My J.J. Cale guitar tab blog

Fonda-Lina (J.J. Cale)

2011-12-31T00:56:00.000+02:00

Well, there's the Gm, bu I just don't know if the other chord is Dm(7) or F(6). Your pick. I like to strum it like this:

Throwing [Gm]flowers out her [Dm]window
And [Dm]smiling like she [Gm]can
Fonda-Lina
Must try it [Dm]hard to attract the [Gm]men
With her [F]bosoms hanging [G]over [F]the window [Gm]sill
It's a story as old as [F]Jesus
Fonda-Lina has a void to [Gm]fill

Digital blues (J.J. Cale)

2011-12-31T00:17:00.003+02:00

I always found this song very dull. But I guess that was the point. :D The only positive is that it reminds me of the old "In the year 2525" tune.

But here's my best guess now:
I got the [C#]digital blues, my soul is just another number
I got the [F#]digital blues, my soul is just [C#]another number
[G#]You check it out, we're all the same
[F#]You check it out, we're one again
[C#]I got the digital blues, my soul is just another number

Okie (J.J. Cale)

2011-12-29T21:43:00.001+02:00

This one is in Eb. I assume this was played tuned down a fret, but here is what I managed to "transcribe" for the first 12s in standard tuning:

------------------------
--------------------7---
--------------8-6-8-----
-4h5-6---6-8------------
-------8----------------
------------------------

------------------------
-4----------------------
---6--------------6-----
-----8-6-8-4--6h8-------
------------------------
------------------------

-----------------------------
-----------------------------
-6-----8--6^--------6--------
---8-6-------8-6-8----8-6-8--
-----------------------------
-----------------------------

------------------------------
---------4s7-----------6-6----
---------------8-6---8-----8--
-6p4---4-----------8----------
-----6------------------------
------------------------------

Shanghaid (Audie Ashworth, J.J. Cale)

2011-12-27T23:42:00.000+02:00

Verse is: F# A B

[F#]Hong Kong, Tokyo and [A]Singa[B]pore

Chorus is F# A B F#

[F#]Shanghaid, [A]Shanghaid
[B]Been locked up and [F#]Shanghaid

Woke up this morning (J.J. Cale)

2011-12-27T23:02:00.001+02:00

kicks off with: E... A G E

For the vocal parts, it is just G and E, G and E, G and E...
[G]I woke up early this [E]morning
etc.

Then for the rest it sounds like just E (bass line is something like E E A B E E A B)

Where The Sun Don't Shine (J.J. Cale)

2011-12-23T00:30:00.000+02:00

Maybe I need to confirm this another time, but the progression appears to be like this:

GGGG
CCGG

CCGG
DCGG

and is the one part before solo actually:
CCGG
CCDG
...?

Hard love (J.J. Cale)

2011-12-21T23:01:00.000+02:00

Revisiting the very first song I tried to tab in this blog... now I hear it like this:
This ditty, to me, is just: Fm E D E
And the bridge section is: B Fm B Fm...

Old Friend (J.J. Cale)

2011-12-02T14:29:00.001+02:00

This song appears revolve around a simple D/// C/G/ D/// progression.

How you [D]been
It would [C]be so [G]nice to [D]see you
My old friend

Except there is a longer "my old friend" ending (check around 2m40s):
I've gotta [C]call my old [D]friend

Leaving In The Morning (J.J. Cale)

2011-12-01T16:06:00.001+02:00

I don't know if this is all correct... but. oh well... please correct if I am wrong! :)

Tell ol' Jesse he can have a guitar
Tell ol' [A]Bob he can have my dog
Tell ol' [G]Frank he's welcome to it
If he [D]thinks he wants my job
Tell every[G]body they can have my home
They're gonna [D]have it anyway [G]
I'm [D]leaving [A]in the [D]morning
And I[G] won't be [A]back [D]as well

No progress here, anybody have any helpers?

2011-11-29T15:24:00.001+02:00

I have not been posting anything as I haven't been able to get together anything worth posting.

Here's an approximate list of songs that I have not been able to post tab to yet (with some guesses about the key for some of them):

02 - Digital blues --- Ab
10 - She's in love -- F#
11 - Shady grove
06 - Woke Up This Morning ---
07 - Durango
11 - Okie -- Ab?
05 - Too Much For Me
01 - Death In The Wilderness
01 - Long Way Home --- B
01 - Shanghaid -- F# A B
03 - New Lover-- Ab
04 - Down To Memphis --- F
06 - Borrowed Time -- Dm
07 - Fonda-Lina - Gm C Dm
07 - I'm a Gypsy man
07 - Unemployment
08 - Brown Dirt -- E
08 - Perfect Woman -- C
09 - Old Blue -- D
09 - Rio -- C#m
11 - Motormouth -- D
12 - Nobody Knows --- G
13 - Another Song
13 - Humdinger

Anybody have some pointers for these songs? ...Pleeeeease... :) Chords, licks, solos, anything...

Let me do it to you

2011-10-23T13:28:00.000+02:00

Well, this funky ditty is in B, don't hear any changes, again. The short solo thing around 45s onwards appears to be B blues scale.

The first riff, up to like 56s, is something like this.

---------------------
---------------------
-11-10-9-8h9p8-------
---------------9-----
---------------------
---------------------
in all sorts of variations... then it's this kinda thing:

-----------------------------------
---7-9-10-10-7H9P7H9---------------
-----------------------------------
-9-------------------9-------------

-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------

That's all for now. Anything to add, or correct?

Guitar Man (J.J. Cale)

2011-08-28T17:37:00.000+02:00

There's like 30 songs left to "tab", and I have trouble in getting into any of them now. :/

This one appears to be similar to "Bringing in back", and I only here this for progression:

[Fm]...[Ab][Bb]

There might be more to it than that, but I just don't hear it. :/

Steve's Song (J.J. Cale)

2011-08-26T22:31:00.000+02:00

I could never got the purpose of this "song". So I am not really all that worried if my chords below are not 110% correct. Please do tell me if they aren't!

main part:
C7 Gm
C7 Gm
C7 Gm
Bb F D

bridge:
Am

Ride Me High (J.J.Cale)

2011-08-26T21:04:00.000+02:00

Well, this tiddy has eluded me... because chordwise there's nothing happening.

I think it's:
Dm ... for forever... then drops down two frets to C for the instrumental break part. At least live versions appear to be like that.

The bass line drives the songs. Sometimes live it's been just D A D A bassline, but other times with a A C walk-up back to D.

Looks like it was played two frets down here in 2004: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZZvgj1iLCE

Like You Used To (J.J. Cale)

2011-08-26T14:45:00.000+02:00

[F#m]Cry me a [A]tune [E]in the [F#m]morning,
[F#m]sing me the [A]blues [E]every [F#m]night
[F#m]Tell me that you [A]really [E]love me [F#m]baby,
[C#]and everything is [F#m]alright

[B]Home, I've been away from home, [F#m]I'm a travelling man
[B]Welcome me back any time, [C#]you are the only one who can

A lovely tune to strum to! :)

Playing In The Street (J.J. Cale)

2011-08-22T20:52:00.000+02:00

Chord progression, solo... I don't know, I don't hear any.

