Peasant’s Song

This is my arrangement of “Peasant’s Song”. It is one of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s (1843 – 1907) “Lyric Pieces for Piano” (Op 65 No 2) and was composed in 1896.

My setting was inspired in part by the Shadows’ “A Sigh“, which was based on Franz Liszt’s “Un Sospiro”. Classical piano music can translate very well to a guitar instrumental format. I have previously arranged Edward MacDowell’s “To a Wild Rose”

Hodad Lockdown

“Hodad Lockdown” is an original instrumental intended to evoke the early 1960s style of the Ventures and surf rock.

When Will It Be Spring?

“When Will It Be Spring?” is an original instrumental intended to be in the 1960s style of the Shadows.

The Ecstasy of Gold

This is my cover of “The Ecstasy of Gold”. Composed by Ennio Morricone, it was part of his score for the 1966 Sergio Leone film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The music is played near the end of the film while the character Tuco (played by Eli Wallach) is frantically searching a cemetery for the grave that holds $200,000 in gold coins. It is one of the most well known of Morricone’s themes.

I could find no versions by any contemporaneous instrumental rock groups. However, Metallica regularly used “The Ecstasy of Gold” as the introductory music for its concerts.

Swells

“Swells” is an original instrumental intended to be in the style of the Shadows. Hank Marvin was one of the first rock guitarists to incorporate a volume pedal into his playing.

Cast Your Fate to the Wind

This is my cover of “Cast Your Fate to the Wind”, an instrumental which was originally written and performed by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. His recording was a top-40 hit in 1963, reaching #22 and staying on the charts for 18 weeks.

Despite the its popularity and straight-forward nature, I could find no recordings by and instrumental guitar bands such as the Ventures or Shadows.

The Hungry Hodad

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Cowboy Chords

“Cowboy Chords” is an original instrumental intended to evoke the style of the Ventures early 1960’s “country” numbers.

The Bat

This is my cover of “The Bat”, which was the opening track n the Ventures 1964 album, “Ventures in Space”.  It was composed by Lou Forbes  as the title theme for the 1959 film “The Bat”, which starred Vincent Price.

Invaders from Uranus

“Invaders from Uranus” is an original instrumental intended to be similar to the style of the Ventures’ “outer-space” material. This particular sub-genre was kicked off by the Tornadoes hit “Telstar” in 1962. Quite a few copycats quickly followed.

The Ventures released “The Ventures in Space” in 1964, and was reportedly the first one which featured their use of Mosrite guitars.

Omoide No Nagisa

This is my instrumental cover of “Omoide No Nagisa ( 銀色の道 )” – in English, “Beach of Memories”, a song written by the Japanese team of Shigeki Torizuka and Kunihiko Kase. It was a vocal hit in Japan in 1967.

Both the Ventures and the Shadows recorded instrumental versions of this song for the Japanese market.

My arrangement is not based on either of those, but has a traditional 1960’s type feel.

Gin’Iro No Michi ( 銀色の道 )

This is my instrumental cover of “Gin’Iro No Michi ( 銀色の道 )” – in English, “The Silver Road”, a song written by Japanese composer H. Miyagawa.

Both the Ventures and the Shadows recorded this song. The Shadows version presents the tune in a couple of different rhythmic settings. The Ventures version changes key for each repetition.

I felt that the meaning of the title “The Silver Road” warranted a galloping horse musical feel in my arrangement.

 

Cavatina

This is my cover of “Cavatina”. It is well known as a theme from the film “The Deer Hunter“. It had originally been written for piano, but at guitarist John Williams’ suggestion, Myers re-wrote it for guitar and expanded it. After this transformation, it was first used for the film The Walking Stick (1970).

After the release of The Deer Hunter in 1978, Williams’ instrumental version became a UK Top 20 hit. An instrumental recording by The Shadows, was released on their album String of Hits with the name “Theme from The Deer Hunter” and reached the top 10 in the UK singles charts

My version is based on the Shadows approach.

I Will Say Goodbye

This is my instrumental cover of “I Will Say Goodbye”, with music by Michel Legrand. The original French title was “Je Vivrai Sans Toi”. For my arrangement, I tried giving it a setting in the style of the Shadows.