Guitarist's Forum

[lucienne]

Isn't this in one of the tab books... or is my memory wrong ? I've never tried playing it 'm afraid  

Yes, It's in "The Guitar and Somgs of Ralph McTell"
Misty River Music Ltd 1984. No time to type them in now but apart from a few Ddim's and D7's its nearly all C f G's.

[Henrik]

Ok, so I have for the first time heard the finished version of Reverend Thunder / Blind Faith -
and even in a wonderful live version!

Wow, what a wonderful song this had turned out to become.

Here is my preliminary shot at the lyrics. Please feel free to make corrections or add your suggestions
about the missing words, if you have been lucky enough to hear this amazing new song by Ralph.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reverend Thunder / Blind Faith by Ralph Mctell

       
Down on the Honey(?), 37'th street
Things was looking up
Somebody put a 10 dollar bill
into his old aluminum cup  
 
    Fingers squeeze the guitar strings            
    of the Gibson J two hundred  
    And the lightning flash, the rain come down        
    and the heavens roar with thunder
   
    Oh, God moves    
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his wonders to perform
    In most peculiar ways

Standing on the corner,
and the rain was pouring down
You had to wear your pork pie (?) hat
before you put on on your ? crown(s) (?)

    And we(?) ?  River Jordan
    Come down and luke(?) your street
    And the reverend roared his testament
    And his Gibson sang so sweet

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his wonders to perform
    In most peculiar ways

Now he did not see the stealin' hand,
that slipped into the cup
and eased that 10 dollar bill from the coins
Cause blind man's eyes were gone

    To heaven and the hand of God
    On Earth thy will be done
    And the Lord helps them, who help themselves
    So the Reverend carried on

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his wonders to perform
    In most peculiar ways
 
    Oh, I ain't afraid to use that thing
    Cause the Lord will guide my hand
    And Death don't take no vacation  
    and he will fill his land

    And he'd steal my money, take my guitar
    Come back to Jesus, babe
    I cannot miss, what I never had
    sang the preacher in the rain

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar (ways)


Well, that night as he sat down in his tent
with his bible and his gun
And he  ?  got ?
When the 10 dollar deal was done

    Fingers chilled the guitar strings
    of the Gibson J two hundred
    And he never saw the lightning flash
    but he heard the heavens thunder

    Oh, God moves
    and I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar (ways)

 [Instrumental]

    Oh, God (moves)
    I will (shout and sing in his praise)
    God (moves)
    his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar (ways)
 

------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chords (Think they are about 90 % correct - ?   ) - Suggestions and corrections are welcome  


C       F       C            C   F  C        
Down on the Honey(?), 37'th street
C        F    G        C
Things was looking up
C      F     C           F      C
Somebody put a 10 dollar bill
C    F    (C)      G     C
into his old aluminum cup
   
    F         F               C       (Am)
    Fingers squeeze the guitar strings
    F        C       G C    G          
    of the Gibson J two hundred
               Am        Am          G             C
    And the lightning flash, the rain come down
                F          G               C
    and the heavens roar with thunder

    G    C  
    Oh, God moves
      F   C             F             C
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    G    Am
    God moves
         G              C
    his wonders to perform
        F       G         C  
    In most peculiar ways

[JJ (Joanna)]

Well I can tell you the first line is...

Down on the 100 and 37th street.... (137 -Isn't this similar to your number system? lol)


Further down the song I can hear....

Well, that night as he sat down in his tent
with his bible and his gun
And he  ?  got his relief
When the 10 dollar deal was done

Redemptions River Jordan (v4)


Ok bit busy 'right now' will work on the rest later but I am sure someone else will fill in the remaining gaps for you!  

[Henrik]

Well I can tell you the first line is...

Down on the 100 and 37th street.... (137 -Isn't this similar to your number system? lol)


Further down the song I can hear....

Well, that night as he sat down in his tent
with his bible and his gun
And he  ?  got his relief
When the 10 dollar deal was done

 
Ok bit busy 'right now' will work on the rest later but I am sure someone else will fill in the remaining gaps for you!  

Redemptions River Jordan (v4)

Ah, yes - very good, Joanna - of course (137)  - didn't really make sense to me LOL
Thought about "redemption", but wasn't sure.

