Paul Simon - Late Great Johnny Ace Chords & Tabs

The Late, Great Johnny Ace
Words & music by Paul Simon 1981


Abmaj7 |D7 |Abmaj7 |D7 |


Abmaj7                |D7  
      I was reading a magazine

    Abmaj7                     |D7  
And thinking of a rock and roll song

    Abmaj7           |D7       
The year was nineteen fifty four

     |G                       |G7
And I hadn't been playing that long

      |C        F/C   |C   C7
When a man came on the radio

   |F       Gm7  F/A|Bb9 |
And this is what he  said

Am7          |Dm              |E
    He said I hate to break it to his fans

   |Am7          |F                |Am  |Dm |
But Johnny Ace is dead, yeah, yeah, yeah


G        |Abmaj7 
  Well, I really wasn't

      |D7  
Such a Johnny Ace fan

     |Abmaj7          |D
But I felt bad alI the same

    |Abmaj7           |D
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       Gm7 F/A|Bb9 |
With a sad and sim-ple face

Am7         |Dm              |E
    And they signed it on the bottom

        |Am7              |F               |Am  |Dm |G |C |  |  |
From the Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah


          |            
It was the year of The Beatles

          |  
It was the year of The Stones

      |             |    |
It was nineteen sixtyfour
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/p/paul_simon/late_great_johnny_ace_crd.html ]
     |   Bb/D   Fm
I was living in London

Eb      |C    B        Bb     Am|F#dim |Fm |
With the girl from the summer be-fore


          |            
It was the year of The Beatles

          |  
It was the year of The Stones
 
 |              |  |
A year after J.F.K.

       |        Bb/D Fm  Eb
We were staying up   all night

   |C      B   Bb   G|F  |
And giving the days a-way


Bb9        |Ebmaj7    Abmaj7  |Eb
    And the music was flowing amazing

    Bb7-9     |Abmaj7 |D7 |Abmaj |
And blowing my way


D7     |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         Gm7   F/A|Bb9  |
And we stayed to close the place

Am7    |Dm           |E
    And every song we played

           |Am7              |F               |Am  |Dm7 |G |
Was for The Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah


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