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Click HERE for an easy print version of harding john wesley - the red rose and the briar guitar tab

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                        The Red Rose And The Briar
                         ==========================
                                                 by John Wesley Harding
                           written by David Lewis & John Wesley Harding
                                   from the album "Here Comes The Groom"
 INTRODUCTION
 ============
 In the tablature for the introduction,  the symbols "^" and "v" denote
 down-strums and up-strums.  The C-chords are played using the {310230}
 fingering by Wes, but the {010230} fingering isn't very different.  It
 sounds pretty good if you change the pattern slightly, too - either by
 doing only single downstrums (no upstrums) in most of the intro, or by
 playing with fingers, using the thumb to play the  bass  run  and  the
 index, middle and ring fingers to play the treble chords.   Wes  plays
 with a pick, and I've found my usual favourite  (a 0.60 mm John Dunlop
 nylon type) too stiff to comfortably do the double strums at the right
 speed.  My only thinner pick was a 0.38 mm Jim Dunlop nylon pick which
 makes the double strums easy but is  a  bit  too  pliable  to  let  me
 emphasise the bass runs, so I got a 0.46 mm JD which is the  best  for
 my acoustic guitar but the optimum depends on you and your guitar.
 
 
 CHD: G               C                 G               Em
          ^ v     ^ v     ^ v     ^ v       ^ v ^           ^ v ^
   |------3-------3-------3-------3--|------3---------------0----------|
   |------0-------0-------1-------1--|------0---------------0----------|
   |------0-------0-------0-------0--|------0---------------0----------|
   |---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   |----------0h2-----3-------2p0----|---------------------------------|
   |--3------------------------------|--3-----------2-p-0-----------2--|
      1   .   2   .   3   .   4   .     1   .   2   .   3   .   4   .
 
 
 CHD: G               C                 G      
          ^ v     ^ v     ^ v     ^ v       ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ 
   |------3-------3-------3-------3--|------3---3---3---3--------------|
   |------0-------0-------1-------1--|------0---0---0---0--------------|
   |------0-------0-------0-------0--|------0---0---0---0--------------|
   |---------------------------------|------0---0---0h2----------------|
   |----------0h2-----3-------2p0----|---------------------------------|
   |--3------------------------------|--3------------------------------|
      1   .   2   .   3   .   4   .     1   .   2   .   3   .   4   .
 
 
 CHORDS AND LYRICS       (Bass runs are shown in square brackets [C B A] and
 =================        instructions in curly backets {PLAY INTRODUCTION}.)
 
 
 {PLAY INTRODUCTION}
 
     G       C           G
 Midweek and we reached Scarlet town
       G       C    C/B   Am
 I was almost dying of  thirst
     G          C          G
 We parked the car in some old schoolyard
      G          C        D  [C B A]
 The windscreen caked in dirt
        D     D/C          D/C
 There was no water in the engine
 D/B       Am   Am/B     C  D
 Left no tread upon  the tyres
       G              C           G  G/F#  Em
 The electrics were broke 'cause you went mad
 Em/F#  G         C        G
 You   ripped out all the wires
 
 G       C       G
 
    G        C       G       ,
 Across the road, a small cafe
          G      C  C/B Am
 In the state of Disrepair
      G        C     G
 You went for papers and a shave
    G        C      D  [C B A]
 So I saved you a chair
     D     D/C         D/B      Em
 I knew it wasn't the journey's end
                 Am      Am/B   C  D
 And that your dream was  incomplete
     G       C        G     G/F#  Em
 But I just could not stand  anymore
        G     C      G
 I was dead upon my feet
        G     C      D  [C B A]
 I was dead upon my feet
 
 
          D       D/C         D/C      D/B
 There's nothing there in the market square
          Am          Am/B          C  D
 But the ghost of the Scarlet town-crier
 G      C     G  G/F#  Em
 I was dead upon  my  feet
             Am      C        D
 I sing the red rose and the briar
             Am Am/B C        D  (G in intro)
 I sing the red rose and the bri-ar
 
