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.

Here’s an original of mine I wrote ‘way back in the 1970s. Hope you enjoy it. “The Best of Life.”

“Early Morning Rain” was written in 1964 and was Gordon Lightfoot’s first song to get widely noticed. It was covered by Peter, Paul and Mary, Elvis Presley, and Bob Dylan, to name a few. Although it never charted very highly for anyone, it’s well-known among Gord’s fans as one of the gems of his song catalog. It’s a simple song with four verses, no bridge, and no choruses. Four chords, with a couple of sus chords thrown in. Still, its imagery captures the imagination of anyone who’s been far away from home and missing it.

John Denver wrote and recorded a lot of great songs, but if he had one signature song, this would probably be it. “Rocky Mountain High” is an autobiographical ode to his beloved adopted home state. This song became his second commercial hit after “Country Roads” and put him solidly on the path to stardom. If you were listening to the radio in the mid-1970’s, you would immediately recognize that opening riff, and no matter how jaded you are or how “corny” you might think JD was, it’s hard to escape the great feelings this song’s imagery evokes. Hope you enjoy my attempt at it, and I threw in some scenery because, well, it just needs to be there.