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The Late Great Johnny Ace

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Tuning: standard
This is a chords version of the song for strumming along. It looks much 
more complicated than it actually is.
The guitar on Simon's recording, however, seems to be tuned down 2 steps. 
So another option to play this song would be to tune down your guitar to 
D-G-C-F-A-d and transpose this chord sheet +2 (first chord = Bbmaj7) to 
match the original key. The Middle 8 especially plays effortlessley using 
the open 5th string (G).
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CHORDS
          E-A-D-G-B-e
Abmaj7    4-x-5-5-4-x
D7        x-5-4-5-3-x
F/C       x-3-x-2-1-1
A7sus2    x-0-2-0-0-0
Gsus4     3-x-0-0-1-x
G *       3-x-0-0-0-x
Gadd9     3-x-0-2-x-x
C/G       3-x-2-0-1-x
G7 *      3-x-3-0-3-x
F/G       3-x-3-2-1-x
Bb/G      3-x-0-3-3-1
Cm/G      3-x-5-5-4-x
C*/G      3-x-5-5-5-x
Cb/G      3-x-4-4-4-x
Bb/G      3-x-3-3-3-x
Gbdim7    2-x-1-2-1-x
Bb9       x-1-0-1-1-1
Ebmaj7    x-x-1-3-3-3
Bb7-9     x-1-0-1-0-x
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Intro]
|  Abmaj|  D7|  Abmaj|  D7|
|  Abmaj|  D7|  Abmaj|  D7|
[Verse 1]
 Abmaj7I was reading a D7magazine
Abmaj7Thinking of a rock and roll D7song
The Abmaj7year was nineteen D7fifty-six
And I Ghadn't been playing that G7long
When a Cman came F/Con the CradiC7o
And Fthis is what he Bb7saidAm7  
He said I Dmhate to break it Eto his fans
            A7sus2              Fmaj7[  Am7] 
But Johnny Ace is dead, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Interlude]
|  Am7|  Dm7|  Gsus4   G*  Gadd9   G*|
[Verse 2]
Well, I Abmaj7really wasn't such a D7Johnny Ace fan
But I Abmaj7felt bad alI the D7same
So I Abmaj7sent away for his D7photograph
And I Gwaited till it G7came
It came Call the F/Cway from CTexasC7  
With a Fsad and simple Bb7faceAm7  
And they Dmsigned it on the Ebottom
                     A7sus2              Fmaj7[  Am7] 
From the Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Interlude]
|  Am7|  Dm7|  Gsus4   G*  Gadd9   G*|
[Middle 8]
|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|
|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|
|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|
|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|
             C/G   G7*   C/G  
It was the year of The Beatles
        F/G           C/G   G7*     C/G  F/G  
It was the year of The Stones
        C/G   G7*  C/G   F/G|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|
It was nineteen sixty - four
        C/G   G7*     Bb/G  
I was li - ving in London
     Cm/G  C*/G      Cb/G      Bb/G|  Gbdim7|2/4  F7|4/4  G7|
With the girl from the summer before
             C/G   G7*   C/G  
It was the year of The Beatles
        F/G           C/G   G7*     C/G  F/G  
It was the year of The Stones
    C/G   G7*   C/G   F/G|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|  C/G   G7*|  C/G   F/G|
A year after J.  F.  K.
             C/G   G7*Bb/G Cm/G  
We were staying up  all  night
    C*/G    Cb/G   Bb/G   G|  F|  Bb9{
And giving the  days a-way
            Ebmaj7     Abmaj7     Ebmaj7       Bb7-9[  Abmaj7] 
And the music was flowing amazingly blowing my way
[Interlude]
|  Abmaj|  D7|  Abmaj|  D7|
|  Abmaj|  D7|  Abmaj|  D7|
[Verse 3]
On a Abmaj7cold December D7evening
I was Abmaj7walking through the Christmas D7tide
When a Abmaj7stranger came up and D7asked me
If I'd Gheard John Lennon had G7died
And the Ctwo of F/Cus went Cto this C7bar
And we Fstayed to close the Bb7placeAm7  
And Dmevery song we Eplayed
                        A7sus2              Fmaj7[  Am7] 
Was for The Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Interlude]
|  Am7|  Dm7|  Gsus4   G*  Gadd9   G*|
[Coda]

All chords in this song (24)

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The Late Great Johnny Ace

by Paul Simon

Lyrics & chords · Original key

Chords in this song · guitar

Abmaj

Abmaj7

F/C

Bb7

Am7

A7sus2

Fmaj7

Dm7

Gsus4

Gadd9

C/G

F/G

Bb/G

Cm/G

Gbdim7

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuning: standard

This is a chords version of the song for strumming along. It looks much

more complicated than it actually is.

