Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 886 Location: SF Bay Area
Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 8:48 am Post subject:
Here's what I use. The song is in what I consider to be Ab. The first chord is Db/Eb. I play it as x6x664 then resolve to a conventional 4th fret Ab chord. Of course Robben does all kinds of double stop fills though here.
The bridge is Fm-Bm-Fm-Eb, Fm-Bm-B9 (or some dominant) and an Eb-Db-Eb walk up riff to the Eb.
I'll tell my semi-funny story about how I move this down to G to make it easier to sing and a bass player who I'm fortunate enough to work with occasionally learned it from me in G. Then he went down to LA and did some gigs with Robben. The next time we got together and I called this song, he gave me a dirty look and said "you know you do this in the wrong key". I could just see it, Robben "you know this song", him "oh yeah", so off they go with the bass a half step flat. _________________ There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com
Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 886 Location: SF Bay Area
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:38 am Post subject:
Opps, those Bm's in the bridge should be Bb's, same with the B dom. I was tranposing in my head from the key I normally play while I was typing. Not enough processing power to multitask. ;)
On the Paris DVD, Robben introduces this song and gives credit to the original writer, only now I can't remember who it is. I have a tape of a KFOG broadcast from Yoshis and at the end of the song, under the applause, you can hear him say "Wow, I feel like Carol Burnette". No idea what that remark was about. It's a wonderful song. Soloing kind of handcuffs you to country style Ab stuff, but Robben makes music out of it anyway. Not a fusion platform, just a beautiful tune. _________________ There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:28 pm Post subject:
Aeolian wrote:
...On the Paris DVD, Robben introduces this song and gives credit to the original writer, only now I can't remember who it is...
That would be Arthur Alexander, Aeolian.
Robben and I both love Arthur's songs. My first exposures being to the Beatles cover of "Anna (Go With Him)" from their first album and the Rolling Stones cover of his song, "You Better Move On", from their December's Children (And Eferybody's) album in the mid 60's.
Arthur wrote a lot of great songs, much covered thru the years.
If you are unfamiliar with his work, I highly recomend picking up one of his "Greatest Hits" albums as a sampler.
=================================
Arthur Alexander
Born: 10-May-1940
Birthplace: Florence, AL
Died: 9-Jun-1993
Location of death: Nashville, TN
Cause of death: Heart Failure
Arthur Alexander began his music career in 1961, specializing in a restrained blend of country and soul. His own recordings attained only modest success (primarily in England) but others inspired by his songs released versions that brought them to a wider audience - such as the The Beatles' version of Anna, Elvis Presley's popular take on Burning Love, and the The Rolling Stones' recording of You Better Move On. Despite acclaim from critics and other performers, popularity remained elusive for Alexander. Overwhlemed by stress and disillusioned by the corrupt dealings of the industry, he retired from making records after the release of Every Day I Have to Cry in 1975.
In 1993 a renewed interest in his music was becoming apparent, and Arthur Alexander made a return to recording with Lonely Just Like Me. The album was well-received and a tour was arranged, but only days after the first performance Alexander died of heart failure.
======================================
Released Original Songs
1. A Shot of Rhythm and Blues - Arthur Alexander 1962 - Covered by (12 artists)
2. Anna (Go To Him) - Arthur Alexander 1962 - Covered by (5 artists)
3. Burning Love - Arthur Alexander 1972 - Covered by Mother's Finest
4. Genie in the Jug - Arthur Alexander 1993 - Covered by (2 artists)
5. Go Home Girl - Arthur Alexander 1963 - Covered by (2 artists)
6. If It's Really Got to Be This Way - Arthur Alexander 1993 - Covered by Robert Plant
7. In the Middle of It All - Arthur Alexander 1972 - Covered by (2 artists)
8. Lonely Just like Me - Arthur Alexander 1993 - Covered by John Prine
9. Ole John Amos - Arthur Alexander 1964 - Covered by (2 artists)
10. Sally Sue Brown - June Alexander 1960 - Covered by (2 artists)
11. Sharing the Night Together - Arthur Alexander 1976 - Covered by Dr. Hook
12. You Better Move On - Arthur Alexander 1962 - Covered by (11 artists)
13. You Keep Me Knockin' - Arthur Alexander ???? - Covered by Robben Ford
==========================================
Arthur Alexander
During the early Sixties, Arthur Alexander wrote a famous clutch of compact, well-crafted country-soul songs. Stories of inconstant love and private gloom, they were covered by The Beatles - 'Anna', The Rolling Stones 'You Better Move On' and more recently, Ry Cooder-'Go Home Girl'.