I do hear the bass track, which appears to be all in G major:
the main part is a basic Root-Fifth bass line
a:--10----10----
e:-----10----10-

and for the instrumental parts like this:

d:-----9-12-------

a:--10-------------

e:-------------10---

and this:

d:-----9-12-------

a:--10------10-----

e:-------------10---

JJ Cale bootlegs online

2011-08-22T16:21:00.000+02:00

Just in case somebody doesn't know, there are a bunch of JJ bootlegs as low quality WMAs at: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/alpha/j.html

I dig them, and I know JJ is fine with bootlegs. I just wish he released all the stuff that he has in his archives! The last tour was recorded in it's entirety, for example.

New Orleans (J.J. Cale)

2011-08-21T22:37:00.002+02:00

I still think the Travel-log album never received the praise it fully deserves. Also it has the last songs with a real vintage JJ solo tone (I mean I assume he played his Harmony on record for the last time here...). Lovely noodlings on this one too, will come back to them.

Have you [E]ever been down to [B]New Orleans
[E]Lord, lord, them [A]crazy queens
[E]Crying the blues [B]is what they do down [E]there

[D]Money dripping from a willow tree
[E]He never wanna leave
[D]Lazy bones, I ain't got a dime [E]
Just [B]biding my time
[A]If I [B]find a [E]way to [A]choose
[E]New Orleans, where they're crying the blues

E blues scale solo kicks off at 1m10s like this:
e:--------------
b:----12-12--------------12---
g:-12-------14-12--14-12------
d:--------------

a:--------------
e:--------------

e:--------------
b:----10-11-10-----10-------------
g:-12-----------12----12----------
d:------------------------14-12---
a:------------------------------14
e:--------------

Crying Eyes (J.J. Cale)

2011-08-21T14:40:00.001+02:00

Ok, not much to go with,...

but I'll throw it out there, maybe somebody has more and can comment... :)



F# all the way through except:



I get so lonely, [B]lonely, [A]lonely

It ain't [F#]easy



intro takes of like this: 

E:------5---5-5s7---

B:-s7-7---7---------

...which basically spells out a F# minor pentatonic scale

(here tabbed in what some call the Box #2).

Bluebird (J.J. Cale)

2011-08-19T15:39:00.000+02:00

Just the chords, as I hear them:

[Bm]Bluebird, [D]bluebird [E]where you [Bm]been
[Bm]Man it's been a [D]while since I've [E]seen you [Bm]friend
[Bm]Looking out my [F#]window [Bm]all I ever [E]see
[Bm]My re[D]flection, [E]bluebird and [Bm]me

Stories of Tulsa music in the 50s on Rock of Ages

2011-06-08T13:01:00.000+02:00

Here's a nice clip about JJ Cale and other Tulsa musicians in Tulsa:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/specialprojects/scene/rockofages/article.aspx?subjectid=269&articleid=031230_Mu_d1_thera

Bill Raffensperger played great but I guess his name was just too much to some...

I'm still here, plus a couple of youtube clips

2011-06-04T00:24:00.000+02:00

Yeah, it's been a while, but just letting you know that I'm still here... :) Been busy and lazy.

This is a fun Cocaine cover with a set of Swedish lyrics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDiCJIJqwHU
Some rarish (not ultra-rare though) songs popping up also, like a couple posted by this guy: http://www.youtube.com/user/mylomaster

Also, as a bonus, found this small and extinct blog about Mark Knopfler guitar style: http://mkguitarstyle.blogspot.com/

Fonda-Lina (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-21T15:00:00.001+02:00

[Gm]Throwing flowers out her [Dm]window
And smiling like she [Gm]can
[Gm]Fonda-Lina
Must [Dm]try it hard to attract the [Gm]men
With her [F]bosoms hanging [Gm]over [F]the window [Gm]sill
It's a [Gm]story as old as [F]Jesus
Fonda-Lina has a void to [Gm]fill

Devil's Nurse (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-21T14:30:00.000+02:00

The main part of verse sounds like just Ebm all the way through, then the "chorus" is like:

A devil's [Ab5]woman
With the devil's [Ebm]curse
Satan's [Ab5]lady
She was the devil's [Ebm]nurse

Roll On (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-19T12:14:00.001+02:00

Verse:
AADD
AEAA

Chorus ("roll on, just keep rolling on"):
DDAA
DDEE

I wonder how come then it's marked as key of F# in the set list of Seattle 2009?

Strange Days (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-19T11:54:00.000+02:00

Strange [B]days
That's come up[E]on us
Strange [B]ways
This time of [E]ours
There is no [A]meaning
For this to [E]happen
Strange [B]days
It seems so [E]far
Used to [A]be
Everything was [E]falling
Right in [B]place
Where it all would [E]be
Something's [A]changed
I sometimes [E]wonder
Could I get [B]back
Where we used to [E]be

Ain't Love Funny (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-18T13:50:00.014+02:00

Intro: D (except a drop to G at the very end)


[D]She brings me flowers from the waterwell
etc....
Aint' love [A]funny that [D]way

This [Bm]woman's touch, [F#]it is too much
Tingles right to the [Bm]bone
Her [Bm]hand's so slight with a [F#]wink in her eyes
Keeps me comin' back [Bm]home

Crying (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-18T13:20:00.001+02:00

Not many would kick off an album with this sad and simple "reggae" ditty...?

Anyway, not much for me to say, but I'll say it anyway.

To me this just stays on the one... which is Gm, upstrummed on the high strings (like xxx333, for example).

The bas(s)ic bass riff is:
G.. D.. F G x
...where the x denotes a muted note.

This Town (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-17T12:43:00.000+02:00

The basic chord progression is
4 times |Fm | Bb Fm|
where, for the first Fm chord, pick through the chord, so these notes before changing to Bb chord:
F, C, Eb, C.

Then I think it's this the "chorus":
| Fm | Ab | Fm | Ab
| Fm | Bb Fm|
| Fm | Bb Fm|

Since You Said Goodbye (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-16T13:13:00.000+02:00

This is a simple 8-bar blues in E:
E E E E
A B E E

Yeah, a nice solo in there, in E minor pentatonic. Played with a wah wah pedal, I think? Anyway, a classic JJ tone of old.

Santa Cruz (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-16T12:57:00.002+02:00

This goes approximately like this:
Em | G A | ... endlessly.

Except for the "Well we didn't play long it booed too soon" part:

[A]we didn't play long it [Em]booed too soon

etc.

ending with:

[A]I thought we had played his [Em]favorite song[B]

Keys to JJ songs tabbed so far

2011-04-15T20:16:00.003+02:00

So, here's the list of keys to the tabbed songs on this blog.

I am not listing minors separately. So I am technically wrong on many of them. So key of Am I consider to be just key of A, not key of C of key of Am etc.