The guitar on Simon's recording, however, seems to be tuned down 2 steps.

So another option to play this song would be to tune down your guitar to

D-G-C-F-A-d and transpose this chord sheet +2 (first chord = Bbmaj7) to

match the original key. The Middle 8 especially plays effortlessley using

the open 5th string (G).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHORDS

E-A-D-G-B-e

Abmaj7 4-x-5-5-4-x

D7 x-5-4-5-3-x

F/C x-3-x-2-1-1

A7sus2 x-0-2-0-0-0

Gsus4 3-x-0-0-1-x

G * 3-x-0-0-0-x

Gadd9 3-x-0-2-x-x

C/G 3-x-2-0-1-x

G7 * 3-x-3-0-3-x

F/G 3-x-3-2-1-x

Bb/G 3-x-0-3-3-1

Cm/G 3-x-5-5-4-x

C*/G 3-x-5-5-5-x

Cb/G 3-x-4-4-4-x

Bb/G 3-x-3-3-3-x

Gbdim7 2-x-1-2-1-x

Bb9 x-1-0-1-1-1

Ebmaj7 x-x-1-3-3-3

Bb7-9 x-1-0-1-0-x

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Intro]

Abmaj D7 Abmaj D7

| | | | |

Abmaj D7 Abmaj D7

| | | | |

[Verse 1]

Abmaj7 D7

I was reading a magazine

Abmaj7 D7

Thinking of a rock and roll song

Abmaj7 D7

The year was nineteen fifty-six

G G7

And I hadn't been playing that long

C F/C C C7

When a man came on the radio

F Bb7 Am7

And this is what he said

Dm E

He said I hate to break it to his fans

A7sus2 Fmaj7 Am7

[ ]

But Johnny Ace is dead, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Interlude]

Am7 Dm7 Gsus4 G Gadd9 G

| | | * *|

[Verse 2]

Abmaj7 D7

Well, I really wasn't such a Johnny Ace fan

Abmaj7 D7

But I felt bad alI the same

Abmaj7 D7

So I sent away for his photograph

G G7

And I waited till it came

C F/C C C7

It came all the way from Texas

F Bb7 Am7

With a sad and simple face

Dm E

And they signed it on the bottom

A7sus2 Fmaj7 Am7

[ ]

From the Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Interlude]

Am7 Dm7 Gsus4 G Gadd9 G

| | | * *|

[Middle 8]

C/G G7 C/G F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G

| *| | *| |

C/G G7 C/G F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G

| *| | *| |

C/G G7 C/G F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G

| *| | *| |

C/G G7 C/G F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G

| *| | *| |

C/G G7 C/G

It was the year of The Beatles

F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G

It was the year of The Stones

C/G G7 C/G F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G

* | *| | *| |

It was nineteen sixty - four

C/G G7 Bb/G

I was li - ving in London

Cm/G C Cb/G Bb/G Gbdim7 F7 G7

*/G | |2/4 |4/4 |

With the girl from the summer before

C/G G7 C/G

It was the year of The Beatles

F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G

It was the year of The Stones

C/G G7 C/G F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G C/G G7 C/G F/G

* | *| | *| |

A year after J. F. K.

C/G G7 Cm/G

*Bb/G

We were staying up all night

C Cb/G Bb/G G F Bb9

*/G | | {

And giving the days a-way

Ebmaj7 Abmaj7 Ebmaj7 Bb7-9 Abmaj7

[ ]

And the music was flowing amazingly blowing my way

[Interlude]

Abmaj D7 Abmaj D7

| | | | |

Abmaj D7 Abmaj D7

| | | | |

[Verse 3]

Abmaj7 D7

On a cold December evening

Abmaj7 D7

I was walking through the Christmas tide

Abmaj7 D7

When a stranger came up and asked me

G G7

If I'd heard John Lennon had died

C F/C C C7

And the two of us went to this bar

F Bb7 Am7

And we stayed to close the place

Dm E

And every song we played

A7sus2 Fmaj7 Am7

[ ]

Was for The Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Interlude]

Am7 Dm7 Gsus4 G Gadd9 G

| | | * *|

[Coda]

About The Late Great Johnny Ace Chords by Paul Simon

Learn how to play The Late Great Johnny Ace by Paul Simon with free guitar chords, lyrics, and interactive chord diagrams. Search for “The Late Great Johnny Ace chords”, “The Late Great Johnny Ace guitar chords”, or “Paul Simon The Late Great Johnny Ace chords” and you will find this page — transpose to any key, tap chords for diagrams, and use auto-scroll while you play. Perfect for beginners looking for easy The Late Great Johnny Ace chords and for experienced players who want accurate The Late Great Johnny Ace lyrics and chords in one place. Common chords in this song include D, G, C, F, A, E.

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