Bright Side of the Road
“True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today.” -George Gershwin
Key to the Highway
Playing with Patrick Kerssen. If you’re interested in hearing Patrick play in person, he is a fixture of the music scene in this part of the world. Go see him play- you’ll be in for a delightful treat!
https://www.patrickkerssenpiano.com/
“Key to the Highway”
is a blues standard that has been performed and recorded by several blues and other artists. Blues pianist Charlie Segar first recorded the song in 1940. Jazz Gillum and Big Bill Broonzy followed with recordings in 1940 and 1941, using an arrangement that has become the standard.
When Little Walter updated the song in 1958 in an electric Chicago blues style, it became a success on the R&B record chart. A variety of artists have since interpreted the song, including Eric Clapton, who recorded several versions.
“Key to the Highway” is usually credited to Charles “Chas” Segar and William “Big Bill” Broonzy. Broonzy explained the song’s development:
Some of the verses he [Charlie Segar] was singing it in the South the same time as I sung it in the South. And practically all of blues is just a little change from the way that they was sung when I was a kid … You take one song and make fifty out of it … just change it a little bit.
Segar’s lyrics are nearly the same as those recorded by Broonzy and Jazz Gillum. The […]
Moonglow
“Moonglow” appears in jazz fake books and lead sheets in the key of G, though it is also thought to originally be in the key of C.
The melodic riff of the A section is composed of a repeated minor third interval followed by a major third interval and then a repeated note. Harmonic movement is largely in an ascending circle of fourths, or with descending chromatic substitutions, but there is also movement between thirds or between major and minor seventh chords. Minor seventh chords are often played in first inversion in this tune, and may therefore be thought of and notated as six chords of the relative major.
Rhythmically “Moonglow” is in 44 time. It is a foxtrot, typically played at a slow tempo, although some performers, notably Art Tatum, have played it faster. The rhythm is syncopated. Jazz players usually swing the eighth notes.
Writer George T. Simon, while working on a compilation of music for The Big Band Songbook, contacted composer Will Hudson regarding “Moonglow”, and Hudson explained how the tune came about. “It happened very simply. Back in the early ’30s, I had a band at the Graystone Ballroom in Detroit, and I needed a theme song. So I wrote ‘Moonglow’.”
“When I sing, trouble can sit right on my shoulder and I don’t even notice.” – Sarah Vaughan
the Thrill is Gone
“The Thrill Is Gone” is a slow minor-key blues song written by West Coast blues musician Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell in 1951. Hawkins’s recording of the song reached number six in the Billboard R&B chart in 1951. In 1970, “The Thrill Is Gone” became a major hit for B.B. King. His rendition helped make the song a blues standard.
B.B. King rendition
B.B. King recorded his version of “The Thrill Is Gone” in June 1969 for his album Completely Well, released the same year. King’s version is a slow 12-bar blues notated in the key of B minor in 44 time. The song’s polished production and use of strings marked a departure from both the original song and King’s previous material.
When BluesWay Records released “The Thrill Is Gone” as a single in December 1969, it became one of the most successful of King’s career and one of his signature songs. It reached number three in the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart and number 15 in the broader Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The song also helped launch the career of producer Bill Szymczyk, as it was his first hit record success as a producer.
“I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.” – Tom Waits
Song Lessons For Guitar Students (alphabetically by title)
Song Lessons. Here are some of the songs my students and I have looked at together.
Many have a video lesson, pdf chord and lyric charts and/or tabs and notation. Lessons for any level of experience or aptitude.
If you’re looking for a video lesson you don’t see here, just reach out- I’m always adding to my song lesson list!
A
After you’ve Gone
Ain’t Misbehavin’
All My Exes
All My lovin’
All That Love For You!
Alice’s Restaurant
America the Beautiful
Am I Blue
And I Love Her
Angel Eyes
Auld Lang Syne
Autumn Leaves
B
Beautiful Love
Beautiful People
Best of My Love
Beyond the Sea
Blowin’ in the Wind
Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the rain
Blackbird
Bohemian Rhapsody
Box of Rain
Bright Side of the road
Bye Bye Blackbird
Bye Bye Love
C
California Dreamin’
Can’t Buy Me Love
Christmas Song
Can’t Help Fallin’ in Love
Come Rain Or Come Shine
Come Together
Come As You Are
Composition-022725/
Composition 030125
Composition-061026
Composition-071324
Country Roads
Crazy
Cry Me A River
Cumberland Blues
D
Down To The River To Pray
Don’t Know Why
Dock Of The Bay
Desperados Waiting For A Train
Dead Flowers
Donkey Riding
Dream Dream Dream
Dream Lover
Drive
Deal
Deep Elem Blues
Dire Wolf
E
Man Who Sold the World
“The Man Who Sold the World” is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was the title track of Bowie’s third studio album and was released in November 1970 in the US and in April 1971 in the UK by Mercury Records.
Produced by Tony Visconti, the track was recorded at Trident and Advision Studios in London in May 1970, towards the end of the album’s recording sessions. Bowie recorded his vocal on the final day of mixing for the album, reflecting his generally dismissive attitude during the sessions. Musically, it is based around a “circular” guitar riff from Mick Ronson. Its lyrics are cryptic and evocative, being inspired by numerous poems, including the 1899 “Antigonish” by William Hughes Mearns. Bowie’s vocals are heavily “phased” throughout and have been described as “haunting”.
“… don’t be afraid to screw up !… one of the key issues to learning is making mistakes … if you’re not making mistakes, you’re probably not having a very good time” – Robben Ford
Am I Blue
“Am I Blue?” is a 1929 song composed by Harry Akst (music) and Grant Clarke (lyrics), and published by M. Witmark & Sons. It was featured in four films that year, most notably with Ethel Waters in the movie On With the Show. It has become a standard covered by numerous artists. As a work from 1929 with its copyright renewed, it entered the public domain on January 1, 2025.
“I came from the last couple of years in a generation where we didn’t have a computer around so we didn’t waste as much time on the internet as we do now so I had large chunks of time which to devote to doing something.” – John Mayer
King of the Road
“King of the Road” is a song written by country singer Roger Miller, who first recorded it in November 1964. The lyrics tell of the day-to-day life of a traveling hobo, who despite having little money (a “man of means by no means”), revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously and cynically as the “king of the road”. It was Miller’s fifth single for Smash Records. The song won Miller 5 Grammy Awards in 1966.
The crossover record reached number one on the Billboard US Country chart, number four on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the Easy Listening surveys. It was also number one in the UK Singles Chart and in Norway. Miller recalled that the song was inspired when he was driving and saw a sign on the side of a barn that read, “Trailers for sale or rent”. This became the opening line of the song.
In June 1966, Richard Pryor performed the song on the premiere episode of Kraft Summer Music Hall.
Ghost Riders in the Sky
Download the PDF: ghost riders in the sky
“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.” – Confucius, c. 500 B.C.
Melissa
“I haven’t understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it.” – Igor Stravinsky