Linda Ronstadt Bonus 6-Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Different Drum

  Different Drum is a very early song written by Mike Nesmith in 1964, a couple years before his Monkees career started. It was originally recorded by The Greenbriar Boys, which is how Linda Ronstadt heard it. She was the front woman for The Stone Poneys at the time, who made three albums before disbanding and launching Linda's solo career. Her recording was done with the L.A. session musicians The Wrecking Crew and it went on to become her first hit record.

  This lesson goes over the chord progression in the key of C, using a basic strumming pattern but includes the idea of 'focused strumming'– aiming for different areas of strings for a varied sound.

• Lesson 2: Long, Long Time

  In 1970 Linda Ronstadt's career hadn't quite been rolling along until her second solo album, Silk Purse was released and Long, Long Time hit the airwaves. The song was penned by Gary White and Linda picked it as exactly what she had been looking for. Although a few other artists have covered it, it will always be one of her signature songs.

  The guitar accompaniment is easily done with arpeggio patterns and a few passing bass notes. The lesson is presented in the key of G, but Linda's recording was in A, by using a capo at the second fret. It goes over the progression, the arrangement, and really pushes modifying and varying the patterns every time you run through it.

• Lesson 3: It Doesn't Matter Anymore

  It Doesn't Matter Anymore was written by Paul Anka and first recorded by Buddy Holly. It was the last song he recorded before the fateful plane crash. His version was typical of the rockabilly/country sound he was known for.

  Linda Ronstadt brought new life to the song in 1975 when it was part of her Heart like A Wheel album. Her version featured a basic fingerpicking accompaniment, which even she played live on some occasions. This lesson is based on that and should be accessible to everyone with just a bit of fingerpicking experience.

• Lesson 4: Heat Wave

  Heat Wave, written by the Holland-Dozier-Holland team in the early 1960s, was a hit for Martha And The Vandellas in 1963 and for Linda Ronstadt a dozen years later. It was released on Prisoner In Disguise, which followed her first number one album Heart Like A Wheel. The song was originally planned to be the B side of Neil Young's Love Is A Rose but DJs started playing it regularly and it became the A side.
  This lesson goes over the chord progression in the key of D, the shuffle vamp commonly used in blues and rock songs, as well as some percussive strumming ideas.

• Lesson 5: Willin'

  Lowell George was one of the best under-the-radar songwriters of the 1970s.  His tune Willin', first recorded by his band Little Feat, went on to become his best known song, mostly due to the many artists who covered it over the years.
  This lesson looks at three very different versions, starting with Linda Ronstadt's from her album Heart Like A Wheel, which was done in the key of E. Her version is done in Dropped D Tuning with a capo at the second fret.
  We also look at the way Lowell played it in G, using partial chords similar to Paul McCartney's' Blackbird, and Seatrain's version in the Key of A. Their version features unusual use of pedal point–chords changing over the same bass note.

• Lesson 6: You're No Good

  This Linda Ronstadt song is a funky, rhythmic adventure, complete with awesome guitar licks and a very melodic solo. In this lesson you’ll get access to all the guitar parts, an analysis of the harmony and a breakdown of how to play the epic solo, all on acoustic guitar!

• Lesson 7: Desperado - Guitar Lesson

  Desperado is the title song from The Eagles second album. Glenn Frey and Don Henley wrote it with Glenn playing the piano. This guitar lesson is mostly a strumming one with the addition of transcribing the intro into a nice little guitar solo. There are basically two parts but each one is done a little differently each time, making a chord chart a little difficult to lay out. This is the first (and possibly only) time I have included a page with the chords over the words.