That’s such a good one for the repertoire. I’ve read that Mason Williams intended it to be an exercise. I’m not sure which version I studied, because he recorded it in 1968 and again in 1970, and I just looked for it on YouTube. I think the version I ended up using shows him playing it with an orchestra for some kind of TV show, and it might not even be a “real” performance. Anyway, if you ever want to start a thread on that, I can provide some input.

One of the things I’ve been working on lately is Lulu’s Back in Town in standard tuning in C (works well in D, too). Not really learning it, as I’ve already got it all worked out. There’s only one unusual chord and there’s nothing special about the picking part (fingerstyle), but I run out of strength after playing the whole thing through just a few times, so that’s what I’m working on.

Just saw Reina Del Cid do a great cover of Solbury hill.
Now i have to learn that version.

:up: You have great taste Emil. Reina is so good.
Good luck with it!

I hadn't heard "Kodachrome" for a long time and it just seemed like a fun song to learn - and it is.

I'm working on a song called the real damage, by Frank Turner. It's got a Johnny Cash style bass picking pattern at a tempo that is really tough for me right now but forcing me to learn. Excited to get it down, tho it feels like it might be a while :D

Am I late to the thread? oh well.

I'm learning the Reverend Gary Davis version of "You Got The Pocketbook, I Got The Key" from Stefan Grossman's "Mel Bay's Complete Country Blues Guitar Book"

It's only the fifth tune he introduces, so I suppose it's rather basic, but the goal this year is "get better at fingerpicking". The numbers in this book are incredibly satisfying to play once you get them in muscle memory.

Currently learning several variant Charlie Christian solos from "Rose Room".

I'm learning and memorizing Classical Gas myself right now. Thank God several of the themes repeat themselves, or it would be even more of a bear than it is. I'm working on the second theme right now, which is the most difficult, up to the 8th fret. Using Jerry's guitar bar to learn the song.

Originally I started learning it years ago transcribed by a guitar instructor from the release that uses an ochestra which kind of drowns out the guitar in parts. Looking back he improvised due to that, but now you can easily listen to the entirely instrumental version on Youtube. Back then, (over 30 years ago) we tried to find the entirely instrumental track and couldn't find it.

Just read Mike Post is the one that made it partly ochestrial for release and one of the Smothers Brothers wasn't happy with that. He told him his version "*ucked." LOL Then apologized later. I think for us guitar purists I can see where the Smother's brother (Can't remember which one it was) was coming from. I can' speak for others here, but I prefer to hear it entirely on guitar.

Here's an interesting piece on the article. Not sure if that is where I read about the Smother's brother comment:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclas...e%2074%20shows.

I started a Ed Gerhard tune, The Handing Down, and I went back to El McMeen's Celtic Treasures book and found a couple of tunes to work on that I passed on my first time through the book.

Hi Cecil,

I tried to access that article but the site wants me to turn off my ad blocker. That reminds me of another piece of music that I’m going to post in this thread because I’ll never stop working on it. I’ve got it figured out down to the last detail, but it’s very, very difficult and will probably be kicking my butt as long as I play guitar. Like Classical Gas, there’s an orchestrated version and a solo version, and I listened to the orchestrated one for about 25 years before I worked out the solo one. No weird flamenco rhythm here, just plain old 4/4.

The orchestrated version:



The solo version:

I’m learning Kindhearted Woman Blues from the video lessons done by Tom Feldman on Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop. Up to now I’ve tackled various Travis picking pieces like Spike Driver’s Blues. They are tough for me and fun to play but this is a whole ‘nother level of difficulty. Getting the pulse right with the thumb while playing dotted eighths, triplets and even some sixteenth notes is really challenging me. I’ve been going at it a little over a week and I just about have the first verse down, at like one third speed.

Clive Carroll Favorite
 

Have been working on the tune that I think is Clive's very best, to date - "Lady of the Valley." His arrangement is in Drop D and his play is a work of art, I think. So far, I've managed to get the notes down, half way, but I'm light years away from making it sound like Clive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUs7i573fRs

Yesterday, after about an hour and a half I had transcribed and learned Willie’s solo for All of Me. Now I need to get it ingrained into muscle memory by Wednesday.

Tears in Heaven.

I've got about half of Classical Gas down, just a lot slower than real time LOL

”Never going back again” by Fleetwood Mac will be this weekends challange.