Kimono Be Blonde

“Kimono Be Blonde” is an original instrumental intended to be in the early 1960s style of the Ventures. I set out to create a 12-bar-based rocker that would hopefully be similar to something the band members would have written themselves. The title “Kimono Be Blonde” is an anagram of “Bob Don Nokie Mel”.

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Moon River

This is my instrumental cover of “Moon River”, the very well known song from the 1961 film, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” which was directed by Blake Edwards and starred Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney.

Composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and also won the 1962 Grammy for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It became the theme song for crooner Andy Williams, who first recorded it in 1962 and performed it at the Academy Awards ceremony that year. 

My arrangement is intended to be in the style of the Shadows. Hank Marvin did release a version of the song, but not until 2017.

 

Statesboro Fistful

“Statesboro Fistful” is an original instrumental in a classic-rock/southern-rock style.  When I started work on it, I mainly intended to do something traditional in this vein…however, apparently my recent work arranging some of Ennio Morrione’s material lingered in my brain, as I think the melody and chords are reminiscent of his music.

 

Rolling Shadows

“Rolling Shadows” is an original instrumental intended to be in the 1960s style of the Shadows.

Blackout

“Blackout” is an original composition intended to be in the style of 1960s guitar instrumentals like surf rock or the Ventures.

A Thousand Shadows

“A Thousand Shadows” is an original instrumental intended to be in the style of the Shadows.

Lute Prelude

This is my arrangement of J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C minor, BWV 999 – commonly known as the “Lute Prelude”. It was sometime between 1717 and 1723. Though originally composed for Lute-Harpsichord it has since been adapted for various instruments, including lute, piano and guitar. It is a staple of the classical guitar repertoire.

Since my musical  education is a traditional, classical one, and since my guitar training was entirely in classical guitar, this arrangement came together fairly smoothly.

My Home and My Heart

“My Home and My Heart” is an original instrumental composition influenced by some of the Shadows material from the 1980s.

 

Song of India

This is my instrumental cover of “Song of India”, which was adapted from an aria in Rimsky-Korsakoff’s opera “Sadko”. In 1937, Tommy Dorsey recorded an instrumental jazz arrangement which became a jazz standard. The song has occasionally gotten some attention from guitarists and guitar-oriented groups.

Silvan Shadows

“Silvan Shadows” is an original instrumental intended to be in the style of the Shadows.

Hotel California

This is my instrumental cover of the Eagles’ hit “Hotel California”.

It is the title track from the Eagles’ album of the same name and was released as a single in February 1977. Writing credits for the song are shared by Don Felder (music), Don Henley, and Glenn Frey (lyrics). The Eagles’ original recording of the song features Henley singing the lead vocals and concludes with an extended section of electric guitar interplay between Felder and Joe Walsh.

My arrangement rocks things up a bit and was intended, at least somewhat, to imagine how the Ventures might have handled it.

Don’t Cry for Me Argentina

This is my instrumental cover of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”, based on the Shadows’ classic 1978 arrangement which charted and #5 on the UK charts. Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, it was first recorded by Julie Covington for the 1976 concept album Evita, and later included in the 1978 musical of the same name.

 

A Fistful of Dollars

This is my cover of the main theme from “A Fistful of Dollars”. Composed by Ennio Morricone, it was part of his score for the 1964 Sergio Leone “spaghetti western”, which gave Clint Eastwood his first starring movie role.

In spite of the prominence of guitars in the original version, I could find no versions by any contemporaneous instrumental rock groups.

 

Melodie

This is my arrangement of “Melodie”. It is one of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s (1843 – 1907) “Lyric Pieces for Piano” (Op 47 No 3) and was first published in 1888.

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”