Discussion:
"Love Is Just A Four Letter Word" chords?
(too old to reply)
W***@aol.com
2005-12-14 08:01:26 UTC
Permalink
Last night I watched the Bob Dylan documentary "No Direction Home,"
which is good. I've always liked Dylan's songs, and enjoyed the DVD
and recommend it to you all.

Anyway, one of the extra features is a few of the folks like Liam
Clancy and Mavis Staples each singing a Dylan song. The best
performance among these is Joan Baez singing "Love Is Just A Four
Letter Word" in its entirety.

It was kind of frustrating, though - the camera would hold back far
enough to be able to see her chord formations throughout the first part
of the melody, but then zoom in on her face toward the end of the verse
each time, never once showing what the chords are at the end and how
it's tied off.

Baez sings it in Eb natural, with the guitar capoed at the first fret,
playing in D formation (she was using her dandy little signature model
Martin, too!) Through the first melodic phrase she's playing a D major
chord, then quickly going to E minor. That repeats, then she goes to
an A minor and I THINK an E minor (this is where the camera would come
in closer to her face)

As she got out of that minor phrase it looked as though she was playing
a C with a G in the bass, but from there I'm baffled.

I did poke around looking for the chords in a Google search, but found
only the lyrics. Do any of you know or play the song? Even if you're
using completely different phrasing and chord formations from Baez, I'd
be able to transpose and figure it out from there.

Thanks in advance.

It's really a very pretty song, but sitting down and singing it made me
realize just how much range it takes. Baez is such a gifted singer you
don't hear a significant change in timbre in her voice as she goes from
the high first phrase to the rest of the verse, but it's quite a
stretch.


Wade Hampton Miller
Chugiak, Alaska
m***@pobox.com
2005-12-14 11:21:02 UTC
Permalink
***@aol.com wrote:
...
Post by W***@aol.com
I did poke around looking for the chords in a Google search, but found
only the lyrics. Do any of you know or play the song? Even if you're
using completely different phrasing and chord formations from Baez, I'd
be able to transpose and figure it out from there.
<http://hem.passagen.se/obrecht/backpages/chords/misc/love_is_just_a_four_letter_word.htm>
came up as the second result from Google when I entered "love
four-letter word chords" (without quotes) as a search term. Seems to
resemble what you thought she was doing....
Post by W***@aol.com
... Baez is such a gifted singer ...
Each to his own... I find her technically accomplished but a bit
mannered and sterile, what little of her work I've bothered to listen
to.
Steve Perry
2005-12-14 16:38:32 UTC
Permalink
Post by m***@pobox.com
Each to his own... I find her technically accomplished but a bit
mannered and sterile, what little of her work I've bothered to listen
to.
Not old enough to remember the sixites firsthand, are you?
--
Steve
http://home.comcast.net/~perry1966/index.html
http://www.soundclick.com/steveperry
George W.
2005-12-15 00:13:40 UTC
Permalink
Post by Steve Perry
Post by m***@pobox.com
Each to his own... I find her technically accomplished but a bit
mannered and sterile, what little of her work I've bothered to listen
to.
Not old enough to remember the sixites firsthand, are you?
I am, and I've listened to her a lot. I always thought most of her
interpretations of Dylan songs to be pretty much the way Mark
describes them.

G.
Steve Perry
2005-12-15 08:44:50 UTC
Permalink
Post by George W.
Post by Steve Perry
Post by m***@pobox.com
Each to his own... I find her technically accomplished but a bit
mannered and sterile, what little of her work I've bothered to listen
to.
Not old enough to remember the sixites firsthand, are you?
I am, and I've listened to her a lot. I always thought most of her
interpretations of Dylan songs to be pretty much the way Mark
describes them.
G.
Well, a matter of taste, then, and no problem. I love Bob's songs, many
of them, but sometimes his interpretations were off-key and
out-of-tune, and while Baez isn't a virtuoso on the guitar, she could
certainly keep up with Dylan there.

I heard her sing with Dylan back in the Rolling Thunder Days -- with
Kinky Friedman opening -- and she and Bob did a duet of Diamonds and
Rust with nothing but her acoustic and his, and nearly blew us all out
of the auditorium, both with her voice and the feeling behind the song.