No songs in C# then, eh? Maybe Cloudy day is? Don't know, haven't tabbed it, but the tab on the net kicks of with C#m.

Key of E is the top choice, then... well, blues in E is the basic vehicle for blues guitarists... did Lightning Hopkins every do anything but? Jimmie Lee Vaughan does play in other keys too, but it's only becayse he owns a capo. :D

...and for something rather different, here's also a nice "Drifter's wife" cover I found the other day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38iY0dVchTM

Change your mind (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-15T19:05:00.000+02:00

Sounds like a simple three chord ditty in E:

[E]I detect a side-effect of a [A]complicated life
[E]The edge is on, [A]sharp as a knife
[E]Underground tremor, [B]stop it with a dime
[A]Hey girl, call me if you change your [E]mind

(Now added the key of the song as a search key to this post, will add to all others too. So If one wants to play in key of E, just click on the "key of E" label to see all post with songs in key of E. etc)

Closer To You (J.J. Cale)

2011-04-11T12:48:00.001+02:00

Hi, ...it's been a while!

This little ditty appears to go like this:
Verse: D C D
Chorus: G F G D

[D]Wish I was a stocking clanging to your [C]thigh

Everytime you'd move around I'd view you walking [D]by
etc.
[G]Closer, [F]closer, [G]closer to [D]you

"Traces"

2011-03-09T15:15:00.001+02:00

As per request from Julian, here's a quick one:

"Traces" to my ears is like this:
[B]Traces of [G]loving a [D]life I re[B]member
etc.

Except the bridge section that kicks off with "Time has brought some changes" is:
[G]Time has [D]brought some [B]changes"
etc.

[G]Where is the [D]seed, [A]that we [B]need
[G]Keeps our [A]love a[E]live

...Could be that I am wrong in so many ways, so let me know if I am!

Low Rider (J.J. Cale)

2011-02-03T14:34:00.002+02:00

[See Matteo's comment for corrections! :) ]

Key of F#(m) again...

Intro start off:
---5---------------
-7---7-5-----------
---------6-4-4-2-4~
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------

[F#5]She is my [B5]low rider
[F#5]She is my [B5]low rider
[F#5]Some say she's [A5]bad, but she's [Ab5]better than [F#5]no rider

(I am not 100% on the last line of this progression though... so any help/ideas?)

Stone River (J.J. Cale)

2011-01-29T13:04:00.001+02:00

As per request from Ray, here's the Stone River song. He's released two versions. You can hear them back to back here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFOzPY_ZF0c I am basing my post here on the version you hear on the vid first, the version that sounds basically just acoustic guitar and organ.

Anyway, sounds like the key of F# minor.

The intro licks are using the F#m pentatonic (like on 9th fret on e string and then playing around the 5th and 7th frets on B and e strings).

Intro is F#m chord, except for a drop to A at around 19.5s and then to B and then back to F#m. .

For the verse it's just the F#m chord, except for a quick stab to B once in a while:
[F#m]Water ain't runnin' no more[B][F#m]

This is the chorus progression:
[F#m]Man he done [B]cut if off
And [F#m]moved it all [B]around

The outro is a bit like this (still the same F# minor pentatonic as before):
--------------------------
-s7---5-------------------
----6---6-4-2--2----------
-----------------4--------
-------------------2-2H4--
-------------------------2

Days Go By (J.J. Cale)

2011-01-27T15:19:00.002+02:00

This simple smoky ditty is just
Abm(7) Ebm(7)
back and forth...

The solo picks off in Ab minor blues scale.

(post #100, song tab #86, still 54 to go!)

What Do You Expect (J.J. Cale)

2011-01-27T13:03:00.001+02:00

This is another great groove....

What I hear is basically just two chords. For most of the song it's the Hendrix chord (which also features in JJ's Money talks) E7#9.

The only chord change is that there's an A7 at this point for two bars:
What do you ex[A7]pect
Caviar and candlelight[E7#9]

You Got Me On So Bad (J.J.Cale)

2011-01-25T13:53:00.005+02:00

Intro: E9 Eb9 D9
[D9]Oh Baby, you got me on so bad

[C#9][A7]I think that you're the wickedest woman that I ever had
[C#9][D9]Sometimes you make me [C#9][D9]feel so complete
[A7]You take away my [G]troubles, [F)put my mind at ease

The quick drops to C#9 vary a bit, so you have to hear for them yourself, I've just notated some of them above.

JJ solo starts off like:

E--------------------------------------

B-6-5~-4-3------------3-5h6-5h6-5~-----

G----------5-2------5------------------

D--------------3-2~--------------------

Chains of love (J.J. Cale)

2011-01-23T22:05:00.001+02:00

Nice little number, this is what I got for it, don't know if it's full or 100% correct, but it's my best shot with the time I had... :D

[Gm]Chains of [Gm]love, won't [F]let me be

[C]They keep haunting, [Gm]haunting me

etc


[Dm]That old key, I've yet to [Gm]find
[Dm]That unlocks, those [Gm]ties that [Eb]bi[D]nd

One Step Ahead Of The Blues (Roger Tillison)

2011-01-19T13:19:00.002+02:00

The progression for this one is:
D E x 2; for the verse
D A E; for the "It's bad for your brain and that's true" or "one step ahead of the blues" kind of parts, intro and the short solo bits)

Great searing lead in this one. Maybe ought to check who actually played it. Sounds like E minor pentatonic around the 10-15th fret.

Doctor Told Me (J.J. Cale)

2011-01-19T12:37:00.001+02:00

This one is simple and not all that memorable. It's a 12-bar blues with the first 4 bars doubled... so a 16-bar blues, then...?

F#5 x 8
B5 B5 F#5 F#5
C#5 B5 F#5 F#5

Feeling In Love (J.J. Cale)

2011-01-15T13:21:00.001+02:00

In the Key of F (mixolydian) and the solo bits appear to be in F minor pentatonic.

[F]Feeling in love, [Eb]I want to testify

[Bb]Little time it will [F]take me

[Eb]The way you [F]make my day
[Eb]The things you [F]do and say

Wish I Had Me A Dollar (J.J. Cale)

2011-01-15T12:25:00.001+02:00

This simple number only to be found on the multiple disc collections, AFAIK. Like The 3CD Collected or the 2CD Anthology.

This one's a 12-bar blues in D:
DDDD
GGDD
AGDD

Again, most eveident through the V-I bass line.

The solo takes off going back and forth between C and A notes (on the B-string 13th and 10th fret) and then landing on the 12th fret B. So basically I guess you could say the solo is in D mixolydian.

Louisiana Women (J.J. Cale)

2011-01-14T21:30:00.001+02:00

Oh I looove the mood of this song.

It's a 12-bar blues in A:
AAAA
DDAA
EDAA

The bass line follows a country style V-I figure. So A-E for A and D-A for D and E-B for E. With some nice walk-ups in between.

"Takin' Care Of Business" (J.J. Cale)

2011-01-08T13:17:00.004+02:00

The #8 album has some nice suprises. I never liked the album, really, sounds thinner (due to first time digital recording?) and all that.

