What 'oldies' have you been strumming on guitar today?

A couple of unexpected ones (to me) plus there - I'm not sure I know the Jim Croce (I have a comp of his... I'll see if it's on there...) and the Smokey one I need to look at too - not sure I know that either.

I'll give Thunderball a go - been a Tom Jones fan since I can remember and have become something of a Bond fan in my later years! There are a couple of other 007 themes that I've had fun with over the years... We Have All The Time In The World comes across well acoustically. Goldfinger is a right laugh - I enjoy that one. Has to be done! The Arctic Monkeys did a cool version of Diamonds Are Forever - another possibility and of course Live And Let Die - need to 'scat' sing the orchestral bits!

 

Wow - that is one sweet instrument!

Took me a long time (weeks, off and on?) to get Blackbird nailed to my satisfaction. It's almost a given that it's one that people will ask you to play it and I said I wouldn't but that was partly due to seeing various people playing it so differently. Nothing wrong with putting your own spin on things though!

I've done many a Dylan song (only right to do so) and think I might have done Visions Of Johanna just the once, probably recorded onto cassette to say I'd done it! I spent a whole evening writing Desolation Row out and recorded that after writing it all out again years later (don't think I've got it anymore sadly - played bass on it as well...)

 

Go Now is about as near as I get to being able to successfully playing a whole song on piano. I could do it, if I were recording it and was allowed to do some 'drop ins' to correct rough bits...

Some albums do get us that way - there are Deep Purple and The Jam ones where I picked up virtually all the songs on bass. Great fun.

 

I still like to play along to records/recordings - not as often as I did but it's a fine way to pick things up (as I done read notation, occasionally tab) or just 'blend in' and play rhythm to songs that might not even have a rhythm guitar on them.

 

Ah, I love that tune - play it very often.

 

Pistols - God Save the Queen
CCR - Fortunate Son, Up Around the Bend
The Nerves - Hanging on the Telephone
Allman Brothers - Jessica (I'm seem to have actually got worse at playing this rather than improving)

 

Arthur's Theme I definitely need to have a go at! Please take care of your shoulder - I've had bouts of arthritis and it's not good...

 

I recorded that once - I'm sure it's James Jamerson on bass and I found without whatever odd notes he's playing on the bit before the chorus, it's hard to follow the melody... Might just be me though! Or very often I've found that the chords to these songs online are some way off and end up sitting down with the CD on.

 

Usually I don't bother using a capo on Here Comes The Sun (lazy I know, but...) Then again I recently got a late 70s/early 80s Yamaha 6 string jumbo and so split a spare 12 string set, putting the light strings that were left over onto my old Squire acoustic for this...



So, I think I should try and record it using my two six-stringer acoustics. I'm sure the results will be fascinating.

 

Used to play GSTQ in a band (not acoustically) - we agreed to drop the 'No Future' bit because we were getting a bit old and it wasn't as relevant any more. Also Submission and Silly Thing. I've done the latter as both a rocker and ballad with a glockenspiel solo on a keyboard.

Jessica was the original BBCTV them to the motor show Top Gear - great tune! Don't worry, I'm sure we all find that... I've certainly wondered why I keep playing some things and did I ever get them right in the first place?

 

A BIG thank you to ALL the contributors so far - already this thread is doing better than I thought it may have. All interesting stuff and has given me many ideas already. I just hope I now have time to bash a few things out sometime today...

 

Thanks! It was a 40th birthday gift from my wife, an ex-demo model at half price (the guitar not the wife ). It's a joy to play but because of the position of the soundhole it can make my tinnitus play up if I dig in too hard. I've recently bought a sweet Lowdown to replace it, sounds beautiful but is a bit more difficult to play, still getting used to it.

Ha, me too. I copped that one, and many, many others, off of Justin:

Yea, love playing Dylan songs. Particularly enjoy tuning to open D and running through some Blood on the Tracks numbers: Simple Twist of Fate; You're a Big Girl Now; You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go and If You See Her, Say Hello.

