Apr/19/09
18comments

Robert Johnson – They’re Red Hot (Chords)

Robert Johnson – They’re Red Hot (Chords)

Of all the Robert Johnson songs, this one suits the ukulele the best. The quickfire chord changes make it a lot of fun to play. UOGB’s Will Grove-White listed it as one of his favourite songs to play on the uke. But this version wasn’t taken from UOGB’s slow, slinky version but based on James Clem‘s more traditional take on it.

The chords can take a whole lot of changing around. In The Baron’s version he replaces the B chord with an E7 and adds an extra G7 in at the end of the first sequence. Or you can miss that chord out completely and go straight from C to A7 (probably the easiest option for beginners).

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18 Comments

  1. LawnGnome April 19th, 2009 4:19 pm

    Great tune. I love Clem’s playing!

  2. Mark April 19th, 2009 5:07 pm

    Nice work and nice Uke!

  3. Woodshed April 19th, 2009 6:58 pm

    LawnGnome: Me too. He’s a cracking guitarist too.

    Mark: It’s a custom made National koa I believe.

  4. cardboardfrog April 20th, 2009 10:21 am

    yay, i’m not allowed to sing this at uni after coming home drunk and sitting in the kitchen in my boxers singing it over and over for about an hour….
    perhaps it was fair, but still!
    cheers woodshed!

  5. Woodshed April 21st, 2009 11:53 am

    cbf: If you were wearing boxers, they should be grateful for small mercies.

  6. cardboardfrog April 22nd, 2009 5:45 pm

    hehe, or be regretful for missed opportunities.
    not everyday you get a semi-nude drunk ukulele player!

  7. pnut May 14th, 2009 8:11 pm

    Is there any strumming pattern to this?

  8. Ely Henry June 7th, 2009 9:06 pm

    Man…This is tricky to play…My hand is killing me but…I must plug through.

    I have to get this song down so I can be awesome like Clem.

  9. Woodshed June 8th, 2009 10:35 am

    Ely: Good luck with it!

  10. alex August 14th, 2009 10:05 pm

    that song on a ukulele would be sweet but unfortunately that guy needs to get a metronome no offense but its constructive criticism

  11. Kristen April 19th, 2011 2:47 pm

    Is he just a doing u-d-u-d strum pattern?

  12. Captain Nirvana August 7th, 2011 8:56 pm

    could someone get the chords to his little bluesy solo? Thanks.

  13. Flinn Sorrow November 7th, 2011 6:12 pm

    I did it! I’ve recorded my own version:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSvBW20pSWA

    Hope you like it!

  14. Woodshed November 8th, 2011 8:44 am

    Flinn: Excellent work!

  15. katie December 5th, 2011 4:07 am

    that man has my dream uke. i learned how to play this song a year or so ago through friends, i don’t know how i never noticed you had it posted.

  16. Woodshed December 5th, 2011 7:46 am

    katie: I wouldn’t mind that uke either.

  17. Chris August 5th, 2012 6:30 pm

    Yeah, what are the chords to the solos? They sound awesome.

  18. sven December 28th, 2015 11:37 pm

    Love this version and I would really really like to find a transcript of the intro. I’ve been listening and trying to figure it out for months, without any result :(

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