Feelin’ Groovy?
I’m very excited that my new book, Groovy Songs of the 60s is finally out. I had so much fun arranging these forty songs for harp. I graduated from high school in 1968, so the 60s were my prime “radio-listening years.”
Here are some of my musical memories from that decade.
When I was in bed with the measles, I listened to Simon and Garfunkel non-stop. The 59th Street Bridge Song was one of my favorites!
I sang Blowin’ in the Wind, and The Times They Are A’Changin’ around the campfire with the Girl Scouts, and those were some of the first songs I learned on the guitar. I wasn’t aware at the time that they were both written by Bob Dylan.
The Association was a local band in my area. They gave an assembly at my high school, and their hit Windy was one of the songs they performed. (The Doors also gave an assembly at my high school, but our principal “pulled the plug” half-way through the assembly because they were singing “dirty words!”)
I was a huge Beatles fan. My friend Corie and I went to see A Hard Day’s Night about a dozen times. We had most of the dialogue memorized. Paul McCartney was (and is) my true love . . . he just doesn’t know it! One of my prized possessions is a Coca Cola can that Paul drank out of. My brother happened to be in a recording studio when Paul was there, and rescued his Coke can from the trash. He had it mounted on a plaque that says “Paul McCartney’s Coke.”<
There are no Beatles songs in this new book, however, because they are all in my Lennon and McCartney book that I arranged in 1998. I wanted to add George Harrison’s Here Comes the Sun to this new book, but wasn’t able to get permission to arrange it. Apparently his estate is not giving permission for any of his songs to be put in collections. That is too bad, because it is a lovely song!
At the end of each piece in this book, I’ve inluded some extra information or trivia about the piece. Here’s a fun trivia quiz for you. To get the answers, you’ll have to buy the book!
1. What Simon and Garfunkel song was written about the Queensboro Bridge in New York City? (See page 7.)
2. What hit by The Turtles replaced Penny Lane at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the spring of 1967? (See page 11.)
3. What 60s song did the Nigel Wick character “play” on a pedal harp in an episode of The Drew Carey Show? (See page 17.)
4. The Toys’ 1965 hit A Lover’s Concerto was based on what classical melody? (See page 20.)
5. Was Jerry Jeff Walker’s Mr Bojangles written about Bill “Bojangles” Robinson who appeared in many Shirley Temple movies? (See page 45.)
6. Who was the only member of the original Beach Boys who was a surfer? (See page 67.)
7. After the Beatles, what was the next group to sign Brian Epstein to be their manager? (See page 75.)
8. What Gerry and the Pacemakers hit was named after an English river? (See page 77.)
9. What song was English songwriter Tony Hatch inspired to write after his first visit to New York City? (See page 79.)
10. What was the first song written by Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards? (See page 81.)
I hope you enjoy playing these songs as much as I enjoyed arranging them for you. So put on your embroidered bell-bottoms, wear some flowers in your hair, and feel groovy!