Robert Earl Keen song "Death of Tail Fitzsimmons"

[ajh]

Anyone have the chord structure for this? Key is A but I am not getting it even with a Tascam slowdowner....

Thanks
Tony

[Mark Gunter]

Really nice tune!

In this video, he plays the tune in Bb, and it is just a 3 chord progression for the most part. Bb - Eb - F

Of course, you can play this in any Key, it's the I - IV - V chords.

The video has him capoed at 3rd fret and using the G - C - D open chord shapes. If you're having trouble with the progressions, i.e. hearing the changes, well, you can see and watch his chord fingerings on the guitar very easily here.

[ajh]

Hey markscarts,

Although that is posted on the tuber as "Death Of Tail Fitzsimmons" it is actually "Dark As A Dungeon".....the tune I am looking for is what is being played under Keens' outro on that clip (starting at 4:33). There is no posting of the tune on youtube. Is on his "No Kinda Dancer" cd. Am very slowly attacking it.....very slowly as there is a lot going on every time they run through it.

Appreciate the help, though.

[Mark Gunter]

That explains a lot, I went searching for lyrics for the song "Dark As A Dungeon" under the Fitzsimmons name, and all indication was that the Fitzsimmons song was an instrumental - but as I've not heard those tracks before, I just accepted the incorrect tube title. I like what I hear on it, will have to get that CD.

[Mark Gunter]

That's a really short clip, played fast, so I can't get a good read on it until I've heard the full song a few times. You mentioned key of A, key signature would be A in notation, but he seems to be playing F#m which is the rel minor of A. Chords are, I think, F#m and bouncing to A, also I think E and D. Maybe someone familiar with the tune will chime in.

[ajh]

Yeah, It took a bit (for me) to figure out that the lead was F#m not A. I kept trying to force that A and it just would not go. Still, the tune goes by so dang fast. I have been working out some of the fingerings in the first go-thru, and I think the whole structure is fairly simple, but it (the chord structure) is bedeviling me to no end. I agree that it hits E, D and Bm.....and at one point I think there is a C#m in the front end. Is a lot of fun to jam over with single notes.....pretty much a jam tune. The rest of that cd has a lot of really nice mando sprinkled through it. I like that cd better than his newest attempt at BG.....the older one takes the BG influence and bends it to his music vs him playing 'somewhat" straight BG.

Would still appreciate any help from you "real" musicians out there.

[ajh]

A buddy stopped by over the weekend and we got this tune pretty well figured out, but it is just a scratch version so you'll have to play along with it to get it.

There is an intro that can be picked out pretty quickly...then the structure is pretty much along this line. It is a crooked tune.
A:
F#m/F#m/F#m/F#m A
F#m/F#m/F#m/A F#m
A F#m
B:
A/D/A/D
A/D/Bm/C#7
C:
D E/F#m/D E/F#m
D/E

Tony