Anyway, this one's a nice little boogie number that introduces the band members, so wonder why he doesn't play this live much?

Key: F#.The intro is mostly the F# minor pentatonic.

Chords are:

[B]Tim Drummond's on bass, Jim Keltner's on the [F#]drums

[B]They'll put it right on you for a shot of [F#]rhum

[B]I'll tell you right now it's a [F#]funky [C#]beat
[A]Downtown, [Ab(m)]takin' care of [F#]business on the street

My gal

2010-12-22T18:20:00.001+02:00

I was watching the "To tulsa and back" DVD and realized he played this little tune acoustically.

Looking visually at what he plays, it was basically:
open E chord all the way except
B, A as a quick turnaround.

Don't even have the original here to listen, nor my guitar in my hands to check, so I'll just accept it is like that and the same on record too. :D

Super blue

2010-12-19T13:10:00.004+02:00

Super blue... another Grrrrrrrreat mood setter here!

Here's cover with a cello! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeph019rpoI

The chords are:
G , C, G, C... for the main part
and then Eb, D, G for the "got yourself another man" part

The intro lick is approximately like this:
-----------------------10---------------------
-10^12-10----10^-------10^12-10----10^--------
----------12-----9--------------12-----9------
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------

-13^15-12-10----------------------------------

----------------------------------------------

-------------14-12----12---14^16~-14-15-16--17

-------------------14-------------------------

----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------

If You're Ever In Oklahoma

2010-12-19T12:18:00.002+02:00

This fun little country blues number goes like this for the main part:

A, C, D, A

To mimic the country V-I feel of the bass, you can play it like this for example (playing bass strings with thumb while muting them palm of the picking hand):

A...........C........D........A...........

----------------------------2-------------

--------2----------1--------3---------2---

--------2----------0------------------2---

---------------------0---0----------------

-0---0------3---3------0---0---0---0------

---0---0------3---3--------------0---0----

...and then D, A for this part:

And they don't [D]care about Dallas, [A]Texas
And they don't [D]care about Wichi[A]ta

Here's a great youtube cover of this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L_HA9-1MJE

Youtube JJ covers, part 2

2010-11-18T15:55:00.001+02:00

Yeah, haven't been active with the blog. Just too busy with family to do any playing, really.

I did visit Paris over the weekend, and saw this ad on TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo5xM24YkRU

I thoroughly dig it, though not getting a Citroen anytime soon.

Anyway, I was checking Youtube for some new JJ covers. There's plenty of them, favorites a long bunch. Here's some of the top ones I found this time around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-0RxG8Wn6c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUEbsbxHY44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgH8N-dT1pI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5QlITNQFlM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jd2JhHUwgk (Dewey Paul is planning to release a Cale cover album!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chuf10X4fKQ (creat JJ style guitar on this)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aea2kDem-VM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrO9Tyu3zjs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb3l70XkAG8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ifL6VWdQUE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y2CAXkIH5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcbDE7sqrTM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSMvynCBSUE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV_Z1TncHzs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqwZIKrfkoo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxpld0XhnFE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98CzdveZMws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqgqN-U0hok

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8OTyZCekFs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpN92ag0i1c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnLpY7hCeJc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghug_o9V_l8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twalJezPG-4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GafNKAHW1M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPuoOHhRITc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJfyTifgSow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnHMAFwfkBE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DUSFz8GQd4

...and gotta love a John Cale getting pissed off as being mistaken for another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2t4K2sUI34

"End of the line"

2010-10-17T11:19:00.003+02:00

This is an approximation, again, and none of the bluesy licks tabbed now...

[A]Trains don't run forever[D]
Fire goes out sometime [A][F#m][Ebm]
[A]Gotta tell you, baby
[B7]We've come to the [E]end of the [A]line

Friday

2010-10-16T12:43:00.001+02:00

One of these elusive simple tiddies again...

This is and stays in Dm. The groove is a bit difficult get into (or out of! :D ), maybe. But it's all fretting hand muting and loose strumming hand stuff.

The bass line is: D D D A C. It can be played all on the 5th string, for example: 5th fret D note, open string for A, and 3rd fret for C.

City girls

2010-09-16T18:19:00.003+03:00

This is one true classic, only just realized I hadn't covered it in my blog...

...must be because I was too lazy or scared to pick the wonderful guitar solo. Sounds like Reggie Young on a stratocaster, to me. Could be that I am wrong. It might be a telecaster. :P

This a simple country number in E. Basically the chords are A A E E B B E E*. Where the last bar of E is cut after the first beat.

[E, no chord]City girls they're all right[A]
They just want you for the [E]night

But when the morning comes at [B]dawn
City girls they all [E]gone

This is an approximation of the 1s intro kick off (that's also used in place of the [no chord] part):

-----------------

---------------2-

---------------2-

---------------2-

---2-4p2p0-2-4-0-

-3---------------

Passion

2010-08-28T21:34:00.002+02:00

This one's to honor the greatest JJ Cale cover band I know of: TALK TO THE CAT! Please go their site and check their music (Oh, man the the stone JJ groove they have for Right down here!): http://talktothecat.nl/Intro.php ...And book them for gig!

If Talk to the cat had not recorded this small gem, I would never have realized how good a song it is. And I still think of their version first, not the original. Although Number 10 is the first JJ album I bought the day it hit the shelves, I never liked it, it's also the most disappointing record of his, due to the sound. I wish he re-recorded all of it!

Anyway, I copped this off the Talk to the cat version:

The chords are:
Verse:
Gm D
Gm C

Chorus ("Now she's gone... the passion ... still lies in me")
Gm Bb
C D
Gm D

For their CD, the singer and main guitarist of this band played a Gibson Standard USA 1990 and through a Rivera Jake Studio and the other guitarist played a (rosewood fingerboard) Telecaster. Not that anybody cares, but I asked about it once, as I was interested about the tone they got. You can see their gear listing on the site, too.

...and while all you guys are at it, do check the Dutch JJ fan site too: http://www.jjcale.nl/index.html

...and go listen sneak preview's of new Eric Clapton album, with two JJ songs and JJ himself on it: 'Eric Clapton' Sounds good, almost as good as Talk to the cat! :)

The Old Man And Me

2010-08-19T06:35:00.002+02:00

Haven't got much on this, but just to mark a celebration here:
If I have my stats right, I started of with a list of 69 * 2 = 138 JJ songs to tab... and now have tabbed (to some extent) exactly half of them!

Anyway: Old man and me.

This just stays on Bb chord with alternating bass (Bb and F alternating). You can take a Bb barre chord at first or sixth fret and alternate between the 6th and fifth strings (with strums in between)

The solo bit at around 1min into the song is Bb major pentatonic, I think, and starts approximately like this:
---1~----------
-3-------------
------5-3-0-3--
---------------
---------------
---------------

Former Me

2010-08-19T06:03:00.001+02:00

This is a great track! He just keeps putting out great stuff, I say!

