Ralph Mooney Fills... 'Mama's dont let'

[Larry Bressington]

Does anybody know how to play those fills in Waylon/Willie song 'Mama's'....First CHOROUS key of D.

Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be Cowboys [OVER THE G chord LICK]?????????????????????



I'm half way close to sucking on this one!!!
Thanks mates!

[Mike Headrick]

Larry,

Please email me and direct me to the version you're listening to. Maybe a Youtube link?

[Larry Bressington]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlIEoKg8ZQg

Thanks Mike.

[Bill Bassett]

I'm not very good at explaining things but here goes.

With a E9 tuning, Emmons setup, (I play the Day way but I know I'm in the minority).
So the chord is a G right? Drop the bar down to F either on the 1st fret or 13th, and mash your 1st pedal raising the 5th string up to D. Then back up to 3rd fret, pedal off. Fiddle around with the pedal and bar like that a few times and you will have the essence of a lot of Ralph Mooney licks.

Remember, it's easy to play a little like someone else but almost impossible to play just like someone else. Just play like yourself.

[Patrick Pestana]

Larry, did you ever find some tabs/notation for this?

[Brendan Mitchell]

Hi Larry, I found this very helpful in getting that Mooney sound. There is a part #2 of this as well: https://youtu.be/8GE5pf9Bal8?si=Et5Z0S6t1dVub1M8

[Rich Ertelt]

Here is what I got slowing it way down and going over it a bunch of times. This is the lick right after Waylon says “Cowboys”
I don’t use tab, so I’m not really good at writing it, but if you slow it way down, you should be able to hear it. This is what I came up with -
No pedals, hit strings 3 and 4 at the third fret, then sting 5 with the thumb, slide it down one fret and back up without picking, then 3&4, then hit string 5.
The second part , without picking it (since you just hit it above), hit the A pedal to raise string 5, then strings 3&4, then hit string 5 and release it, then strings 3&4
The ending lick is a bit hard to hear, but I think it is –
No pedals, string 6, then 3&4, then 5

The timing is weird, like a lot of Mooney stuff I’ve tried to learn. That release on the A pedal is kind of like a slur, he often, to my ear, has a very “guitar” style of playing, to me it sounds (as a guitar player) like a guitar slur kind of bend, which is why is sounds “odd”.

[Brendan Mitchell]

Here is that one lick explained:
https://youtu.be/pzHXw6be36M?si=LbbfH7eXp3Q-GPZw

[John Poston]

Depending on the era remember there was a lot of Fender cable guitar so there is a natural slop to the pulls that give it some extra character too.

[Colin Boutilier]

Here is what I got slowing it way down and going over it a bunch of times. This is the lick right after Waylon says “Cowboys”
I don’t use tab, so I’m not really good at writing it, but if you slow it way down, you should be able to hear it. This is what I came up with -
No pedals, hit strings 3 and 4 at the third fret, then sting 5 with the thumb, slide it down one fret and back up without picking, then 3&4, then hit string 5.
The second part , without picking it (since you just hit it above), hit the A pedal to raise string 5, then strings 3&4, then hit string 5 and release it, then strings 3&4
The ending lick is a bit hard to hear, but I think it is –
No pedals, string 6, then 3&4, then 5

The timing is weird, like a lot of Mooney stuff I’ve tried to learn. That release on the A pedal is kind of like a slur, he often, to my ear, has a very “guitar” style of playing, to me it sounds (as a guitar player) like a guitar slur kind of bend, which is why is sounds “odd”.

I think a lot of that "slur" style comes from him trying to keep that signature sound he developed on the cable actuated Fender he used to play.

[Rich Ertelt]

I think a lot of that "slur" style comes from him trying to keep that signature sound he developed on the cable actuated Fender he used to play.

Could be, that would make sense. He had a very "guitar" like style, sometimes it can be a little hard to tell if it is him or a guitar player, right off, lol. I'm a guitar player by trade, though playing a lot of steel lately. He could do the regular steel stuff too, but especially on the rockers, he did stuff other guys weren't.