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I really agree with your characterization. The McLean songs I know, like the Taylor, are in the embellishments. Even when you get the chord progression down, even though there's a lot of latitude for different arranging, there's usually a little something that makes it sound "right"(would you ever play "Fire and Rain" without the slide into intro? ). I noticed after I had "And I Love You So" down beautifully----that he plays it differently and, surprise! I like his better...

Right now I'm having some success with using my middle finger for the initial hammer-ons (low E and A strings) and then fretting the G string with it while I do the pull-off on the high E string with my ring finger. It's not smooth but I think if I stick to this way I can make it smoother with practice.