Artist/Band: Lovett Lyle Tabs
Song: Lyle-lovett-album Tab
Hi, Cowpie folks. Here's a submission for you. Everything after
this sentence is CRD, some TAB, and notes for Lyle Lovett's entire
first album (entitled Lyle Lovett).
LYLE LOVETT (1986)
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A couple of years ago, I brought Step Inside This House on a trip to
Alaska and was enchanted (by the album -- I grew up in Alaska, so the
great land is old hat), and ended up picking through the entire first
disc. Well, a recent Lyle concert prompted me to give another listen
to parts of his back catalog, and I eventually decided to give Lyle's
first album similar treatment.
This file doesn't include lyrics, for which I apologize. Lyrics are
copyrighted material, and anyone sharing transcripts that include
lyrics runs the risk of legal entanglements (a fact that was rudely
brought home to me when the On Line Guitar Archive, to which I had
contributed probably 40 songs, was closed down). As I want to keep
these arrangements freely available, I keep them mostly free of
lyrics. You can find lyrics here:
* http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/1192/LyleLovett/lyrics.html
In general, if a song uses the same chords for all the verses, and
likewise for the chorus, I just list the chords for each part. If
different verses or choruses are played differently, I'll lay the
whole song out.
Large chunks of the album are in Bb (Cowboy Man), Eb (This Old
Porch), F (God Does, If I Were The Man You Wanted), and C (Farther
Down The Line), which are all somewhere between slightly easier and
much easier when played with a capo on the 3rd fret. In addition,
open chords give you a more rootsy sound, which is common in folk and
bluegrass. So I suspect that Lyle plays with a capo a good portion
of the time. If anyone has concert photos where you can tell if this
is the case, I'd love to hear about them.
All these transcriptions are by Brian Davies. Comments and
corrections are always welcome! I can be reached at
[email protected].
Brian Davies
http://www.ils.nwu.edu/~davies/
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COWBOY MAN
(Lyle Lovett)
intro:
use verse chords
verse:
Bb Bb Eb Eb
Bb Bb F F
Bb Bb Eb Eb
Bb F Bb Bb
chorus:
Eb Eb Bb Bb
Eb Eb Bb Bb
Eb Eb Gm Bb
Bb F Bb Bb
solo:
use chorus chords
Notes:
* The recurring guitar lick is something like:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
(e) |--34----34------|----------------|--34----34------|----------------|
(B) |------3-----3---|--4--4--4--4--4-|------3-----3---|--6--6--6--6--6-|
(G) |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
(D) |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
(A) |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
(E) |----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
* They probably play it with a capo on the 3rd fret, played as G C D and Em.
* For a twangier sound, play 7th chords throughout.
* The last half of the third line of the chorus, the band bugs out --
half of them walk up and the other half walk down. You can get
closer to the recording by playing Gm F Bb Cm instead of just Gm Bb,
but unaccompanied guitar can't quite get that sound.
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GOD DOES
(Lyle Lovett)
intro:
Bb C F Bb
Bb C Bb F
first verse:
F F Bb F
F F C C
second & third verses:
Bb F Bb F
F F C C
first chorus:
Bb C F Bb
Bb C Bb F
second chorus:
Bb F Bb F
Bb C Bb F
repeat intro
fourth verse:
same as second & third verses
third chorus:
same as first chorus
fourth chorus:
same as second chorus
Notes:
* The first verse has different chords from the others, and the
second time through the chorus has different chords from the first.
* This is a waltz, so play with a triplet feel.
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FARTHER DOWN THE LINE
(Lyle Lovett)
intro:
F C
verses and chorus:
F C G7 C
solo:
F C
end:
Bb Am C
Notes:
* [email protected] did a version available at Cowpie, which
includes the lyrics.