 
 {REPEAT INTRODUCTION TWICE}
 
 
      G        C       G
 The waitress told me her life story
               G       C  C/B Am
 She'd always meant to up and go
      G         C          G
 She wiped her cup on her red pinafore
        G          C       D  [C B A]
 As we waited for you to show
     D      D/C        D/C       D/B
 And I told her just a little of you
              Am      Am/B   C  D
 But left the picture  incomplete
      G              C       G       G/F#  Em
 You still weren't there to paint it  in  person
 Em/F#   G         C         G
 So I  skipped out on the street
     G         C         G
 I skipped out on the street
 
 
      G          C                    G
 The newsagent grinned, he said that you'd been in
               G          C         Am
 You bought a local paper and some shaves
          G          C                 G
 And the washroom attendant said that you'd freshened up
             G            C      D  [C B A]
 That you'd left but you hadn't payed
     D          D/C         D/C      D/B
 And I couldn't figure out where you were
            Am     Am/B          C D
 So I went back to look near the car
          G       C               G    G/F#  Em
 There's nothing there where it should have been
 Em/F#  G      C        G
 Just  oil on dirt and tar
       G  G/B  C        D [C B A]
 Just oil on  dirt and tar
 
 
          D       D/C         D/C      D/B
 There's nothing there in the market square
          Am          Am/B         C   D
 But the ghost of the Scarlet town-crier
              G        C              G    G/F#  Em
 And there's nothing there where it should have been
             Am      C         D
 I sing the red rose and the briar
             Am      C         D
 I sing the red rose and the briar
 
 Am    C    D   [E F#]  (G in intro)
 
 
 {REPEAT INTRODUCTION}
 
 
    G      C          G
 I saw it parked way down the street
       G     G/B C  C/B  Am
 In a garage off on the right
        G          C        G
 And a man said, "Get your hands off, son
          G           C               D  [C B A]
 I just traded that wreck for a motorbike"
            D      D/C     D/C    D/B
 There was nothing left of mine inside
             Am      Am/B   C D
 Not even the  broken radio-o-o
     G           C                 G  G/F# Em
 And I couldn't figure out where that left me
            G       C        G
 So I went back to look for Rose
 
 
      G ,  C           G
 The Cafe Rouge was a lunchtime rush
     G        C      C/B  Am
 Of regulars yelling for food
          G           C           G
 And the service in there left a lot to be desired
          G       G/B   C  C/B  D  [C B A]
 All the regulars were getting rude
    D     D/C          D/C       D/B
 I saw an apron thrown  over a chair
         Am        Am/B         C           D
 A note said, "Hey John, we're gone, we're gone"
     G        C              G    G/F#  Em
 And I just smiled 'cause I loved you  both
       G      C     G
 So I put the apron on
    G      C     D  [C B A]
 I put the apron on
 
 
        D       D/C         D/C      D/B
 Still nothing there in the market square
          Am          Am/B         C   D
 But the ghost of the Scarlet town-crier
      G       C      G G/F# Em
 Well I just put the apron  on
             Am      C         D
 I sing the red rose and the briar
             Am      C         D
 I sing the red rose and the briar
             Am      C         D
 I sing the red rose and the briar
             Am      C         D  [E F#]  (G in intro)
 I sing the red rose and the briar
 
 
 {REPEAT INTRODUCTION TWICE}
 
 
             G
 In Scarlet town where I was born
        C             G
 There was a fair maid dwellin'
          G     G/F#      Em       Em7
 Oh, the colour  of  her hair was brown
          Am
 And her name......
          C              Am
 And her name was......
          C              Am
 And her name was......                  
 
    C    D  [E F#]  (G in intro)
 
 {REPEAT INTRODUCTION}  G
 
                 =============== THE END ================
 
 NOTES
 =====
 0. According to Stephen M. Webb ,  "her name was..."
    Barbara Allan as in  the  song  "Barbara Allan"  which  takes  place  in
    `Scarlet Town where I  was  born,'  ends  up  with  a  rose  and  briar.
    I don't have this song, so I didn't know this.  I though it  might  have
    been Helen from  "I went to visit Helen by St. Helen's Park"  (which  is
    in Hastings, where Wes used to live) from the song "Pound, Pound, Pound"
    on the live & unaccompanied album "It Happened One Night".
 
