Hard Times - Stephen Foster

[evenogarne]

Santa..?

[jonandletha]

Thanks for this video. It is beautifully done! We listen to it often. Do you ever come to the Stephen Foster Festival in White Springs, FL? We would come just to see you perform in person. Thank you for sharing your gift and talent with us.

[PeluMaad]

Nice...a song for the times....

[DavidCreamerMusic]

Gorgeous! Thank you so much! It was apparently published even earlier than that: 1854.

[coachdoc49]

@DavidCreamerMusic Thanks, David. I'm still playing it alot. Can't handle the words tho'. They are so depressing, and so appropriate for these times.

[acmedata]

Beautiful ... thank you so much for sharing this.

[coolmamac]

Bravo.

[crossingforward]

SANTA CLAUS! =D

[bullysmom74]

wow, stephen, you are a gifted guitarist, i love your playing, i know many years of practice and time have been put in it by you, and now you are great. still love cat head blues, it isn't on you tube, or i didn't find it. did you talk to jeanie? pat

[coachdoc49]

@bullysmom74 Bully, I'm not Stephen, I'm Doc Rogers from Warner, NH. The song was written by Stephen Foster in the 1890's and was a huge hit way back then. There are many wonderful versions of it, especially the Transatlantic sessions version, on Youtube. Glad you enjoyed it, and if I ever run into Jeanie, I'll be glad to say 'Hi.'

[bullysmom74]

@coachdoc49 oops , so sorry, but you know i like stephen, lol, jeanie is my firend who sang backup with elvis for 3 years, and backup with leon russell and so many greats, as you can see we are pretty old. sorry to bother you, now i have talked to someone from NH. have a good one.

[cobra952top]

@coachdoc49 Great job---but Stephen Foster died in 1864. He apparently wrote this poignant song in 1854.

[Mewan93]

Beautifully played that arrangement would juxtapose nicely with the lyrics.

[numberonefergiefan]

hey luk its santa :D lol

[markt158]

I'll try to work it out. Standard tuning? What key? (D?), can you give me some hints on any of the chords?

[coachdoc49]

@markt158

Drop D. Standard chords. The only odd chord is the diminished chord at the fifth fret. 

[markt158]

Beautiful and sublime! I'd love to have your arrangement to play myself.

[coachdoc49]

@markt158 Thanks for the compliment. I haven't written any tab for decades tho'. Feel free to steal away. Doc

[teddy35594]

Great Job ,,, Love the mood this tune puts you in ,, such peace ... Thank You For Sharing Your Talent !

[mitanadi]

Nice oldman, you look like Santa Clause :)..I enjoy your performance. Good job.

[coriolan92isback]

Oh my! I love that! My arrangement (sort of ...) is a bit on the rough side, but I will integrate that diminished chord.

Keep 'em coming, Doc!

[lund6565]

SUPER !!!!!

[greekflatpicker]

Beautifuly played.

Congrats!

[silverrainhorse]

Stunning!  :-)

[Docrogerslessons]

Thank you, Silver. I'm always warmed hearing from an appreciative listener.

[Dixie1925]

Wow u are really good. Keep up the great work =]

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year.

=]

[juichiban]

Bravo! Well done...very well done.

[derequwc]

Bravo! Terrific playing. You did perfect justice to an old Stephen Foster standard.

[chookiechooks]

Oh - that is so beautiful! I listen to it again and again. Thank you so much for sharing it with the world.

[coachdoc49]

Thanks to all of you for such kind words. I do love playing this tune.

[ddanze]

well, i tried to post mother nature's son

the schoenberg version (very easy) which

is actually easy to play in time...but the

Tube didn't process it anyway it's in my

songlist at ddanze here

any chance of you posting Temptation Rag in slowtime?

[ddanze]

reminded me of schoenberg's arr of

Mother Natures Son

[Beullah1]

Hard times come again no more. Excellent! Thanks so much!

[Taro8World]

Beautiful! I certainly enjoyed.

Thanks for postin' the vid.

[alonzogarbanzo]

Thanks for such a beautiful rendition. In the 90s, in a show called "Gael Force", a quartet of very fine Irish singers, each a powerful lead vocalist, got together (with obviously little or no rehearsal) to MURDER this poor innocent beautiful piece. Their crime? To omit the diminished chord on the third bar of the chorus, substituting a wimpy, flaccid 2-minor chord. Ha! Whichever of 'em sang that E needs to be sent to the woodshed.

Anyway, thanks again for treating it more than right!

[coachdoc49]

Thanks for the kudos. I really love this song, and I love continuing to work on my arrangement. However, I can not take credit for recognizing the dim chord with my own ear. Mary Flower demo' d it in a workshop, and that set me right in my own arrangement. I'd also recommend two other versions on you tube, one is from the Transatlantic sessions, and the other is from Jim Oldschmidt. Both are inspiring.

[coachdoc49]

Not DADGAD, just drop D. But hmm, DADGAD eh? not a bad idea.

[Lodestone1968]

Is this in DADGAD? Beautiful version. Very delicate sound.

[rudyvandam]

Now that is a gentle rendition!!!

5 of them

[cherokeeHung]

bravo! what a great performance. thanks, Doc.

[banjowatcher]

Very nice touch to a lovely song. It was touching, I loved it.

[SongsterBlues]

Beautiful! I loved it.

[gal493]

beautiful!really good!

[Vreci]

Really beautiful !

regards,

wolfgang

[coachdoc49]

Thanks for listening. It's gratifying to hear other folks appreciation of this piece.

[LoneGranger]

beautiful, emotive arrangement

[coachdoc49]

Thanks LG, I continue to work on it. It's fun to play something you love.

[gesser60]

Oh well, a talentless beginner's got to try.

BTW, I really like the section where you play the melody on the bass strings. It breaks the piece up a bit.

[gesser60]

(Referring to myself, of course. It kind of looks like I was calling you talentless.)

[gesser60]

Beautiful, Doc! I don't suppose you have tabs you'd like to share???

[coachdoc49]

Thanks gesser. No tabs, actually it's really not quite done. I've been evolving it slowly ove the last year, and more aggressively the last 4 months or so. Haven't thought about writing it down.

[gfpfan]

awesome doc, thanks for sharing

[robbourassaguitarist]

You used the tonic major 7th as a sub for the V chord, and still droned the D, which is a beautiful trick. That  C# becomes the III of the V chord, so even with the D droning, it changes the chord in our mind to the V, instead of the tonic major 7th.

Nicely arranged and well played. 5 Stars.

[PhilCLG4]

Did you tune your 6th string down to D on that one?//Phil

[coachdoc49]

Yup. Drop D tuning.

[PhilCLG4]

That was beautiful Doc. I really enjoyed it.//Phil

[coachdoc49]

Thanks Phil. I appreciate you taking the time to listen and comment.