* Here is the lick for the intro and the brief solo after the first chorus:
F Bb F C F C
(e) |---------|-------10-13-|------------------|----------8--|--------------|
(B) |----8-10-|-13----------|-13-------10-8----|-8-----10----|-8------------|
(G) |-10------|-------------|---------------10-|-------------|--------------|
(D) |---------|-------------|------------------|-------------|--------------|
(A) |---------|-------------|------------------|-------------|--------------|
(E) |---------|-------------|------------------|-------------|--------------|
4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
* Try playing with a capo on the 3rd fret, using D A and E7 chord forms.
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THIS OLD PORCH
(Lyle Lovett & Robert Earl Keen)
whole durn thing:
Eb Cm Ab Bb
end on Eb
Notes:
* There's a version of this at Cowpie by [email protected], which
includes the lyrics. I think the chords we had were identical.
* Try playing C Am F and G with a capo on the 3rd fret.
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WHY I DON'T KNOW
(Lyle Lovett)
intro:
A7 A7 A7 E7
first verse:
A7 A7 A7 A7
A7 A7 E7 E7
A7 A7 D7 D7
A7 E7 A7 A7
second verse:
same as first verse
chorus:
D7 D7 A7 A7
E7 E7 A7 A7
D7 D7 A7 A7
B7 B7 E7 E7
third verse:
same as first verse
solo:
use verse progression, up 1 fret
chorus:
same progression, up 1 fret
fourth verse:
same progression, up 1 fret (retard last 2 lines)
outro:
half a minute vamp on Bb7
Notes:
* The song modulates about halfway through, which is a good way to
show off a band that's really tight, but when I'm playing by myself I
usually skip it and stay in A.
* The 7th chords are part of what gives the song a jazzy feel. If
you're playing open chords, you can play a standard A instead of A7,
as both x02020 and x02227 can sound a little overripe. I love the
sound of x21202 for B7, though.
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IF I WERE THE MAN YOU WANTED
(Lyle Lovett)
intro:
F Bb F Bb
F C F F
first verse:
F Bb F Bb
F Bb C C
Bb C F Bb
F C F F
second verse:
same as first verse
chorus:
Bb C F F
F Eb Bb Bb
F Bb F Bb
F C F F
third verse:
same as first verse
fourth verse:
same as first verse
chorus
solo:
use chorus chords
fifth verse:
use chorus chords
chorus (repeat last two lines)
Notes:
* Note that the fifth verse ("going out to California") is actually
played as a chorus.
* This is another waltz, so strum with a triplet feel.
* Here's the intro lick:
[F] [Bb] [F] [Bb] [F] [C] [F] [F]
(e) |----------10-12-13----------------10---|---------------------------------|
(B) |-10-11-13----------10---------------10-|-13-10---10-11~10~---------------|
(G) |----------------------12~10------------|------------------12-10----------|
(D) |----------------------------12---------|---------------------------------|
(A) |---------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
(E) |---------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 & 1 2 3 & 1 2 3
1 2 3 1 2 3
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YOU CAN'T RESIST IT
(Lyle Lovett)
riff throughout:
A D G D
Notes:
* Play as barre chords, the A and the D at the 5th fret (E and A
forms, respectively) and the G at the 10th fret (A form).
* This is the one track that reminds me of when this album was
recorded. Play electric with lots of chorus effect for that great
80's sound.
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WALTZING FOOL
(Lyle Lovett)
intro:
use verse chords
first verse:
A A D D
A A E E
A A D D
A E D A
second verse:
same as first verse
third verse:
same as first verse
fourth verse:
E E D A
E E D A
E E D A
A E D A
fifth verse:
same as first verse
sixth verse:
same as first verse (repeat last two lines)
Notes:
* The fourth verse is the second one that starts "it's a waltz to a woman".
* I suppose you could write a song about waltzes that wasn't a waltz,
but this isn't it.
