(March 2000)
Ever since I started doing solo concerts and including a Beatle arrangement
or two, people have been asking me for an album of such tunes. When Hope, my
wife of 18 years, said that she wouldn't be satisfied until she had a whole CD
of Beatle arrangements, I knew it was time and so I agreed to do it, on the
condition that she should be the producer. After all, she has co-produced my
last 3 albums, knows my playing better than anyone else and she is a major
Beatle fan.
A very smooth collaboration it became, a real highlight of
our working relationship. In terms of repertoire, the challenge was to find the
right mix of tunes and to keep a balance between the different creative periods
of the group. Guitaristically, it was staying true to the character of the
melodies, incorporating the emotional content of the lyrics and making it all
fit into a solo fingerstyle guitar performance.
Hope walked down the
aisle at our wedding to a string quartet arrangement of Here Comes The
Sun - it's one of her favourites. Let It Be was a highlight
of our Wings concerts. I always thought that Things We Said Today
was a really cool 'B' side. Paul once showed me a two-note guitar figure
that was the basis for You Won't See Me and which I incorporated that
into the coda of the tune - I took a bluesier attitude than it's original
Motown-inspired groove, after Hope pointed out that it would bemore faithful to
the sentiment of the lyric. Martha My Dear, In My Life and
Oh Darling have been staples of my concerts for years. The DADGAD
arrangements generally came about because that tuning is so appropriate for pop
songs and the concept of doing a DADGAD version Strawberry Fields
Forever in the original Bb was too good to miss.
You'll find more
detail about the arranging process in my forthcoming article in the May issue of
Acoustic Guitar magazine, along with a transcription of Yesterday.
Meanwhile here's the song selection with keys and tunings. We hope you enjoy
it.
| SONG | KEY | TUNING |
| I Saw Her Staning There | D | DADGAD |
| Strawberry Fields Forever | Bb | DADGAD |
| Let It Be | D | DADGAD |
| Things We Said Today | A minor | DADGAD |
| In My Life | D | Standard |
| Yesterday | F | DADGAD |
| Here Comes the Sun | D | DADGAD |
| You Won't See Me | G | CGDGAD |
| Martha My Dear | Eb | Standard |
| This Boy | C | CGDGAD |
| Oh Darling | A | Standard |
| While My Guitar Gently Weeps | A minor | DADGAD |
| For No One | D | DADGAD |
| Can't Buy Me Love | E | Standard |