The chords:

The main part is:
Bm F# ...6 times, then the ending:
Bm A Bm

the "Those days..." bridge is:
G A Bm.... 3 times, then the ending:
A G F#

And don't forget the great youtube cover by Harry de Visser.

Roll on mama

2010-08-17T16:15:00.001+02:00

Number 10 is the record I never listen to... just don't like the sound of it at all. So I'll skip the screechy solos...

The chords are:
Fm Bb Ab again again and again...
except for the "chorus" bit that goes:

I gotta [Ab]roll on, Mama

[G]Things been movin' too [F]slow

Starbound

2010-08-17T15:53:00.003+02:00

This is in C, and I don't hear any changes, just C all the way through. (SEE COMMENTS FOR SUGGESTION THAT IT'S MORE LIKELY FMAJ7 CMAJ7)

This is the intro (C major pentatonic):
-8p5---5~--8p5-8-10--10-12-12---8p5---5~-8-5--5-----
-----8-----------------------------8------------8-8--

-----------------------------------------------------

-8p5---5~---12p10p8-10'-12-12----10-12-12-

-----8------------------------------------

------------------------------------------

Hard Times

2010-08-17T11:58:00.001+02:00

The chords for this minor masterpiece are:

F Ab Bb for ever in a loop. One bar of F, half a bar of Ab and half a bar of Bb. Repeat.

So it's like:

[F]Hard times[Ab][Bb]

The intro is something like (without the more quiet scratching in between):

---1-4-1--1--4-4-6--1---4-4-4-4-6--1---

-1--------1--4-4-6--1---4-4-4-4-6--1---

----------2--5-5-7--2---5-5-5-5-7--2---

----------3--6-6-8--3---6-6-6-6-8--3---

-----

So that's just the 4 note lick from Fm pentatonic, plus strumming the same chords as the whole song is revolving around.

"Who knew"

2010-08-16T21:39:00.001+02:00

So another quick one here...

The main part chords are a basic blues progression (add sevenths according to your taste) in C:
C C C C
F F C C
G G C C

The bridge is basically just:
Eb Eb C C for most of it, like 4 times, I think...
...and then fret by fret down towards to C from Eb... Eb, D, C#... for the end part of it.

There might some else in there, but those two progressions are the core of things happening...

Losers

2010-08-16T19:24:00.001+02:00

Oh well, one of the my least favorite JJ tunes ever ever.

The main part is a 8 bar blues in C:

CCFF

CGCC

And the bridge thingy ("Came in this morning" etc):

FCGC

FCGC

ever. Did I already say that?

If You Leave Her

2010-08-16T18:43:00.001+02:00

This, to me, is just Gm all the way through, except this at the end parts of progression:

I can't [C] see her [Bb]walking with [Gm]you

It's Good To Be In Austin

2010-08-13T11:13:00.001+02:00

I had to buy the Rewind album twice, to get this song. It's a good country number, though. :)

The basic part is:

E A E ...x 3

B E

The bridge is basically just

C#m E ...x 3

F#m B7.

Or so I hear, what about you? :D

Trouble In The City

2010-08-12T21:08:00.004+02:00

This might be slightly fuzzy,

as I am trying to cop this out very quietly in the dark of night on my acoustic...

[Bm]Heard the one about your woman
Lord, she's been messing 'round
[E]She's been stepping out on the street
Lord, she's been hanging out[Bm]
[E]Ain't nobody had her this week,

[Bm]boy it [A]won't take [E]long
[Bm]Lord, lord, there's trouble in the city
Lord, lord, there's trouble in the city
Lord, lord, there's trouble in the city
And I [D]hope it won't [A]mess with [Bm]me

The guitar fills appear to be from B minor pentatonic scale.

Rose In The Garden

2010-08-11T14:13:00.001+02:00

Lovely sweet song this is. Love the piano and the acoustic guitar solo.

The chords spell a simple country progression:

[D]I'll find my way back [G]to the rose in the [D]garden
[D]I'll find my way [A]back to her sweet [D]arms


The solo picks off something like:

-------------------

-----7h8p7---------
---7-------7-4-----
-7-------------7---
-----------------5-
-------------------

which is based around the D chord (A barre shaped one in my tab), or D major pentatonic, if you wish.

It's hard to tell

2010-08-11T13:38:00.001+02:00

This one goes like this for the main "It's hard to tell" part:
Am G Am
Am G Am

etc...

Then the other part that is played in between and for "when you face the face" etc, is:

C D
C Bb.

Or so I hear it, any comments welcome. :)

Mojo

2010-08-10T19:44:00.002+03:00

Yeah it isn't his own song, so normally I'd shy away... plus it's a straight ahead 12 bar blues. So what's the point? I dig it, and I want to cover all his songs in my blog... :D

so here's the main riff for this 12 bar blues in E:
---------------------
---------------------
---------------------

-2-------------------

---2--2-4-5--5-4-5-2-

---------------------

It's the same but one string up for the IV chord. For the last four bars there's just strumming for V and IV chords and then a basic E blues turnaround that starts with the open D7 chord picked two frets up, then moving that fret by fret down...

No time for solo now...

Love Has Been Gone

2010-08-10T09:56:00.002+03:00

This one's in the key of Bb.

[Bb]Love has been gone, [Eb]gone so long there's nothing [Bb]new

I say our love has been gone, [Eb]gone so long there's nothing [Bb]new
How does it [Gm]feel
Not too [Bb]good
It ain't [Gm]real but it's [Bb]understood

intro begins like this:

E:-----------------------------------

B:-6-8-9~--8-9-8-9s11--9-8-9~--9-8-6-

G:-----------------------------------


x:-----------------------------------

x:-----------------------------------

x:-----------------------------------


E:-------------6----------------------


B:-------------6--9-8-6~--------------
G:-8p6--------------------------------
D:-----8--8---------------------------

A:----------8-------------------------

x:------------------------------------

So that looks like Bb minor pentatonic... plus the sixth...

Everything Will Be Alright

2010-08-09T21:07:00.001+03:00

The progression for this beautiful small tune is:
F Bb F Bb F
Ab G F# F

So basically for the verse it's going back and forth between F and Bb (The I and IV chords in key of F), and then the chorus is going down from Ab a fret at time, until back to F chord.

Disadvantage

2010-08-09T09:06:00.001+03:00

Yet another 12 bar blues here... in E. The only difference is that in bars 9 and 10 there's half a bar of B followed by half a bar of A.So, it's like this:
EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE
AAAA AAAA EEEE EEEE
BBAA BBAA EEEE EEEE

In the intro there's some play around the 2nd fret G string and open G string. Then some other E minor pentatonic stuff...

Lawdy mama

2010-08-08T19:36:00.001+03:00

The heat is on, and I am as lazy as ever... so I'll just state this very quickly:

This song is 12 bar blues in E, with a quick change IV in the second bar.

Has a nice groove riff, which I am not able to get down pat, so I'll just let it be for now. Maybe later...

