Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines (Damon Black)

Subject: Tall Pines
From: Ely
Date: 24 Apr 00 - 12:51 AM

And, the tune in some form of guitar tab, if at all possible (will settle for whatever I can get).

Has the chorus something like:

Tall pines, tall pines, reaching up to the clouds, Tall pines, tall pines, I bet you wouldn't know me now.

I heard it at a bluegrass concert Saturday night and that little bit is going to drive me crazy until I learn it. COWPIE didn't have it and I had no luck on the net.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: Nathan in Texas
Date: 24 Apr 00 - 12:20 PM

It's been years since I heard it, but the lyrics are something like this. I've bracketed phrases I'm not sure about. Maybe this will jog the memory of someone else who knows it.

Once in my youth[as a child]
I stood on this mountain
And planted some pines in the sand.
Every day, I'd look their way
And I just couldn't understand
Why they never grew like I thought they should do
I just couldn't understand why
Now I've been all around this whole wide world
And today, I just happened [was just passing] by

chorus (as Ely lists above)

[I still can recall] the day that I left
The hum of the bees in the hive
The faster I walked
The louder they talked
[How lonesome it seems here today]
There's that old [stone fence]
We built inch by inch
Surrounding the old family grave
(Sorry, I don't remember this line-It's something about all family and friends now in the grave)

It's a great song, reminiscent of "Rank Strangers", and I'm sorry I can't give it all. Hope this helps.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: Ely
Date: 24 Apr 00 - 06:26 PM

Every bit does. Thanks a bunch!

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: GUEST,JenEllen
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 01:45 AM

The version I learned had a different second verse tho...

I still can recall
The day I left
The home of the geese in the hay
The further I walked
The louder they squawked
How silent it seems here today
There's the old stone fence
We built inch by inch
Surrounding the old family graves
Now there's one grave stone
Standing all alone
Waiting to meet me in the day
CHORUS

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: TALL PINES (Damon Black)
From: Mark Clark
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 03:17 AM

I play this one using G chords capoed at the 4th fret so the effective key is B natural. In this post, I'll use numbers instead of chord names so it isn't tied to any particular key. (Tonic=1, subdominant=4, etc.)

  1                  4          1 
  Once in my youth I stood on a mountain,
                   5            1
  And planted some pines in the sand,
              4            1 
   Every day I looked their way,
                  5    1 
  I just couldn't understand,
           5                 4                   1 
  Why they never grew like I thought they should do,
    2                        5 
  I just couldn't understand why,
           1                   4          1 
  Now I've rambled around this whole wide world,
          5             1 
  Today I just happened by. 
   
  (chorus) 
  1                4 
  Tall pines, tall pines, 
  1                   5 
  Reaching up for the clouds, 
       1           4 
  Tall pines, tall pines, 
       1                5       1 
  I'll bet you wouldn't know me now.
   
   
  I'll never forget the morning I left, 
  The hum of the bees in the hay, 
  The farther I walked the harder they talked, 
  How silent it seems here today, 
  There's that old rail fence that we built inch by inch, 
  Surrounding the old family grave, 
  And there's one grave stone standing all alone, 
  Waiting to join me in the shade.
   
  (2nd chorus) 
  Tall pines, tall pines, 
  Reaching up for the clouds, 
  Tall pines, tall pines, 
  I'll come home to sleep beneath your bough. 
  

I learned the song from the album "Father and Son" featuring duets by Bill Monroe and James Monroe. If chords seem to be coming in late as I've presented them, it's because there are transitional runs leading into the chord change. I'm making the assumption that anyone wanting to learn the piece is comfortable in the bluegrass genre.

Have fun,

- Mark

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: GUEST,Gene
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 10:23 AM

Refresh/Tie-in:
A previous thread on
Chord Equivalencies and CAPO

* CHORD EQUIVALENCIES CHART *

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: GUEST,winniemih
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 11:08 AM

There's a great version of this song on Laurie Lewis and Her Bluegrass Pals which came out in 1999. The composer is Damon Black.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: Ely
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 11:44 AM

Thank y'all so much! This is such a big help! I heard a bit of the Laurie Lewis version on the internet (and a bit of a version by a guy named James King, with whom I am not familiar, although his sounded good, too). Mark, don't worry about the chords--I play backup guitar for a square-dance band and I'm pretty used to figuring that kind of stuff out.

Thanks again!

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: Mark Clark
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 01:43 PM

Thanks to Joe (I assume) for bailing me out on the HTML and thanks to Gene for reminding us of that great table of chord equivalences he created. Clearly, I'd forgotten it was there.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: GUEST,Gene
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 02:18 PM

HI Mark

Thanks go to Mike Robertson
He created the original chart/HTML code
all i did was massage it around a bit

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: GUEST,Jeff Black
Date: 19 Jan 11 - 12:24 AM

Mark, you got it right. I'm Damon Blacks nephew and grew up with hearing many,'many recordings by Porter, Bill Monroe, Mel Tillis, George Jones and the Wilburn bros. Damon wrote for all these and others. He's passed on now, but not forgotten.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Tall Pines
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Jan 11 - 06:12 AM

YouTube has a video of a live performance of TALL PINES by Laurie Lewis and Her Bluegrass Pals.