Tak, mlv  

[Henrik]

Ok, so thanks to Lady Joanna de Essex, it is now:

Reverend Thunder / Blind Faith by Ralph Mctell

       
Down on the hundred and 37'th street
Things was looking up
Somebody put a 10 dollar bill
into his old aluminum cup  
 
    Fingers squeeze the guitar strings            
    of the Gibson J two hundred  
    And the lightning flash, the rain come down        
    and the heavens roar with thunder
   
    Oh, God moves    
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his wonders to perform
    In most peculiar ways

Standing on the corner,
and the rain was pouring down
You had to wear your pork pie (?) hat
before you put on on your ? crown(s) (?)

    And redemptions River Jordan             [ hmm, does this make any sense ? ]
    Come down and luke(?) your street     [ Or is it "stream ? ]
    And the reverend roared his testament
    And his Gibson sang so sweet

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his wonders to perform
    In most peculiar ways

Now he did not see the stealin' hand,
that slipped into the cup
and eased that 10 dollar bill from the coins
Cause blind man's eyes were gone

    To heaven and the hand of God
    On Earth thy will be done
    And the Lord helps them, who help themselves
    So the Reverend carried on

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his wonders to perform
    In most peculiar ways
 
    Oh, I ain't afraid to use that thing
    Cause the Lord will guide my hand
    And Death don't take no vacation  
    and he will fill his land

    And he'd steal my money, take my guitar
    Come back to Jesus, babe
    I cannot miss, what I never had
    sang the preacher in the rain

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar (ways)


Well, that night as he sat down in his tent (?)   [ probably not "tent", but can't hear what he sings then ]
with his bible and his gun
And a Harlem theif(?) got his relief                   [ Think I can hear this now. Did he shoot him or what ?   ]
When the 10 dollar deal was done

    Fingers chilled the guitar strings
    of the Gibson J two hundred
    And he never saw the lightning flash
    but he heard the heavens thunder

    Oh, God moves
    and I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves
    his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar (ways)

 [Instrumental]

    Oh, God (moves)
    I will (shout and sing in his praise)
    God (moves)
    his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar (ways)
 

[Henrik]

And with a bit of help from Wales - Thanks Carl & Naomi   - , the worst and
most embarrassing mishearings and misunderstandings have now been removed -
think this is just about correct, but suggestions are still welcome.


Reverend Thunder / Blind Faith by Ralph McTell
      
Down on the hundred and 37'th street
Things was looking up
Somebody put a ten dollar bill
into his old aluminum cup  
 
    Fingers squeeze(d) the guitar strings  [makes more sense in the past tense, but sounds like present tense mostly  ]  
    of the Gibson J two hundred  
    And the lightning flash(ed), the rain come /came down        
    and the heavens roar(ed) with thunder
    
    Oh, God moves    
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves - his wonders to perform
    In most peculiar ways

Standing on the corner,
and the rain was pouring down
You had to wear your pork pie hat
before you put on on your starry crown

    And redemptions, River Jordan                
    calmed (?) down that New York street
    and the reverend roared his testament
    and his Gibson sang so sweet

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves - his wonders to perform
    in most peculiar ways

Now he did not see the stealin' hand,
that slipped into the cup
and eased that ten dollar bill from the coins
cause the blind man's eyes were gone

    To heaven and the hand of God
    On Earth thy will be done
    And the Lord helps them, who help themselves,
    so the Reverend carried on

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves - his wonders to perform
    in most peculiar ways
 
    Oh, I ain't afraid to use that thing
    Cause the Lord will guide my hand
    And Death don't take no vacation  
    and he will fill his land

    And he'd steal my money, take my guitar
    Come back to Jesus, babe
    I cannot miss, what I never had,
    sang the preacher in the rain

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves - his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar (ways)

Well, that night as he sat counting his tips
with his bible and his gun
And a Harlem thief got his relief,              
when the ten dollar deal was done

    Fingers chilled the guitar strings
    of the Gibson J two hundred
    And he never saw the lightning flash,
    but he heard the heavens thunder

    Oh, God moves
    and I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves - his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar (ways)

 [Instrumental]

    Oh, God (moves)
    I will (shout and sing in his praise)
    God (moves) - his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar ways
 

[Henrik]

Interesting info about the life of Reverend Gary Davis:

http://www.answers.com/topic/gary-davis

On the streets Davis always carried a weapon. According to legend he once repeatedly stabbed
an acquaintance with a large pocket knife because the man, as a joke, had snatched away a dollar bill
that a listener had given him.