Sho-Biz Blues

2010-08-07T19:12:00.001+03:00

Well the chords for the verse are these in a loop for forever:
C Bb F C

and for the bridge the two back and forth:
Bb C

So that's that.

River runs deep

2010-08-07T18:45:00.003+03:00

Just read that Eric Clapton's new album has this track, so I thought I'll have a look on the original...

It's just Am and D all the way through. Or so I hear it!

The licks he plays are A minor pentatonic... some beautiful pre-bends there on the 8th fret. Too lazy to write the licks down now, but I play the in the 1st and second minor pentatonic boxes, so at five through to 10th fret.

B:------------
G:---5-7-5--
D:-7-------7-
A:-----------

I wonder if that was any help to anybody now. :D

Lonesome train

2010-08-07T18:10:00.001+03:00

This to me is just a 12 bar blues in E simplified... as I don't hear a IV chord...

E/E/E/E
E/E/E/E
B/B/E/E

So all E, except:

Is it headed [B]up, is it headed [E]down

Oh well, could be that there's more happening,

but the "Number 10" just doesn't inspire me to do more than that...

Wish I Had Not Said That

2010-08-07T11:35:00.002+03:00

Lovely sweet country tiddy! Oh well, I just love the Shades album...

...picking the C major chord for intro riff:
---------------
------------(1)-
---0-----------
-----2-0-------
-3-------3-----
---------------

[C]You don't come here too often
You make my day when you come around
You know I love you something awful
You're a diamond I have found ([(C][G])
[F]Wish I had not said that, [C]baby
[F]If I could only close you [C]out of my [G]mind

Of course imitating the riff while strumming works well as well...
I just seem to be hammering on to the second fret on the D string once every bar... and alternating between C and G in the bass of the C chord (to "emulate bass guitar").

For going from the verse to chorus, there's this move from C to F:
-----1-
-----1-
-----2-
-----3-
-3---3-
---3-1-

So C, G, F... I guess you could play all of those as chords too, so I put that in round brackets above..

Does Your Mama Like To Reggae

2010-07-29T22:43:00.001+03:00

Not one of my faves, so I'll skim it with a quick note:

Basically stays on G, the reggae scratch guitar is G7.

The bass riff is:
G G G G Bb C
G G G G Bb Bb C

Here's a live cover version of it on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLLI0RGpipU
(there's also a studio version )

(Searching for those, saw this video somebody has recently made for Lakeland's Bad habits )

Everlovin' woman

2010-07-29T20:37:00.002+03:00

This is a quick one, hope it's correct:

[B]I've got a woman, I love her, lordy lord
She cooks my breakfast on Sunday, just like my ma
[E]I hang my hat in her house, she don't charge a dime
[B]Love me, trust me, never cuss me, you know she's mine
[F#]I'm talking 'bout, I'm talking 'bout, I'm talking in rhyme
[B]I'm talking 'bout that everlovin' woman of mine

Oh, yeah, I hope I haven't "tabbed" it before... I forget!

All mama's children

2010-07-10T10:57:00.001+03:00

[E7#9]All mama's children got rythm
And all mama's children got [B7]soul
When they [E]get up in the morning
[A]Without no warning
They [E]all start to [B]rock 'n [E]roll
etc

Just give me some [A]more
Of that country [E]soul
One more [A]time
I'm crossing the [B7]line

Hey this isn't the same song,but still sounds like a bunch of fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_3zO3leTMY
(Carl Perkins tune of the same name)

"No time"

2010-07-09T22:24:00.002+03:00

--------
in key of E

Going back and forth between E and A:
[E]No time[A] making my move [E] no time

Then the "clock it turns" bit is
[E]Summer comes and [G]summer gone
[A]When I sing the [E]very same song

intro:
-0-0------------------------0--
-0---3-0--------------------0--
---------2-0~--------0~--------
---------------0-2-5----0-2----
-------------------------------
-------------------------------

-0-----------------------------
-0---3-0-----------------------
---------2-0~------------------
---------------0-2-2--2P0-0H2--
-------------------------------
-------------------------------

-0---------------------0-3^-0-----------------
-0---3-0------0-----0-3--------0--------------
----------------0-1--------------2-2-0--------
---------------------------------------2-2-0-1
----------------------------------------------
----------*E*---------------------------------

where is *E* means playing the E chord (for a while).

The the rhythm extra notes:
it sounds like strumming the chords with fretting some notes of the E minor pentatonic on top, like

-----0-3-0-3------
-0-3--------------

So you like playing chords E, E7, E7#9.

------------
-2-3--2-3-0-

so you like play chords A Asus4

etc.

Here's live vid from turn of 90s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hemrseR4qtA

Jailer

2010-07-04T22:15:00.003+03:00

Jailer
------

The main part:
F#m (at 2nd fret, fingerpicked in a sort of a Merle Travis way)
A A B

...I do it approximately like this, I play it very loosely, so almost like strumming instead of fingerpicking:
-2----------2----------------
---2---(2)----2----x--2-2-4--
-------(2)---------x--2-2-4--
--------4--------4-x---------
------------4---------0-0-2--
-2---------------------------

(Travis picking = the three bass strings with thumb, the notes in brackets brushed with thumb)
the xxx means just a muted down strum as an accent.

...there is a move between F# and E notes there...
so I guess you could play it so that you first play the barre F#m, then lift off the barre, to play the open 1st string...
...or something...

break part:
A E G (for example open cowboy chords)
D A E (at fifth - seventh fret, so the E is higher one)
A E G
D A

JJ's Harmony

2010-06-28T17:05:00.003+03:00

Yeah, haven't been been blogging for months now. Well, JJ isn't always that busy going public either, is he? I did hear some rumours of another JJ album in recording, but that's another story...

But anyway, this tima I am talking about the the mystical "that piece of shit" Harmony, that Eric Clapton so anxiously wanted to see when he showed up at JJ's recording session in the mid-70s.

He bought it in the late 60s, for $50, the story goes:

"My favorite guitar is this old fifty dollar Harmony, now backless for easier access to the electronics. Originally it was a round hole acoustic, but I've added five pickups for making records and playing concerts. Four of the pickups are Gibson, two of which are low impedance for recording direct. The other bar type pickup came from a Sears Silvertone guitar, it was manufactured by Dano Electro. The guitar has three high impedance outs and one low."

The shiny white humbucker on it being from a "Les Paul Signature" guitar (a short lived 70s model).

Most places they say it is a H-162 (spruce top, the H-165 had a mahogany top). Later on they had adjustable truss rod, but his is an earlier model with fixed rod, but here's the catalog bit on the later model from 1970 catalog:

"No. H162. Folk Guitar-Mahogany with Resonant Spruce Top. Grand Concert Size. Back and sides of selected quality mahogany; top of resonant spruce. Soundhole, top and back edges are celluloid bound, with inlay. Durable natural color eggshell lacquer finish. Ovalled rosewood fingerboard. Rosewood bridge, with bone saddle. Hardwood neck with Torque-Lok adjustable reinforcing rod. Shell celluloid pick guard. Excellent tone quality. A value stand-out.

