Leonard McCoy Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) Since the forums got wiped and with it my old thread, I guess I'll have to start a new one. New guitar tab: I Wish, I Wish (1970) With the advent of his second career and with it his new album MONA BONE JAKON (1970), Steve charted onto a new spiritual journey, and his growing sense of enlightenment is perfectly reflected in the lyrics of this song. Musically, this is a very catchy gigging song that keeps on rolling, one that guitarists can perhaps appreciate the most. Edited May 1, 2018 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 Oh, I forgot: best played on a Gibson J-180. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) Oh, I forgot: best played on a Gibson J-180. only have a j200 and a few taylors... there goes my fun... :) on the other hand, nice tab! Edited May 2, 2018 by kidblast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Good looking tab. Easy to follow. Thanks. One question - why suggested chord fingering on the "F" is to use the thumb on the first fret of the 6th string? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Good looking tab. Easy to follow. Thanks. One question - why suggested chord fingering on the "F" is to use the thumb on the first fret of the 6th string? Because that’s the proper way to play it ! Never liked that first finger barre chord version of the F Means you can’t do at pull offs or hammer ons or lift the thumb off and on for a bit of craic on the bass string Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) Because that's the proper way to play it ! Never liked that first finger barre chord version of the F Means you can't do at pull offs or hammer ons or lift the thumb off and on for a bit of craic on the bass string I can hammer all day like a Mexican Roofer after a hail storm using the barre on F, but I can see pull-offs would be impossible. Maybe that's why I don't do those. I only use my thumb for B7. But, as I've said countless times before - I'm a hacker, not a player! edit: OK, sometime D7 too ! Edited May 2, 2018 by fortyearspickn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) The chord fingering indicated is an exact match for Cat's. If you barré here, you may have trouble playing the hammer-on from Fsus2 onto F hidden in the intro. Edited May 2, 2018 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Yeah, very easy-to-follow tab. Good stuff. A lot of tabs are a messy conglomeration of symbols with uneven lines because they're in the wrong format. I use the thumb for the 6th and 5th strings most of the time. Lots of the legends did/do the same. I'll never be a legend, but I will use my thumb. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanCarlosVejar Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 L, Thanks for the reminder ! As far as the J 180 even the man himself knows "Only an Everly is good enough " JC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-28 Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 I need to listen to some Cat. Haven't in a long while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar12 Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Great tab. I'm a huge Cat Stevens fan and seeing him a couple of years ago from a few rows back playing all the old hits on his J-180 was truly special. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Great tab, thankyou! I was looking at my J180 and my blonde SJ200 the other day and thinking it was high time I played some more Cat material live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share Posted June 15, 2018 (edited) New guitar tab: Rubylove (1971) Had I known before how complicated the song structure would turn out to be, I would probably have let this one go. This marks Cat's second song in Open E (besides the sublime "If I Laugh"), and it's a tour de force no doubt. Be sure to get the time signature down first (see notes at bottom). With this one tabbed out, I have the complete Teaser & the Firecat album as guitar tabs on the site now. Yay! Cat wanted to introduce his Greek influences into his music, and so some friends of his father, who ran a Greek restaurant, came down to the studio to play on the record with their bozoukis. Alun's daughter, then four years old, asked Cat to sing "the Rubylove song" and so the name stayed, but he song was originally called "Who'll Be My Love?" and did not contain the Greek verse until later. Together with "If I Laugh", this song is a tour de force through all kinds of Open E voicings. Even the advanced player will have to overcome the unusual time signature of the song first so be sure to read the bottom notes on rhythm first. Edited June 15, 2018 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) New guitar tab: Mona Bone Jakon (1970) Short but sweet. Another raw gem from that charming diamond-in-the-rough album. A short but strong musical motif that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Steve stated that he never figured out what the title actually meant (same with Tuesday’s Dead). Edited February 17, 2019 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livemusic Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Good, high-quality tab, cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Thumbs are good! Norman Blake observed that one never sees a left thumb in classical guitar, but in hillbilly guitar, you don't see much else. We always called an F chord with a thumbed low E string a 'fingerpicker's F chord'. Then there's Richie Havens.