Death Letter Banjo

February 23, 2009

Jesse writes:

I tabbed out Death Letter for frailing banjo and posted a link to the text file at my new blog. Not in braille-friendly form yet, but I’ll try to do that too.
http://thefringthing.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/death-letter-blues-banjo-tab/

Death Letter Blues
by Son House
arranged for frailing banjo by Jesse Onland

D|---0-------0---|---0---/5~-----|---0-------0---|---0---/5~-----|
B|---0-------0---|---0-----------|---0-------0---|---0-----------|
G|---0---2/3-0---|---0-----------|---0---2/3-0---|---0-----------|
D|-0-0-------0---|-0-0-----------|-0-0-------0---|-0-0-----------|
G|-----0-------0-|-----0---------|-----0-------0-|-----0---------|

D|---0-------0---|---0-------0---|-------0-------|---0-------0---|
B|---0-------0---|---0-------0---|-------0-------|---0-------0---|
G|---0-----0-0---|---0-----0-0---|-0---0-0-------|---0-------0---|
D|-3-0-------0---|-3-0-------0---|---3---0-------|-0-0-----0-0---|
G|-----0-------0-|-----0-------0-|---------0-----|-----0-------0-|

1. Got a letter this mornin', how you reckon it read?
2. Grabbed up my suitcase, took off down the road.
3. Well I walked up close, looked down in her face.
4. You know, I thought I'd never love but four women in my life.
5. You know I didn't feel so bad 'til the good Lord sung me down.
6. You know I cried last night, the night before.

D|-------0-------|---0-------0---|-------0-------|---0-------0---|
B|-------0-------|---0-------0---|-------0-------|---0-------0---|
G|-0---0-0-------|---0-------0---|-0---0-0-------|---0-------0---|
D|---3---0-------|-0-0-----0-0---|---3---0-------|-0-0-----0-0---|
G|---------0-----|-----0-------0-|---------0-----|-----0-------0-|

1. Said, "Hurry, hurry; the gal you love is dead."
2. When I got there she way layin' on the coolin' board.
3. Said, "This good ol' gal gotta lay here 'til Judgement Day."
4. My mother and my sister, kid gal and my wife.
5. I didn't have soul, to throw my arms around.
6. I'm gonna change my ways baby, so I don't have to cry no more.

D|-----/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|-----/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|
B|-----/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|-----/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|
G|-0---/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|-0---/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|
D|---3-/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|---3-/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|
G|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|

1. Got a letter this mornin', yeah, how you reckon it read?
2. I grabbed up my suitcase and I took off down the road.
3. I walked up close, and I looked down in her face.
4. I thought I'd never love, I said, but four women in my life.
5. I didn't feel so bad 'til the good Lord sung me down.
6. I cried last night, I said and all my nights before.

D|---0-------0---|---0---/5~-----|---0-------0---|---0---/5~-----|
B|---0-------0---|---0-----------|---0-------0---|---0-----------|
G|---0---2/3-0---|---0-----------|---0---2/3-0---|---0-----------|
D|-0-0-------0---|-0-0-----------|-0-0-------0---|-0-0-----------|
G|-----0-------0-|-----0---------|-----0-------0-|-----0---------|

D|-----/7--7-----|--7--7--7--7---|-----/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|
B|-----/7--7-----|--7--7--7--7---|-----/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|
G|-0---/7--7-----|--7--7--7--7---|-0---/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|
D|---3-/7--7-----|--7--7--7--7---|---3-/5--5-----|--5--5--5--5---|
G|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|

1. It said, "Hurry, hurry; 'cause the gal you love is dead."
2. I said, when I got there, she was layin' on the coolin' board.
3. I said, "Good gal gotta lay here 'til Judgement Day."
4. My mother and my sister, my kid gal and my wife.
5. Ye-ah, I didn't have soul to throw my arms around.
6. I say I'm gonna change my way of livin', so I don't have to cry no more.

Outro:

D|-/12-12-12-12--|--12-12---0--|--3--2--0--0---|----2------3---|
B|-/12-12-12-12--|--12-12---0--|--------0------|---------------|
G|-/12-12-12-12--|--12-12---0--|--------0------|---------------|
D|-/12-12-12-12--|--12-12---0--|--------0------|---------------|
G|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
Posted by Patrick Costello
Filed in Banjo, Music, people
Tags: , , ,
5 Comments »

5 Responses to “Death Letter Banjo”

  1. thefringthing Says:

    February 23, 2009 at 9:14 pm

    Of course I would make a typo in the lyrics. :S

  3. Manuel Says:

    February 24, 2009 at 2:50 pm

    Thanks, indeed, for this timeless classic. Son House’s version is a supremely important interpretation. It will be interesting to see how it frails in its banjo translation.

  4. thefringthing Says:

    February 24, 2009 at 7:32 pm

    The typo of “cried” for “cry” has been fixed in the txt file I’m hosting.

    Manuel: I’d love to hear people performing this on the banjo. I can (kind of) play it OR sing it. This is something I need to work on.

  5. thefringthing Says:

    February 24, 2009 at 8:00 pm

    Another error:
    The note with vibrato at the 5th fret should be on the first string, not the fourth. The text file I linked to at my blog has been updated with this correction.


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