I guess you had to be there ...
--
Steve
Misifus
2005-12-15 14:16:53 UTC
Permalink
Post by Steve Perry
Post by George W.
Post by Steve Perry
Post by m***@pobox.com
Each to his own... I find her technically accomplished but a bit
mannered and sterile, what little of her work I've bothered to listen
to.
Not old enough to remember the sixites firsthand, are you?
I am, and I've listened to her a lot. I always thought most of her
interpretations of Dylan songs to be pretty much the way Mark
describes them.
G.
Well, a matter of taste, then, and no problem. I love Bob's songs, many
of them, but sometimes his interpretations were off-key and
out-of-tune, and while Baez isn't a virtuoso on the guitar, she could
certainly keep up with Dylan there.
I heard her sing with Dylan back in the Rolling Thunder Days -- with
Kinky Friedman opening -- and she and Bob did a duet of Diamonds and
Rust with nothing but her acoustic and his, and nearly blew us all out
of the auditorium, both with her voice and the feeling behind the song.
I guess you had to be there ...
I am too. I thought she was one of the ones who taught us how folk
music should sound after the Kingston Trio and the Lamplighters and the
Tarrymen, etc had introduced the subject.

The first time I heard her voice I was working on a friend's T-120. He
had a novelty for the time, speakers in his garage from his record
player. "Had and old dog and his name was Blue", came out through those
old speakers and I thought the heavens had opened. I was entranced.

-Raf
--
Misifus-
Rafael Seibert
mailto:***@cox.net
http://www.ralphandsue.com
MBarnett
2005-12-15 04:20:16 UTC
Permalink
Post by Steve Perry
Post by m***@pobox.com
Each to his own... I find her technically accomplished but a bit
mannered and sterile, what little of her work I've bothered to listen
to.
Not old enough to remember the sixites firsthand, are you?
I certainly am, and although she's done a few songs I like, I've never been
able to listen to her music for more than a few minutes. Her singing voice and
guitar-playing just don't "do it" for me.

Monte
David Drucker
2005-12-14 14:03:21 UTC
Permalink
Here ya go:

http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/www.guitartabs.cc/fetchfile.php?fileid=3200580
Post by W***@aol.com
Last night I watched the Bob Dylan documentary "No Direction Home,"
which is good. I've always liked Dylan's songs, and enjoyed the DVD
and recommend it to you all.
Anyway, one of the extra features is a few of the folks like Liam
Clancy and Mavis Staples each singing a Dylan song. The best
performance among these is Joan Baez singing "Love Is Just A Four
Letter Word" in its entirety.
It was kind of frustrating, though - the camera would hold back far
enough to be able to see her chord formations throughout the first part
of the melody, but then zoom in on her face toward the end of the verse
each time, never once showing what the chords are at the end and how
it's tied off.
Baez sings it in Eb natural, with the guitar capoed at the first fret,
playing in D formation (she was using her dandy little signature model
Martin, too!) Through the first melodic phrase she's playing a D major
chord, then quickly going to E minor. That repeats, then she goes to
an A minor and I THINK an E minor (this is where the camera would come
in closer to her face)
As she got out of that minor phrase it looked as though she was playing
a C with a G in the bass, but from there I'm baffled.
I did poke around looking for the chords in a Google search, but found
only the lyrics. Do any of you know or play the song? Even if you're
using completely different phrasing and chord formations from Baez, I'd
be able to transpose and figure it out from there.
Thanks in advance.
It's really a very pretty song, but sitting down and singing it made me
realize just how much range it takes. Baez is such a gifted singer you
don't hear a significant change in timbre in her voice as she goes from
the high first phrase to the rest of the verse, but it's quite a
stretch.
Wade Hampton Miller
Chugiak, Alaska
W***@aol.com
2005-12-14 18:24:40 UTC
Permalink
Thanks, everybody.


Wade Hampton Miller
LouisB
2005-12-15 21:17:17 UTC
Permalink
Wade

I agree with you about Baez's rendition of the song. I felt her contribution
to the documentary to be one of the most revealing and honest. I was left
with an immense feeling of respect for her.

I'm not being a detractor of his Bobness but anything he wrote would be
basically a 3-chord song - choose your favourite combination in this case, G
D, Em Am (ok, 4 chords!) and you can't go wrong.

I'm sorry to correct you but Baez it playing a rather sweet looking custom
Collings Baby guitar and not a small Martin as you suggest. In fact watching
her play it made me feel a little sorry I sold my Collings Baby earlier this
year. Hers is considerably uprated compared with a standard Baby. It appears
to have Abelone soundbox and soundhole trim (instead of the standard
herringbone), what looks like gold plated mini schallers and by the look of
the headstock, Brazilian veneer (possibly Brazilian back and sides???) as
well as bound fingerboard and headstick. It also sports "J" and "B" in
script inlaid on the fretboard. All in all a unique and scrumptious looking
Baby and almost certainly unique (well, except for the custom one which Joni
Mitchell is also said to own). They are lovely guitars and reputed to be
excellent for recording, although I always found mine to be way to quiet in
the bottom end to cope with the demands I make on a guitar.

Regards

LouisB

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