 1. Many thanks to Patrick Barnett  for his
    generosity  and  help  in  compiling  this  posting  and  Chris  Inglesi 
     for pointing out the  fact  that  it's  "fair maid 
    dwellin'" rather than "family dwellin'" which I had at first.
 
 2. All the chords are pretty much the  basic  fingerings  but  Wes  uses  a
    modified Em [0 2 2 0 0 3] and Em7 is [0 2 0 0 0 0].  For  those  of  you
    unfamiliar with CRD notation, the chords with a slash such as C/B denote
    chords played with a different bass-note to usual.   The part before the
    slash is the chord and the note after it is the bass note.   So C/B is a
    basic C chord [0 3 2 0 1 0] but with the bass-note changed to B becoming
    [x 2 2 0 1 0].  In fact you needn't worry too much about the 2nd fretted
    D string.  What is important to note is that the bass-note is played  on
    the most convenient string, not always on the bass-E  string.   In  this
    song, the bass-note doesn't actually have to be the lowest note played -
    I've used this notation to denote  the  bass  notes  in  the  bass-strum
    style.
 
 3. Feel free to email me with any comments (see header for  email  address)
    or to request tabs for songs.  If you have a favourite  JWH  song  you'd
    like me to have a go at, let me know.   I now have the four full albums,
    "The Name Above The Title", "It Happened One Night",  "Why We Fight" and
    "Here Comes The Groom".  If I haven't got the songs,  I  could  only  do
    them if you send me an audio tape with them on.  If you could  work  out
    the lyrics, that would be a great help.  The songs  I've  tabbed/chorded
    so far are:
         From "The Name Above The Title":
                 I Can Tell (When You're Telling Lies)
                 Save A Little Room For Me
                 The People's Drug
                 The Person You Are
                 Long Dead Gone              } lyrics supplied by 
                 Backing Out                 } Alan Pulliam - thanks
         from "It Happened One Night":
                 Roy Orbison Knows (The Best Man's Song)
                                             - thanks to Will Vaughan & "Sen"
                 Kiss/Lovers' Society {coming shortly}
     and from "Here Comes The Groom"
                 The Red Rose And The Briar  } thanks to Patrick Barnett
     and coming soon, the version not from "Here Comes The Groom" of
                 When The Sun Comes Out      } thanks to Patrick again
 
    These are archived on the guitar tab archives,  ftp.nevada.edu  and  its
    mirror sites such as ftp.uwp.edu - you can find local  mirror  sites  by
    using a program such as "archie".   Cal Woods  &  Jim  Carson,  the  new
    maintainers of the Nevada archive have kindly placed in it a file to aid
    archie searches.  It is called "Nevada.Guitar.Archive".   You  can  find
    the guitar directory of any nearby mirror sites using:
 
    unix% archie -m5 -N Nevada.Guitar.Archive
 
    Host unix.hensa.ac.uk
 
        Location: /pub/uunet/doc/music/guitar
               FILE -r--r--r--         80  Jun 16 09:21  Nevada.Guitar.Archive
 
 
    Wes's tabs are archived under ???/guitar/h/john_wesley_harding
 
 4. The FTP archive at Trinity College Dublin  (ftp.maths.tcd.ie)  has  also
    uploaded a lot of Wes songs in the directory:
         /pub/music/guitar/h/john_wesley_harding
 
    In addition to the songs I've worked out, there is  a  copy  of  Crystal
    Blue Persuasion, originally by Tommy  James  and  the  Chandelles  (sp?)
    which appears on "The Name Above The Title".  There doesn't appear to be
    a mirror site to Trinity College Dublin.
 
 5. Enjoy!
 
 
 Regards,
 
 Ryan Kingsley Harding (no relation at all to Wes, aka. Wesley Harding Stace)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ryan Harding     Applied Optics Group, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 "Now no-one's sitting on the fence, whose garden will we end up sitting in?"
  - John Wesley Harding, "The Person You Are" from "The Name Above The Title"
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------