Levon Helm's Take Me To The River -- anyone play this version?

All -- I've started playing this version of the old...Al Green(?) song, and it's got a couple nuances that I could really use some help with, especially as we don't have horns.

I'll link the song below, but AFAICT, this verion is in Eb or would I call it D#? (There's another recording that I can't find on YouTube that's in D, but let's just talk about this one).

Anyway, the way I've been playing this is to put a capo on the 1st fret, then playing a basic root /5th/6th shuffle on the open D (now D#) string, and hitting the C# and G# to emulate the horns that would fall at the end of each line in the verse. eg,

D# C# G#
"I don't know why I love you like I do.....

But it sounds like guitar in this Levon Helms version is just picking sparsely at a D#sus2 chord in the open position? I can't figure out that's being fingered.

The second thing that's confusing me is the solo, which starts at 2:00ish in the video.

To my ear the horn solo start at the C# . Is this a key change? It sounds terrific, but my music theory is poor. <sigh> I *think* most of the notes in the solo are coming out of the C# Major scale?

thanks!

5m4QlHIDZz8

Great album. Unfortunately I have it in vinyl so I have not listen to it in years.

Here's what I would do. I would tune a guitar in standard tuning, but 1/2 step flat. Play the song as if it were in E, but it will be Eb concert. Chord (shapes) are E, C, G, D, A. Bridge goes C#m A C#m A G B. Solo starts on G and goes G D A E G D A. Once you are playing it out of E shapes, the chords will sound better to your ears. I think the verse sticks a D or an E7 in there for the rhythm part.

Years ago I played this with only a poor quality cassette tape to learn from.

As I recall, I ended up playing the whole thing very free form. Mostly I used an A chord shape using only the D-G-B strings. I slid the form down two frets and back up - sometimes chromatically and sometimes two frets at a time (usually pulling off to go down and hammering on to come back up). This should get you the horn lines and give you a home for basic rhythm.

I don't remember the solo, but I do recall the chord changes being unusual. I always had trouble remembering them.

That's my favorite version of that song. It's a rare arrangement that rocks and funks at the same time. Awesome arrangement.

Good Luck.

Thx JB and RC -- some good food for thought.

After discussion with the others, we're going to play it in 'B', and I think the solo will be straight out of the A major scale.

Yeah it IS a great version.

Well, suit yourself, but I don't see how a solo using the A major scale will fit over the chords D A E B, which is what the solo section would use in the key of B. FWIW, I like the Talking Heads' version a lot better.

OK. I need to go back and listen to that horn solo much more carefully, then. I don't have great ears, but in the original link, I *thought* the solo started on a Db(C#) then Eb then F, so I thought "Oh, major scale".

Great song. I really like the Annie Lennox and Eva Cassidy versions also. I think they are both in E.