No. H162 - Size 15 1/8 x 39 in"

It's also ladder braced, which is an older simpler bracing style, nowadays almost all guitars have x-style braces instead. Many fingerpicking blues players dig that, but most others don't like the ladder bracing. I remember reading Lightning Hopkins played a Harmony H-162 in 60s.

25.25" scale length says this bit on Harmony guitar info site:
http://harmony.demont.net/guitars/H162/87.htm

Here's a link to the harmony central reviews:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Acoustic+Guitar/product/Harmony/H162/50/1

Here's somebody's blog bit on one of these: http://thedeanfiles.blogspot.com/2008/01/h162-harmony-acoustic.html

It seems you can still quite easily get one for $300 or even less. Strings will be high, I bet. JJ had coin at the base of the neck for adjusting the action. The frets were small and the neck big, and JJ shaved the neck some.

It finally gave up in the '80s, I think. The airlines finally broke for good, he said. Maybe Travel-log has some of it still, but haven't heard it since. He took the wiring and pickups out and put the back on. It's stored somewhere in Southern California...

"I'd like to love you baby"

2010-02-12T20:53:00.001+02:00

This one's mostly just the E chord (I play it on the 7th or the 12th fret). The bass line for this main part is E, E, B / E, E, B, D, E... (where the E is the highest note, seventh fret A string)...

At the end of a verse of lyrics (after I'd like to love you baby and keep my other baby too), there's always the instrumental bridge thingy. The chords go A - E, A - E for that.

Great solo thingies, yes. No time for that. The intro plays around with 12th (D) and 14th (E) fret on D-string. Solos from E minor pentatonic.

"One Step"

2010-02-12T16:45:00.001+02:00

This one's in G....

In the intro it's bend on the F on the 13th fret on thin E string, followed by the G two frets higher. Then the same 5 frets higher.

I play it about like this:
[G]

One step forward and two steps back
...

[C]It's made out of wood, [G]made out of stone
[C]I'm building that man a [G]fancy home
[C]That's the way it is let me tell you jack
[G]It's a one step forward and [F]two steps [G]back

I hope it's about right! :)

"Bring down the curtain"

2010-01-30T18:58:00.001+02:00

This one goes about like this:

[E]Bring down the curtain
It's all the show tonight
It's [A]dark outside

Sunday [E]light
[A]Enough is enough

Can't do it no [E]more
[G]Bring down the curtain
[A]Close the door

[E]

The intro (and I bet solo too) is in E minor pentatonic,

starts off something like this:

-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
---------------14'-12---------12-14-12'--------12------------
----12-14'-14'--------14---14-----------14-14-----14-14------
-14----------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------

"Soulin"

2010-01-09T13:34:00.001+02:00

OK, this one is kinda elusive for me. A stone groove, it is.

I think the record is slightly above regular tuning. So tune slightly up to play with the record. Or tune the record slightly down. :D

I play this with just two chords, basically: regular E chord ( 022100 ) and a "long" A7 ( x02223 )... and well, an A in between like this x0222x (it's sort of muted as it's just a move towards the A7 from the E).

So it's a bit like:
E E A
A7 A7 A7
A7 E

Where the A7s emphasize the high strings and the E after them is just the open top three strings.
And the EEA in the beginning is just on the bottom string, and the A is quickly muted.
The A chord I play barring the second fret with my index, and the A7 is the same but ring finger on 3rd fret of E string.

Here's a slow and imperfect example of what I mean there:
http://www.box.net/shared/gigdeou87e

"Mama don't allow"

2010-01-08T20:49:00.002+02:00

The old concert opener for JJ. I remember listening the Washboard Sam '30s version as a kid. Also a stable among some dixieland bands, I hear. I think Julie Lee did a rousing version. Just a good jam number, I guess.

In my previous post with a set list from 1993-94 had this in Bbm (if I read the set list correctly). But the record and some live versions I checked from 2004 tour had this in Bm.

[Bm]Yeah, Mama don't allow no guitar playing 'round here
Yeah, Mama don't allow no guitar playing 'round [F#]here
[Bm]I don't care what mama don't allow I'll [E]play my guitar anyhow
[Bm]Mama don't allow no [F#]guitar playing 'round [Bm]here

Solo you can play in B minor pentatonic. Didn't tab any of them this time, though.

"Blues for Mama"

2009-12-16T21:35:00.002+02:00

This is one true fave of the Back to Tulsa album. Great solos too!

I think it's in the key of C minor. Or, actually maybe it's C Dorian? Who cares. :D

The main part is:

The Blues for Mama bit is: [Cm][Cm][Gm][Gm] x2

The rest her soul bit is:

[Eb][Eb][F][F]

[Gm][Gm][Eb][F]

The modulated bridge part at the latter part of the song, starts at around 1m35s, is:

[Bb][Bb][Ab][Ab]

[Bb][Bb][Ab][Gm]

acoustic solo bit 1m54 - 2m07s:


------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
-12'-10-8-10 12'-12'-10-8-10~-10H12-8-(10)------------
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
-10-12'-10-8-10H12s...-----------------------8~-(10)--
-----------------------2S13H15-8~-8-10-8--10----------
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------

The solo after 3min kicks in the same C minor pentatonic kicks off
...approximately like this:


-----------------------------------------------------
-11^~-11-13----13-11---------------------------------
-----------12-----------10-12-10-10-8----------------
--------------------------------------10-8-10-8------
--------------------------------------------------10-
-----------------------------------------------------

"Thing going on"

2009-12-14T18:23:00.003+02:00

(EDIT: I think it's kinda ambiguous, but having tried tabbing the solo, I now think the Db chord for the bridge is minor not major, so Dbm instead)

This one's kinda off pitch. It's a bit flatted from Ab.

The main progression is a walk up:

[Abm]Look here [B]we got a thing going [Db]on[Eb]

[Abm]Never fear [B]we got a thing going [Db]on[Eb]

the bridge is :

[Db]Ain't nothing to it[Abm]Got to get down and do it

[Db]I tell you the truth[Eb]Ain't jivin' you

Intro takes off:

---------------------------

---9~-7-9-7~--9------------

-8--------------8-6-8-6--6~-s8~

----------------------------

----------------------------

----------------------------

so basically it's all Abm pentatonic... but man it's sweet!

"You got something"

2009-12-12T21:55:00.004+02:00

Finally doing something off the great Troubadour album!

This one's simply just G to C and back forever...

For the little guitar fills it's a lot of G and F

(17th and 15th fret on D string., for example),

...and then some other notes of the G minor pentatonic.

 ...at least that's how I approach it... too lazy to dig it all out.

"Things ain't simple"

2009-12-09T22:05:00.005+02:00

This one's for Kent by request, so I hope I am not way off now! :D

Please DO correct me if I am! :)

It's in Eb.

