Monkey and the Engineer
check the video below for the “how to play Monkey and the Engineer” lesson.
Lyrics and chord sheet for Monkey and the Engineer are here
“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Red Auerbach
Key to the Highway
Playing “Key to the highway” with Patrick Kerssen. If you’re interested in hearing Patrick play in person, he’s based in the Bethlehem PA area 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 […]
Eight Days a Week
“Eight Days a Week” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon based on McCartney’s original idea. It was released in December 1964 on the album Beatles for Sale, except in the United States and Canada, where it was first issued as a single A-side in February 1965 before appearing on the album Beatles VI. The song was the band’s seventh number 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, a run of US chart success achieved in just over a year. The single was also number 1 in Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The Beatles recorded “Eight Days a Week” at EMI Studios in London in October 1964. The track opens with a fade-in, marking one of the first times that this technique had been used on a pop studio recording. The song was reissued worldwide in 2000 on the Beatles compilation album. It also provided the title for director Ron Howard’s 2016 documentary film on the band’s years as live performers, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week.
Inspiration
Paul McCartney has attributed the inspiration of the song to at least two different sources. In a 1984 interview with Playboy magazine, he credited the title to one of Ringo Starr’s malapropisms, which similarly provided titles for the Lennon–McCartney songs “
People are Strange
“People Are Strange” is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It appears on the band’s second studio album, Strange Days, released in September 1967. The song was written by the Doors’ vocalist Jim Morrison and guitarist Robby Krieger, although all of the band are credited on the sleeve notes.
The track was first released with “Unhappy Girl” as the B-side. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.The song’s composition started in early 1967. According to Doors drummer John Densmore, he and guitarist Robby Krieger, who had then been roommates, were visited by Jim Morrison who appeared to be “deeply depressed”. At Krieger’s suggestion, they took a walk along Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles. Morrison returned from the walk “euphoric” with the early lyrics of “People Are Strange”. Intrigued by the lyrics, Krieger was convinced that the song was a hit upon hearing the vocal melody:
Morrison said “Yeah, I feel really good about this one. It just came to me all of a sudden … in a flash – as I was sitting up there on the ridge looking out over the city.” His eyes were wild with excitement. “I scribbled it down as fast as I could. It felt great to be writing again.” […]
How to play Love Potion Number 9
How to play Love potion Number 9
love_potion_no. 9 chords and lyrics
“Love Potion No. 9” is a song written in 1959 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally performed by the Clovers, who took it to number 23 on the US as well as R&B charts that year. The song was recorded by the Searchers in 1964. Their version reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two on Cash Box during the winter of 1965. The Coasters released a version in December 1971 with “D. W. Washburn” on the B-side. It reached No. 76 on the Billboard Pop chart.
The song describes a man seeking help to find love. He enlists the help of a gypsy who determines, by means of palmistry, that he needs “love potion number 9”. The potion, an aphrodisiac, causes him to fall in love with everything he sees, kissing whatever is in front of him, eventually kissing a policeman on the street corner, who breaks his bottle of love potion. In one recorded version of the ending of the song, the Clovers used the alternative lyrics:
I had so much fun that I’m going back again,
I wonder what’ll happen with Love Potion Number Ten?
The narrator describes himself as being “a flop with chicks … since 1956”; […]
In My Room
“In My Room” is a song written by Brian Wilson and Gary Usher for the American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released on their 1963 album Surfer Girl. It was also released as the B-side of the “Be True to Your School” single. The single peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (the A-side peaked at number 6, for a two-sided top-40) and was eventually inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. “In My Room” was ranked number 212 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song is written in the key of B major and features a flat VII A major chord.