Alexander, wrote Michael Gray, introduced the word "girl" as in 'I wanna tell you girl..." to common lyric Parlance, greatly to the convenience of John Lennon and others thereafter.
Other artists who have covered Arthur's songs include The Bee Gees, Dusty Springfield, Tina Turner and a host of black vocal groups including The Tams, The Fiestas and The Drifters.
In addition, a generation of British R & B bands were raised on Alexander's original versions of’ ‘Where Have You Been' and 'A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues’.
The Beatles also recorded 'Where Have You Been' and 'Soldier Of Love'.
Arthur sang his precise. geometric songs with a dark and wholly individual intensity; his languorous understatement, that sense of emotion only barely concealed, has always defied accurate attempts at imitation In short, his sadly underrated singing is as memorable as his uncommonly interesting songs....
.....Arthur was [also] known to all as June, short for Junior....
...The Judd record, a lowdown blues as gutbucket as Arthur would get, fired everyone’s enthusiasm. Rick Hall bought a tobacco warehouse in Muscle Shoals, lined the walls with egg crates and installed a four-track recorder. It was here, in the summer of 1961, that Alexander recorded 'You Better Move On'. The repercussions were enormous. .....
...Rick Hall dubbed backing vocals onto 'You Better Move On' and took the tape to Nashville where it was rejected by almost every A&R man including Chet Atkins at RCA-Victor. Finally, he ran into Noel Ball, local disc-jockey and Nashville representative for Dot Records. Ball, once a member of the Crescendos, signed a tape-lease deal and subsequently produced Arthur himself....
...Nonetheless 'You Better Move On' was a hit (No 24 in 1962)...
...In Ball's hands, Alexander's recordings took a more commercial turn which paid off when the follow-up 'Where Have You Been', a Barry Mann-Cynthia Well song, reached the top 60. 'Anna', Alexander's own composition, provided a third Hot 100 entry and his only Top 10 R&B hit ‘Go Home Girl', his most compassionate song, merely peaked at No 102 in January 1963, the year in which most of his royalties came from Steve Alaimo's hit version of another Alexander composition 'Every Day I Have To Cry'. Few people heard such an equally rewarding song as his fine interpretation of C&W favorite like 'Detroit City'....
....Arthur was not equipped to handle success. We don't know why, as neither he, nor his associates have ever talked directly about his problems, although Alexander has referred to a lengthy illness which seriously affected the quality of his work. Apart from an unissued session for ABC-Dunhill, he disappeared until 1972 when he went to Memphis to record an album for Warner Bros.
A return to Muscle Shoals brought forth a pop hit on Buddah with 'Every Day I Have To Cry Some' (No 45 in 1975) but the renaissance was short-lived. He appeared on Music Mill with a tribute to Elvis in 1977 and shared a Koala album with Carl Perkins in 1979.
As Alexander began a comeback in 1993, he died of a heart attack. However , the album he completed before his death, "Lonely like Me," is a gentle record that is a fine way to end his career.
- BILL MILLAR 1982 Taken from the ACE Cd "Arthur Alexander-The Greatest"
========================================== _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
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No idea what that remark was about. It's a wonderful song. Soloing kind of handcuffs you to country style Ab stuff, but Robben makes music out of it anyway. Not a fusion platform, just a beautiful tune.
