Cocaine by Ramblin Jack Elliott
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COCAINE - Ramblin’ Jack Elliot
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Album: Jack takes the floor (1958)
Tabbed by: Robert Saunders
Email: rhsaunders [at] gmail dot com
Tuning: Standard with capo on 2nd fret
Key: D (C relative to capo)
Tempo: Speeds up from about 110bpm at beginning to about 140bpm at the end.
Chords (relative to capo):
C/G: 3X2013
Fmaj7: 1X3210
E7: 022130
Intro (verse part):
C/G C/G Fmaj7 Fmaj7
e|3-----3-------3-|------0---------|----------------|----------------|
B|--1-------1-----|--1-------3-----|----1—3p1-----1-|----1—3p1-----1-|
G|----------------|----------------|----------0-h2--|----------0h2---|
D|----2-------2---|----2-------2---|----3-------3---|----3-------3---|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|3-------3-------|3-------3-------|1-------1-------|1-------1-------|
(t)
C/G C/G C/G C/G
e|----0---3-------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|----------------|----------------|1---------------|1---------------|
G|--------------0-|--0---0---0-----|0-----0---0-----|------0---0-----|
D|----2-------2---|----2-------2---|2---2-------2---|2---2-------2---|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|3-------3-------|3-------3-------|3-------3-------|3-------3-------|
(a)
Intro (chorus part):
E7 E7 Fmaj7 Fmaj7
e|0---------------|0---0-----------|----------------|----------------|
B|------3-0-------|-----b3p0—-b3---|1----—3p1-------|1---1—3p1-----1-|
G|----------1-----|----------1-----|----------2-----|----------0h2---|
D|----2-------2---|----2-------2---|----3-------3---|----3-------3---|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|0-------0-------|0-------0-------|1-------1-------|1-------1-------|
The last 4 bars of intro are the same as bars 5-8 above using the C/G chord.
The rest of the song repeats the above pattern of chords (see "Lyrics & chords" below).
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h = hammer-on
p = pull-off
b = bend (some of the bends are very slight – more like wobbles)
(t)= thumb
(a)= arpeggiated chord
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Notes and variations:
On the recording Elliot says: “I heard this from Reverend Gary Davis, blind street singer. Preaches on the
street corner about 135th street in Harlem.” According to Stefan Grossman (a student of Davis) Davis learnt
it from Porter Irving in 1905.
After the intro the rest of the song uses the same chords and similar picking patterns, which tend to be
simpler when he’s singing. If you learn to play the intro you should be able to play the rest without too
much difficulty. I’ve tabbed some of the variations from the album recording below but it seems unnecessary
to tab every note of the recording as the spirit of this type of music is to add spontaneous variations,
playing it a bit differently every time.
Other similar versions of Cocaine Blues (as it is more commonly called) differentiate between the C/G and G
chords. The G chord 320003(or simply 3X000X) can be used instead of the C/G chord for the antepenultimate
(sixth) bar of both the verse and chorus in the above. This gives an 8 bar blues sequence of
C C F F C G C C for the verse.
The first four bars of instrumental after the first verse and chorus are a bit different to the intro:
C/G C/G Fmaj7 Fmaj7
|3-----3--------3|--3---0---------|----------------|----------------|
|--1-------1-----|------------3---|1----—3p1-------|1---1—3p1-------|
|----------------|----------------|----------2-----|----------2---2-|
|----2-------2---|----2-------2---|----3-------3---|----3-------3---|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|3-------3-------|3-------3-------|1-------1-------|1-------1-------|
Before going into the E7 chord to sing the chorus for the second time, Elliot adds an unusual hammer-on
(as used by Davis) on one of the alternating base notes (2nd fret of the D string) at the end of the
last bar of C/G:
C/G
e|----------------|
B|1---------------|
G|------0---0---0-|
D|----2-------02--|
A|----------------|
E|3-------3-------|
h
When he sings the chorus he plays something like the following, with emphasis on the simultaneously plucked
strings at the beginning and end of the bars:
E7 E7 Fmaj7 Fmaj7
e|0---------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|----------------|------------3---|1----—----1-----|------------3---|
G|------1---1-----|------1---------|------2---------|------2---------|
D|----2-------2---|----2-------2---|----3-------3---|----3-------3---|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|0-------0-------|0-------0-------|1-------1-------|1-------1-------|
Hey... ...quick This old...
Lyrics & chords:
Verse:
C/G C/G
Yonder come baby all dressed in blue.
Fmaj7 Fmaj7
Hey baby what you gonna do?
C/G C/G C/G C/G
Cocaine, all around my brain.
Chorus:
E7 E7
Hey baby won't you come here quick.
Fmaj7 Fmaj7
This old cocaine is making me sick.
C/G C/G C/G C/G
Cocaine, all around my brain
Second verse:
Yonder come m’ baby all dressed in white.
Hey baby gonna stay all night?
Cocaine, all around my brain.
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