Keith Richards' take on Jimmy Reed "V" chord

I wondered the same thing when I read that page...

 

That doesn't make too much sense to me, since the 7th in a B7 chord is A. Maybe he meant one of the other notes in the chord, which would leave B, D# or F#. Any way you play it, it will sound kind of funny with the 7th in the bass.

Pat

 

I don't know if Jimmy did it that way, but 70780X doesn't sound too bad and I suppose an X0780X would pass if the bass player or a second guitar was holding down the low B. Both have the 7 on the D string.

 

I think he means you play the F# B and D# of a B chord with 1 finger and let the open A note ring. It sounds odd by itself, but might work with a second guitar and/or a bass. I haven't had a chance to try it out with others yet. That's the only way I can make sense of what he said.

 

I learned that years ago, not hard, but hard to explain. Maybe I'll make a quick video to show you. It's a cool trick.

Edit: This...



The A string is played open (when not fretted) as you descend back down.

 

He's not talking about the chord itself, really - given the Jimmy Reed thing, I believe he means something like this:

-----------------
-----------------
-----------------
4-4-6-6-7-7-6-6
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
-----------------

Which I prefer to play more like this:

------------------
------------------
------------------
4-4-4-4-4-4-7-7-
0-0-5-6-0-0-0-0-
------------------

Because it sounds more authentically Eddie Taylor/Jimmy Reed to me that way.

 

x0444x doesn't sound odd to me. It just sounds like it want to be resolved, and isn't tension a good thing?

You can walk it down to the IV7:

x0444x -> x0333x -> x0202x

Or resolve the A to a G# in the E chord, V->I:

x0444x -> 3x243x

 

e------------------------------------------------------------
B------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------
D-4--4--------4--4--6--4--2--2--------2--2--4--4-----------
A-2--2--5--6--0--0--0--0--0--0--3--4--0--0--0--0--2--------
E---------------------------------------------------0-------

I guess I could have just done that to begin with ;o)

 

Here's an old clip of Jimmy Reed using that:



Looks like it's copied off some old video tape and is very low quality, but you get the jist.

 

If you eer get a chane to read "Big Boss Man" , it is really excellent.. Keith's book is really excellent for the way he gives us little tidbits like this, as well as his take on so many things musical. Keith is really an incredible tactician. Very instinctual guy, but he does examine this stuff pretty thoroughly, and it goes right along with being a history enthusiast. He knows where he is coming from. So many players make it seem like they invent this stuff, their egos are so out of control. You can tell Keith's love of music and the guitar, and life itself, is very much intact and continues to grow. Be interesting to see what the future brings through his music. I can see him going hard core country-blues, but he writes such amazing piano ballads as well.

 

Keith himself answering that exact question. A few minutes in.

 

Cool vid.

 

If you know chord construction just figure the notes then the fingering.

 

Timely answer, 5-1/2 years later. ;-) CS

 

I enjoyed that. And that hack of Keith's reminded me why I quit smoking. He's like what, 52 in that vid?

Always cool to hear the Malaguena story

 

I have loved Keith and his playing all my life. Thanks for sharing that video.