Bossa Roo

“Bossa Roo” was a track on the Shadows 1964 album “Sound of the Shadows”. My recording is pretty much a straight cover, right down to Hank Marvin’s solo break.

Big Boy

“Big Boy” was the final track on the Shadows 1961 debut album. It’s something of a foot-stomper/hoedown/rockabilly number. It’s interesting how American music was such a big influence on British bands in the 1950’s and 60’s.

My arrangement stays pretty close to the original with the exception of using one verse for a country style solo.

 

Little Child

“Little Child” was on side two of “Meet the Beatles”, the Capital Records album that introduced he Fab Four to most of us here in the USA. It was a “filler” track — never released as a single here — but it’s pretty good, old-fashioned rock’n’roll.

My instrumental version has a feel similar to the original, and an extended middle section with a touch of Ventures style.

Blue Sky, Blue Sea, Blue Me

“Blue Sky, Blue Sea, Blue Me” is a track from the Shadows 1964 album “Sound of the Shadows”. It was never released as a single. The quality of the Shadows album “filler” tracks is quite remarkable. This is a lovely tune, written by rhythm guitarist Bruce Welch and bassist John Rostill.

Normally I do not bother shooting a video of me playing my arrangements live. It’s quite time-consuming, and I prefer to focus my attention on the arranging and recording processes. However, this song is one of my most favorite of the tunes I’ve done recently, and I also thought I could capture a nice rendition on the 1st take.

1861

“1861” was originally a track on the Shadows 2nd album, “Out of the Shadows”, released in 1962. The track was also used as the “B” side to their #1 UK hit “Foot Tapper”. I could find no documentation about the tune, but the military march feel to the drum part — combined with fact that the title is also the date of the start of the US Civil war — could indicate the track is about that conflict.

Blue Bari Hill

This is my instrumental take on the classic “Blueberry Hill”, retitled because I play the melody on my Baritone guitar.

Spring is Nearly Here

“Spring is Nearly Here” was originally the 3rd track on side 2 of the Shadows 1962 album “Out of the Shadows”. It was written by rhythm guitarist Bruce Welch and drummer Brian Bennett. My arrangement is heavily based on the original, adds an additional guitar part while shortening it overall.

Windjammer

“Windjammer” was the 3rd track on side two of the Shadows 1964 album “The Sound of the Shadows”. It was written by their bassist, John Rostill. My version is a bit simpler than the original, which had layers of strings.

The Lost City

“The Lost City” was the second track from the Shadows 4th album, “The Sound of the Shadows”, released in 1964.

All My Loving

“All My Loving”, in spite of its popularity was, as far as I can tell, never released as a single in the USA or England. It was, however, the first song the Beatles played on their first appearance on Ed Sullivan in 1964. My arrangement is on the surf-music side.

I’m a Loser

This is an instrumental arrangement of “I’m a Loser”, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon-McCartney. It was originally released on Beatles for Sale in the United Kingdom, later released on Beatles ’65 in the United States.

 

Dakota

“Dakota” was a track on the Shadows 1964 album “Dance with the Shadows”. Like many of their tracks, it has a nice melody and some interesting chord changes. My version is not a straight cover of theirs; I’ve made a few changes to the arrangement.

A Place in the Sun

“A Place in the Sun” was a Shadows UK top-40 hit, released in 1966. They never charted at all in the USA. I think this is a really nice number; my arrangement is basically a cover of the original with a few minor changes.

This Boy

“This Boy” was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released in the UK in November 1963 as the B-side of the band’s Parlophone single “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. In the United States, it was issued in January 1964 on Meet the Beatles!. My instrumental version uses the same basic rhythm guitar and bass parts as the original.

 

Blue Bari

“Blue Bari” is an original composition. I set out to write a Duane Eddy type tune featuring bluesy licks my baritone guitar. The recording does feature the baritone, but the feel of the track turned out to be more Bill Doggett-style honky-tonk.