The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #21598   Message #232689
Posted By: GUEST,Will Horton
23-May-00 - 04:51 PM
Thread Name: Lyr/Chords Req: Alabama Song (Brecht/Weill)
Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Alabama Song
Mimosa,

Thanks for the effort, but I am sorry to report that your chords don't work. At least they don't follow the melody. I am curious to know,What music are you using?

The only sheet music version of this I can find, other than the one in "The Doors" songbook, is p.44-47 of the Kurt Weill Berlin to Broadway Songbook. This is the only song in the book without guitar chords. I think that whoever did the piano transcription (which, though I am not a pianist, looks like it is pretty awkward to play) just told them to forget about the guitar chords.

The problem, which you probably know, is that, although there is what amounts to an early music style theorbo part in the bass, which tends to be simply a half note thing that hangs on a C-G-C, there are little tone clusters that alternate on the 2 and 4 beat in the second measure, for instance, the 2 beat has C-Eb-F and the 4 beat has E-F-Ab-C. Cool sounding, to be sure, but nasty to play on the guitar, especially while trying to sing.

The Chad Mitchell Trio version had a really nice, sparse, chord progression featuring a guitar, which seemed like it could be played by one not too acrobatic person.

I think the secret of this is to find a chord progression That uses a different sort of relationship with the melody than the orchestration, which seems too dense to play on a single instrument.