Guess this must be the "same" story as the one Ralph is referring to in his song -
Priests were quite a bit more exciting back in those days, it would seem

[John Beresford]

Some alternative lyrics from 'Time's Poems':

Down on the hundred and 37'th street
Things was looking up
Somebody put a ten dollar bill
into his old aluminum cup  
 
    Fingers gripped the guitar strings
    of the Gibson J two hundred  
    And the lightning flash(ed), the rain fell down        
    and the heavens roar(ed) with thunder
   
    Oh, God moves    
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves - his wonders to perform
    In most mysterious ways

Singing on the corner,
and the rain was pouring down
You have to wear your pork pie hat
before you put on on your starry crown

    And redemption's River Jordan                
    Flowed down that New York street
    and the blind man roared his testament
    and Miss Gibson sang so sweet

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves - his wonders to perform
    in most peculiar ways

Now he could not see the stealin' hand,
that dipped into the cup
and eased that ten dollar bill from the coins
cause the blind men's eyes look up
    To heaven and the hand of God
    On Earth thy will be done
    And the Lord helps them, who help themselves,
    so the Reverend carried a gun

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves - his wonders to perform
    in most peculiar ways
 
    Oh, I ain't afraid to use that thing
    Cause the Lord will guide my hand
    And Death don't take no vacation  
    Anywhere in this land

    And they steal/take my money, take/steal my guitar
    But compared to Jesus' pain
    I cannot miss, what I never had,
    sang the preacher in the rain

    Oh, God moves
    I will shout and sing in his praise
    God moves - his (wonders to perform)
    his most peculiar (ways)

Well, that night as he sat counting his tips
with his bible and his gun
And a Harlem thief got his relief,              
when the ten dollar deal was done

    The Reverend tuned the guitar strings
    of the Gibson J two hundred
    And he never saw the lightning flash,
    but he heard the heavens thunder

[Henrik]

Some alternative lyrics from 'Time's Poems':

Yes, thank you, John - I didn't get around to making those corrections -
most importantly about "redemption's", "Miss Gibson" & that gun of course.
( Someone sent me a scan of RT from TP, you see - didn't know it was in there ).

It does make a lot more sense now  
But some of the changes are real however - I am not that deaf ... yet  

Guess I shall have to let you have a peek at my sources, John ...
maybe you can spot some more mistakes?

[Henrik]

Some alternative lyrics from 'Time's Poems':

Yes, thank you, John - I didn't get around to making those corrections -
most importantly about "redemption's", "Miss Gibson" & that gun of course.
Someone sent me a scan of RT from TP, you see - didn't know it was in there.

It does make a lot more sense now  
But some of the changes are real however - I am not that deaf ... yet  

Guess I shall have to let you have a peek at my sources, John ...
maybe you can spot some more mistakes?

I can also hear "(cause) Blind men's eyes look up" now,
which of course fits much better with the next line
"to heaven and the hand of God".

And "Anywhere is this land" as well.

It really aids your hearing a lot, when you see the lyrics in print simultaneously, doesn't it?
Still interesting to see how many modifications Ralph has made from the TP version.

Thanks for the help, John.  ( and go check your mail   )

[Pete in Oxney]

In reply to the very first post of this thread (it's taken me some time to read all 38 pages!) I'd have to pick Let Me Down Easy. It would have been Summer Lightning for certain but I never did manage to get my fingers around it. Over the years I've played many of Ralph's songs but I can only remember how to play a few of them now - a disastrous house fire a few years ago put paid to my entire collection of printed music including all of Ralph's songbooks  . I have kept an eye on a copy of the first song book on ebay over the last few days but I let it pass when it shot up to £30.99 with half an hour to go.

Anyway at one time or other I've played all of the following:

Nanna’s Song
The Mermaid and the Seagull
Streets of London
Mrs Adlam’s Angels
Wino and the Mouse
Daddy’s Here
Rizraklaru (Anag.)
Terminus
Michael in the Garden (v. dodgy!)
Clown
Girl on a Bicycle
Factory Girl
Silver Birch and Weeping Willow
Genesis 1 v20
First and Last Man
In Some Way I Loved You
The Ferryman (F# run? what F# run? Fudge it mate.)
Zimmerman Blues
First Song
Maginot Waltz
Sweet Mystery
Let Me Down Easy
Grande Affair
Weather the Storm
From Clare to Here
Slow Burning Companion

Please note there are no ragtime pieces. I love them, but the ability to play rags is another thing that has always eluded me. As for Nettle Wine ...  

