Wynette
Tammy
Wynette wrote this with Billy Sherrill. Sherrill was a producer,
songwriter and record executive who signed Wynette to Epic Records
after other labels rejected her. He was known for his elegant and
meticulous production style (often adding strings to the mix), which
was unusual in the world of Country music.
This
became the most successful recording of Tammy Wynette's career and has
been recorded by many other singers. The song hit #1 on the Country
charts and eventually reached #1 in the UK in 1975.
2.
Goodnight
Irene-Leadbelly
This
is a folk standard, meaning no one knows who wrote it. Leadbelly's
version has become the most widely recognized.
Leadbelly,
whose real name was Huddie Ledbetter, developed this while he was in
jail for attempted murder from 1918-1924. It won him his freedom when
the warden let him go after hearing this.
In
1930, Leadbelly was once again jailed for attempted murder. Once again,
his music won him his freedom when John Lomax and his son Alan
convinced prison officials to release him. John and Alan Lomax were
anthropologists and music historians who collected songs to preserve in
the Library of Congress.
3.
Folsom
prison blues-Johnny
Cash
One
of his earliest songs, Cash first recorded this for Sun Records in
1956. But it was the thrilling, electric 1967 version recorded live at
Folsom Prison that came to define his outlaw persona.
The
most famous line in this song, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him
die," Cash said he wrote while "Trying to think of the worst reason for
killing another person."
4.
Times they
are a
changin-Bob
Dylan
This
became an anthem for frustrated youth. It summed up the
anti-establishment feelings of people who would later be known as
hippies. Many of the lyrics are based on the Civil Rights movement in
the US.
In
the liner notes of this album Biograph, Dylan
wrote: "I wanted to write a big song, some kind of theme song, with
short, concise verses that piled up on each other in a hypnotic way.
This is definitely a song with a purpose. I knew exactly what I wanted
to say and who I wanted to say it to."
5.
Light My
Fire-The
Doors
This
became The Doors' signature song. Released on their first album, it was
a huge hit and launched them to stardom. Before this was released, The
Doors were an underground band popular in the Los Angeles area, but
this got the attention of a mass audience.
The
Doors' record company thought this was too long to get radio play, so
the guitar solos were edited down for the single to make it
considerably shorter. Many stations played the 6:50 album version
anyway.
6.
Last thing
on my mind-Tom
Paxton
"The
Last Thing on My Mind" is a song written by Tom Paxton in the early
1960s, which Paxton first recorded in 1964. The song has since been
covered by well over four dozen artists, including Judy Collins, The
Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Harry
Belafonte, The Carter Family, Johnny Cash (with Diana Trask), Marianne
Faithfull, The Seekers, Sandy Denny, Charley Pride, Hank Snow, Doc
Watson, and others.
Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton's 1967 recording of the song reached
the top ten on the U.S. country singles charts in December of that year.
The
song's melody is not too different from the traditional British Isles
folk song Leaving of Liverpool. Bob Dylan used the melody and some of
the chorus lyrics of Leaving of Liverpool in a song he adapted and
retitled as "Farewell" in 1963. All of these songs are about saying
goodbye to one's lover and missing them deeply.
7.
Great
Balls of Fire-Jerry
Lee Lewis
Otis
Blackwell, a prolific songwriter who wrote many hits for Elvis Presley,
wrote this song. Blackwell died in 2002 at age 70. (thanks, Gary -
Thetford, England)
Like
Lewis' previous hit, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," this contained a
lot of sexual innuendo, which was shocking for a southern musician in
1957. Lewis grew up in a religious household and was conflicted over
whether or not he should record this. He and Sun Records owner Sam
Phillips argued as Phillips tried to convince him to sing it.
8.
House of
the rising
sun-The
Animals
This
was the
first song since 1962 by a British band to hit #1 in America that was
not written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
This is about a
brothel in New Orleans. "The House Of The Rising Sun" was named after
Madame Marianne LeSoleil Levant (which means "Rising Sun" in French)
and was open for business from 1862 (occupation by Union troops) until
1874, when it was closed due to complaints by neighbors. It was located
at 826-830 St. Louis St.
9.
Sloop John
'B'-Trad
This
is a traditional West Indies tune about a sunken boat. It was adapted
in 1951 by Lee Hays of the Weavers (as "The John B Sails") and revived
in 1960 by Lonnie Donegan. (thanks, Brad Wind - Miami, FL)
The
song was popularized by The Kingston Trio who adapted it from a version
in poet Carl Sandburg's 1927 songbook The American Songbag.
The Kingston Trio's version stays true to the song's Calypso roots, and
was released on their first album in 1958. Eight years later, The Beach
Boys changed the title to "Sloop John B," and came away with a hit.
Their debt to The Kingston Trio goes far beyond this song: The Beach
Boys adopted the group's striped, short-sleeved shirts and wholesome
persona as well.
10.
Blowing
in the wind-Bob
Dylan
Dylan
wrote this in about 10 minutes one afternoon. He put words to the
melody of an old slave song called "No More Auction Block," which he
might have learned from Carter family records. In the evening, Dylan
took the song to the nightclub Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village,
where he was due to play a set. Before playing it, he announced, "This
here ain't no protest song or anything like that, 'cause I don't write
no protest songs." During this first performance, Dylan couldn't read
some of his own handwriting and made up some of the lyrics as he went
along.
*Song
information from Songfacts.com & wikipedia.com
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ost
of us accept that we’re not going to be the next
Hendrix or Clapton. In fact we
ust
imagine having a guitar
teacher that you could call on at any time of the day and get them to
show you over and over and over again. You don’t need a
qualification
in advanced psychology to know that you’re learning curve
will be made
much much easier.
ownload
the videos. Print
off the chord sheets. Access the ‘Play-along’
pages. My cast iron
promise to you is this. If you are not 100% completely staggered at
your progress then I
will give you
back every single solitary penny
you spent. Period. No emails. No questions asked. Just a simple
straight-forward full money back refund.
Yes Mike I
want to have a repertoire like this
I
fed up just plodding away with my guitar
