SWEET MEMORIES

Tabs by David J. Stewart | March 2016 | Updated April 2016

LLOYD GREEN MASTERPIECE TABS COLLECTION

(As played by Lloyd Green - Super Jam 1995, St. Louis - Here's the Here's the MP3 recording)

Lloyd Green uses a standard E9th setup. The only exception is that he doesn't lower string 4 a half tone. Instead he uses string 2. I designate lowering string 2 with either "LL" for a whole tone drop, or "L" for a half tone drop. I've done my best to tab out Lloyd's beautiful playing. The only part that I had difficulty with was the very ending. It's real easy to make mistakes while tabbing. I'm trying to find them and fix them. Bear with me. Lloyd has not confirmed these tabs, but I feel confident they are pretty accurate. Enjoy! The following tabs begin at 3:04 in the MP3 audio...

F#________________________________________________________________________________________
D#________________________________________________________________________________________
G#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ________________________________________________________________________________________
B ________________________________________________8A~9A~8A~8______________________________
G#___1___1B___~4~~1___4___8B~13__13~13B__13B~13________________8B___6B~~__6~6B___6________
F#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ___1___1____~4F~1___4F__8~~13__13~~~~__13~~~~_____________________6~~~__6~~~___6________
D ________________________________________________________________________________________
B ___1___1A___~4A~1___4A__8A~13__13~13A__13A~~~_____________________6~6A__6~6A___6________
 
 
F#________________________________________________________________________________________
D#___________________________________________2~~1___1___2~1~~1LL____________________3L____
G#______________________________________________________2~1B~~~~__________________________
E _______________________________________~3_______________________________________________
B ___1____________________________________________________________1A~1__1A~1______________
G#______~3B~1B~1______1___1B_____1__1B_______2~1B_________________1B~~_________~3B________
F#_________________1__________1___________________________________________________________
E ________________________1E______________________________________________________________
D ________________________________________________________________________________________
B ________________________1A___________________________________________________~3A________
 
 
F#________________________________________________________________________________________
D#________________________________________________________________________________________
G#________________________________________________________________________________________
E _______1________________________________________________________________________8~~~____
B ___________________________________________________________________9A~8A~8______8~8A____
G#___1B_____1___1___1~1B__~4~~1__1~1B___4____13__~15B__13B~13__13____________8B___8B~~____
F#_______________________________________________~15___13~~~~_____________________________
E __________1___1E__1~~~__~4F~1__1~~~___4F___13________________13_________________________
D _____________________________________________________________13_________________________
B ___1A_____1___1___1~1A__~4A~1__1~1A___4A___13__~15A__13A~~~_____________________________
 
 
F#________________________________6_______________________________________________________
D#________________________________6__________________________13~15L_______________________
G#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ___6~~~~~__________8~~9F~8~~~~_____6_______________________________15___~16F~13_________
B ___6A~6~~__________8A~9A~8A~6A_____6_______8~8A~9A~11A~13A~~~~15___15A__~16A~13___13____
G#___6B~~~6___7B~8B__________________6___8B_______________________________~16~~13___13B___
F#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ________________________________________________________________________________________
D ________________________________________________________________________________________
B ________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 
F#_____________________11_________________________________________________________________
D#________________________________________________________________________________________
G#___13~13B__13B___11______8B~8~~~___8~8B__8B~~___8B__8B__8B___8_________6___________3B___
E ________________________________________________________________________________________
B ___13~13A__13A___11______9A~8A~8___8~8A__8A~8___8____________8_________6___________3A___
G#____________________________________________________8B__8B______8~5~6_____6~2B~3B_______
F#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ___________13E___________________________8~~~___________________________________________
D ________________________________________________8_______________________________________
B ____________________________________________________8A__8A______________________________
 
 
F#________________________________________________________________________________________
D#________________________________________________________________________________________
G#___3~3B___6______________________________________4______________________________________
E _____________~8___8~~~9F__9F~6~~8~~3____4F___3___4F__4F____________8____________________
B ___3~3A___6_____________________________4A___3A______4A__________8___9A~8A~9A~8A~8______
G#_____________~8___8B~~9___9~~6~~8~~3B_______________________8_8B____________________8B__
F#_________________________________________________________~8_____________________________
E ________________________________________________________________________________________
D _____________~8_________________________________________________________________________
B __________________8A~9A___9A~6A~8A~3A___4A___________4A_________________________________
 
 
F#________________________________________________________________________________________
D#______________8L~8LL~~___8LL____8LL___________________________________5L________________
G#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ________________________________________________________________________________________
B ___8~8A__8A~8________8______8~8A____8(1/2)~8A~8______8_______8__________________________
G#___8~____8~~~~~~~~~~~~____________________________8B___8B_8B___8B~__5B__5B~4B~4~3B~3____
F#________________________________________________8________8______________________________
E ___8F~~__8F~~~~~~~~~~~__________________________________________________________________
D ____________________________________________________________________5___5~~4~~4~3~~3____
B ________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 
F#______________________________________________________13________________________________
D#________________________________________________________________________________________
G#______________________________________________13B~13____________________________________
E ___________________________________________________________13~~11F~13___13~~11C_________
B __1_____________________________________13____13A~13____________________________________
G#_____~3B_______________________13__13B__13B___________13B__13B~11~~13B__13B~11__________
F#_________~6_________________13_____13___________________________________________________
E _____________~8__________13_____________________________________________________________
D _________________~10____________________________________________________________________
B _____________________~13________________________________________________________________
 
