'pretty woman' guitar riff

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 4 Sep 2005 10:30 pm

Joey.

I find that lick to "Fast as You" alternately played by hack guitar players as either "Pretty Woman" or "White Lightning".

It's definitely neither one, (of course you know that..)

One of the things that drove me to get my Tele.

Three weeks and my fingers still hurt.

It's a good hurt though..

EJL

frank rogers · Post by **frank rogers** » 5 Sep 2005 11:09 am

I've always thought it was Wayne Moss. Here is a quote from Marty Stuart's website concerning one of the guitars in his personal collection:
"One of Marty's most prized recent acquisitions, this early '60s Fender Jazzmaster was owned by Wayne Moss who used it to record Pretty Woman with Roy Orbison, Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line with Waylon Jennings and Almost Persuaded with David Houston. The custom Olympic white finish makes this guitar cooler than cool."

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 7 Sep 2005 7:48 pm

Note for steelers playing this song: it's hard to play and an octave too high on standard 10-string E9. It's a piece of cake on extended E9 12-stringer. Probably pretty easy on universal, too, except for the missing D string.

Just a pitch for good ol' extended E9!

------------------
E9 lessons
Mullen D-12/Carter SD-10/Webb amp/Profex II/Lexicon MPX-110

Post by **Joey Ace** » 8 Sep 2005 4:52 am

Eric,
I don't hear the "White Lightnin" lick in either of those songs. I do hear it in the Mavericks hit "All You Do Is Bring Me Down" .

Now I suppose a real hack could do the White Lightnin lick in "Pretty Woman". I'll try that.

I hate it when some bands make a medley out of songs with similar lick. Some think it's cool, but I feel it ruins both songs.

Maybe we could do a Tele Jam Medley of "Pretty Woman", White Lightnin", and "All You Ever Do ..." next time we get together. Twin Teles - see who can play the loudest. Good thing we live 3000 miles apart.

I'd better add a smiley to this ....

Marc Friedland · Post by **Marc Friedland** » 8 Sep 2005 7:34 am

Yes John, you're correct, playing the riff exact in "standard" E9 tuning is an octave higher and quite awkward if you're like me and not fluid in being able to pick any string in any order without having to spend considerable time memorizing and practicing a new and unusual pattern. Maybe because it's awkward and unusual for me, I should practice it until it becomes more natural and easier to play, and consider it a helpful exercise, but that’s probably thoughts for another topic. Anyway, if I had to play the lick on my standard E9 tuning in the most natural way for me at this time, here's what I would do. I will attempt to be as clear and simple as possible, and apologize if any of it is too confusing.

I would see if I could get away with playing all open strings, and playing the last 5 notes an octave down – like this

8 8 6 10 9 7 8 9
E E G# B D F# E D

If I wasn’t “allowed” to do this and had to stay true to the original voicing without changing octaves I think I’d opt for this:

All on the 5th fret:

Notes E E G# B D F# E D
String 10 10 8 7 6 5 5 6

I would keep the E to Eb knee lever engaged the whole time giving me the G# on string 8
I would keep the G# to A foot pedal engaged the whole time giving me the D on string 6
For the notes on string 5, I would engage the B to C# foot pedal for the F# and then release that pedal for the E note

I realize that I could still stay true to the correct voicing, and play the riff using all open strings, if I keep the knee lever that lowers Eb to D engaged, but the string selection needed to do it that way is out of my “comfort zone” at the present time. I think my 5th fret method works better, but for those who may want to try the all open string way, here it is: (don’t forget your 2nd string needs to be a D note, not an Eb)

String 8 8 6 5 2 1 4 2
Note E E G# B D F# E D

-- Marc

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 8 Sep 2005 6:05 pm

Joey.

I don't hear it on the record either, but I've heard it one too many times on the old bandstand..

I Hear E-E-G-Ab-D-B-C#-B on the Dwight Recording, and I don't know how so may Guitar players have trouble with it..

I've been taking an intro or "easy instrumental break per night, and last night it was the "Turn it Up" from DY break. Like many other tele leads and breaks they're turning out to be loads easier than I'd thought.

I might never be an accomplished "Tele Man", bt I am sure finding that I'm able to play a ton of the little "simple passages" a lot more readily than I've accepted them across the stage over the years.

If it looks like a Tele, and quacks like a tele...

Add a couple Session 400s with a Fender Tweed Bassman model....

EJL[This message was edited by Eric West on 08 September 2005 at 07:08 PM.]

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 8 Sep 2005 6:31 pm

Eric's got the Fast as You lick right....

And, yeah, it is close to Pretty Woman...

BTW..on the solo Pete tuned his high E down
to D

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 18 Sep 2005 5:38 am

Around here, many consider Johnny Cash to be alt-country.

And just as many consider Alison Krauss "bluegrass".

Go figure.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 18 Sep 2005 7:35 am

It's easy to play on C6, with pedal 5 at the 2nd fret.

------------------
Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association