George Baker - Little Green Bag Chords & Tabs

LITTLE GREEN BAG
By the George Baker Selection
Available most recently on the _Reservoir Dogs_ soundtrack (MCA Records)
Transcribed by DanAmrich@aol.com

Much of the cool groove on this song is achieved by judicious use of hammer-ons
and pull-offs, some of which may prove tricky to beginners. But hey, a good way
to practice, right? I play it with my fingers instead of a pick. Remember:

h = hammer-on
p = pull-off

Once you play this, you might ask "Why not go for the open string instead of the
fifth fret?" Because it doesn't sound open to me--each note in this song is very
clipped and sharp; there's no resonance of open strings. I think the bassist here
is fretting most of the notes. And for economy's sake, it's often easier to fret
the fifth fret on the string next to the one you're playing than it is to skip
over and hit an open one two strings away. But hey, play it however you like!


Opening riff:

G ---------3----------------------------------------3---------------|
D --5--3-5---5-3-5---5-3---------------3-------3-5----5-------------|
A -----------------------3-5----5--3-5---5-3-5----------------------|
E ------------------------------------------------------------------|


Standard riff from that point on (0:09):

                                "Yeah...."
G --------------h3---------------------------------------------------|
D -0h3-5--3h5--5--5--0h3h5----------5h7----------h3-----------3-4-5--|
A -------------------------3-4-5--------5--3h5--5--5--0h3h5----------|
E -------------------------------------------------------------------|
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/g/george_baker/little_green_bag_btab_ver_2.html ]
There are variations on this throughout, which I will not go into because they're
all pretty small, but this is the core. You'll hear various one-note differences
on the beginning of the second half; for instance, I don't think he plays that 5h7
on the D ever again--it's -7-7- or -0h3h5- on the A etc. But you can use the core
of this for the whole song and vary it to taste with a minor pentatonic scale.

When the guitar plays in harmony at 0:46, play the simpler opening riff.


(0:55)
        "Looking for some happiness but there is only loneliness to find..."
G --------------------------------------------------------------------|
D -0-2-4-5-----4h5-----4-5-----5------------4-7-----------------------|
A ---------4h5-----4h5-----4h5---0h2-3-4-5----------------------------|
E --------------------------------------------------------------------|

(1:00)
                        "Jump to the left, turn to the right..."
                                             v--This slide's so subtle, you can
skip it
G -------------------------------------------4/3\4-----h4-------------|
D -0-0-4-7--0--4-7---4-7--------5-----5--0-2--------2-2---------------|
A -----------------------5-4-3----0-3---------------------------------|
E --------------------------------------------------------------------|

(1:09)
G ------5--------------------------------------------------------------|
D --2-3---3------------------------------------------------------------|
A ------------3-4-5-5-5--5-5--5-5-5-/----------------------------------|
E ---------------------------------------------------------------------|


During the guitar solo at 1:14, repeat, it and then play it again when the vocals
return. Again, there are variations, but you can use the above as a roadmap.

The rest of the song is repetitions of what you've already played, except for one
pesky key change at 2:42. That's simple--play the entire chorus section ("Looking
for some happiness") up one fret. The only thing you can't do is the open D string,
so don't--just riff on 5 and 8 for longer.

Now all you have to do is learn how to fade out.  :)  I'm open to all comments and corrections!

Dan