Ozzy’s bass player, Bob Daisley, wrote this song. According to Daisley:

“I really wrote that one about myself. When I was 16 I had my first nervous breakdown and it really f—ed me up. I was a sensitive kid and I have always been a sensitive person. I suppose you have to be sensitive being in the arts. I wrote the words about myself. Quite often we have problems and we are our own worst enemies and that is why ‘Enemies fill up the pages one by one in the diary. Are they me?’ I am my own worst enemy. The other thing was that Randy had the rough idea for the song ‘Diary Of A Madman’ and I came up with title. I wrote all of the lyrics as well on the album. Ozzy would come and go from rehearsals. One day he came in and we played him ‘Diary Of A Madman’ and because it had funny timing he couldn’t get his head around. He said, ‘Who the f–k do you think I am? Frank Zappa!’ We said, ‘You sing in this part but you don’t sing here. This timing goes like this etc.’ He started to like it when he got his head around but at first he was like, ‘This is not for me’.”

Diary of a Madman – Intro Guitar Lesson

Diary of a Madman – Guitar Lesson – Part Two

Diary of a Madman – Backing Track

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The song tells of a couple that takes their excessive lifestyle to the edge.

During an interview with “In the Studio with Redbeard”, Glenn Frey revealed that the song’s title came to him one day when he was riding on the freeway with a drug dealer known as “The Count”. Frey asked The Count to slow down and the response was, “What do you mean? It’s life in the fast lane!” In that same interview, Frey indicated that the song’s central riff was played by Joe Walsh while the band was warming up in rehearsals and Walsh was told to “keep that, it’s a song”.

After watching the videos below you’ll discover that although the main riff sounds quite cool, it’s not really all that hard to play. I have included a “Life in the Fast Lane” backing track at the end of this post. Enjoy!

Life in the Fast Lane Backing Track

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With a little time spent playing with the backing track even a beginner should be able to get this song under their belt in a couple hours. A classic riff based song well worth the time spent to learn.

Cat Scratch Fever Backing Track

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The riff found throughout the song is not hard to learn but if you are a beginner, it will take some time to get to the proper speed. Do not give up! It is a lot of fun to play along with the backing track or in a band situation. Keep rock’in!

Author Note:This is to help someone asking about how to play it on the Guitar Forum. Please note, I’m not a professional player, and I don’t claim to be a teacher. This is how I play (NOTE: HOW – I – PLAY) Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”, the main riff, the 3/4 time switch riff as well as a real quick view of the chorus section.

If you claim “this isn’t right”, well two things:

I’ve been playing this song for about 15 years. I’ve changed it up a bit because that’s how I prefer to play it now.

Secondly, it’s really close to the version claimed to be “the right way” on the album. If you learn it from watching this video, just re-listen to the original tune and you can figure out the differences really easily.

Black Dog Backing Track

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According to the band members, “Sweet Home Alabama” was written as an answer to two songs, “Southern Man” and “Alabama” by Neil Young, which dealt with themes of racism and slavery in the American South. “We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two,” said Ronnie Van Zant at the time. Van Zant’s musical response, however, was also controversial, with references to Alabama Governor George Wallace (a noted supporter of segregation) and the Watergate scandal.

There is a semi-hidden vocal line in the second verse after the “Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her” line. In the left channel, you can hear the phrase “Southern Man” being sung lightly (at approximately 0:55). This was producer Al Kooper doing a Neil Young impression and was just another incident of the band members messing around in the studio while being recorded. According to Leon Wilkeson, it was Al Kooper’s idea to continue and echo the lines from “Southern Man” after each of Van Zant’s lines. “Better…keep your head”…”Don’t forget what your / good book says”, etc. But Ronnie insisted that Kooper remove it not wanting to plagiarize or upset Young. Kooper left the one line barely audible in the left channel.

The lesson below is taught by Justin Sandercoe. Fortunately, I have also found a backing track for the song. Enjoy!

Sweet Home Alabama Backing Track

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In a February, 2006 Q magazine issue, Aerosmith discussed the song’s beginnings:

“We were still searching for a hit when Joe Perry came up with the stuttering riff during a soundtrack in Hawaii in March 1975. Tyler quickly wrote the lyrics and called the song Walk This Way.”

According to some sources, when Tyler arrived to the studio to record the song he accidently forgot the lyrics he had written in a cab. Instead of trying to recover them, he walked to the stairwell, let out a savage scream, and wrote new lyrics on the wall. What exactly the original lyrics were, we will never know.

A classic riff based song that anyone who enjoys classical rock music will recognize immediately. Not to mention, a lot of fun to play as well.

Below you will find a basic instruction video and a video that shows you the first solo break to the song. I have included a backing track as well. Enjoy!

Walk This Way – Main Riff And Verse

Walk This Way – First Solo

Author Note: The first Solo from “Walk this way” Played by Darren Armitage at speed then broke down into easy manageable chunks.

Walk This Way Backing Track

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The track fades in with the sound of a car horn. In many ways, this track is the song that started it all, being the first song from the first album and that it sets the tone for the Van Halen attitude when David Lee Roth was the singer in the band. The song has the interesting distinction of being one of the few songs from Van Halen’s early days where Eddie Van Halen used a guitar overdub. The car horns at the beginning were taken from the band’s cars and linked together with a battery.

Running With the Devil Backing Track

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The song was very popular during the Vietnam War, and it can be heard in many Vietnam War movies, as well as, video games.

“Fortunate Son” reached position 14 on the United States music charts and Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song number 99 on their list “500 Greatest Songs of all Time”.

Even a beginner shouldn’t have many problems with this song. A little time spent with the backing track to get down the rhythm and it will be another song under your belt.

Fortunate Son Backing Track

Fortunate Son Song Chords

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“It’s our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles” and later he reiterated “it’s basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about.”

Below I have posted two different videos and a Hotel California backing track that you can play-along with. Let me know how you make out ….

Hotel California – Intro Guitar Lesson

Hotel California – Complete Guitar Lesson

In the video guitar lesson below you will learn all the chords, picking patterns, strumming patterns and the lead guitar solo! Ben will explain each section step by step! Animated tab appears at the bottom of the screen, and chord diagrams help you learn the chord shapes.

Hotel California Backing Track

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When the song was originally recorded, the band did not think it would be a hit. It was not until it was released in the United States as a single, a full year after the album was released, that it became popular.

According to a report in the London Times newspaper, Ritchie Blackmore was not very comfortable when he presented the song to his fellow band members because it was such a simple tune for a guitarist with his skills to come up with.

At the end of this post I’ve also included a backing track that you can use to jam along with. A fairly easy song to learn. Enjoy!

Smoke on the Water Backing Track

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