The Steel Guitar Forum

My guitar player has this song charted all wrong, but I can't quite figure it out either. Can anyone help us out with this?

I understand your problem. That's the sort of song that gives me fits. I think I can hear it well but when it comes time to charting it--is that a dim7 or a dom7 with a leading bass line or what? I'm sure we would arrive at the same chords for the obvious stuff but the chorus is something I can play along with but couldn't show a guitarist or bassist how to do right.
A lotta good that does you, eh?


I might add--it's the sort of song that will sound like crap if played wrong. The chord voicings really matter in a song like this. A guitarist playing a barred 7th power chord in the wrong place will just wreck this.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jon Light on 02 November 2000 at 03:14 PM.]</p></FONT>

This was a long time ago, don't even remember how the song went anymore, but I looked up an old chord chart and here is what it said;

Verse= F, Bb, G7, C, C7, F, and these last 4 chords have one beat each, C6, B6, Bb6, Gm

Chorus= F, Cm, Bb, Gm, C7, F, Bb, A, Dm, Bb, F, Gm, C7, F followed by the same one beat each chords listed above

Hope this helps...

<font face="monospace" size="3"><pre>
Key of E chords/
Four beats a measure:

Verse:
|E E E E|E E E7 E7|A A A A|F# F# F# F#|

|B B B B|B B B7 B7|E E E E|B7 B7 B7 B7|

Chorus:
|E E Bm Bm|A A F# F#|F#m F#m B7 B7|E E E7 E7|

|A A Bbdim Bbdim|C#m C#m C#m C#m|F#7 F#7 F#9 F#9|

|E E C#m C#m|F#m F#m B7 B7|E E E E|B7 B7 B7 B7|

Any Key Number chart/
Four beats a measure:

Verse:
|1 1 1 1|1 1 1/7 1/7|4 4 4 4|2 2 2 2|

|5 5 5 5|5 5 5/7 5/7|1 1 1 1|5/7 5/7 5/7 5/7|

Chorus:
|1 1 5m 5m|4 4 2 2|2m 2m 5/7 5/7|1 1 1/7 1/7|

|4 4 4#dim 4#dim|6m 6m 6m 6m|2/7 2/7 2/9 2/9|

|1 1 6m m6|2m 2m 5/7 5/7|1 1 1 1|5/7 5/7 5/7 5/7|
</pre></font>
Ricky

Jim, thanks for the chords that's pretty much what the guitar player says, but I beg to differ. There's something else going on there.

Ricky, you got the same song? Misery and Gin by Merle Haggard? If you do, I've never heard that version before. What gives?

How about this for the chorus. A chord with a slash after it indicates a bass note different than the tonic. (x2) means to repeat the chord twice.

F Cm/A Bb Gm Gm/C C13 F(x2)
Bb A Dm Dm/C Dm/B(x2) F/C(x2) Gm Am/C

Well as John so elequently put it; this song will sound like crap if played wrong.
I play this song almost every night with Dale Watson and Redd from Merle Haggards' band sits in occasionally with us and this is the "Correct" way to play the song.
We do it in E that's why I wrote it out that way.
Other than showing the chords on the decending C# note chromatically from the C#minor chord to the Bb note of the F#9 chord; that is exactly the way you play the song>oh yeah that is the Misery & Gin song>one in the same.
Just copy that number chart and hand it to your Guitar player, and play it in any Key you want, and you will see that now the song sounds like it's suppose to.
Have fun.



<small>My Homepage
Rebel™ and Ricky's Audio Clips
www.mightyfinemusic.com
Email Ricky: sshawaiian@aol.com

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Ricky Davis on 04 November 2000 at 04:56 PM.]</p></FONT>

Hey Ricky, what goes on with that desending turnaround thing? The charts show a 5,5b, 5bb, 2 progression. If I play it on steel it sounds like 1, 1b, 1bb, 4. In fact the steel on the recording is doing that latter, but if you listen real close the bass holds one note for first three beats.
(? which one? )The piano does something but I don't know for sure what. Not sure what rhythm guitar is doing. That 2 chord just doesn't sound right. Not if everyone is doing it anyway. On steel, it sounds better if you do the 1,1b,1bb, 4 on strings 4 &5. I want to be positive before I put my ass on the line w/ the band.

What ever key you are in; go to the no-pedal root chord of the song and press A pedal and make the 6minor chord; then that 5th string goes down chromaticly three half steps to the
Bb note and now you have the natural 3rd tone for the F#9 chord(2 chord). You play strings 4;5and8 throughout that whole pass. The bass player plays the E note for three beats then plays the F# note(oh in the key of E of course).
Just play what I said there and you will be right; and if they have a problem with it; tell them to go learn the song. I've already learned it for 5 years now and that's the way it goes; so as far as the voicings go on the other instruments; they have to use the right structure of the chords I posted; but I'm not a bass player or keyboard player; but I know how to listen to the melody line within the correct chord.
Ricky

Thanks you guys, you've been a big help!!

Hey! I know this one, since we do it in the Jon Wayne band.

Zebracaster #1 (JW)
G G C C D D G G
G G C C D D G G

Zebracaster #2 (bovine)

G G A- A- C C G G
G B E E- F F G G

Bass (Timmy)

G G G G G G G G
G G G G G G G G

Hey Doug; that's gunna leave a mark

memphislim; how did it work out for ya'll this weekend? Did ya play it? Did ya'll go for the version I put up there?
I have to tell ya; after I've been thinkin' about it>this is the way we play the song and it's dang good and Billy our bass player that is a stickler for doing the songs right and Redd from Merle Haggard band; has never got on us for playing it this way. But I haven't listened to Merle's recording of it and just figured I was playing it right because all them were playing it that way>Dale included.
So I may of sounded too confident in saying that is exactly the way the original version is played; since I haven't listened to it in many many years.>Sorry if I came off that way.
But I do hope that works out for ya.



------------------
Ricky Davis


<small>My Homepage
Rebel™ and Ricky's Audio Clips
www.mightyfinemusic.com
Email Ricky: sshawaiian@aol.com

We played this weekend but we didn't put the changes into effect. We will real soon though and I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks Ricky!

Ricky,

I tried playing the chord chart you gave us along with the original Merle version and I can't get it to work. The 4#dim I can't get to sound right. Jim Baron's chorus almost works, but there is some extra chords in Merle's version. I just don't hear the 4#dim though. The 5m in the chorus might also be a 1/7 chord. If you get a chance can you listen to the original for us? I really appreciate your help on this.

The turn around you gave is right on, thanks.

Well Graham sent me the original version sound file and I listened to it; but don't have a steel with me. I'll tell ya there is a small difference in what I wrote down the way we play it and to what I heard the way Merle did it.
There are so many same notes in a 5m and 1/7. And all I can say is that version I put up that we play is a killer. If your band ever heard us do it; ya'll would immediately want to play it that way. It does not sound any different to the original version; other than a little more discriptive chording; and I would say you will only sound as good as your bass player plays it and I just can't tell you the notes on the bass to where your chord will fit to what he is playing. The guitar player has to have correct voicing too. On the 4#dim is in place of a 4/7th version or a 6/9 ir 6m version and there are just so many similarities to all those chord voicings that it would only depend on what your bass and guitar player is playing.
So I would get with them and if they are set in playing it a certain way; then make sure what it is; even if it's wrong and play it that way. But if you can convince them to play the version I put up there; I think they will love it; unless they have hard heads like most of them do anyways.
Good luck; and maybe one day if I ever have time(which these days is filled to the max); I will write the words and write my steel tab(chrords)between them.
Ricky