I wanted to put out a list of some songs that are relatively easy to play, and easy to learn on the fly. Most of these songs have just a few chords, very few signature parts, and don't have a lot of accents or pauses. To some this may sound very bland but what I've found is that when you are playing songs like these that are very simple, it opens up a whole world of creativity to the people playing it. When you have a lot of open space and you feel comfortable within the structure of a song, you can really begin to step out, improvise, and put your own spin on it. Try doing that with a song that has 20 chord changes, a dozen accents every turn around, and a bunch of odd time! I'm not knocking songs like that but I believe that they can squelch the personal creativity of the individual player; not to mention you can't pull them off on the fly at a jam. Here's a list of songs that I encourage everyone to learn if you attend open mic jams:
Steal My Kisses - Ben Harper
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Deep Blue Something
Gimmie Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Ball and Chain - Social Distortion
Wicked Game - Chris Isaaks
Already Gone - The Eagles
Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd (also interchangable with All Summer Long)
Can't You See
Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan/Eric Clapton/Guns and Roses
Use Me Up - Bill Withers
Born on the Bayou - CCR
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix/Bob Dylan
Cocaine - Eric Clapton/JJ Cale
Tales of Brave Ulysses - Cream
Evil Ways - Santana
Tush - ZZ Top
Anything Anything - Dramarama
Ain't Talking Bout Love - Van Halen
Roadhouse Blues - The Doors
Gloria - Them
Hang on Sloopy - Rick Derringer
Story of My Life - Social Distortion
Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix
Fortunate Son - CCR
Good - Better Than Ezra
What I Got - Sublime
Mercy Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye
Careless Whisper - Wham
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
Last Kiss - Pearl Jam
Stand By Me - Ben E. King
My Best Friend's Girl - The Cars
Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
Wild Thing - The Troggs
Learning to Fly - Tom Petty
Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones
Good Hearted Woman - Waylon Jennings
Guitars and Cadillacs - Dwight Yokam