[Henrik]

In reply to the very first post of this thread (it's taken me some time to read all 38 pages!) I'd have to pick Let Me Down Easy. It would have been Summer Lightning for certain but I never did manage to get my fingers around it. Over the years I've played many of Ralph's songs but I can only remember how to play a few of them now - a disastrous house fire a few years ago put paid to my entire collection of printed music including all of Ralph's songbooks.  I have kept an eye on a copy of the first song book on ebay over the last few days but I let it pass when it shot up to £30.99 with half an hour to go.

Anyway at one time or other I've played all of the following:

Nanna’s Song
The Mermaid and the Seagull
Streets of London
Mrs Adlam’s Angels
Wino and the Mouse
Daddy’s Here
Rizraklaru (Anag.)
Terminus
Michael in the Garden (v. dodgy!)
Clown
Girl on a Bicycle
Factory Girl
Silver Birch and Weeping Willow
Genesis 1 v20
First and Last Man
In Some Way I Loved You
The Ferryman (F# run? what F# run? Fudge it mate.)
Zimmerman Blues
First Song
Maginot Waltz
Sweet Mystery
Let Me Down Easy
Grande Affair
Weather the Storm
From Clare to Here
Slow Burning Companion

Please note there are no ragtime pieces. I love them, but the ability to play rags is another thing that has always eluded me. As for Nettle Wine ...  

A great and impressive selection of Ralph songs you have there, Pete

Sorry to hear about your sad losses. In case you don't know, there is a "new" tab-book
with all his best songs - 41 in all, I believe - available at http://www.ralphmctell.co.uk/
It's called "Songs for Six Strings" ( NB. NOT to be confused with the great album called
"Songs for Six Strings II", which includes a breathtaking and haunting version of "Red & Gold" ).

Well, just keep working on Nettle Wine, and you will get there. It used to elude me for a long
time as well, simply because my fingers weren't really used to these "semichords". Also, I think
you will find it easier, if you don't move the (relevant) fingers from the strings, as you go from
5'th fret to 2'nd and up to 10'th (?) - just use the strings as your guides, so to speak - and even
to obtain some nice slide effects, if you feel like it

If you have Blind Blakes rag as a tab, that is a good place to start with the ragtime stuff.
I did, because I had worked out a bit of it by myself, and the chords are not too difficult -
except for the F-variants of course. They are easier if you don't use are fully barred F!
Use your thumb for the first string instead and leave the A-sting open ( Since the note A is also
part of the F-major chord! ) These little tricks are usually not mentioned in the tabs, but they
do make life a whole lot easier ) - ie. 1(T!), 0, 3, 2, 1, 1  - that is a "mini bar" on
5'th and 6'th string (thinnest) with your index finger, which leaves your pinky free for
use on the 5'th string, 3'rd fret - including bending the string at this position to get that cool
ragtime/ blues feeling!  (and for a typical progression into Fm (also semi!) and G ).

Ralph often uses "this" chord ( 1 0 3 2 1/3 1/0  ) - for example in "From Clare to Here"
and even in "Streets of London" (!) - and lately in "Reverend Thunder" / Blind Faith".
It's also very easy and quick to go back and forth between this version of the F-chord(s)
and the accompanying C-chord, when you are fingering it like this.

Another option for it is " 1(Index!), 0, 3, 2, 3 (p), 0 " (good with runs). A lot of his technique
is based on only fingering as much of a chord as you need in the situation - in spite of what the
official chords of your tab might say!!! -, and fingered in a clever way that makes it easier and
quicker to move to the next chord, thereby buying him precious time and leaving free fingers to
add a base run and the odd lick in between, if you see what I mean. ( ie. he "cheats" a lot! ).
So you shouldn't read those chords schemes in the tabs too litterally - at least I used to do that

In a D chord it's often a great advantage to finger it semi barred like this:
"0 0 0 1 1 1" ( ie. semi barre with index finger) - and then use your middle finger for the
fifth string, second fret to give the "0 0 0 1 2 1" - instead of the traditional version, where
you use three fingers.

