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Guitar Songs of the Week

8th Grade Guitar Class
 "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” Single by
Hank Williams from the album Honky
Tonkin' (1954). Writer(s) Hank
Williams, Moon Mullican (uncredited)

Hank Williams(1923–1953), is an
American singer and songwriter and
musician who has become an icon of
country music and one of the most
influential songwriters of the 20th
century. A leading pioneer of the honky
tonk style, he had numerous hit records.
He died at the age of 29.
Jambalaya

Hank Williams
“Jambalaya” Chords
Hank Williams
 "Mercedes Benz", also known as "The
Politician", is an a cappella song sung by
Janis Joplin. "Mercedes Benz" together with
the poet Michael McClure and Bob Neuwirth,
as a critical social commentary on how
people relate happiness to money and
material possessions. The song was originally
written as something of a negative
commentary about materialistic individuals
who place too much value on items like a
Mercedes-Benz.
The song was recorded in one take.
"Mercedes Benz were recorded on October 1,
1970, and were the last songs Joplin ever
recorded; she died on October 4th. It
appeared on the album Pearl (1971). The
song title, as listed on that album, contains
Mercedes no hyphen although the automobile brand
name is hyphenated.
Benz
Janis Joplin
“Mercedes Benz” Chords
Janis Joplin
 "I'll Fly Away," written by Albert E. Brumley in
1929, is a hymn most associated with American Baptists
and the Church of Christ. It is an optimistic song about
an earthly death that leads to everlasting life in glory with
Christ.

"I'll Fly Away" has been called the most recorded

gospel music song, beginning with a recording by James
and Martha Carson, the "Barn Dance Sweethearts" of WSB
Atlanta, in 1946, followed two years later by the Chuck
Wagon Gang in 1948.

Alison Krauss (born 1971in Decatur, Illinois) is an

American bluegrass-country singer and fiddler. She entered
the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by
the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She
was invited to join the band with which she still performs,
Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS), and
later released her first album with them as a group in 1989.

Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity,

including the Grammy-winning O Brother, Where Art
I’ll Fly Thou? soundtrack, an album also credited with raising
American interest in bluegrass.

Away
Janis Joplin
“I’ll Fly Away” Chords
Alison Krauss
 "A Horse with No Name" is a song by the
band America. It was their first and most successful
single, released in early 1972, topping the charts in
several countries. It was certified "gold" by the
Recording Industry Association of America. America's
self-titled debut album was released initially in
Europe with only moderate success and without the
song "A Horse with No Name". The first two demos
were recorded there, by Jeff Dexter and Dennis Elliott,
and was intended to capture the feel of the hot, dry
desert, that had been depicted at the studio from
Salvador Dalí painting, and the strange horse had
ridden out of an M.C. Escher picture. Writer Dewey
Bunnell also says he remembered his childhood
travels through the Arizona and New Mexico desert
when his family lived at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

America is an English-American folk rock musical

band, composed originally of members Gerry Beckley,
Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek. The three members
were barely past their teenage years when they
became a musical sensation during 1972, with their
main popularity during the early to mid 1970s and
Horse with early 1980s.

No Name
America
“Horse With No Name” Chords
America
 "Three Little Birds” (Don’t Worry about a
Thing) is a song by Bob Marley & The Wailers from
their 1977 album Exodus. It is one of Bob Marley's
most popular songs. The single was released in 1980
and reached the Top 20 in the UK, peaking at number
17. The song has been covered by numerous other
artists. whose version reached number one on the
Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart in 2008.

"One Love” is a reggae/Rhythm and blues song by

Bob Marley & The Wailers from their 1977 album
Exodus. It was first recorded in a ska style by
Marley's original group, The Wailers, on their 1965
debut album The Wailing Wailers. It has also been
included on many of their compilation albums,
making it an influential classic.