Gary Usher explained that: “In My Room” found us taking our craft a little more seriously. Brian and I came back to the house one night after playing ‘over-the-line’ (a baseball game). I played bass and Brian was on organ. The song was written in an hour … Brian’s melody all the way. The sensitivity … the concept meant a lot to him. When we finished, it was late, after our midnight curfew. In fact, Murry [the Wilson brothers’ father] came in a couple of times and wanted me to leave. Anyway, we got […]
I’ll Be Your Baby
I’ll be your baby tonight chords and lyrics
“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” is a 1967 song by Bob Dylan first released on John Wesley Harding. It features Pete Drake on pedal steel guitar, and two other Nashville musicians, Charlie McCoy on bass guitar and Kenneth Buttrey on drums, both of whom had appeared on Dylan’s previous album, Blonde on Blonde.
Dylan first performed the song in concert at the Isle of Wight Festival with the Band on August 31, 1969. Since then, he has included it in more than 650 live performances. “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” has been covered by many artists, including Robert Palmer with UB40 in 1990.
Dylan’s I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight was the first track on the 1968 CBS budget sampler album The Rock Machine Turns You On which, in the aftermath of the 1960s British dominance of pop music, was a successful marketing exercise in introducing the UK audience to contemporary USA pop output.
“Charlie Christian showed me a lot and was a great help, but even then, I realized that if I was going to make it, it was no use copying Charlie.” – Barney Kessel
Heart Of Gold
heart-of-gold chords and lyrics
“Heart of Gold” is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young. From his fourth studio album Harvest (1972), it is Young’s only U.S. No. 1 single. In Canada, it reached No. 1 on the RPM national singles chart for the first time on April 8, 1972, on which date Young held the top spot on both the singles and albums charts, and No. 1 again on May 13. Billboard ranked it as the No. 17 song for 1972.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 297 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, No. 303 in an updated 2010 list, and No. 259 in 2021.
Description
The song, which features backup vocals by James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, is one of a series of soft acoustic pieces which were written partly as a result of a back injury. Unable to stand for long periods of time, Young could not play his electric guitar and so returned to his acoustic guitar, which he could play sitting down. He also played his harmonica during the three instrumental portions, including the introduction to the song.
“Heart of Gold” was recorded during the initial sessions for Harvest on February 6–8, […]
What is Life
What Is Life
chord diargrams
“What Is Life” is a song by the English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. In many countries, it was issued as the second single from the album, in February 1971, becoming a top-ten hit in the United States, Canada and elsewhere, and topping singles charts in Australia and Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, “What Is Life” appeared as the B-side to “My Sweet Lord“, which was the best-selling single there of 1971. Harrison’s backing musicians on the song include Eric Clapton and the entire Delaney & Bonnie and Friends band, with whom he had toured during the final months of the Beatles. Harrison co-produced the recording with Phil Spector, whose Wall of Sound production also employed a prominent string arrangement by John Barham and multiple acoustic rhythm guitars, played by Harrison’s fellow Apple Records signings Badfinger.
An uptempo soul tune, “What Is Life” is one of several Harrison love songs that appear to be directed at both a woman and a deity. Harrison wrote the song in 1969 and originally intended it as a track for his friend and Apple protégé Billy Preston to record. Built around a descending
How to play hallelujah
Taking some time to figure out how to play ascending and descending chord tones is a great exercise for guitar students. The pdf linked above has tabs and chord charts for the first part of the song as illustrated in the video below. Enjoy practicing how to move slowly between chord shapes as you arpeggiate them! You can apply this technique to tons of songs.
“Hallelujah” is a song written by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album Various Positions (1984). Achieving little initial success, the song found greater popular acclaim through a new version recorded by John Cale in 1991. Cale’s version inspired a 1994 recording by Jeff Buckley which in 2004 was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song achieved widespread popularity after Cale’s version of it was featured in the 2001 film Shrek. Many other arrangements have been performed in recordings and in concert, with more than 300 versions known as of 2008. The song has been used in film and television soundtracks and televised talent contests. “Hallelujah” experienced renewed interest following Cohen’s death in November 2016 and re-appeared on international singles charts, including entering the American Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.
“What stands in […]