Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

After getting Steve's emailed tab on the Byrds, one critical element was missing on RNR Star. The other overriding lead/repetive riff throughout the song. Not that the tabs from the Joe Delore article weren't superb but this riff was missing. Don't know why but would sure like to know what it is. I've fingered out most of it but still missing some elements. Anybody got a clue?

Stan: I don't have me 12 string in front of me, so don't hold me to this 100%. This is played on the G and D strings as far as I am concerned.

Start on the G string, move to D string and back to G string as shown below. Don't forget to add treble boost. You will need to get the time from the recording as I have not tabbed it properly here.

G string - 7777 66 4444 22 0200
D string - 44 4
G string - 00 2

Got it, Peter. I will give it a whirl. And with me, treble boost has never been a problem. Overkill might be. I had the basics but this bit was sorely missing to complete the song.

Hi, friends:

Although McGuinn never picks it the exact way every time, here is the basic way he does it:

G string 7777 6 66 4 44
D string 7
G string 44 0 0
D string 4 44557

Karl

Thanks Karl: This is also most interesting and I will be comparing the two.

Sorry for nit picking, but I think the actual title of the song is "So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star". Great acronym: SYWTBARARS.

Just thought I'd note this for future reference for novices.

Thanks, Gary...one thing this forum does well is attend to those nits that require picking. I'm continually amazed at the collective knowledge of the members and the (more or less) cordial sharing of the same...

On the subject of SYWTBARARS...anybody besides me hear Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" in the between-verse vamp?

I take it that you don't mean Chi Coltrane?

When I play this song, I try to combine the highlights of the guitar and trumpet solos on the 12-string guitar, to give the audience what they'd hear on the single. All references to an E string are to the high E string.

Here's the main solo:

G string - 7777 6 66 4 4
D string - 7 7
G string - 4
D string - 5 5 4 44 5 5 7
G string - 7
B string - 5
G string - 77 6 667 4
D string - 7 7
G string - 4
D string - 5 5
B string - 7 7 5 5 (trumpet)
G string - 7 7 646
D string - 7
G string - 4
D string - 77
G string - 44 7 (hold trumpet's '7' while crossing to next 2 strings)
D string - 77
A string - 77
G string - 6 4 4 6
B string - 5
G string - 7 776 664 4
D string - 7 7
G string - 4
D string - 5 5 4 44 5 5 7

Here's the ending:

G string - 7777 6 66 4 4
D string - 7 7
G string - 4
D string - 5 5 4 44 5 5 7
G string - 77
B string - 5 7 7 78
E string - 5 5
G string - 7 7
B string - 5
G string - 7 6 4 4
D string - 7 7 5
G string - 7
B string - 77 (trumpet)
E string - 5
G string - 6 6 4
D string - 7
G string - 4
D string - 5 5 4 44 5 5 7

Wow, Mark, certainly thorough...have to try to run this through. Now if I can only find someone to play Hugh Masekela's part.

Nice work Mark. Thanks for your efforts. The 12 string is quite an orchestra. Time to press the print button.

Must add something to this...this weekend my old group got back together for the first time in a number of months and we did some dry runs on SYWTBARRS (want to be politically correct) and while we had the rhythm down well and much of the riff/lead breaks we found the most difficult part was working the tempo with the vocals. You have to be right on when doing this song. It's kind of like hitting a revolving door at the right moment.

Well said, Stan. It's so easy to miss the revolving door just after the solo, at the line "The price you payed for your riches and fame".

Does anyone know the details of the Hugh Masekela session that gave Chris Hillman the musical inspiration for the song?

I won't dispute anyone's attempt at abbreviating the title of the song, except to say that the song observes the (original?) convention of writing Rock 'n' Roll, instead of Rock and Roll. In the Seventies, I remember Led Zeppelin being criticised for getting it wrong with their song Rock And Roll.

Another unmistakeable instrumental sound on So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star is the guiro. Maybe it's the ideal instrument to hand to a band member who can't quite get his singing in time?

The downstrokes on the guiro seem to coincide with the accents required on the vocals, e.g. wanna, rock, star, listen, now, what I, say.

My guys and I were talking about the guiro when we were playing the song this last weekend. We have one guy who really just hangs around with no ability to play anything but could likely handle the guiro. I haven't seen one of those in quite a while.