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Welcome to The Guitarguy's Golden Classics
The songs in this collection are songs that I (as a fan) consider classics -- most of them are, indeed,
 old 
classics. They are also songs that arerarely found elsewhere on the internet, which is why I transcribed them in the first place. And as of November 2005, to no one's surprise morethan my own, there are now an even 1,200 of them here.
I'd like to clarify one important point, up front: the whole idea behind this site is to preserve the music it contains. Youcan't reproduce it from what I provide for you here -- I can't give you a melody, and you'll find no MP3 or Midi fileson this site, now or ever. Soif you want to
 HEAR
this music, you'll have to
 BUY 
the music -- records, sheet music,CD's, whatever.And
 I encourage you to do exactly that
, while you've still got the chance. If you can, encourage moreradio stations to play it, because there aren't all that many that do -- and the buying public rarely buys anything theydon't hear first, on the radio or elsewhere.
That said...why this site?As a male singer, I have always sung along with male-singer songs. But I didn't find much Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett or Mel Torme or evenDean Martin stuff on the 'net that had chords, when I looked. Nobody seemed to have them. You'll find them here. The same
"Nobody elsehas 'em"
reasoning applies to some female artists, too, such as Brenda Lee.Some of these songs are neither especially old nor classics. They're here simply because I
like
'em. (One such example is "Joanne" by MichaelNesmith -- yeah, the guy from The Monkees.) Other songs (like "Maybe You'll Be There" by Jane Morgan, or the Glenn Miller instrumental"Cherokee") may be so obscure you have never have heard
of 
them, much less actually ever
 heard 
them -- they're just exceptionally coolsongs, and great fun to play.The vast majority of these songs are my own transcriptions and interpretations -- but there are exceptions. A few, such as "I Remember You"and "I've Told Every Little Star," credit the sources where I found them -- they're here because I made changes, however minor. A few othersongs (especially some of the newer ones) are probably equal parts transcription and derivation of versions I ran across on the 'net, thenmodified to suit myself. I have no clue who did the preliminary arrangements -- I wasn't interested in retaining that information when I startedcollecting, because I was doing these charts strictly for my own use. Errors in both of the preceding categories, where they exist, are probablymine. All errors in everything else are
definitely
mine.My charts are in the form of chords and lyrics because I can just barely read guitar tablature, and I have neither the skill nor the patience tolearn how to write it. Besides, I'm not really interested in cloning songs -- especially when I don't have the voice of a Sinatra or a Bennett. Thelyrics and chords can tell me, as a reasonably skilled amateur accoustic guitarist, all I need to know to help me re-create these songs, because I
remember
them. If you can remember the tunes, you can muddle through these songs like I did. If you
don't
remember the tunes, theprogressions themselves may suggest a melody to you which you can develop on your own -- and that kind of skill development as a musicianis as much of the point of this site as keeping this music alive is. I learned a lot about playing guitar by playing these songs...maybe you can, too.Since most of these
 are
my own transcriptions, a couple of explanatory notes are in order:
1. Many of these songs have been transposed from their recorded keys.
Sometimes I did this for convenience in playing (I hate any chord whose name begins "E-flat") and sometimes I did it to accomodate my vocalrange. In all cases, I did the transcription first, then transposed, so the progressions should be accurate, even if they key signature doesn't matchup with the record.If you want to do what I did, and transpose them to a key more suitable to your preferences, refer to the
chords
page and use my handy-dandy transposition wheel to move the chords where they need to be.
2. These charts represent both transcriptions and interpretations.
Some ultra-simple C-Am-F-G type songs have been enhanced and embellished. Other, more difficult songs, have been somewhat simplified.Some songs ("Scarlet Ribbons" comes to mind as an example) even synthesize multiple originals. The objective on
all
of them is a
playable
 arrangement that still
sounds like
the song you're trying to play.
3. I use a lot of diminished chords. And I mis-name them.
Diminished chords add a beautiful sound, but they are confusing. Any one formation can accurately be named for any of the four notes itcontains, depending on the function the chord serves in the music. But I'm a player, not a theoretician...and an amateur player at that. So
Iadopted the convention of using only one name for each form.
