BEAST OF BURDEN Keither Richards/Mick Jagger >From the "Some Girls" LP Transcribed by Scott Buckner THIS ENTIRE WORK IS SOLEY MY OWN, AND IS PROBABLY SCREWED UP AND HARD TO FOLLOW BECAUSE IT WAS LEARNED FROM A SCRATCHY OLD 45RPM RECORD 20 YEARS AGO. The trick to playing the very first chord of this song is to start your chord as a barred B on the seventh fret and, immediately when you strum it, shift to a barre E chord on the seventh fret. Listen to the record for the following chord changes:
B-E (barred seventh) B C#m A E then thereafter just play E B C#m A E for the rest of the main body of the song ad infinitum. But BUT BUT a there’s a little pull-off hammer-on with the little finger (when form your C#m-A chords) which provides the (basically) optional transition note between these two chords, regardless of whether you're listening to the version by the Stone, Better Midler or Buckwheat Zydeco. This takes some listening to the record to figure out where this comes in. But basically, you go from E-A-C#m, but after you get to the C#m (formed as a barre at the fourth fret) and you’ve strummed it a few times, you pull off -- and then hammer on -– the little finger of your C#m chord when forming the C#m chord on the fourth string. Then you go into the A chord and strum it twice to finish off the rest of the measure. So basically, for the main body of the song you're playiing: E B C#m A with all the rest of the little hooky extras on the B-E and C#m thrown in. The chorus is chorded as follows: C#m Am I hard enough? E Am I rough enough? C#m Am I rich enough? E I'm not too blind B To see-eeeeeee Then just continue with E-B-C#m-A for the main body of the song until you get to the additional choruses or your lead guitarist keels over from a lead guitar playing god hard-on. You lead guys on on your own. I’m a rhythm guitarist. Scott
Alternative guitar chords and tabs for Beast Of Burden by The Rolling Stones