Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

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Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby keener » Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:08 pm

I know this one has been posted before, but it's one that never grows old (at least not to me). One of my favorite tunes of all time, played as no one else could play it:



Earlier this year, I tried my hand at the intro of it, and medley'd it with Amazing Grace:


I sure ain't Jerry, but, I do love to try to play Papa's Knee every once in a while. I recommend that everyone give it a try, because it's a hard song to keep the timing on ... practicing tunes like that is good for your overall picking.
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Re: Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby Roger Pratt » Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:02 am

Two of my favorite videos Bruce....Thanks!
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Re: Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby Billy Anderson » Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:51 am

O.K., Mr. K. What can I say but way to play! KOPAP. Billy
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Re: Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby stambi » Thu Oct 14, 2010 11:14 am

Nice playing. For last few months I'm tryin to learn this song (Buster's version). It is little difficult for beginner like me but I can make it. I need some help with lyrics (the first verse of song). What Jerry sings after: Rock-a-bye man.....??.....?? Can somebody help me.?
Boris Stambuk
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Re: Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby keener » Thu Oct 14, 2010 3:17 pm

Roger and Billy: thank you very much, fellas.

Boris, I searched for the lyrics and here's what I found (from Brenda Lee's rendering):

(Richard Supa)

To-a lu a lu a lu Sweet harmony
Only a child on my Papa's knee.

Rock-a-bye man, rock-a-bye song
Papa would sing, I'd hum along
I'd climb on his lap and he'd sing to me
Only a child on my Papa's knee.

Now Papa would sing, a little off key
But filled me with feelings of sweet harmony
How I'd like to hear that old tune again
And rock to and fro in lullaby land.

To-a lu a lu a lu Papa would moan
Oh, takes me back to my childhood home
To-a lu a lu a lu Sweet harmony
Only a child on my Papa's knee.

Now sometimes alone I remises
Surrender my thoughts about love ones I miss
A child so young I love to think of this
And I can recall how Papa rocked me.

To-a lu a lu a lu Papa would moan
Oh, takes me back to my childhood home
To-a lu a lu a lu Sweet harmony
Only a child on my Papa's knee...

I know that Buster did a fine job on the tune, but why not just learn it from Jerry's youtube, and learn from "the man himself." I'm not big on trying to learn tunes from videos, except just the highlights, but with this video of Jerry's, I watched it over and over and over until I could learn what he was doing. Not that I was able to copy it exactly, but it is doable, because you can see Jerry's fingering pretty well in the video. Just my thoughts, of course.

Take care guys.
Bruce
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Re: Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby stambi » Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:14 am

You are right. My next step will be, to work on jerry's video. Buster did only instrumental part and it is little different from jerry. Thank you for lyrics, I also found that brenda lee version. It isn't like jerry's lyrics. I only don't understand jerry's words in first line after: Rock a bye man .....what now?? Thanks
Boris Stambuk
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Re: Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby keener » Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:11 am

Hi Boris,
I've always thought he was saying "Was in the chair," but I've been grossly wrong on songs before.

All my best
Bruce
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Re: Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby Richard Hudson » Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:28 am

Good job, Bruce. Jerry Reed's songs always had a lot of soul and substance to them. Sometimes his chord progressions were fairly predictable and then at other times he would catch you off guard. I always loved his music. Your rendition is a good one. Hearing Amazing Grace always does me good.

Thanks,
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Re: Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby keener » Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:40 am

Thank you very much, Richard.

Jerry's chords and fingering were full of surprises, for sure, but one thing that always got me about his music was the perfectness of the rhythm. You could pat your foot on every song, no matter how complicated, with switching between forward and reverse rolls, pulls offs, hammers, etc, and the timing was absolutely impeccable. My attempt to play his version of Papa's Knee falls short on that (and on other fronts, too, of course). I never met Jerry, but had I met him and asked him what his number one rule was, I suspect he would have said: put rhythm (and soul) first, and everything follows.

Thank you again, sir. I always love your picking and singing.
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Re: Papa's Knee by Jerry (and then me)

Postby stambi » Sat Oct 16, 2010 12:33 pm

Bruce,thank You.
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