Sunny

“Sunny”  was a #2 hit for Bobby Hebb in 1966. Written by Hebb, it is an enormously popular song, covered countless times and charting repeatedly. BMI ranks it at #25 of the top 100 songs of the 20th century.

My instrumental version is firmly rooted in the 1960s style.

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All Day and All of the Night

“All Day and All of the Night” was a hit for the Kinks in 1965, reaching #7 in the USA and #2 in the UK. The style of the song followed their prior hit “You really Got Me”.

My instrumental arrangement uses the original as its starting point, but adds some instrumental guitar mannerisms as well as taking the parallel chord movements further.

The Last Shadow

“The Last Shadow” is an original composition in which I try to combine the feel of 60’s instrumental guitar rock with a somewhat more sophisticated musical and harmonic language than was typical for that genre. This one is similar to the style of the Shadows.

Tired of Waiting

“Tired of Waiting for You” was a hit 1965 hit for The Kinks. Following “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night”, it was released as a single in January 1965 in the and then appeared on their second studio album Kinda Kinks.

My instrumental arrangement follows the original in form and somewhat in feel, but is a bit more rock-oriented.

The photo montage is of my German Shepherd Goliath, who somehow manages to make me feel that he spends his whole life waiting for me, whether it is to play, take him for a walk, come home, give him treats, or whatever.

Fading Shadows

“Fading Shadows” is an original composition in which I try to combine the feel of 60’s instrumental guitar rock with a somewhat more sophisticated musical and harmonic language than was typical for that genre. This one is similar to the style of the Shadows.

PT Blues

“PT Blues” is a simple, 12-bar blues jam.

Since I have retired, one of the ironies I’ve found is that most days I still don’t get done all that I was hoping to work on. There are a few areas where I try to work and make daily progress, including my overall fitness, martial arts, and of course — music. I handle the food preparation here at the Franklin Retirement Kennels and Gourmet Music Camp which can take time. I also want to make sure our wonderful German Shepherd gets plenty of attention, playtime and affection.

Today, with all the things that had to get done,  this resulted in my not picking up a guitar for the first time until the late afternoon. So I decided to try making a quick recording that would basically be totally improvised. I threw together a drum track in EZ-Drummer and then went into ProTools to record a bass and a guitar part while making a video of the process.

The bass track took 4 takes and the guitar part 3. Here is the result:

I Will Follow Him

“I Will Follow Him” is best known as recorded by Little Peggy March in 1963, going all the way to #1 in numerous countries, including the United States. At the age of only fifteen, Peggy March remains the youngest female ever to chart a #1 hit.

The song, however, has had a very interesting history beyond the success of the Peggy March version.

It was first released as an instrumental in France, titled “Chariot”. The music was written by Franck Pourcel (using the pseudonym J.W. Stole) and Paul Mauriat  (using the pseudonym Del Roma). Paul Mauriat is probably best remembered for the huge 1968 instrumental hit “Love is Blue”.

In 1962, Petula Clark released a French language version of the song, titled “Chariot” (lyrics by Jacques Plante), which reached No. 2 in France, and earned Clark a gold record.

In 1963, Percy Faith (remember Theme from a Summer Place, which went to #1 in 1961?) released an instrumental version, re-titled “I Will Follow You”, as the lead song on side 1 of his album titled Themes for Young Lovers.

The Peggy March version was adapted by Arthur Altman. The English lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel, the lyricist/songwriter whose credits include the English lyrics for “The Girl from Ipanema” and other foreign-language songs as well as the hits “Killing Me Softly”, “I’ve Got a Name”. He also wrote the lyrics for many TV show themes such as Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley.