Across the Alley (from the Alamo)
Across the ally from the alamo- backing track, example video, history, audio file and pdf sheet of chord changes
Margaritaville
Margaritaville chords and lyrics
How to play margaritaville- a well-known parrothead tune. This part 1 lesson is for solo guitar fingerstyle or voice accompaniment. A great tune, with a cool, identifiable and easily playable lick
Interested in learning how to play margaritaville? This video may help. “Margaritaville” is a 1977 song by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett from the album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. This song was written about a drink Buffett discovered at Lung’s Cocina del Sur restaurant (where High 5 is located today) at 2700 W. Anderson Lane in Austin, Texas, and the first huge surge of tourists who descended on Key West, Florida, around that time. He wrote most of the song one night at a friend’s house in Austin, and finished it while spending time in Key West. In the United States “Margaritaville” reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and went to number one on the Easy Listening chart, also peaking at No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Billboard ranked it number 14 on its 1977 Pop Singles year-end chart. It remains Buffett’s highest charting solo single.
Named for the cocktail margarita, with lyrics reflecting a laid-back lifestyle in a tropical climate, “Margaritaville” […]
Autumn Leaves
“Autumn Leaves” is a popular song and jazz standard composed by Joseph Kosma in 1945 with original lyrics by Jacques Prévert in French (original French title: “Les Feuilles mortes”), and later by Johnny Mercer in English. An instrumental version by pianist Roger Williams was a number one best-seller in the US Billboard charts of 1955.
Kosma was a native of Hungary who was introduced to Prévert in Paris. They collaborated on the song Les Feuilles mortes (“The Dead Leaves”) for the 1946 film Les Portes de la nuit (Gates of the Night) where it was sung by Irène Joachim and Yves Montand. The poem was published, after the death of Jacques Prévert, in the book “Soleil de Nuit” in 1980. Kosma was influenced by a piece of ballet music, “Rendez-vous” written for Roland Petit, performed in Paris at the end of the Second World War, large parts of the melodies are exactly the same, which was itself borrowed partially from “Poème d’octobre” by Jules Massenet. The first commercial recordings of “Les Feuilles mortes” were released in 1950, by Cora Vaucaire and by Yves Montand. Johnny Mercer wrote the English lyric and gave it the title “Autumn Leaves”.
The song is in AABC form. “Autumn Leaves” offers a popular way for beginning jazz musicians to […]
Scotch and Soda
How to play scotch and soda on guitar, A stand-up member of the great american song book with a mysterious past. Lead sheet here
This great Kingston Trio song “Scotch and Soda” was discovered by the Trio through the parents of the baseball player Tom Seaver, who had first heard it in a hotel piano lounge in 1932 when on their honeymoon in Phoenix, Arizona. They liked it so much that they had the piano player write it down for them so it would be “their song.” One member of the trio (Dave Guard) was dating Seaver’s older sister (Katie) at that time, and heard the song on a visit to the Seaver home. Although it is credited to Guard (he had it copyrighted in his name on March 30, 1959), the trio never discovered the real songwriter’s name, though they searched for years.
Here’s Scotch and Soda by the Kingston Trio:
“To be creative and spontaneous, you have to live with imperfection.” – John Abercrombie
Honey Don’t
“Honey Don’t” is a song written by Carl Perkins, originally released on January 1, 1956 as the B-side of the “Blue Suede Shoes” single, Sun 234. Both songs became rockabilly classics. Bill Dahl of Allmusic praised the song saying, “‘Honey Don’t’ actually outclasses its more celebrated platter-mate in some ways.” It has been covered by more than 20 other artists, including the Beatles, Ronnie Hawkins and Johnny Rivers. The song has appeared in films such as The Prince of Tides, Diner, Perfect Sisters and Honey Don’t!
According to David McGee, author of Go, Cat, Go! The Life and Times of Carl Perkins, the King of Rockabilly, Carl Perkins first brought the song to a rehearsal with his band which at the time comprised the Perkins brothers and W. S. Holland:
- Carl Perkins – lead guitar and vocals
- Jay Perkins – acoustic guitar and backing vocals
- Clayton Perkins – double bass
- W. S. Holland – drums
When Carl first played the song to Jay Perkins, Jay protested what sounded to him like an odd chord choice, going to a C7 chord after the E instead of the natural blues progression choice of A. At first, Jay refused to go along, but Carl convinced him it was something different, and today the chord choice is one of the most interesting aspects of the song.
