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Age? 

When I was a kid, I always liked songs that I had to bang on something or shout something.  Depending on how much they have to do, some Irish drinking/bar songs might work (assuming you don't tell them they're drinking songs).  Something like Wild Rover with the verse about whiskeys and wines of the best taken out.  But they get to bang on their desks in the chorus. 

We used to have parties at our fishing cabin.  It was great because across the street was a park with a ball field, and in the common area there was a volleyball court.  And of course there were the woods for hiking and the stream to take a wade and cool off.  So it was a great place for summer parties with friends.  We had an ancient tube sound record player there and my Dad would bring it out to the front stoop and put on records to have sing-alongs.  Crazy as it sounds, the favorite album of all of the friends from my sister on down to me (five years younger) was an old album of German Drinking Songs - in German.  I still remember bits of Einz, Zwei, Gesuffe.  (meaning Once, Twice, Drunk I was told) thirty years later. 

- Zurf

More comforting than being in the midst of a heart attack anyway, which has the symptom of tingling and numbness in your left hand.  Not the best place to be, but there are worse ones.  Good luck with your playing. 

- Zurf

Well I'm glad we got this **** cleared up.  I'll say this for you unhhuh, you've got the coolest avatar I've seen in a long, long time.  I just love the visual pun.

- Zurf

I think he's referring to the various forums.

- Zurf

Of all the things in the world to get uptight about, this is the battle you've picked to advance?  To each his own, I guess.  If that's what works for you, no problem.  Just seems like there'd be things to worry about more than having a course anglo-saxon derivative automatically edited out of a song on a privately owned web-site is all. 

- Zurf

I'm still tempted, but I think I'm going to pass on it.  I have two electric basses here, and I've already got a fiddle and an autoharp and a sack full of harmonicas lined up for me to learn to use before I learn that ol' hillbilly slap technique on a bass.  It'd sit unused for too long for me to justify the space.   Now, if I can find a decent space in my pitifully small office/studio/laundry room, then I will go buy it and suffer the consequences. 

My wife was funny.  She was saying, "Why would you buy that?  Your jam sessions are all at campfires.  It's not like you'd take that thing camping with you."  "You think I wouldn't?"  "Oh, yeah.  Forgot who I was dealing with there.  You would." 

- Zurf

To this question, the answer is just start.  I'm sure there's a good way, and I am a TERRIBLE person to ask because I have written a grand total of two fully formed songs both of which are novelty songs (one is about pee).  But I'd guess every person who is an accomplished songwriter has at some time or another started doing it. 

- Zurf

Terrific job.  Really great.  You've inspired me to try and learn that song straight.  It hits home for me because of a guy who used to work for me who had been clean for a long while and OD'd one weekend when his girlfriend was away and that old demon came knocking on his door. 

- Zurf

There is a music school in the Blue Ridge mountains not far from here that uses a scale to have potential students describe themselves.  It's only four steps long, and the most critical difference between steps two and three are in step two you can get to an F chord, in step three you can readily and easily play a clean F chord.  Step four is for mutants, and while they don't explicitly say so I suppose they expect step four people to be able to play an evil B chord.

On their scale, I'm a rising three.  But there are a lot of things that I can't do, so I'll probably be stuck as a two waiting to rise to three for the next decade.  On the scale described above, I'm a 5, but I think that scale has a rather geometric shape where a five is not much higher than a two, but a six is much much higher than a five.  In a straight sliding scale where one is some guy who saw Ricky Scaggs pick a guitar on CMT once and ten is Al DiMeola, I'm a three.

And as far as the geometric scale described above, my granny knew Grandpa Jones, Roy Clark, and even used to babysit the Statler Brothers (at least the two who were brothers but weren't named Statler).  She played ukelele and I'll bet just about any of us could find a song that she could sing, so long as it was a gospel song from the Appalachians or in the Methodist Hymnal.  I that step on the scale depends on who your granny is.  My momma could sing just like Miss Patsy Kline, though she was always 1/2 beat off and she'd hang on notes so you couldn't use regular timing with her.  She was kind of like a blues artist in that respect.  Try putting regular timing on John Lee Hooker and it just won't work.  They're both singing in a heavenly choir now so I guess it doesnt' matter anyhow, but I really enjoyed that "find a song your granny can sing" rating 'cause it put me in mind of happy times. 

- Zurf

Em/G is played like an Em by fretting the second fret on the A and D strings, then add the third fret on the E string for the G 

Hopefully someone else can help you with the A7/E.  I don't know that one, unless it's a standard A7 and you play the low E string with it instead of muting it. 

- Zurf

Just as a suggestion, try Johnny Cash.  Especially his earliest work on Sun Records and his latest work on the American label.  Sam Phillips and Rick Rubin had similar production styles in that they recognized Johnny Cash's talent lay in his gravelly voice and the way he expresses himself and they kept the accompaniment as stripped down as possible.  "Unchained" is in my opinion (depending on my mood of course) Johnny's best song.  It's on the album of the same name. 

Another person whose music tends to be pretty stripped down to essences is Willie Nelson.  See if you can get some concert recordings rather than studio albums.  In concert he plays tunes from everyone, from old jazz standards like Blue Sky, soul music like Georgia, rockabilly like Fast Train To Georgia, and always of course with his indelible stamp.  It's good training for how to interpret a song. 

If you like the same sissified 70's folk/pop songs that I do, as it appears you do from the choices you identified, I would also like to suggest Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, John Denver and early Cat Stevens (before he got popular and went all orchestral).  I'm working on John Denver's "Grandma's Featherbed" these days.  Lots of YouTube choices for learning on that one.  Of course, showing my goofy nature, my favorite is the video of John Denver playing it with the Muppets. 

From the rock world, Neil Young is tough to beat for what you describe.  Roots rock is also good.  Anything from Chuck Berry or his contemporaries. 

Hope that helps. 

Oh, yeah, Bob Dylan is a GREAT starter for your list. 

Given that it appears you have at least similar music preferences to me, I invite you to take a look at my public songbooks.  Just go to the Public Songbook tabs and search on Zurf.  I have some simple tunes in there, and also some stretch songs.  I've adjusted a number of the songs to chords in D or G so that they can be done with open chords.

- Zurf

We do not.

- Zurf