SofaLoaf - Posted - 07/02/2019:  20:01:35

Any one know of Willie Watson's Mexican Cowboy claw hammer/ tab?

dbrooks - Posted - 07/03/2019:  06:44:26

This tune is also called "Hills of Mexico," and a number of people have played it in various tunings. Janolov has tab for this tune in gEADE tuning.

banjohangout.org/tab/browse.as...p;v=19899

It looks to me that Willie Watson plays in open G (gDGBD). Do you need the whole thing or just the banjo lead that he does to open the tune and to play a break (at about 1:42 in the video below)?

youtube.com/watch?v=N49k4KkshAs

The verses are backed by Em - C - Em.

David

weinbergs - Posted - 07/03/2019:  08:52:47

David -
I have been wrestling with this one for a while and while Janolov's tabs have helped there is a different feel to them. If you could give pointers/tabs for the lead I for one would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Stephen

janolov - Posted - 07/03/2019:  12:23:32

Here is a quick and dirty first draft to give some directions. I am familiar with Roscoe Holcomb's thumb lead version, and I think Willie Watson has based his version a lot on Roscoe's. I tried to write out the melody (from Art Rosenbaum's book ) and tried to incorporate the melody in a clawhammer pattern in standard G tuning - as I would play it. The song is very irregular and the meter varies from verse to verse and from one recording to another. This is only a beginning that took about half an hour to write down. What is left is to listen a lot several times at reduced speed to catch up all rhythm notes, and watch the videos to check the left hand position. By listening and watching you should also see and here where he use drop thumbs (the drop thumbs I have in the tab is only guesses, where I would play drop thumbs. I also think he has some different interpretation of the melody from Roscoe's version

Edited by - janolov on 07/03/2019 12:30:02

First draft - Mexican Cowboy

 

mmuussiiccaall - Posted - 07/04/2019:  07:12:01

Here's a tab
banjohangout.org/tab/browse.as...l&v=23805

Mexican Cowboy

Mexican Cowboy

Kye - Posted - 07/04/2019:  10:12:43

Thanks for the work and posts! I'm also recently onmbsessed with this tune hmand have been looking for tab. Thanks !

weinbergs - Posted - 07/05/2019:  07:59:42

Thank you - I'm excited to try it out and see where my own thoughts went off the rails.

dbrooks - Posted - 07/05/2019:  17:45:30

Janolov and mmuussiiccaall have posted tabs that are likely sufficient to get you where you need to be. After seeing this request, I have also tabbed this tune in the last couple of days. I mean no disrespect to Jan or Rick. I thought Janolov's earlier tab may have been sufficiently helpful. I think this tune may be one that someone in my Louisville Folk School classes may have an interest in and I wanted to have a tab that I knew well. If it helps someone here, that's all to the good.

This tab is based on the YouTube link above. Willie plays it so fast that I stripped off the audio and worked with it at a slower tempo. If you need an MP3 of the tab, send me a message through the Hangout.

David

Mexican Cowboy - Willie Watson