Chords for Scott Ainslie's SUGAR BABE gourd banjo

Tempo:
99.6 bpm
Chords used:

B

E

A

C#

C#m

Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
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Scott Ainslie's SUGAR BABE gourd banjo chords
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[B]
We [A] now know, after 200 years of thinking that the banjo was an African instrument, we find
drawings of it in accounts in the hands of black [E] captives first in the American South.
But [N] somehow it crosses the color line and becomes a white Appalachian instrument.
The banjo is laid down by self-respecting black musicians when it's [E] associated with
the black minstrel shows, entertainments that began in the 1820s and ran right up into the
1960s when they finally took the Amos and Andy show off the air in 1964.
That's the longest running genre of entertainment in our country's history.
But the association of those negative racial stereotypes with the instrument that was used
to accompany those shows was so complete that it's a little bit like when Maya Angelou finally
in her 70s admitted publicly that she actually liked to eat watermelon.
I mean, why wouldn't a PhD, you know, one of the greatest writers in the [Em] country, why
wouldn't she feel comfortable letting [G] people know that she ate watermelon?
[F] You know, we're still saddled with these images.
So [B] the banjo was laid down and guitars were picked up and we get the blues out of them
and they become a white instrument.
But about [N] 10 or 12 years ago, a Dutch musical researcher, someone who knew African music
intimately and American traditional music as well, ran across a man named Daniel Jatta
in Sierra Leone.
Daniel was raised in Ghana by the Jola people and he played an instrument called an akanting,
if you're literate, you [E] can go on YouTube and type Daniel Jatta into the search [B] for
this and you will see an African hand playing claw hammer banjo.
[C#] The akanting is a three string version of this instrument, two long strings to fret,
a short drone string, [F#] but the thing that cinches it for us is not the structure of the [Em] instrument,
but how it's played.
[B] Daniel is doing this, down with your fingernails,
[D] the thumb catches a string on the way down
and plays [A] a note on the way back up.
[B] This is how I learned from Sherwin Hammonds.
There ain't no room for my red rocking chairs, who'll rock the cradle when you're gone,
who'll rock the cradle when you're [F#m] gone, [B] who'll call me honey baby, who'll sing this song,
who'll call me sugar baby now, who'll call me honey baby now.
Someone [A] round to come along, stole my sugar [D] baby gone,
and I [C#m] got no [C#] honey baby [E] now, I got no honey baby [A] now,
who'll call me honey baby, [B] who'll sing this song,
who'll call me sugar baby now, who'll call [C#] me honey [C#m] baby now.
[B] [C#m]
Someone round to come along, with his mouth full of gold,
someone rounder, stole my green bag roll, and I got no honey baby now,
who'll call me honey baby, [E]
[B] who'll sing this song,
who'll call me sugar baby now, who'll call me honey baby now.
[N]
[C#]
Key:  
B
12341112
E
2311
A
1231
C#
12341114
C#m
13421114
B
12341112
E
2311
A
1231
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_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ We [A] now know, after 200 years of thinking that the banjo was an African instrument, we find
drawings of it in accounts in the hands of black [E] captives first in the American South.
But [N] somehow it crosses the color line and becomes a white Appalachian instrument. _
The banjo is laid down by self-respecting black musicians when it's [E] associated with
the black minstrel shows, entertainments that began in the 1820s and ran right up into the
1960s when they finally took the Amos and Andy show off the air in 1964.
_ That's the longest running genre of entertainment in our country's history.
But the association of those negative racial stereotypes with the instrument that was used
to accompany those shows was so complete that it's a little bit like when Maya Angelou finally
in her 70s admitted publicly that she actually liked to eat watermelon.
_ I mean, why wouldn't a PhD, you know, one of the greatest writers in the [Em] country, why
wouldn't she feel comfortable letting [G] people know that she ate watermelon? _
_ [F] You know, we're still saddled with these images.
So [B] the banjo was laid down and guitars were picked up and we get the blues out of them
and they become a white instrument.
But about [N] 10 or 12 years ago, a Dutch musical researcher, someone who knew African music
intimately and American traditional music as well, ran across a man named Daniel Jatta
in Sierra Leone.
Daniel was raised in Ghana by the Jola people and he played an instrument called an akanting, _
_ if you're literate, you [E] can go on YouTube and type Daniel Jatta _ into the search [B] for
this and you will see an African hand playing claw hammer banjo.
_ _ _ _ [C#] The akanting is a three string version of this instrument, two long strings to fret,
a short drone string, [F#] but the thing that cinches it for us is not the structure of the [Em] instrument,
but how it's played.
[B] Daniel is doing this, down with your fingernails, _ _
_ _ _ [D] the thumb catches a string on the way down
and plays [A] a note on the way back up.
_ _ [B] This _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
is how I learned from Sherwin Hammonds. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ There ain't no room for my red rocking chairs, who'll rock the cradle when you're gone,
who'll rock the cradle when you're [F#m] gone, [B] who'll call me honey baby, who'll sing this song,
who'll call me sugar baby now, who'll call me honey baby now.
_ Someone _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] round to come along, stole my sugar [D] baby gone,
and I [C#m] got no [C#] honey baby [E] now, I got no honey baby [A] now,
who'll call me honey baby, [B] who'll sing this song,
who'll call me sugar baby now, who'll call [C#] me honey [C#m] baby now. _ _
[B] _ _ _ _ _ _ [C#m] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Someone round to come along, with his mouth full of gold,
someone rounder, stole my green bag roll, and I got no honey baby now, _
who'll call me honey baby, _ _ [E] _ _ _
[B] who'll sing this song,
who'll call me sugar baby now, who'll call me honey baby now. _
_ _ [N] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [C#] _ _ _ _ _ _

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