Ledbetter Guitar Chords

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: 12-stringer
Date: 24 Feb 08 - 03:04 AM

From the Alan Lomax/Moses Asch "Leadbelly Songbook," here are the basic progressions. Both of these songs are written out in A.

DeKalb Blues
[A]DeKalb blues, Lord, makes me feel so bad [A7]
[D7]DeKalb blues, Lord, makes me feel so [A] bad
Just to [E7] think about de [D7]times I once have [A] had.

Rock Island Line
chorus
[A]Oh the Rock Island line is a mighty good road
Oh the Rock Island Line is the [B7] road to [E7]ride
If you [D7] want to ride it got to ride it like you find it
Get your ticket at the station on the [E7] Rock Island [A] Line.

verse
[A]Jesus died to save our sins
[E7]Glory to God we're gonna [A] need him again.

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: GUEST,mike ledbetter
Date: 23 Feb 08 - 10:00 PM

Is there anyone that can show me the chord progression for rock island line and dekalb blues? These songs are constantly burning in the back of my mind. I'm a 19 year old musician who has been listening to Lead Belly for about 10 or so years. Thanks and dont forget to relax your mind!!

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: Scrump
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 11:59 AM

I didn't even know Gerry or Margo could play the guitar.

I'll get me coat.

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: GUEST,mood
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 10:34 PM

trouble in mind..is a big bill broonzy song

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Oct 04 - 03:07 AM

I don't recall what key Sonny and Brownie did Trouble In Mind in,but G and A would be the likely male vocal keys.
Here it is in G.The chords ought to be above the words,but online this way works:

Trouble in [G]mind I'm[D7]blue
but I[G]won't be blue al[C]ways[C7]
you know the[G]sun gonna shine
in [D7]my back door some[G]day[G C G D]

Here's a chord chart.The slashes are bar lines.4 beats per bar.On the bars with 2 chords,each chord gets 2 beats.

G / D7 / G / C C7 /
G / D7 / G C / G D /

This chord progression is a great example of an 8-bar blues.If you have any questions,just ask.

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: GUEST,Joe Blow
Date: 04 Oct 04 - 10:17 PM

I've got a copy of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason doing "Relax your Mind" by Leadbelly. I'm trying to find the chord progression for this song or any other version. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 25 Apr 99 - 10:34 PM

hi, the slide playing appears to be played on bess Lomax's Martin 6 string with a commercially made metal slide. It's excellent and like everything else he does is quite original sounding. When he played in "D" (his D which sounds Bb to us) he often went up the neck to the 5th and 7th fret. He is often erroniously credited with being a thumb and index finger picker like Travis, Davis, Everly (Ike) etc. Not so. He used thumb, index and middle. Glad to meet a few Leadbelly fans.

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From:
Date: 25 Apr 99 - 10:23 PM

I have been watching Leadbelly on the Vestapol Video "Legends of Blues Guitar Vol 2" and the one thing I can add to what Rick said is that he seems to stay in first position most of the time. At least in the three songs where it his left hand is shown clearly.

Also I have just been told that the "bottleneck" work I mentioned was probably not done with a 12 string; but with a six string on his lap. I imagine he used open tuning for that.

Murray

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 25 Apr 99 - 12:44 PM

Hi Taber, I've spent close to 40 years trying to decypher the chord forms used by Leadbelly and there are still a few that puzzle me. I can suggest that you tune your 12 string very low for a start. Leadbelly often tuned from "C" to "C", and occasionally went as low as "B" or even "Bb". Next remember he NEVER played a minor chord. He ALWAYS used A7th rather than "A". Don't think he ever played "B7". (possibly a partial B7) The key to his playing was that his chords constantly MOVED (a constant series of bass runs that often sound like chords but weren't) He was to my mind the most original folk musician who ever lived and you won't get his style from books. Listen, listen, listen. Good luck, the journey will be fascinating.

rick

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From:
Date: 25 Apr 99 - 08:18 AM

I just remembered that there was a thread on Leadbelly's strings some time ago. Try here

I would also suggest a forum search for Leadbelly. You will probably get a lot of results including info about him and some lyrics.

I miss two things in the book. One is some of Leadbelly's bottleneck pieces and the other is "The House of the Rising Sun".

Murray

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: Taber Smith
Date: 24 Apr 99 - 10:30 PM

Thanks a lot!

I figured he did something with the tuning, because I couldn't match the chords perfectly by ear while listening. That's one reason why I asked. That's great to know; thanks for the detail. I can't wait to get my hands on the book. Those are the two main songs I was looking for.

Thanks also for the tip on the Sonny and Brownie works.

Thanks, Taber

Subject: RE: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From:
Date: 24 Apr 99 - 10:12 PM

There is a good Leadbelly book with lyrics, piano score and tab at this site . However, be warned that Leadbelly used very heavy strings and tuned down a fourth from "standard" tuning (so his lowest bass string was tuned to "B" instead of "E"). Nonetheless, if you follow the tab and tune your guitar normally the guitar part will work out OK. You might have to use a capo to get the songs in your voice range.

The book is called "Lead Belly, no stranger to the blues" transcribed by Harry Lewman. It does have "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" and even one of Leadbelly's best versions of "Goodnight Irene".

For Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, a lot of folk music collections have some of their things. Look at Homespun Tapes for a start.

Murray

Subject: Ledbetter Guitar Chords
From: Taber Smith
Date: 24 Apr 99 - 05:49 PM

Hi,

I'm fairly new to guitar, and I was wondering if anyone knew a good book that I could pick up to get the chords for some of Leadbelly's songs, particularly "Where Did You Sleep Last Night.

I'm also looking for the chords for the some of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee's stuff, like "Trouble in Mind."

Thanks for any help!

Taber