Stormy Monday - the Allman Brothers / WA   

     Words and music by Aron "T-Bone" Walker. This transcription is based on a combination of the way I learned to play this song from friends, and a live recording by the Allman Brothers band.

In A, as I learned it:


     A7                             E9->D9                          A7-Bb7-A7-Ab7-A7 
 1.     They call it Stormy Monday...         but Tuesday's just as bad.
   E9->D9                           E9->D9                          A7  Bm7  C#m7  Cm7*
	  They call it Stormy Monday...     oh but Tuesday's just as bad.
     Bm7                       Bm7-Cm7-C#m7-Dm7                       A7  D9  A7  E9 
	  Wednesday's worse...                    and Thursday's oh so sad.


     A7                             E9->D9                         A7-Bb7-A7-Ab7-A7 
 2.     The eagle flies on Friday...         Saturday I go out to play.
   E9->D9                           E9->D9                         A7  Bm7  C#m7  Cm7 
	  The eagle flies on Friday...         Saturday I go out to play
     Bm7                       Bm7-Cm7-C#m7-Dm7                             A7  D9  A7  E9 
	  Sunday I go to church...              I get down on my knees and I pray.


     A7                    E9->D9                     A7-Bb7-A7-Ab7-A7 
 3.     Lord have mercy...         lord have mercy on me
   E9->D9                  E9->D9                     A7  Bm7  C#m7  Cm7 
	  Lord have mercy...         lord have mercy on me
     Bm7                                    Bm7-Cm7-C#m7-Dm7 
	  You know I'm tryin' to find my baby...
                                              A7  D9  A7  E9 
	  Won't you please send her on home to me?

In G, as on the the live Allman Brothers recording I found:


     G7                             D9->C9                          G7-Ab7-G7-Gb7-G7 
 1.     They call it Stormy Monday...         but Tuesday's just as bad.
   D9->C9                           D9->C9                          G7  Am7  Bm7  Bbm7*
	  They call it Stormy Monday...     oh but Tuesday's just as bad.
     Am7                       Am7-Bbm7-Bm7-Cm7                       G7  C9  G7  D9 
	  Wednesday's worse...                    and Thursday's oh so sad.


     G7                             D9->C9                         G7-Ab7-G7-Gb7-G7 
 2.     The eagle flies on Friday...         Saturday I go out to play.
   D9->C9                           D9->C9                         G7  Am7  Bm7  Bbm7 
	  The eagle flies on Friday...         Saturday I go out to play
     Am7                       Am7-Bbm7-Bm7-Cm7                             G7  C9  G7  D9 
	  Sunday I go to church...              I get down on my knees and I pray.


     G7                     D9->C9                     G7-Ab7-G7-Gb7-G7 
 3.     Lord have mercy...          lord have mercy on me
   D9->C9                   D9->C9                     G7  Am7  Bm7  Bbm7 
	  Lord have mercy...          lord have mercy on me
     Am7                                      Am7-Bbm7-Bm7-Cm7 
	  You know I'm tryin' to find my baby...
                                              G7  C9  G7  D9 
	  Won't you please send her on home to me?

Editor's notes: aka Stormy Monday Blues - at least on Stevie Ray Vaughn's album Stormy Monday Blues, 1983, 1984. Recorded by many bluesmeisters, including T. Bone himself, Albert Collins, Bobby 'Blue' Bland, and Little Milton.

LYRICS: From memory - probably derived from the Allman Brothers version, and a posting on OLGA.

CHORDS: E9->D9 means play E9 on pickup beat of previous measure, and immediately slide down to D9, for the 1 beat of the next measure. This note applies equally to the key of G, of course.

Bbm7*: The Allman Brothers may be playing Bb7 here, rather than Bbm7, maybe because they were stoned out of their minds. At least one of the transcriptions I found show this to be the case (re the chord, I mean.). At the time of this transcription, being perfectly straight, I'm preferring Bbm7. (In the key of A the chord in question is Cm7 vs C7.)

One transcription substitutes Gdim for the V7 chord at the end of each verse. This seems very unlikely to me. The Gdim chord differs from the IV7 chord by only one note (c# rather than c), but it is very different indeed from the V7 chord.

RHYTHM: It's the blues, but it's in three! I believe it is actually in 6/8 time - 8 bars to the verse.

For several Real Audio recordings of Stormy Monday, see http://www.mic.go.kr/~ideaman/blues/Stormy_Monday.htm pnm://www.mic.go.kr/~ideaman/blues/Stormy_Monday.ra

- Transcribed by WA, 16 July 2000. Last edited 29 Oct 2000. Formatting last tweaked 20 Mar 2003.


Bonus: Aron "T-Bone" Walker's lyrics - from a live version, posted at http://www.mic.go.kr/~ideaman/blues/Stormy_Monday.htm:


They called it stormy Monday,
but Tuesday is as just as bad
Oh, they called it, they called it stormy monday,
but Tuesday, Tuesday is as just as bad
Oh, Wednesday is worst And Thursday oh so sad

The eagle flyies on Friday now,
Saturday I'll go out to play
Oh, the eagle, the eagle flyies on Friday,
Saturday I'll go out and play
Sunday I'll go to church,
and I fall on my knees and pray

I say, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy on me
But Lord, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy on me
You know I'm crazy 'bout my baby
Lord, please send my baby back on to me

(Help me out here man, help me out...)
Sun rise in the east, it sets up in the west
Yes, the sun rise in the east baby,
and it sets up in the west
It's hard to tell, it's hard to tell, it's hard to tell
Which one, which one, which one a little bad [...is the best. ?]

Yeah! Go ahead Do it one more time
Oh, the eagle flyies on Friday
Saturday I'll go out to play
Oh, the eagle flyies on Friday
You know Saturday I'll go out to play
Sunday I'll go out to the signify church
Oh when I'll fall down on my knees and pray

I say, Lord have mercy Lord have mercy on me
Lord, Lord, Lord have mercy on me
Please, have mercy on me
You know I'm crazy, crazy 'bout my baby
Please, send her back, send her back on to me

Yeah!

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