I hope this helps - enjoy & keep picking
Henrik

PS. If you try picking on these two chords ( "F" & C) - going back and forth, adding or
lifting a finger here and there - , the wonderful tune "Time After Time" by Cindy Lauper
will soon start to emerge, all by itself  ( start at "1 0 3 2 3 0" = Fmaj6, I think )

PPS. "Red & Gold" is a great, slow tune for practicing your playing in dropped-D!
( which will make it a lot easier to pick up the amazing "Hands of Joseph" !!! )

[Pete in Oxney]

Hello Henrik, thanks for the reply. I'm well used to most of the left hand tricks, thumb over the top for F, short barre etc and I play dropped D a lot, it's my favourite tuning in fact. Rhythm in the right hand is the problem when it comes to playing rags and I'd love to play Blind Blake's Rag, it's an all time favourite.

I've got the tab book on my Christmas list and I'll be stupidly pleased if someone buys it for me, if not it will be an early New Year purchase.

So why do I have right hand picking problems? Probably because I'm left handed but play standard right hand guitar. When I started playing as a youngster off the shelf left handed guitars were unheard of and custom build wasn't an option financially. I'd had a couple of years of piano lessons so my hands could already think for themselves and act independently, chording wasn't a problem and basic picks like Travis (clawhammer) came with a bit of practice.

I seem to hit a wall when it gets to syncopation and I've often wondered if I would have been a better guitarist picking with my left hand which is still pretty dominant. The fact that I play other instruments doesn't help much either because I've hardly touched the guitar in the last couple of years. Hopefully a new tab book will rekindle my interest and spur me on.

I use the Amaj6 (or A6 as I would call it) in Streets and Clare to Here (I seem to remember it being the opening chord of the intro to First and Last Man too, which is where I think I first came across it) so I'll give Time After Time a go before long. I've got a few extra days off over Christmas so I'll dust off the Tama and get my fingers good and sore!

Pete.  

[Al]

So why do I have right hand picking problems? Probably because I'm left handed but play standard right hand guitar. When I started playing as a youngster off the shelf left handed guitars were unheard of and custom build wasn't an option financially. I'd had a couple of years of piano lessons so my hands could already think for themselves and act independently, chording wasn't a problem and basic picks like Travis (clawhammer) came with a bit of practice.

Well sorry mate, lame excuse ! Equal dexterity is required with both hands, I'm a 'leftie' playing right-handed and never had a problem.
It makes no difference mate, get over it !

[jude]

So why do I have right hand picking problems? Probably because I'm left handed but play standard right hand guitar. When I started playing as a youngster off the shelf left handed guitars were unheard of and custom build wasn't an option financially. I'd had a couple of years of piano lessons so my hands could already think for themselves and act independently, chording wasn't a problem and basic picks like Travis (clawhammer) came with a bit of practice.

Well sorry mate, lame excuse ! Equal dexterity is required with both hands, I'm a 'leftie' playing right-handed and never had a problem.
It makes no difference mate, get over it !

That sounds a trifle fierce aimed at someone new to this forum  

[Al]

not meant to be, why does plain-speaking always have to be interpreted as offensive - he might well benefit from the insight, and achieve his dreams. Being left to labour under such a delusion might hold him back for years !

[Pete in Oxney]

No time to post a full reply tonight but no offence was taken here, I was away formulating a post for tomorrow night while cooking the tea when Jude posted and I've just popped back in for a quick look around before getting involved in other things for the rest of the evening. All is well.  

[jude]

not meant to be, why does plain-speaking always have to be interpreted as offensive - he might well benefit from the insight, and achieve his dreams. Being left to labour under such a delusion might hold him back for years !

Ok. I still think you might have been slightly kinder..

but I will withdraw...

[Nuthouse]

Well phrases like 'lame excuse' and 'get over it' go a bit beyond plain speaking.

Certainly encouraging perserverance and practice is not a bad thing but there's a way of saying it without sounding supercilious or rude.

[Al]

Well phrases like 'lame excuse' and 'get over it' go a bit beyond plain speaking.

Certainly encouraging perserverance and practice is not a bad thing but there's a way of saying it without sounding supercilious or rude.

Pete, no offence mate.

I think it self-defeating to dwell on issues of left-handedness and its best discouraged etc which isn't meant to sound remotely patronising.

The secret to the syncopation is simply getting the thumb to boom-chick relentlessly like a robot, independantly of your other fingers ( however many you use, personally I use three like Ralphy but only because it seemed to make sense to me to reserve a finger for each of the top three strings ) which basically then play notes either on the beat or between the beats, learning a few Mississippi John Hurt tunes usualy does it for people, in my experience of helping folk.