Download Instrumental    Paul McCartney wrote this lovely little ditty while lounging by John Lennon’s pool one morning in 1966, waiting for John to drag himself out of bed (he was a notorious late sleeper). This half of The Beatles had attended a party the night before celebrating the release of a new Beach Boys album.  Paul was especially taken with the vocal harmonies on the song “God Only Knows’ by Brian Wilson.  Those backup “ooohs” were on his mind as he strummed a few chords on his guitar and by the time John got up Paul had a song for their own new album they were calling Revolver.

To me, this song represents a much different era of both music and life.  After “Here, There, and Everywhere” was released, things pretty much went downhill from there – except for The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac in the seventies.  Back then, life wasn’t “edgy” and we weren’t waiting around for the next awful thing to happen.  Music was mostly sweet and loving and innocent – with an actual melody that you could hum or whistle while you work.  Have you noticed nobody whistles or hums anymore?  Sad…

This is one of those tunes that allows me to show off the almost life-like vocal sounds on this Yamaha keyboard of mine.  You might appreciate the “ooohs” behind the lead track – very much like the original recording.  If you are performing solo, leave the backup vocal track on.  It’s an integral part of the song and will help your own vocals flow smoothly.  I’m begging singers to bring this one back to the stage so it doesn’t get lost in the madness we all live in today.

This is probably my favorite love song.  The lyrics are sweet and kind – so rare these days.  And, happily, the melody is something you can hum while you take out the trash… imagine that.

  Download Instrumental    Yes, at one point early in his career, Elvis tried to play the accordion… but just couldn’t master the thing.  He finally just gave it up.  The man really wasn’t all that enthused about having any kind of keyboard instrument in his backup band anyway.  He was more interested in accompanying himself with a keyboard, which he eventually did fairly well on piano.  The accordion?  Not so much.  Just as well.

However, when Mr. Presley recorded Heartbreak Hotel in January of 1956, one of the studio musicians was none other than Floyd Cramer, one of the best piano players on the planet.  I thought the piano should have been a little more out front (Cramer’s was way too subtle as to be almost non-existent), so I redid the keyboard track in this arrangement to make it a bit more interesting.  Some “purists” might find it presumptuous to change anything “The King” did, but I think more piano helps to fill in a lot of holes in the original arrangement.  I also added some “claps” to help emphasize the rhythm.  Elvis would probably hate it, but this adaptation might play better for today’s audience.  People tend to get bored when only bass and drums are playing.

The inspiration for this song came from a newspaper article about a guy who committed suicide and left a haunting note that read “I walk a lonely street”.  I wonder how a man in the 1950’s could find a reason to commit suicide.  Probably trying to learn to play the accordion.

  Download Instrumental    Well, we all know silence is golden, don’t we?  An old Swiss adage assures us that “speech is silver, but silence is golden”.  How many times in your life have you wished that you’d just kept your mouth shut?  There is also a 16th century proverb that maintains “silence is a woman’s best garment”.  Well, I don’t think present-day feminists would much appreciate that, so I’m not gonna go there.  But someone should really write a song about the virtues of silence, don’t you think?  Oh, wait… they have!

“Silence is Golden” was first recorded by The Four Seasons in 1964 as the B-side to a song called “Rag Doll”.  But then a little-known band called The Tremeloes covered it to show off their guitar player’s great falsetto voice.  They were touring with The Hollies as an opening act and repeatedly received standing ovations for this tune.  So, why not record it and see what happens.  Next thing you know – big hit for a “cover band” from Merry Ol’ England.  They followed it up with “Here Comes My Baby” and cinched their rightful place in the annals of  rock’n’roll.

In 1962, Decca Records was looking for a “beat group” to sign for a recording contract and held an audition for two bands on January 1st.  The Decca producers chose The Tremeloes as they thought they had much more potential than the other group that auditioned.  Who was that other band, you might ask?  Wouldn’t ya know – it was The Beatles!  Ouch… biggest mistake in music history.

  Download Instrumental    What was the very first rock’n’roll song ever recorded?  Many music historians will tell you that a tune called “Rocket 88” was what started it all.  It was recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis (1951) by Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm.  Yes, the same Ike Turner who spent a great deal of his leisure time beating up on Tina in later years.  What a swell guy…

However, I think a little ditty called “Rock Around the Clock” defined the beginning of the “rock era”  when Bill Haley and His Comets topped the charts with it in 1956.  Music publishers at the time didn’t have a clue what to call this new genre of music, so they settled on “Novelty Foxtrot”.  Now, you would think they could have come up with something better than that… like maybe…rock’n’roll?  Actually a disc jocky in Cleveland named Alan Freed first coined the term “rock and roll” to describe this new style which he considered to be a mixture of rhythm & blues and country.  I suppose that aptly describes it, but I would throw a little “boogie-woogie” influence into the mix too.

