And now for something completely different…

Just a bit of silliness here, but I had to get it out of my system. If you’re from the U.S. and over 60 yrs old, you’ll probably be able to name this tune in 7 notes. (Spoiler alert: if you want to try, stop reading now and hit “play.”)

Vic Mizzy wrote it, and the guitar parts on the original theme to Green Acres were played by Tommy Tedesco of Wrecking Crew fame. This proved much more difficult than I thought, because trying to play lead and also sing both Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor’s parts at the same time was a handful. 😆

Halloween is upon us and it’s time for my attempt at the theme from the old 1960’s sitcom, “The Munsters.” Written and performed by guitarist Jack Marshall, it was the era of surf guitar, so that’s what they went with for this spoofy, spooky show. Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween weekend!

Paul Simon wrote his haunting “American Tune” and released it on his 1973 album There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. In an interview in 2011, Simon was asked about political references in his songs, and he said: “I don’t write overtly political songs, although ‘American Tune’ comes pretty close, as it was written just after Nixon was elected.” /There’s much to be said about this song, but I’ll just offer that it has been included on most lists of top American songs, and in June 2026, CBS News included the song in its list of the 250 essential American songs of the past 250 years.

I had the great pleasure of getting to sit down in the same room with my good friend and frequent online collaborator, Gary Schoolcraft, on a recent visit to San Jose, California. We put together a quick jam session version of the John Fogarty/Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Proud Mary.” Feel free to join in singing with us–if you were born any time before 1965, you’ll have a hard time staying quiet.

Another Jimmy Buffett tune for you. As big a fan as I am of his work, it’s strange that until now I hadn’t recorded this one yet–it was his first song to chart and pretty much launched his career. Coincidentally, I will also be “heading up to San Francisco” soon (as in the opening line of the song) but I’ll be gone from there before Labor Day weekend.

Time for some Jimmy Buffett. “Havana Daydreamin'” was released as the title cut on his 1976 album. Although I doubt anyone is daydreaming about moving to Havana right now given its current situation, it’s still a fun little tune that kind of captures the ups and downs of living a rudderless life in the Caribbean. Fins up, everybody! (IYKYK)

Graham Nash wrote the song “Teach Your Children” and it was released on the CSN&Y Déjà Vu album in 1970. Nash said he wrote it about the difficult relationship he had with his father, but it’s very relatable to anyone who has children–or parents.

Jerry Garcia played steel guitar on the original album. Since Jerry was unavailable for this video, I tried to mimic some of Stephen Stills’s double-stop style for the lead parts.

One other note regarding a mondegreen (misheard lyric) for this song: I’ve always heard the last two lines of the chorus as, “And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix, the one you’ll know by.” I never could make sense of that. As I searched for official lyrics, I came across the line, “The one they pick’s (pick is) the one you’re known by.” That makes a lot more sense to me, so that’s what I went with here.

“The Way You Look Tonight” was written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields for the 1936 movie Swing Time. Fred Astaire sang it to Ginger Rogers in the film and it won the Oscar for Best Original Song. It’s been covered by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Rod Stewart, Michael Bublé, and plenty of others using a number of different styles and approaches. I listened to four or five different versions and borrowed from all of them to come up with my take on this classic from the Great American Songbook.

Here’s a fun little tune for you. It’s often mistaken (by me, for instance) for a Hank Williams tune, but it’s not, and Hank never even covered it as far as I can find out. “If You’ve Got the Money (I’ve Got the Time)” was written and released by Lefty Frizzell in 1950. It was covered by plenty of artists, but most notably by Willie Nelson in 1977 and it became a country chart-topper for him. Hop in and take a ride with me–I promise to get you home after the money runs out.

“Dear Time” was written by Alison Brown and Steve Martin and performed with Jackson Browne on vocal for their collaborative 2025 album. It’s really written for banjo, so I had to do a little adapting for my guitar version. I also added the subtitled lyrics to this one because they’re so nice and I thought you might not be familiar with the song. After you listen to my attempt, do yourself a favor and check out the official video with Steve, Alison, and Jackson on YouTube.