Country Guys - Little Help Here?

[rydin4lifebass]

I'm working on two songs by Alan Jackson..they seemed simple enough with a root-fifth pattern and a little run here and there but I have a few questions. The two songs are Summertime Blues and Chattahoochee, both versions off of the 34 Number One's collection. The version of summertime blues I linked to below seems to be the same but all of the music videos, etc. I found of Chattahoochee are slightly different versions. I linked to the closest one, but it's still not 100%

1) In "Summertime Blues"- LINK, at the 2:41 mark is the line "Some times I wonder what I'm gonna do", which is two bars in G. After that is "Cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues". This line is in D but it sounds like it 2 and 1/2 bars and then into the "Yeah, sometimes I wonder.." which is G. Is there some goofy timing or 1/2 bar in there? What am I hearing?

2) In "Chattahoochee" LINK - there is the guitar intro and then the bass comes in. I have the bass in the intro as:
C-C-C-G/C
C-C-C-G/C

I have the same issue as in #1...it doesn't sound like a full two bars after that before the first verse, more like 1 1/2 or something?

3) In Chattahoochee, there is an 8 bar fiddle solo which I hear as:
F-F-C-C
F-F-D-D/G

At the end of that, the bass is hammering on something. To me it sounds like he goes up an octave to the high G and plays it fast. I have a different version with a fiddle solo only instead of guitar prior but the end part I'm questioning sounds the same. It's HERE at 2:11

[phmike]

You worry too much. Even the guys that recorded it play it a little different each time.

[two fingers]

Yep. Get it close. Make a chart. Run this by your guitar player and see what he came up with. As long as you guys are on the same page, it doesn't matter AT ALL.

[bassbully]

I did not have time to listen but go to chordie or another site and get the chord sheets for the songs. I'm sure you are on the right path and sometimes I find getting away from a song and going back to it a day or later will let me hear parts I did not hear right before.

[rydin4lifebass]

Thanks fellas...more concerned because I'm trying to train my ear better to pick things up and to hear whats being played and the timing...more training myself than playing with a band, thus the "worrying"..haha

[bassbully]

Originally Posted by rydin4lifebass

Thanks fellas...more concerned because I'm trying to train my ear better to pick things up and to hear whats being played and the timing...more training myself than playing with a band, thus the "worrying"..haha

And that is a great thing to do. The issue is when you get in a band setting what are they playing in those changes? I am in a country covers band and have gone to practice with a part of a song figured out only to have the band dumb it down some. It does not effect the song it just makes it easier to play and keeps the dance floor honey's dancing.
They don't care if we dumbed it down and the point of us being there is for them to be out there.

Don't be afraid of chord sheets. I play with people who are way more experienced than me, some theory trained who when learning a new song run over and download the chord sheets (not tab) to a new song they never played..no harm or foul here.

[MalcolmAmos]

Key point. People dance to Country music. The beat is important. Mess with the beat and people start stumbling over each other. Less is more.

We dumb down Willie's songs all the time.

[nutdog]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

dumb down Willie

Good name for country band.

[Syco_bass]

1) What you are hearing and describing are correct. Don't think of it as 2 1/2 measure, think of it as a "tag". It goes from "tick/tock" back and forth from the D and A back to another round of G for 2 beats. I'v played this song a thouusand times and don't think about it anymore, but at first it did throw us off. Keep working on it, listen to it over and over in your car. Try to chart it out and count it out with your drummer and guitar player.

2) looks right except make sure you are "tick/tocking" back and forth from C/G but the ending of the phrase is G/C. It sounds like you got it.

3) The guitar/fiddle solos are just two rounds of the bridge. It appears you have the progression down right, it just extends the ending of it an octive higer as you have discribed. Here it is important that your timing is perfect or it will shound like a train wreck if you don't all end at the same time.

Once you get the hang of these songs, most traditional Country music will be a breeze. Keep at it. You'll get the hang of it.

Good Luck.

[rydin4lifebass]

Thanks all!

For #1, for the last line of the chorus "Cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues", I'm playing two bars of D and then a "tag" as you call it then a run to G like this:
D-A--D-A then D--D-D-E-F# and landing on G for the line "yeah sometimes I wonder..."

I think #2 is a similar situation as #1. I'm playing 3 bars of C then G/C followed by 3 bars of C and another G/C then a run to C like this:
C-G-|-C-G-|-C-G-|-G-C-|
C-G-|-C-G-|-C-G-|-G-C-|
then G--G-G-A-B and landing on C for the first line of the first verse.

Am I understanding that correctly?

ANOTHER QUESTION. At the ending of Summertime Blues I'm off beat during the "outro chorus". I have that as follows but is there another "tag" or something during the first line on D?
(G) Yeah sometimes i wonder what I'm gonna do
(D) Cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues
(D) No there ain't no cure for the summertime blues