Bill Haley also had a hit called “See You Later, Alligator” – another fun song.    You see, back then, music was fun and “frolicky”, not even close to being serious or political until we got to the mid-sixties.  After that, it all went to hell (sigh).   But our Mr. Haley had another claim to fame – the kiss curl.   What’s a kiss curl, you might ask.  It’s a lock of hair curling down over the forehead usually plastered down with hair lotion.  It could also be plastered down with spit, but then it’s a spit curl.  Yuck!  At the age of four, Bill Haley had an operation on his inner ear, but the optic nerve to his left eye was accidently cut, leaving him blind in that eye for the rest of his life.  He wore “the curl” over his right eye to divert attention away from his blind left eye.  Superman also had a “kiss curl”.  Always wondered what that was all about…

Watch the video below and you’ll see an accordion player in the band.  Go figure. But the boy can’t keep from looking down at his keyboard – bad form.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=rock+around+the+clock+videos&docid=608053976127507806&mid=F83C98AC5130316BA59CF83C98AC5130316BA59C&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

  Download Instrumental    Sometimes a song comes along that I just don’t want to perform. This is one of them, as is “Light My Fire” and almost everything recorded after 1988.  I managed to avoid “Reunited” for 20 years, but then fate reared its ugly head.  A friend of mine divorced his wife but three years later decided to tie the knot again – with the same woman.  He wanted us to play for this second marriage, even though we had played the first one (ah… good memories).   I suggested Sinatra’s “The Second Time Around” for his wedding dance.  I thought it would be perfect.  But he said to me, breathlessly, “That won’t do, but do you remember a song called ‘Reunited’?” (GROAN)  I was trapped, but did the right thing.

I once witnessed two circus elephants who were reunited after 20 years apart.  It was heartwarming and sad at the same time.  Now, THAT would make a good song!

Peaches and Herb had a #1 hit with “Reunited” in 1979.  They also scored another #1 in the same year with a tune called “Shake Your Groove Thing”.  Talk about polar opposite styles!   Herb Feemster (stage name Herb Fame), teamed up with Francine “Peaches” Hurd in 1966 as an R&B duo.  Herb remained the constant throughout his singing career, but had seven different “Peaches” as he cruised along.  The third Peaches, Linda Greene, was the soulful female voice on this song and “Groove Thing” as well.  She was by far the most talented and attractive peach he ever had – he owes her big time.

I’m sure there are millions of you out there who love this tune – well – hundreds, anyway.  I could never get into it, for some reason.  Never been a fan of watching two singers croon to one another – that’s why I don’t like Bing Crosby either.  But, musically, this is a wonderful piece.  Nice jazz guitar, haunting flute playing in and out of the melody, violins, and nice accenting brass makes for a fun arrangement.  I used a tenor sax for Herb’s part and a trombone for Peaches (makes me chuckle to write that…peaches).  But if it works for you and your partner can sing in the same key as you (a luxury I never had), then go for it.  If I ever needed another singer, I’d advertise for someone who can sing only in the key of G.  Then maybe I’d try this song (no… I’m lying).

  Download Instrumental    I have a lot of favorite songs. Trouble is, whenever I realize I can actually sing a tune, it’s not a favorite any more.  I’m a strictly mediocre vocalist on a good day, so if I can actually get away with singing the song onstage, it must mean that ANYONE can.  It kind of loses it’s appeal somehow – which is why this one is still one of my favorites.   I can’t even begin to do a “Barry Gibb” – but maybe you can.  The backing tracks are on the Pop/Rock list.

Whenever I hear “Stayin’ Alive” I always think of John Travolta strolling – no, walking – no, more like strutting – down the streets of New York City as the song played over the opening credits of Saturday Night Fever.  I’m sure everybody relates to it the same way.  The “Bee Gees” were commissioned to write the sound track for the movie, but Robert Stigwood, the producer, wanted a piece written that was named “Saturday Night”.  He was upset when he was presented with this song instead.  But the Gibb brothers pretty much said “take it or leave it”. He took it…. and made history.

A medical study indicates that “Stayin” Alive” is the perfect song to listen to on your iPod if you have to perform CPR on someone having a heart attack.  The rhythm almost perfectly coincides with a normal hearbeat.  Okay… I can’t imagine you’d dive for your iPod in such an emergency situation, but “stayin’ alive” does seem to be the appropriate message here.  Coincidentally, another song by Queen also fills the bill with the perfect beat – “Another One Bites the Dust”.  Hmmm… maybe not so appropriate.

  Download Instrumental    “Dear Dave:  I need an arrangement for ‘This Magic Moment’ but I don’t like The Drifters version (1960) or the Jay and the Americans style (1968). Can you do me one that combines the best of each?”  So,  Piero from Florence, Italy loves the song and wants to perform it, but doesn’t like the arrangements by the original artists in the 60’s.  After going back and listening to them, I would have to agree.  Great love song, but the mixes back then were muddled and cluttered with too much instrumentation.

Piero is a solo performer (singer) who uses backups for his music and gets a lot of them from this website.  Since he works alone, he needed vocal backups on one track and wanted violins to come in halfway through.  Okay, got that.  But he also thought a calypso beat with no definite snare hit on the 2/4 beat would be nice (the man knows what he likes).  Karen came up with the idea of using a wood block throughout the song with a rhythm very similar to what The Diamonds used in “Little Darlin” (she knows what she likes, too).  It worked, and Piero is happy – until he gets my bill.

Obviously, the lyrics are what makes a song a “love” song, and this one more than fills the bill – “This magic moment, so different and so new/was like any other, until I kissed you”.  Doesn’t that make you want to sigh and stare off into the sunset.  Contrast that with a song of today – “He wanna feel my summer rain/the thunder roll yeah he wanna bang”.  Now, there’s a magical moment for ya…