John King – Larry O’Gaff (Tab)
June 28, 2009
John King – Larry O’Gaff (Tab)
I’ve spent hours and hours examining John King’s arrangements (particularly his Classical Ukulele book) and working out he decided to play things a certain way. I’ll always regret not emailing him and asking him a for an interview (although I’ve recently discovered that emailing your heroes can be a bit disappointing).
I had lengthy discussions with Ken Middleton about the opening run of this tune. I couldn’t believe that John King would play two consective notes on the same string. The only other time he does it in this piece is on the lower reaches of the C string where he doesn’t have a choice. But it is very difficult to get the phrase fluent any other way (and it’s still tricky the way it’s played).
And it’s not the only tricky passage. One part I had big trouble with is bar 28/29. So I play it like this in my version of the tune:
Buy John King’s The Classical Ukulele (And you really should – it’s the best ukulele tab book around)
Thanks for all the hard work! Gonna give my old fingers a workout now.
minipixel: Good luck with it.
I liked this song when I first heard it. I’m glad you did up the tab for it. Thanks
What amazes me is how that tiny uke he plays makes such a loud clear sound. I once got to hold it, it’s the tiniest uke you can imagine, it seemed like it would break if I closed my hand around it. But, DAMN, it’s a player in the hands of the master.
Tamster: Thanks.
mwalimu: Yeah, the thinner and more minimal the wood, the bigger the sound. I’m pretty sure I would break that uke after about one tune.
Such a sad loss… John was an amazing player, and when I’m not thrashing about doing the rock/pop stuff with the Re-entrants I always have his classical ukulele book to hand. Incredible tone and articulation.
Looks like I have some tab to work on, thanks Woodshed! (lovely playing, too)