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Location: Flahdaw | Okay, we have a good number of old-timers on this forum....
Do you remember the very FIRST song you ever learned all the way through? For me it was House of the Rising Sun (the Animals). I was probably 12 years old and it was about 1968. Actually it may have been a tie with Louie, Louie, now that I think about it.
How 'bout the rest of you? |
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Location: big island | washington square by the village stompers. |
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Location: ms | I started writing songs before i started playing guitar so i was always trying to put music to my stuff. But i think Stars by Dan fogelberg was the first song that i could play all the way through. i still can`t sing it very well, way too high. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Red River Valley, 1959 or 1960, followed by many other four-chord songs from the 50's. Ah, but then we discovered solid body electrics, bleach blondes, and surfboards. |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | "Wake Up Little Susie", Everly Brothers |
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Location: PDX | I don't remember the exact first piece but it was either a Sor, Agaudo, or Carcassi student piece back in '65 or '66.
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gh1 |
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| School music book when I was in grade 6. I didn't know more than a couple of chords but I could read and play the single notes while a few other people sang.
I took the guitar to school in a green garbage bag.
First song I learned that had a bunch of chords that I could use to make up other songs with would have been Rising Sun I guess. There was a thread on this awhile ago - whatever I said there..lol |
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Location: Maine | Green, green grass of Home |
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Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by Joe Rotax:
There was a thread on this awhile ago - whatever I said there..lol Being a relative "newbie" I should have guessed that there was already a previous thread on this subject. I should have done a search. But I was at a music store today, and a older guy was playing "Greensleeves" and it got me thinking about all these old songs I used to know that I haven't played in 30 years or so.
Hey Gulfcoast, it's funny you would say "Stars".
I used to play that back in college ('77, '78).
The girls loved it, but "Looking for a Lady" would make 'em melt. It was the 1st song I played for my then future wife, and we've been married for 28 years now.....must have worked! |
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| Yeah, I wasn't taking a shot at you or anything I was just contemplating the irony of trying to remember what I'd said before..lol
Greensleeves is another one that I learned way back when. |
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Location: GA USA | Mine was "The Wizard" by Uriah Heep. My brother taught it to me. |
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Location: East Tennessee | "O' Lonesome Me" - Don Gibson. |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by Joe Rotax:
irony of trying to remember what I'd said before..lol Hey Joe (oops, that was later), that's what took me so long to respond to this thread! I don't get too many 49 y.o. flashbacks any more... 
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| King of the Road - Roger Miller |
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| Originally posted by 2ifbyC:
I don't get too many 49 y.o. flashbacks any more... Yeah, there's things I think I know happened but they're not on Google so now I'm not sure if they really happened at all..lol |
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Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Short memories... :rolleyes: |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Day-um muz, that was way back in Oct. of LAST year! Give us really ol' farts and the newbies a break... ;)
BTW, what strings do you like?  |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Ya know, looking back on the older threads remind me how connected we all are even in our disconected ways...this is a great group...Thanks Al, Thanks Miles!
BTW- 1966: Little Black Egg and House of the Rising Sun...My parents still refrain from speaking to me...lol |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Might have been Stairway to Heaven, except for the solo. Rising Sun is another possibility. |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by MusicMishka:
remind me how connected we all are even in our disconected ways...this is a great group...
BTW- 1966: Little Black Egg Mike, as to our "disconnected ways", it's soooo unique and rewarding!
As to LBE, holy crap!!!! I loved that song! You've really tripped my few remaining synopsi... THANX!  |
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Location: Central Florida | Awwwww.... COOL!!!!! I remember them doing that in concert in St Paul. Don't think it was really on the setlist, they were just trying to fill in with anything after the bass player (think it was John Wetton) was hauled offstage unconscious. He had a vocal to do, mumbled some incoherent lines into the mic, took two staggering steps backwards and keeled over flat on his back with the bass on top of him. Stunned everyone including the band and the show just stopped.
While they tried to sort it out backstage, the rest of the band threw some jams together interspersed with apologies and a promise to come back for a free concert if they couldn't continue. Mick Box did a solo acoustic "The Wizard". Poor guy, they must have just grabbed the closest untuned guitar and threw a mic in front of it 'cause he was having a bitch of a time trying to get it in tune with all of the noise. He finally yelled at the front rows to "Just shut the fock up" so he could tune the guitar. Can't imagine his frustration at that point. They must have pumped something good into Wetton (think Comfortably Numb here) because he finally did come back out. And boy was he happy. Two road guys had to keep dragging him back from the from the front of the stage cause he kept going up there and was going to either fall off or get himself pulled off. No barriers, the audience was right at the stage edge. To his credit he still seemed to play well. Definitely a bad night for the band but sure made for a memorable concert.
