Free Guitar Lessons Blog

Diary of a Madman was released by Ozzy Osbourne in 1981. 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 [...]

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“Twist and Shout” was written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns. It was originally recorded by the Top Notes and then covered by The Isley Brothers. Among others, it was also covered by The Beatles, with John Lennon on the lead vocals, and originally released on their first album “Please Please Me”. The Beatles – [...]

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“Sharp Dressed Man” was released by ZZ Top on their album Eliminator in 1983. Never considered as sex symbols, ZZ Top were somewhat believable in this song about how rich, well-dressed men are irresistible to women. This being the 1980′s, a silk suit was considered stylish, even if ZZ Top seemed much more comfortable in [...]

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“Life in the Fast Lane” was written by Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey and Don Henley and released by the Eagles on their 1976 studio album “Hotel California”. After the album’s release, it became the third single from the album peaking at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The song tells of a couple [...]

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“Cat Scratch Fever” was recorded by Ted Nugent and appears on an album of the same name. The song is well known for its instantly recognizable signature riff, which is a 3-tone “blues scale” melody harmonized in parallel fourths. In 2009 it was named the 32nd best hard rock song of all time by VH1. [...]

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“Black Dog” is the first track on Led Zeppelin’s famous untitled album which is often referred to as “Led Zeppelin IV”. For the “few” of you that have actually been following my blog, it goes without saying that a lot Zeppelin tunes are a favourite of mine and Black Dog with its cool riff based [...]

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Released by the Cranberries in 1994, “Zombie” can be found on their debut album entitled “No Need to Argue”. Lead singer Dolores O’Riordan claimed that “Zombie” speaks about “The Irish fight for independence that seems to last forever.” She went on to say that, Zombie is a song for peace, peace among England and Ireland. [...]

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Ranked as number 384 on Rolling Stone magazine’s of the 500 greatest songs of all time, “Ticket to Ride” was released by the Beatles in 1965 on their album entitled “Help”. Many have come up with theories to exactly what the song’s meaning is. According to Don Short, Ticket to Ride is a phrase coined [...]

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“Sweet Home Alabama” was recorded by the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. It first appeared in 1974 on their second album, entitled “Second Helping”. Despite lots of controversy, it reached #8 on the US charts in 1974, and was the band’s second hit single. According to the band members, “Sweet Home Alabama” was written as [...]

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Written by Stephen Tyler and Joe Perry, “Walk this Way” was released in 1975 on Aerosmith’s “Toys in the Attic” album. 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 [...]

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