Thus, in my charts, the chord name "
Cdim
" means the
formation
of 001212 (low strings to high) -- even though in practice, the function being served may be F# diminished, E flat diminished, or A diminished.
(Hey, I was over 50 when I first learned about diminished chords. I figured, "Why clutter what's left of my brain by remembering four names for the same thing?")
If you want to know what function the chord serves, a music theory book can explain it far better than I evercould. But if you just wanna play the doggone song, and have it sound right, these charts should work just fine. (For more on this, click on the"Chords" button at left.)
 
63. A Blossom Fell -Nat "King" Cole, 195547. A Beautiful Friendship -Susannah McCorkle, 199131. A Certain Smile -Johnny Mathis, 195832. A Cottage For Sale -Nat King Cole, 194734. A Daisy A Day -Judd Strunk, 197333. A Day In The Life of a Fool (Black Orpheus) -Jack Jones, 196636. A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes-from the Walt Disney movie "Cinderella," 195037. A Dreamer's Holiday -Perry Como, 194938. A Fine Romance -Fred Astaire, 193639. A Foggy Day (In London Town) -Fred Astaire, 193740. A Good Man Is Hard to Find -Brenda Lee, 196741. A House Is Not A Home -Dionne Warwick, 196442. A Kiss To Build A Dream On -Louis Armstrong, 195143. A Lovely Way to Spend An Evening -Frank Sinatra, 194444. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square-Nat "King"Cole, 1943, and Tony Bennett, 199252. A -You're Adorable -Perry Como with The Fontane Sisters, 194946. A Song For You -The Carpenters, 197248. A Stranger In Town -Mel Torme, 195450. A String Of Pearls -Glenn Miller, 194253. A Summer Place -The Lettermen, 196557. A Summer Song -Chad & Jeremy, 196454. A Taste of Honey -Tony Bennett, 196455. A Time For Us -Johnny Mathis, 197856. A Very Precious Love -Doris Day, 195858. A Walk In The Black Forest -Horst Jankowski, 196564. A White Sport Coat -Marty Robbins, 195760. A Wink And A Smile -Harry Connick, Jr., 19932067. A Woman In Love -Frankie Laine, 195562. A Wonderful Time Up There -Pat Boone, 195867. A World Without Love -Peter & Gordon, 196465. Aba Daba Honeymoon -Debbie Reynolds, 195168. About A Quarter to Nine -Al Jolson, 194770. Ac-Cen-Tu-Ate The Positive -Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters, 194272. Across The Alley From The Alamo -The Mills Brothers, 194766. After The Ball -Kathryn Grayson, 195176. After The Lovin' -Englebert Humperdink, 197678. After You've Gone -Judy Garland, 194275. Again -Doris Day, 194980. Agua De Beber -Astrud Gilberto, 195982. Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life -Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald, 193583. Ain't Misbehavin' -Billie Holiday, 194584. Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady -Helen Reddy, 197588. Ain't She Sweet -Frank Sinatra, 196286. Ain't That A Kick In The Head -Dean Martin, 196089. Ain't We Got Fun -Doris Day, 195390. Al-Di-La -Emilio Pericoli, 196291. Alfie -Dionne Warwick, 19672045. Alice Blue Gown -Barbra Steisand, 196792. All Alone Am I -Brenda Lee, 196393. All At Once You Love Her -Perry Como, 195594. All By Myself -Bobby Darin, 196295. All By Myself -Eric Carmen, 197596. All I Do Is Dream Of You -Dick Robertson, 193497. All I Need Is the Girl -Mel Torme, 19532014. All I Want For Christmas Is You -Vince Vance & The Valiants, 198998. All My Life -Julie London, 195799. All My Tomorrows -Frank Sinatra, 1961100. All Night Long -Jo Stafford, 19522107. All Night Long -Diana Krall, 1995101. All Of Me -Frank Sinatra, 1952102. All Of You -Ella Fitzgerald, 1956
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uploaded a new revision for this document (#3)

11 / 21 / 2009
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