Perkins and […]
How to play “Sloop John B” for solo guitar
How to play “Sloop John B” for solo guitar
Tab, lyrics and notation
How to play “Sloop John B” for solo guitar
Some of the chord shapes here you can see are different voicings for the same chord. The chord patterns in the lead sheet here will help you see some alternate voicings for your chords.
“Sloop John B” (originally published as “The John B. Sails”) is a Bahamian folk song from Nassau. A transcription by Richard Le Gallienne was published in 1916, and a version was included in Carl Sandburg’s The American Songbag in 1927. Since the early 1950s there have been many recordings of the song with variant titles including “I Want to Go Home” and “Wreck of the John B”.
The 1966 folk rock adaptation by the Beach Boys was produced and arranged by bandleader Brian Wilson and served as the lead single from their 11th studio album, Pet Sounds. The song peaked at number three in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number two in the UK, and number one in several other countries. It remains one of the group’s most successful recordings of their mid-1960s period, containing an elaborate a cappella vocal section not found in other pop music of the era.
In 2011, the Beach Boys’ version of “Sloop John B” […]
Wishflower
wishflower
chords, lyrics and notation
Deb told me a while ago that she and Miles had spent some time making wishes on dandelions and here are some of my thoughts about that. Enjoy!
Sometimes a wish’ll get lost in the shuffle
and never heard from again. Poor thing!
So we’ll make another one on the double!
In fact we might make ten! or More!
this piece was composed using Musescore, a free notation/composition/music tool.
Jira Jira Jira
Gypsy jazz is a musical idiom inspired by the Romani jazz guitarist Jean “Django” Reinhardt (1910–1953), in conjunction with the French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli (1908–1997), as expressed by their group the Quintette du Hot Club de France. The style has its origins in France and the Manouche clan of Romanis, and has remained popular amongst this clan. Gypsy jazz is often called by the French name jazz manouche, or alternatively, manouche jazz in English-language sources.
The style was popular in France and, via recordings and appearances by the original Quintette, in other European countries before and immediately after the Second World War. It fell out of favour as the “swing era” came to an end, being replaced in its homeland by bebop, mainstream jazz, and eventually, rock and roll. However, it had a resurgence from the 1970s onwards, among performers and audiences at festivals, etc., in particular the Festival Django Reinhardt which commenced in 1968 at Samois-sur-Seine, France (the location of Reinhardt’s last residence) and continues to the present time.
My piece here, “Jira Jira Jira” is inspired by the jazz-manouche style of guitar playing.
“The one human quality that must be developed is self discipline for success. The will power to force yourself to do what you know you should do […]
Wonderful Tonight
“Wonderful Tonight” is a song written and performed by English singer Eric Clapton. The ballad was included on Clapton’s 1977 album Slowhand. Clapton wrote the song on his 1974 Martin D-28 guitar about Pattie Boyd. The female vocal harmonies on the song are provided by Marcella Detroit (then Marcy Levy) and Yvonne Elliman. It peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 15 July 1978, spending seven weeks in the top 40. In Canada it was in the top 40 for nine weeks.
On 7 September 1976, Eric Clapton wrote “Wonderful Tonight” for then-girlfriend Pattie Boyd while waiting for her to get ready to attend Paul and Linda McCartney’s annual Buddy Holly party. The song is mentioned in her 2007 autobiographical book Wonderful Today.
Billboard described “Wonderful Tonight” as “perhaps Clapton’s prettiest and mellowest love ballad in some time.” Billboard particularly praised Clapton’s guitar playing during the interludes. Cash Box said that “Eric’s singing is superbly understated; the guitar work is simple and evocative” and praised “the gentle beat and organ accompaniment.” Record World called it a “light, pretty ballad from [the album] Slowhand that should also move quickly up the charts” and praised Clapton’s singing.”
Composition 071324
Normal for the spider
tabs and notation: 071324: Normal for the Spider
This piece was composed using Musescore, a free notation/composition/music tool.
“Normal for the Spider,” composed by the late avant-garde and bluegrass-influenced composer Paul Elwood, is a fascinating 14-measure chamber jazz vignette for classical guitar and acoustic bass.
The piece draws its title from the iconic Morticia Addams quote: “Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” True to its namesake, the piece balances a seemingly stable, swung jazz exterior with a harmonic undercurrent that feels deliberately unpredictable, slippery, and “chaotic”.