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AN ACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF ECSTACY
(Lyle Lovett)
intro:
G C7 E7 B7
G C7 E7 B7
bass vamp:
(G) |-------------------------|
(D) |-------------------------|
(A) |-------------------3---1-|
(E) |-3-----1-----3---3---3---|
1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a
bridge:
C C G G
C C G G
A7 A7 D D
chorus:
C C G G
C C G G
C C G G
A7 A7 D G
first verse:
G G C C
G G A7 D
G G C C
G A7 D G
chorus
second verse:
same as first verse
bass vamp
bridge
chorus (repeat last two lines)
Notes:
* This track sounds ludicrous with just voice and guitar chords, so I
didn't put a lot of effort into getting everything right -- consider
this a sketch. This is a wonderfully dense track, and you could
spend hours poring over it.
* What I called the bridge is "flowers were furnished", the chorus is
"if you ain't the big daddy", and the verses start "20-piece
orchestra" and "they had them everywhere".
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CLOSING TIME
(Lyle Lovett)
intro:
A E F#m F#m
D E
first verse:
A E F#m F#m
D B D E
A E F#m F#m
D B D E E
chorus:
D E A/E F#m
D E A A
second verse:
A E F#m F#m
D B D E
A F#m D D
A F#m D E E
chorus
partial chorus:
D E A/E F#m
D E
solo:
A E F#m F#m
D B D E
A E F#m F#m
D E
third verse:
same as second verse
chorus twice
last verse is partial chorus
end:
D A E A
Notes:
* [email protected] did a version of this on Cowpie. His
version includes a picking pattern which sounds right to my ear.
* The A/E means half a bar of each, not the usual 002220.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
After spending about 12 hours communing with the album, I feel
obliged to share a few opinions.
I originally picked this album up for $8 in a bargain bin, and never
really gave it much attention I was very much into the Large Band
and Joshua Judges Ruth albums at the time, and figured I'd buy this
one for when I got tired of the others, since I couldn't pass up that
price. Well, I never did tire of the middle albums. I've also never
been a country fan, particularly -- I was drawn to Lyle's music
because of the jazz, gospel, bluegrass and folk elements. And this
album is far and away his most straightforward country album.
Then when I saw Lyle recently in concert (7/31/01 at Ravinia), I got
to hear about half of these songs performed with the large band,
which put the whole album in a fresh light.
I think Why I Don't Know was the song that benefited most from the
large band. The lyric is pretty lightweight, but the tune is nice,
and having the rich instrumentation really made it come alive. Now I
can't hear the song without thinking of Ravinia. The other one that
seemed completely new with the live band was You Can't Resist It. On
the album, it is the only piece that sounds dated to me (though I
grew up on that particular era of dated stuff, so it sounds
pleasantly nostalgic). So I now have a whole new appreciation for
those two tracks.
There are still a few spots that I don't like. Some of the songs,
particularly Cowboy Man and Farther Down The Line, adhere very
closely, lyrically and musically, to a Nashville formula that doesn't
appeal much to me. So having my two least favorite songs being two
of the first three tracks on the album (also the first two singles)
was a large part of why I never got into the album. (Regarding
Cowbow Man, I still wonder how we're supposed to take "I can ride her
on the plain" -- it's either unintentional, ham-handedly ribald or
wickedly subversive, and I can't figure out which.)
But overall, I'm stunned at how mature an album this was. I guess he
was already in his late 20s and had been writing songs for about a
decade by the time this came out, but I can't think of another debut
album with this degree of wit. After hearing God Will, you can
almost smell the smoke from whoever it was that he shot down in
flames. If I Were The Man You Wanted is also more clever than
anything you'd hear on the radio these days.
For me, the masterpiece of the album is Acceptable Level of Ecstasy,
and not just because it's a harbinger of the jazz-country fusion that
hooked me on Lyle in the first place. Lyrically the song is
stunning, going from bored to morbid to having a blast with the help
and then remembering your place, and the structure of the song keeps
shifting to keep perfect pace with the mood. Simply brilliant.
- Brian
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* Brian Davies ([email protected]) Cog. Arts, 1840 Oak *
* http://www.ils.nwu.edu/~davies/ Evanston, IL 60201-5914 *
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