Intro is Eb, strumming a boogie shuffle a bit like this:

D:-------------13----------

A:-13-13-15-13-13-13-15-13-

E:-11-11-13-11----11-13-11-

The main part:

[Eb]It's so [Bb]sad to say
[Ab]Talking about [Eb]yesterday
[Ab]All those [Bb]good times are [Eb]gone[Bb]

The bridge:

[C][C]We took love [Bb]easy 
[Ab]One day at a [Eb]time

"Mona"

2009-12-07T21:42:00.005+02:00

This sweeet track is very simple.

Just going back and forth between D and A for forever.

[D]Mona she comes in the [A]morning
[D]She brings me a bottle of [A]wine

The bass track is basically D and A,

with a little a walk up to the note at the end of previous bar:

.D.......A.......D.......A ...etc

----------------------------

-----------(7)--------------

-5-----------(7)-5----------

-------7-5-------------7-5--

The one lead up to D, in brackets, appears less frequently.

"I'll kiss the world goodbye"

2009-12-06T21:48:00.003+02:00

Above the tools of my trade. ;)

I am not 100% but hear this classic something like this:

[B]I've been so [A]lone in these [B]prison walls
Good lord, [A]thinking I would [B]die
You've got the [A]time to [B]get me out
I'll kiss this [A]world good[B]bye

[E]The rain keep [F#]falling and [B]I feel [A]fallin
[B]Lord, I [A]think I'm gonna [B]die

solo (basically B mixolydian):


-------------------------------7-
------------------------7-9-10---
-8h9-11-9p8-9p8-----8h9----------
----------------9----------------
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
 
---------------------------
---------------------------
-8h9-11-9p8h9p8h9p8--------
---------------------------
---------------------------
---------------------------
 
--------------------------------
-------------------7~-----------
---------------8-9--------------
-9-11-9------9--------9p8-9-8---
-----------9------------------9-
---------7----------------------
 
--------------------------------------------
------------------------7-------------------
-8--------------9p8-9-8---9p8-9-11-9-8------
---9-7---9-7-9~------------------------9-7-9
-------9------------------------------------
------------------------------- 
 
------7------------------------ 
--------10-7---7~~------------- 
-9s11--------9----------------- 
------------------------------- 
------------------------------- 
-------------------------------

"Ridin' home"

2009-12-05T20:12:00.003+02:00

Finally really getting to the great early stuff here!

[F]I'm sittin' on this train and I'm ridin' home, ridin' home
I'm sittin' on this train and I'm ridin' home, [C]ridin' home
[F]I've got my bag and I'm ready to go
[Bb]I wish this train didn't move so slow
[F]I'm sittin' on this train and I'm [C]ridin' home, [F]ridin' home

"fate of a fool"

2009-12-04T21:49:00.002+02:00

This is yet another Dm-C thang!

[Dm]Spending my life in a cold hard bar room
Drinking that [C]long black whisky [Dm]down

The constant bass is just the basic root-fifth thing:
A:-5---
E:---5- for Dm chord

A:-3---
E:---3- for C chord

Intro:


--------12----12~-----------------
-----------13-----10-13p10-13-10~-
----------------------------------
----10----------------------------
-12-------------------------------
----------------------------------

-----------------10-13-------10-13^-13^--
-13^-13s15-13-15-------13-10-------------
-----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------

--10----10------------------------------------------
-----13----10~---------------8s10----8--------------
---------------12p10-----12^------10---10--10-------
---------------------12-----------------------12-12-
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------
-------------------------------
-------12-10-------------------
-0-12----------12-10--------12-
-------------------12-10-------
-------------------------13----

"Nowhere to run"

2009-12-04T19:55:00.001+02:00

This one is off the great "In session" DVD (it's in the same key on the record too):

[G]Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide
No way to relieve this feeling in[D]side
Lord, you done gimme them [G]blues and then you took a ride[C]
[C]Left me with [G]nowhere to run [D]nowhere to hide [G][F] [C][G]

"Deep dark dungeon"

2009-12-02T19:51:00.003+02:00

This is a simple 8-bar blues in E:
EEAA
EBAE
(I play like the open chords, except 12 frets up)

Intro in E minor pentatonic (1st box here) has the the repeating figure over the progession:

E:----12-----12---

B:-15'----15'-----

...plus the turnaround before he starts to sing:

E:--------------17^--15~-12----------------

B:-15-12----12-------------15--17~---------

G:-------14--------------------------------

...and the end of the outro goes like this:

E:------------------------------------------------------

B:-17'-15-17~--(15)-17'-17'--15-17-15-17-15-17-15-17~---

Here I am naturally only tabbing the intro/outro guitar that is easier to hear. There are a couple of overlapping solo guitar tracks on there...

"right down here"

2009-11-30T22:41:00.001+02:00

To my ears this is just a Bm-E jam:
[Bm]My woman, my woman, [E]you know she cryin'
[Bm]She keep... etc etc

In the intro before the drums, it starts off with Bb bass note pickup before strumming the Bm chord, then Bb bass note again and strumming the Bm chord... then the song kicks off...

...with the intro solo bit:


-------------------------------------
-12'-12'--10------7------7-----------
-------------11------9-9---9-9-------
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------

-------------------------------------
-12'-12'--10-----12-10-12'-...-------
-------------11----------------------
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------

Both of these end a bit fuzzy to my ears, so they might not be accurate or in full there... but I am outta time again, so I won't be able to delve deeped today, maybe later. Basically the Bm pentatonic, with emphasizing E major chord notes while that's playing in the progression.

"Hold on baby"

2009-11-30T20:26:00.002+02:00

This one's a 12 bar blues in A (AAAA DDAA EDAA)
...and hear him playing this kinda boogie shuffle (this one's the A chord one) with palm muting:
A--2-2-4-2-5-2-4-2--
E--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

i.e. A5 A5 A6 A5 A7 A5 A6 A5

The D shuffle part is the same as A, but one string higher, and E is the same as A, but one string lower.

The intro looks to be repeating at the end of every other bar:

-5---5---
---5-----
---------
---------
---------
---------

and this is the turn around lick at the end of the progression:

E......D...........A......................
-5---3-------------------------------------------------
---5---5-3---------------------------------------------
-----------5-------------------4-----------------------
-------------7-5-7---7'-5-5-7'---7-5-------------------
--------------------------------------7----------------
----------------------------------------5--------------

(Yes, that's just first half of the intro... the second half is a variation of this, so I think it's enough to just wing it)

"Goin' down" (Don Nix)

2009-11-28T22:27:00.008+02:00

Oh, just realized, this is not a JJ tune, it's a blues standard. Have to look into the music of this mr. Nix, never heard any, I think.

Oh well, here's it anyways...

JJ plays it the key of A. Like mentioned in a set list post in this blog before.

The chords are:
A for the first "I'm going down" part...
then the walk down of A, G, D, C (close, that, boxcar, down ... or ... down, down, down, down) followed by some A...
D for the 2nd "I'm going down" part...followed by the walk down part again...
E chord for the "Got my big feet" part... followed by the walk down part again...

Here's some takes on the song:
Freddie King
(Looks like Nix, JJ and Freddie all were on Shelter label, btw)
Keith Richards
Jeff Beck 1983