‘Wagon Wheel,’ a great sing-along song, was released in 2004 by an Americana String-based band called Old Crow Medicine Show. This song is a single from their debut album titled O.C.M.S, an abbreviation for Old Crow Medicine Show. The song was released as a lead single two weeks prior to the release of the album. The catchy melody with a blend of folk and country influences makes this song popular among the masses. Now, 'Wagon Wheel' has become their signature song and, in some way, is bigger than the group itself.
Time for a fun fact! The song is composed in two different parts- 25 years apart! The chorus and melody of the song come from a bootleg recording by Bob Dylan in 1973. The recording was named after the chorus and its refrain, "Rock Me Mama." Dylan left the song as an unfinished sketch, which was later picked up by Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. It goes back to the time when Chris "Critter" Fuqua, Ketch’s friend and future bandmate, first brought home Bob's bootleg called “Rock Me Mama.” After listening to it, the mumbled verse and unfinished sketch got stuck in Ketch’s mind. He kept listening to the demo song by Bob and wrote all the verses around his melody and chorus 25 years after Bob sang it. Therefore, the band members consider the song to be co-written by Bob Dylan.
The original version of the song didn’t top any major charts. However, Darius Rucker's cover version made it to the Billboard Hot 100 and subsequently brought the original version to wider recognition. Nathan Carter also released his version of the song, and it was a commercial success, hitting the Top Three in the Irish Album Chart. Nathan’s version won the All-Time Favourite Country Song award in Ireland. Better late than never, Old Crow Medicine Show's version was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in April 2013.
‘Wagon Wheel’ is one of those songs that people will always listen to and sing along to. So, if you want to become a crowd-pleaser by playing this song on piano, then we have exactly what you need. The piano song lesson on ‘Wagon Wheel’ on our platform is taught by our instructor, Ken Gustafson. Ken is a music graduate from the University of Miami and has more than 25 years of experience in piano playing. He’s the best at what he does and explains piano concepts in a very easy-to-follow manner.
Ken has divided the ‘Wagon Wheel’ piano lesson into the following sections: Introduction and chords, Song Arrangement, Song Demo, Advanced Version, and Sing & Play. He teaches to play ‘Wagon Wheel’ on piano using only four chords. The song is originally composed in the key of A major. Watch the entire ‘Wagon Wheel’ song tutorial to learn all the chords and patterns used in this song.
If you find our ‘Wagon Wheel’ lesson helpful, you may also like our piano song lessons on ‘Love Me Tender,’ ‘Piano Man,’ ‘Yesterday,’ and ‘Home.’ We also feature various piano playlists on our platform: All Time Classics, Beginners Songs, and Piano Pop. Tune into these playlists and let your fingers glide over the keys of your piano.
Along with song lessons and playlists, we feature video-based piano lessons covering the essential topics and skills one must learn when pursuing the piano. So, what are you waiting for? Join Torrins today and take a step closer to mastering the piano.