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) New guitar tab: Hummingbird (1967) A hidden gem from Steve’s formative years as a singer/songwriter, “Hummingbird” has the same timeless quality, a combination of delicate lyrics and a catch melody, as Steve’s later, more famous work but, due to its over-arrangment, the original recording falls short despite being beautifully sung. Edited February 24, 2019 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 New guitar tab (major rework): I’ve Got a Thing About Seeing My Grandson Grow Old The song was written during Steve's transitional phase from big-band arrangements, the hall mark of his first career, to a softer, more reflective type in his second starting with the original album MONA BONE JAKON (1970) that came closer in sound to his own demos. Ultimately, the song ended up on the cutting floor for that album and remained in the archives of Olympic Studios, London, for almost thirty years, until in the early 2000s it got released, in various mixes, on two compilation albums. It features Steve's own, prominent licks, without relying on session men anymore, as was often the case during his first career. In the chorus, Steve does a rare Buddy Holly impression, singing "Grow old, oh, oh," and delivers his spiel on using power chords. The song eventually received a major rework and got published properly as "Grandsons" on Yusuf's latest album THE LAUGHING APPLE (2017). The version featured here is the initial release. The guitar tablature got significantly revised to account for the use of a capo at the second fret, which is how, I believe, it was initially conceived and played given the major lick of the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKna-n0saD8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holiday Hoser Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 I can hammer all day like a Mexican Roofer after a hail storm Now that's the funniest thing I heard all day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted November 3, 2019 Author Share Posted November 3, 2019 (edited) In preparation of the re-release of Back to Earth (1978), here is a a new guitar tab: Never (1978) Of almost all the work Steve had done over the period, Paul Samwell-Smith and Steve handpicked this piece at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Canada, as a closer for Steve's final album. The song would go on to serve as a farewell, with an optimistic lookout and dedicated to his fans, for almost 30 years until Steve's third comeback. In terms of composition, the song's bridge part stows away a suspensful chordal progression, dissonant in nature but one that ultimately gets resolved in a harmonical climax bringing closure to the song and album. The E7sus4-like riff is a clever spiel on open strings, a forebearer of the dissonant parts of the composition, and the rapid chord shifts in the bridge are a demanding workout. Edited November 3, 2019 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holiday Hoser Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 (edited) Do father and son! Always makes me think of my Dad. And my son. God, I love them both... Edited November 5, 2019 by Holiday Hoser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted November 5, 2019 Author Share Posted November 5, 2019 5 hours ago, Holiday Hoser said: Do father and son! Always makes me think of my Dad. And my son. God, I love them both... It's on the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted November 9, 2019 Author Share Posted November 9, 2019 (edited) Another new guitar tab from that album: Just Another Night (1978) Recorded in Copenhagen and Canada, and subsequently mixed in London, the song talks about the volatile nature of the show business public, i.e. not the diehard fans but "those who usually switch on to a person only because it's fashionable to do so." It also poses as another farewell to his fans saying that if they really needed him, he would be around (in his song presumably). The odd time signature lends the song a syncopated feel, yet nifty little riffs and speedy triplet strumming lighten things up. Needless to say, Steve on guitar played this one impeccably well on the record. Edited November 9, 2019 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted November 29, 2019 Author Share Posted November 29, 2019 (edited) The trend continues, new tab incoming: Daytime (1978) During their stay in France, Alun and Steve spent a lot of time on the lyrics of the song. In many ways “Daytime” continues the musical and lyrical theme that “Where Do the Children Play” started, and both songs were even played together as a medley during Steve’s last appearance at the YEAR OF THE CHILD CONCERT in November 1979. What makes the song so experimental from a production standpoint is that Paul Samwell-Smith and Steve sang one note at a time for this putting them on different loops so as to mimic the basic principle of a mellotron. Edited November 29, 2019 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted December 1, 2019 Author Share Posted December 1, 2019 Another one: Ruins (1972) “Ruins” is Steve’s commentary on the Vietnam War. In an interview at the time, he said, “It’s as close as I’ll ever get to Vietnam — I won’t even say the word, I had to imagine London, and in my mind I saw Oxford Street and the whole of my childhood, ’cause I’m trying to imagine when everything I know has been torn down.” The fingerpicking pattern gets more and more violent the harsher the scenes of decay and destruction get. In a more recent performance Steve’s introduction of the song to the audience (“it’s more of a downer”) remains very much the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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