Transcribed by: James Michael Randorff (jrandorff@aol.com)
Date: Sunday, February 27, 2000
Album: George Strait -- Straitest Greatest Hits
Murder On Music Row -- George Strait and Alan Jackson -- Key Of A
[Intro]
[GS Verse]
Nobody saw them running
From 16th Ave--nue
They never found the fingerprints
Or the weapon that was used
But some--one killed country music
Cut out its heart and soul
They got away with murder
Down on music row
[AJ Verse]
The almight dollar
And the lust for worldwide fame
Slowly killed tra--dition
And for that, someone should hang ("Ahh, you tell 'em Alan")
They all say "Not Guilty!"
But the evidence will show
That murder was com--mitted
Down on music row
[Chorus (Walking bassline first 8 bars, 2/4 beat last 9 bars)]
For the steel guitars no longer cry
And the fiddles barely play
But drums and rock 'n' roll guitars
Are mixed up in your face
Ol' Hank wouldn't have a chance
On today's radio
Since they committed murder
Down on music row
[Turnaround]
[Split Verse]
GS: They thought no one would miss it
Once it was dead and gone
They said no one would buy them ol'
Drinkin' and cheatin' songs ("Oh, but I still buy 'em")
AJ: Well there ain't no justice in it
And the hard facts are cold
Murder's been com--mitted
Down on music row
[Chorus (Walking bassline first 8 bars, 2/4 beat last 9 bars)]
For the steel guitars no longer cry
And you can't hear fiddles play
With drums and rock 'n' roll guitars
Mixed right up in your face
Why the Hag wouldn't have a chance
On today's radio
Since they committed murder
Down on music row
[Tag (Walking bassline)]
Why they even tell the Possum
To pack up and go back home
There's been an awful murder
Down on music row
{{}}
This is the standard charting style that most Nashville session and sit-in
musicians use to read songs. It tells you the key of the song, what the
chords and chord inversions are, how they fall in the measure structure of
the song, and other rhythmic differances, if there are any. It would behoove
anyone that is serious about being a musician, especially in Nashville or
Branson, to learn to read these kinds of charts!
Murder On Music Row -- George Strait -- Key Of A
[Intro]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[GS Verse]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [1] [5] [5]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[AJ Verse]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [1] [5] [5]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Chorus]
4 4 1 1 (4/4 walking)
[2]1 [2]1 [5]1 [5]4 (2/4 root-fifth)
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Turnaround]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Split Verse]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [1] [5] [5]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Chorus]
4 4 1 1 (4/4 walking)
2 2 5 5 >
1 1 1 4 (2/4 root-fifth)
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Tag]
1 1 1 4 (4/4 walking)
[4] [1] [5] [1]
Note... the little ">" figure after the second line of the last chorus is
my own little notation for "Bucket-a-fish"... it's a common rhythmic figure
in old country and western swing when passing from the 5 chord to the 1 chord
or the 1 chord to the 4 chord, at the end of a phrase. It is called a
"Bucket-a-fish" because of the rhythm of it... it is a triplet ("Buck-et-a")
and a quarter note ("fish"), followed by the common quarter-note walkup to
the next chord. It is usually played only by the bass and drums, though
sometimes other members of the band will play it to make the lick more
pronounced. In the key of A, passing from the 5 chord to the 1 chord, the
lick would look like this:
[E] [C#] [B] [E] [F#] [G#] [A]
[/] [/] [/] [/] [/] [/] [/]
___ ___
[3]
Where the E goes down to C#, down to B, down to the next E (the octave below
the first E), and then walks up the quarter notes back to the A (1) chord.
Not only a musician, but a computer geek as well... check out my site on my
bass playing at:
http://hometown.aol.com/jrandorff/index.html
Good luck with the song, y'all! :)
Date: Sunday, February 27, 2000
Album: George Strait -- Straitest Greatest Hits
Murder On Music Row -- George Strait and Alan Jackson -- Key Of A
[Intro]
[GS Verse]
Nobody saw them running
From 16th Ave--nue
They never found the fingerprints
Or the weapon that was used
But some--one killed country music
Cut out its heart and soul
They got away with murder
Down on music row
[AJ Verse]
The almight dollar
And the lust for worldwide fame
Slowly killed tra--dition
And for that, someone should hang ("Ahh, you tell 'em Alan")
They all say "Not Guilty!"
But the evidence will show
That murder was com--mitted
Down on music row
[Chorus (Walking bassline first 8 bars, 2/4 beat last 9 bars)]
For the steel guitars no longer cry
And the fiddles barely play
But drums and rock 'n' roll guitars
Are mixed up in your face
Ol' Hank wouldn't have a chance
On today's radio
Since they committed murder
Down on music row
[Turnaround]
[Split Verse]
GS: They thought no one would miss it
Once it was dead and gone
They said no one would buy them ol'
Drinkin' and cheatin' songs ("Oh, but I still buy 'em")
AJ: Well there ain't no justice in it
And the hard facts are cold
Murder's been com--mitted
Down on music row
[Chorus (Walking bassline first 8 bars, 2/4 beat last 9 bars)]
For the steel guitars no longer cry
And you can't hear fiddles play
With drums and rock 'n' roll guitars
Mixed right up in your face
Why the Hag wouldn't have a chance
On today's radio
Since they committed murder
Down on music row
[Tag (Walking bassline)]
Why they even tell the Possum
To pack up and go back home
There's been an awful murder
Down on music row
{{}}
This is the standard charting style that most Nashville session and sit-in
musicians use to read songs. It tells you the key of the song, what the
chords and chord inversions are, how they fall in the measure structure of
the song, and other rhythmic differances, if there are any. It would behoove
anyone that is serious about being a musician, especially in Nashville or
Branson, to learn to read these kinds of charts!
Murder On Music Row -- George Strait -- Key Of A
[Intro]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[GS Verse]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [1] [5] [5]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[AJ Verse]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [1] [5] [5]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Chorus]
4 4 1 1 (4/4 walking)
[2]1 [2]1 [5]1 [5]4 (2/4 root-fifth)
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Turnaround]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Split Verse]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [1] [5] [5]
[1] [1] [1] [4]
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Chorus]
4 4 1 1 (4/4 walking)
2 2 5 5 >
1 1 1 4 (2/4 root-fifth)
[4] [1] [5] [1] [1]
[Tag]
1 1 1 4 (4/4 walking)
[4] [1] [5] [1]
Note... the little ">" figure after the second line of the last chorus is
my own little notation for "Bucket-a-fish"... it's a common rhythmic figure
in old country and western swing when passing from the 5 chord to the 1 chord
or the 1 chord to the 4 chord, at the end of a phrase. It is called a
"Bucket-a-fish" because of the rhythm of it... it is a triplet ("Buck-et-a")
and a quarter note ("fish"), followed by the common quarter-note walkup to
the next chord. It is usually played only by the bass and drums, though
sometimes other members of the band will play it to make the lick more
pronounced. In the key of A, passing from the 5 chord to the 1 chord, the
lick would look like this:
[E] [C#] [B] [E] [F#] [G#] [A]
[/] [/] [/] [/] [/] [/] [/]
___ ___
[3]
Where the E goes down to C#, down to B, down to the next E (the octave below
the first E), and then walks up the quarter notes back to the A (1) chord.
Not only a musician, but a computer geek as well... check out my site on my
bass playing at:
http://hometown.aol.com/jrandorff/index.html
Good luck with the song, y'all! :)
