TNX for getting the info DP Now I can play it right!

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BTD - Paul is not a member, at least to my knowledge. Glad to see that he did read the thread and replied through dp.

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bigtikidude
Hope he joins.

If he does, I will change his forum rank to "Founding Father".

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

Okay - this Forum is officially OFF THE HOOK! I never imagined when I posted that question that I'd get a response from Paul Johnson who wrote and played the original version (BTW Paul - I certainly hope you got paid for the Shameless rip off of your song by Golden Earring in the 1980's -aka Twilight Zone or Bullet Hits the Bone or whatever they called it...)

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I feel I am in quite the choice company here and am honored to be part of this forum.

Best,

JC
aka LaPhillyboy

JeffLeites
I don't know what that '4'(b) means. I slide into the D (3'rd fret on the B string) from the C below it.

it's an upbend that goes back down. so it sounds more or less d#-d ... give it a try!

bridge I play in the 5th position, starting at g fifth fret. but it's a bit too complciated to tab right now, not enough time

WR

Rules to live by #314:
"When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is."

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Paul has always been very cool in emails and tolerates my fan-boy questions. Thanks for asking him that, DP. That should go in the FAQ...

Once I emailed Dick Dale and Paul Johnson and asked them about flatwounds vs roundwounds back in the first wave, and I got answers from them both on the same day....10 minutes apart! I was one happy guy that day.

As Jasper on the Simpsons said: "Moonpies... what a time to be alive..."

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
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"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

Last edited: Dec 25, 2007 16:29:18

Brian
Paul has always been very cool in emails and tolerates my fan-boy questions. Thanks for asking him that, DP. That should go in the FAQ...

Once I emailed Dick Dale and Paul Johnson and asked them about flatwounds vs roundwounds back in the first wave, and I got answers from them both on the same day....10 minutes apart! I was one happy guy that day.

As Jasper on the Simpons said: "Moonpies... what a time to be alive..."

so this is off subject, but what was their replies?

The Tremblors on Facebook!

The Tremblors on MySpace!

By a round about way I have added 'Mr Moto' to my song list, I'd like to thank the person who started this thread and especially Paul Johnson for giving up the info about the opening chords.

This led me to a Youtube version of Paul & Gill playing 'Mr Moto' acoustically which is a terrific version and clearly shows the finger movements and a great full sound for the tune, I also then went onto another version which was a ten minute jam session at Huntington Beach Pier with about 7 or 8 people joining in with Paul & Gill.

Thanks!

this thread shows just how awesome sg101 can be!

i still remember how stoked i was last year when mr. johnson emailed and i could finally play those elusive mr. moto chords...how cool!

Johnny, I believe the guy who wrote the song knows what he was saying, here's his reply brought forward for you.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 3:33 am Post subject: Reply with quote
Paul Johnson's reply below:

"I got a kick out of reading your discussion! But don’t feel bad; fact is, nobody ever seems to get those opening chords right – even the Ventures and the Lively Ones versions deviate from the way we did it... A couple of you guys came close, but I didn’t see the “exact” right way among your attempts.

Here’s how I did it on the Belairs record, and I still do it the exact same way to this day. My notation here is a variation on Jeff’s format; numbers refer to which fret is fingered; “x” means don’t play this string...

string.......1st chord.........2nd chord........3rd chord

e-----------open-------------open------------open
b-------------3-----------------3----------------2
g-------------3-----------------2----------------2
d-------------3-----------------2----------------2
a-----------open-------------open------------open
e-------------x-----------------x----------------x

Some of your examples would have been closer except they left the A string out of the equation and only used the top 4 strings. Listen to the original Belairs version and you will hear that string come in and subtly add its character to the first chord; it’s not as evident in the other chords, as it is not restrummed; but it IS still vibrating from the initial strums!

I “discovered” this “progression” by accident when I was first learning to play:

I was going for a basic “A” major chord, three finger style, but I accidentally missed the target (fret #2) by one fret; this resulted in combining what amounts to a Bb triad (I had fingered F/Bb/D on the 3rd fret) with the open A & E strings. (Not sure just what to call this chord...)

Then I tried to correct this by sliding the three fingers down to the 2nd fret where they belonged; but as often happens with untrained fingers, I only succeeded with two out of three fingers. The one on the b string was still hung up on the 3rd fret. This resulted in an “almost” A chord (actually, it’s an A with a suspended 4th).

Then I tried one more time and finally got it right. The last chord is a simple A major.

I decided in the process that this “progression” sounded cool, so I kept diddling with it until it got enlisted as intro to Mr. Moto!

There you have it. Now you can go on to discussing something else...

BTW – You are all invited to come to my site and view the free videostream there of the Duo-tones playing a bunch of tunes including Mr. Moto. My fingers are visible doing this progression during the ending, though not from the best angle to see the exact fretting. However, there are a lot of good close up shots of our hands on many of the tunes throughout the video.

Go to pjmoto(dot)com, click on the “PR DEPT” link, then go to the “booking info/PR kit” page, where you’ll find the videostream partway down the right side of the page. Feel free to provide a link to this stream on the chat site if you like..."

Thanx!
- pj