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley (1945 – 1981)

was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He
was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the
Don’t Worry ska, rocksteady and reggae bands The Wailers (1964–
about a 1974) and Bob Marley & The Wailers (1974–1981).
Marley remains the most widely known and revered
Thing/One Love performer of reggae music, and is credited for helping
spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari
movement to a worldwide audience.
Bob Marley
Don’t Worry About a Thing/One Love
Bob Marley
 "Heart of Gold" from the 1972 album
Harvest is Neil Young's only number one hit
single in his long musical career. Rolling Stone
ranked it #297 on their list of the 500 greatest
songs of all time. It features the back-up vocals of
James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. Unable to stand
for long periods of time, he could not play his
electric guitar and so returned to his acoustic
guitar, which he could play sitting down.

Neil Young (born 1945) is a Grammy Award

winning Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and
film director. He was inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1995 and also as
a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997. He
established himself as the tentative fourth member
of Crosby, Stills & Nash. He has since become "one
of the most respected and influential musicians of
his generation”.
Heart of
Gold
Neil Young
Heart of Gold
Neil Young
 "Rockin' Robin" is a song written by Leon
René under the pseudonym Jimmie Thomas and
recorded by Bobby Day in 1958. It was Day's only
hit single, becoming a No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit.

Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009) was an

American singer, dancer and entertainer. Referred
to as the King of Pop, he is the most successful
entertainer of all time, and one of the most
influential. His contributions to music, dance and
fashion, and a much publicized personal life, made
him a global figure in popular culture for over four
decades. Jackson recorded and released a cover
version of "Rockin' Robin" in 1972, which was
taken from his 1971 first solo album titled "Got to
Be There". It was the biggest hit from the album,
peaking at #2 on the Pop Charts and Black Singles
Charts

Rockin’
Robin
Michael Jackson
 "Oh Boy!" is a song originally performed by Buddy
Holly's band The Crickets. It was written by Sonny
West and Bill Tilghman; the band's manager Norman
Petty added his name as co-composer. The song was
recorded June 29 - July 1, 1957 at Petty Studios in
Clovis, New Mexico, with Holly singing lead vocals and
The Picks providing backing vocals. The song in an A-
A-B-A format with a 12-bar blues verse and an 8-bar
bridge.

Buddy Holly(1936 – 1959), was an American

singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll.
Although his success lasted only a year and a half
before his death in an airplane crash, Holly is
described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most
influential creative force in early rock and roll.”[ His
works and innovations inspired and influenced both
his contemporaries and later musicians, notably The
Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Don
McLean, and Bob Dylan, and exerted a profound
influence on popular music.

Oh Boy
Buddy Holly
 "The One I Love" is a song by
American rock band R.E.M. It was
released on the band's fifth full-length
studio album, Document in 1987. The
song was their first hit single, reaching #9
in the US Billboard Hot 100, #14 in
Canada, and later reached #16 in the UK
singles chart on its UK release (1991).
R.E.M. is an American rock band
formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980 by
Michael Stipe (lead vocals), Peter Buck
(guitar), Mike Mills (bass guitar), and Bill
Berry (drums and percussion). R.E.M. was
one of the first popular alternative rock
One I bands.
Love
R. E. M.
 "With a Little Help from My Friends” is a
song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney,
released on The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. The song was
written for and sung by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr
as the character "Billy Shears"; it is ranked #304 on
Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All
Time.

The Beatles produced what critics consider their

finest material, the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band (1967), widely regarded as a
masterpiece. Nearly four decades after their breakup,
The Beatles' music continues to be popular. The
Beatles have had more number one albums on the UK
charts, and held down the top spot longer, than any
other musical act. They have sold more albums in the
US than any other artist. They have been honored
with 7 Grammy Awards, and they have received 15
Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of
With a Little Songwriters, Composers and Authors. The Beatles
were collectively included in Time magazine's
Help From My compilation of the 20th century's 100 most important
and influential people.
Friends
Beatles
“With A Little Help From My Friends” Chords
The Beatles