Well, now that I'm done with my flashback (Thank you, Jas)...
I don't remember exactly what my first song was but I'm certain it had a lower cool factor than Uriah Heep. I'm thinking it was Leavin On a Jet Plane. Proud Mary was probably my first hard song what with those fast chord changes and all.
And +1000 on "This is a great group", Mike!
Otto. |
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Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Originally posted by Otto:
Awwwww.... COOL!!!!! I remember them doing that in concert in St Paul. Sorry, you've lost me. WHO doing WHAT?
Ahh! The reference to Jas's post... I get it now. |
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| "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox. Including break - well, some of it. |
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Location: south east Michigan | Originally posted by Captain_Lovehandles:
Mine was "The Wizard" by Uriah Heep. Oh yeah Captain...
Whenever fate brings us together, let's play that one... you sing the high part. :D
G-L-O-R-I-A, Little Black Egg, & House of the Rising Sun.
Gloria was a good one for learning about strumming patterns. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by Slipkid:
Gloria was a good one for learning about strumming patterns. [/QB] Oh yeah....Gloria! Forgot about that one. That could have been first also. What is Little Black Egg?
I also remember that Wipeout was like the first lead song, but everyone wanted to do the drum part. |
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Location: south east Michigan | You might be sorry you asked....
Little Black Egg
or
updated (kinda) |
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Location: Flahdaw | Thanks for the link. Now that I've heard it, I don't think I would have even wanted to learn THAT at age 12. |
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Location: Utah | Whatever Mel Bay was putting in book 1 back in 1966. I can remember learning to play the melody of "Mary had a Little Lamb". The first real song I can remember playing was "She'll be Coming Around the Mountain when She Comes". |
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Location: Whitecourt, Ab | I forgot about some of these old songs.
"Coming around the Mountain" & "Red River Valley" were the first songs taught to me by my Dad, and the only thing I was allowed to play when he was within earshot.
Funny how times change, I went to jam with some friends (in the early 70's)and they taught me 12 bar blues. I went home and was practicing in my room and my Mom came in and said "Don't play the devils music when gramma's here!" |
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Location: GA USA | I kinda thought "The Wizard" might hit some nerves. It's so "70's idealistic - like to buy the world a coke" and all, but we could have fun with it. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Not counting "On Top of Old Smokey" and "Three Blind Mice" It was one of these... I kindof learned them all at once or at least within the same timeframe around 1970, I was 12. Don't remember which was first.
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
Sitt'n on the Dock of the Bay
A rocked out "This Land is Your Land" with a lead riff ripped from Hank Williams.
House of the Rising Sun
Southern Man |
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Location: Alabama | Ok - this is bad and does not include the electric parts - but....... Stairway to Heaven, probably at the same time as Babe I'm Gonna Leave You circa 1985, and yes I did play it in every guitar store I went to whether or not there was a sign. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | some Beatle tune but I forget which |
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| Well Bill it sure sounds like you started out on the right path....... then what happened to ya? |
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Location: Texas | Well, I can't count those Mel Bay songs, I don't think I ever actually memorized them so I could play them without looking at the book.
I can still recall many bits of songs that I used to play back in the mesozoic era, but, like many, I distinctly remember thinking I was pretty cool when I could pluck out "House of the Rising Sun." To this day, if I am just casually messing around with the guitar, that song tries to pop out all on it's own… I think that the endless playing of it was permanently imprinted on my brain/finger interface. ;)
Of course, I had absolutely no idea what that song was ABOUT at that young age. Besides, we were too busy trying to figure out the words to "Louie, Louie." (EVERYONE learned the "Louie, Louie" chords in those days, but no-one ever really figured out the lyrics…) ;) |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | standing,
Your post could have easily been mine! And yes, HotRS somehow is 'planted' in my genes. It's a great chord progression that appeals to most that hear/play it.
"Louie, Louie" was one of the first popular songs in my youth that buried the lyrics under the music. That lead to 'interpretations' which varied from the mundane to beyond risqué!
Oh those were such innocent (re naive) and fun times... |
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Location: Orlando, FL | Probably Lucky Man by ELP. Although Badge and the Wizard came pretty soon afterward. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by Beal:
some Beatle tune but I forget which Let me guess.....Octopus's Garden |
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Location: Converse, Texas | It was a Beatle song for me. |
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Location: Alagoas, Brazil | Imagine. I still can play it, go figure. |
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Do you remember......