 
*BELOW: I admit that this part baffles me. This cool little run evades me. Keep in mind that Lloyd does
something that few pedal steel players do, and is even not recommended (go figure), that is, he lowers 
and raises his E's on separate legs. Here's Lloyd's E9th tuning setup. The reason it is generally discouraged 
is because you never raise and lower the E's on the 4th and 8th string at the same time, so it reduces 
your possible chord changes. Of course, Lloyd (as always) has proven that less is more when you know 
what you're doing. 
 
Also keep in mind that Lloyd doesn't lower the 4th string from E to Eb as nearly everyone else does. I 
learned to lower the 4th string to Eb for years, and once you've become accustomed, it's really hard to 
get rid of that nice change. An advantage of raising and lowering the E's on different legs is that you can 
seamlessly raise from Eb to F, or from F to Eb, which is what I think Lloyd is doing here. So it would be 
hard to emulate unless you have your knees setup like Lloyd's. I could be wrong on this, of course, but 
I think Lloyd's setup greatly lends to some of the majestic things that he plays. There are always ways 
around of course, playing something similar that works, but it's just not the same as the genuine part. 
It's amazing how some of the simplest stuff can be the hardest to figure out. 
 
F#________________________________________________________________________________________
D#________________________________________________________________________________________
G#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ________________________________________________________________________________________
B __________________________9A~8A~8__6__6_________________________________________________
G#________________________________________________________________________________________
F#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ___*11E~11F~12F~11F~11E___9F~8~~8_____6E________________________________________________
D ________________________________________________________________________________________
B ________________________________________________________________________END_____________
 

A Really Cool Run
 
This elaborate, but simple, piece was played by Lloyd on "Sweet Memories" in St. Louis in 2002. cold_cold_heart
I slowed down the clip using MixCraft software, so that I could figure it out, and you also could hear it to 
learn the piece. It's really majestic and pretty! The following tabs begin at 00:41 in the MP3 song. The
trick is to play it all seamlessly. Listen to the slowed down clip and you'll hear what's going on better...
 
F#_____________________________________1__________________________________________________
D#__________________________________________________3L____________________________________
G#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ________________________________________1__1_________________1__________________________
B __1A~4A~8~8A__8A~8A~6A~6~5~~3A~1A_______________________________________________________
G#__________________________________1B_______1__~3B____1B______1____END___________________
F#_________________________________________________________1______________________________
E ______________8F~8~~6~~6~5F~3~~1________________________________________________________
D ________________________________________________________________________________________
B ___________________________________________1__~3A____1A______1__________________________
 

Hungry for Chicken Pickin'
 
*BELOW: At 02:12 in "Sweet Memories," this cool technique is called "Chicken Pickin'," which was very 
popular in the 1960's and 1970's, but isn't used enough today. It sounds like cackling chickens, hence 
it's name. Lloyd mastered the technique, which sounds so beautiful on his recordings. To do "Chicken Pickin'" 
is easy and simple once you get the hang of it. You simply place your left palm down on the strings, and 
then immediately life your palm off the strings AT THE SAME TIME that you pick the string(s). With 
experience, you can play entire elaborate runs using just Chicken Pickin'. 
 
F#_________*8_____________________________________________________________________________
D#________________________________________________________________________________________
G#________________________________________________________________________________________
E ___8~~8_____7~8~~~~~~~~~~__8__8_________________________________________________________
B ___8A~8_____7~8~~~~~~~~~___8__8_____END_________________________________________________
G#___8B~8_____7~8~8B~8~8B~8_____8_________________________________________________________
F#___________________________8____________________________________________________________
E ________________________________________________________________________________________
D ________________________________________________________________________________________
B ________________________________________________________________________________________
 
       I'm an avid Lloyd Green fan and want to do what I can to help new steelers learn quickly. These tabs are invaluable. If you'd like to learn Lloyd Green's music style, then the most important thing to do is start listening to lots of Lloyd's Performances. Get the sounds into your brain. As time progresses, you'll discover the sounds on your steel guitar. You can't play it if you haven't heard it. Become familiar with the sounds. Like anything else in life, the more time that you spend with something, the more you will get out of it. My advice is to crank up your amplifier's volume so you can FEEL your music. That's very important to developing great tone. The best playing in the world is totally useless if the tone is not there. Hopefully, these tabs will help you by opening your perspective to new things on the steel guitar. The possibilities are only limited by your mind and desire to learn more. Also, I use a great program called MixCraft regularly to change the pitch in songs (so I can play in tune with the song), slow down riffs that I want to learn to play, or my own steel guitar recordings, et cetera. It's well worth the $89 for the basic version. God bless!

Lloyd Green Page