Easy Fingerpicking Songs: Shalom Chaverim, St. James Infirmary, Jesse James

Easy Fingerpicking Songs: Crawdad, Cindy, Old Chisholm Trail

Easy Two Count Guitar Songs, Aunt Rhody, Worried Man Blues, The Fox

Easy Three Count Guitar Songs: Streets Of Laredo, On Top Of Old Smoker, Farther Along...

All The Baby Chickens: Traditional

All The Pretty Little Horses, Traditional, Performed By Jean Williams

"All the Pretty Little Horses" (also known as "Hush-a-bye") is a traditional lullaby from the United States. It has inspired dozens of recordings and adaptations, as well as the title of Cormac McCarthy's 1992 novel All the Pretty Horses.

The origin of this song is not fully known. The song is commonly thought to be of African-American origin. The author Lyn Ellen Lacy is often quoted as the primary source for the theory that suggests the song was "originally sung by an African American slave who could not take care of her baby because she was too busy taking care of her master's child.

She would sing this song to her master's child".[1] However, Lacy's book Art and Design in Children's Books is not an authority on the heritage of traditional American folk songs, but rather a commentary on the art and design in children's literature.

Still, some versions of "All the Pretty Little Horses" contain added lyrics that make this theory a possibility. One such version of "All the Pretty Little Horses" is provided in Alan Lomax's book American Ballads and Folksongs, though he makes no claim of the song's African-American origins. "Way down yonder, In de medder, There's a po' lil lambie, De bees an' de butterflies, Peckin' out its eyes, De po' lil lambie cried, "Mammy!""[2]

Another version contains the lyrics "Buzzards and flies, Picking out its eyes, Pore little baby crying".[3] The theory would suggest that the lyrics "po' lil lambie cried, "Mammy"" is in reference to the slaves who were often separated from their own families in order to serve their owners.

However, this verse is very different from the rest of the lullaby, suggesting that the verse may have been added later or has a different origin than the rest of the song. The verse also appears in the song "Ole Cow" and older versions of the song "Black Sheep, Black Sheep".[3]

All My Loving, John Lennon, Paul McCartney

"All My Loving" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their second UK album With the Beatles (1963). It was written by Paul McCartney[2] (credited to Lennon–McCartney), and produced by George Martin.

Though not officially released as a single in the United Kingdom or the United States, the song drew considerable radio airplay, prompting EMI to issue it as the title track of an EP.[3] The song was released as a single in Canada, where it became a number one hit.

The Canadian single was imported into the US in enough quantities to peak at number 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in April 1964.[4][5]

 According to journalist Bill Harry, McCartney thought of the lyrics whilst shaving: "I wrote 'All My Loving' like a piece of poetry and then, I think, I put a song to it later". [6] However, McCartney later told biographer Barry Miles that he wrote the lyrics while on a tour bus and after arriving at the location of the venue he then wrote the music on a piano backstage.[2]

He also said "It was the first song [where] I'd ever written the words first. I never wrote words first, it was always some kind of accompaniment. I've hardly ever done it since either."[2]

The lyrics follow the "letter song" model as used on "P.S. I Love You",[3] the B-side of their first single. McCartney originally envisioned it as a country & western song, and George Harrison added a Nashville-style guitar solo.[2][3] John Lennon's rhythm guitar playing uses quickly strummed triplets similar to "Da Doo Ron Ron" by The Crystals, a song that was popular at the time,[3] and McCartney plays a walking bass line.[7]

Lennon expressed his esteem for the song in his 1980 Playboy interview, saying, "[I]t's a damn good piece of work. ... But I play a pretty mean guitar in back."[8] It has been hypothesized that the piece draws inspiration from the Dave Brubeck Quartet's 1959 song "Kathy's Waltz".[9]