In fact, I think that's what I'll do with some free time this afternoon.

Cheers!

 

Define oldies!

Ive actually been playing a lot of James Taylor recently. Of course I’m also always playing solo George songs because they help my soul.

 

Yes, I can spend a long time looking at his videos - even any tiny thing learned is another weapon in one's musical arsenal! I'd imagine the guitar is rather trebly - but often that can be an advantage especially to cut through the mix when recording.

When I bought Blood On The Tracks for the first time, I was so taken with it, I knew straight away that I wanted to learn some of the songs and used to play Simple Twist Of Fate a lot. That's another I've just added to my mental list...

 

would love to hear Silly Thing done as a ballad.

 

I knew someone would ask! Oldies= anything that can be considered a classic. Might be that it's less known in general than others. Doesn't have to be ancient either. So it can be virtually anything. I suppose I was just implying something that most of us should be familiar with in one way or the other.

I got the songbook for Mud Slide Slim the other day - very unexpected and happy find. Looks like it's from the mid-70s and has a fair bit of background along with some nice photos. My favourite without a doubt is the album Sweet Baby James and I enjoy playing the title track above everything of his, plus Country Road and Anywhere Like Heaven.

 

There was a channel I had on You Tube that I could have put that on but I don't know what happened... something between my laptop losing the password (I'm quite savvy with these things and know where to find ones saved in Chrome, so don't get it) and not being sure which email address it is linked to. I've had err one or two. But I'm thinking I might just start another and put some of these oddities on. May take a day or so to set up but if it entertains people....

 

For beginners with enough learning down that they can try to tackle Beatle songs - especially the early rockers - on acoustic guitar, to build muscle and muscle memory...they can be tricky! The Beatles were no slouches at chords and strumming.
My favorites to play to loosen up the rust...
"Four Strong Winds" - Ian Tyson, Neil Young's arrangement
"Needle and the Damage Done" - Neil Young
"Tangled Up in Blue" - Bob Dylan
"Powderfinger" - Neil Young
"Coyote" - Joni Mitchell

Nothing too difficult, just competent mimicry

 

I tried to play Wilco - Passenger Side yesterday. I guess this is now almost an oldie.

 

I've been trying to get that little figure down that opens the song. There's a couple of weird chords that I'm still trying to master. I know a killer bass player once I get my parts down.

 

I left one out as I was not playing it on a guitar but on my Gibson Thunderbird - John Entwistle's Boris the Spider. Warming up on the bass I normally will rip through the entire My Generation jam on Live at Leeds. I literally taught myself bass by playing along with that album.

 

Breaking in new strings on the Martin and playing:

Bluebird
Ride My Llama
The Old Homestead

And learning:
The Girl From Ipanema
Undun (Guess Who)

Lots of string stretching and retuning so I can get that drop D bwoooong on the low E string. That’s when I know it’s good.

 

I can't hardly play in the mornings anymore...shaky hands or maybe too much morning dark chocolate . I'm trying this morning though with less than stellar results. I play much better late in the day or night.The past year or so I've been working on arranging old familiar songs and hymns from my youth. John Fahey must have been an influence in that regard. Here's a few...

Battle Hymn Of The Republic
Rally Round The Flag
How Great Thou Art
Rock Of Ages
The Old Rugged Cross
Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior

Leon Redbone's version of Lazy Bones is always fun but my Leon vocal impression....

I't's fun reading all the posts here of the old standard Rock,Folk,Country, and Pop stuff that still is entertaining to guitar players... past, present,and future.

 

What a beautiful guitar!

 

Some songs I am working on this week:

Won't Back Down- Tom Petty (bass and rhythm guitar)
Last Dance With Mary Jane-Tom Petty (bass)
Ah Leah -Donnie Iris (bass and guitar)

not an oldie, but...
Bad Guy-Billie Eilish (bass)