Steam powered aereo plane

[Jim Broyles]

Okay, I'm not a huge Hartford fan, which may be heretical on this forum, but this song is played at our jam quite often, so I finally gave John's original version (I think - it's on the album "Aereo-Plain") a listen on Rhapsody tonight and to my surprise, the way we do it at the jam is wrong. My question is this : is there an alternate version by Hartford or anybody else which uses the iii chord (Bm in the key of G) for the third chord of the B part? Because Hartford doesn't on the version I heard tonight. It goes ii I ii I ii I ii V. Also, the verse #is different from the way we do it. #It goes I ii ii IV I, whereas we play I ii IV V I. #Which way do you #folks do it?

Edit: I meant the 2nd chord in the B part, not the 3rd chord.

[fishdawg40]

It goes ii I ii I ii I ii V.....It goes I ii ii IV I, whereas we play I ii IV V I.

I play the chorus this way --ii I ii I ii I ii V. On the verse part I play --I ii ii I. I learned it from my friend and I think he learned it on banjo from the Hartford DVD. And from what I remember it sounded good when I played it with the album.

[Trey Young]

I've always used ii iii ii I ii iii ii V, but I normally do this one on guitar...never really tried to play along with the record...nobody throws stuff at me when we play it...

[Klaus Wutscher]

FWIW I play the chorous like fishdawg does, except I use a maj 7 on the I - my point of reference is the Revival version though.

I think it sounds nice and very refreshing esp. after 2 hours of I -IV -V songs....

[mandolirius]

I do it the way John does. It's his song. And it's ok that you're not huge on Hartford. We just can't be friends

[adgefan]

is there an alternate version by Hartford or anybody else which uses the iii chord (Bm in the key of G) for the third chord of the B part?

When we worked this out for our band we tried the Bm where you describe, but decided that a Gmaj7 sounded better. Haven't listened to the original version for a while, so I couldn't say if that's what Hartford does.

Also, the verse is different from the way we do it. It goes I ii ii IV I, whereas we play I ii IV V I. Which way do you folks do it?

The second way you mention is how Yonder Mountain String Band do it (I think...). I think it sounds cool that way - but our vocalist couldn't get the way he sings the melody to work with it so we stuck with I ii ii IV I.

[Jim Broyles]

Thanks. I didn't like the song to begin with, but I think the main reason is because to me the I ii iii ii I sounds lame. The original is much easier to listen to as far as I'm concerned. I misstated which chord I mean though. The chord played incorrectly as a Bm is the second chord of the B part, not the third. Also on listening again, it does go to the Imaj7. If I got it right it's ii Imaj7 ii Imaj7 ii Imaj7 V. The intro goes to a IV just before the V, I'm pretty sure.
#
Fishdawg - the verse definitely has the IV7 chord just before the I, at least in the intro. If you listen to the intro, without singing you can clearly hear the guitar walking up from the Am to the C, and the banjo lick has the Bb note in it. The IV chord without the dominant 7th sounds fine for the singing verse.

ishotdelia - it's cool that they're not pelting you for the way you play it, but there is no iii chord in the tune.

[Klaus Wutscher]

Yup, that maj7 needs to be in...
One of my alltime favourite songs by the way- works even well as an instrumental.

[fishdawg40]

Fishdawg - the verse definitely has the IV7 chord just before the I, at least in the intro. If you listen to the intro, without singing you can clearly hear the guitar walking up from the Am to the C, and the banjo lick has the Bb note in it. The IV chord without the dominant 7th sounds fine for the singing verse.

Okay, I'm not too sharp on theory so I think I know what you mean. Is this the part where you walk it back from the V (D, C, B, A) to the I?

I'll have to give it a listen and see what else you're talking about too.

[Jim Broyles]

What I'm talking about is the part that you said you play I ii ii I. I'm saying it has a IV7 (C7) before the last I - I ii ii IV7 I, or G Am Am C7 G

[Chip Booth]

Jim,

Here's a live Hartford version on YouTube that definitely goes to the iii chord in the B part.

Chip

[Jim Broyles]

Yep. Sure does. Guess he rewrote the arrangement. I don't like it.

[Rick Schmidlin]

Yep. Sure does. Guess he rewrote the arrangement. I don't like it.

Your ticket on the Stream Powered Aereo Plane has been revoked.

[Jim Broyles]

I'm sorry, I have never liked the I ii OR the I ii iii progression in bluegrass. It's fine in jazz and pop music, but for example, I don't like "Gentle On My Mind," "Devil's Dream" or any other song with the I ii change. And I don't like poppy sounding changes in bluegrass. Don't get me wrong, I am not the bluegrass police - I don't say you can't play it, or that it ain't really bluegrass - I'm just saying I don't like it.

[Trey Young]

And I don't like poppy sounding changes in bluegrass. Don't get me wrong, I am not the bluegrass police - I don't say you can't play it, or that it ain't really bluegrass - I'm just saying I don't like it.

Jim- opinions are like a##holes, every body's stinks but mine #just kidding. Hartford was an acquired taste for me. #I remember the first time I heard him, just not getting it, then a couple of years later I bought Aero-Plain and I've been a huge Hartford fan ever since. #
As far as peltings from the crowd, if they can deal with all the other assaults on their ears, they can definitely deal with a misplaced/wrong chord.

[Dan Cole]

Don't mean to be stupid but what is the differnce between the big I and a little i in chord progression. Can someone clue me in?

Thanks

[Jim Broyles]

Music theory uses capitals for major and lower case for minor.

[Dan Cole]

Thank you. I suspected as much, wasn't certain.

[gregjones]

Jim-----give this a try:

http://www.mp3va.com/artist/30993/John%20Hartford


They have 10 Hartford albums with download tracks for fifteen cents each. #Morning Bugle cost me $1.32 for the whole thing.