Well.......it's about time I posted something Todd related and there's an element of the wheel turning full circle for me about posting the chart for this particular song - it was the first TR song I ever heard and changed my outlook on music ever since for the next.......ooohhh, 21 years or so. I first heard Useless Begging in a shared hotel room in London, one morning in September 1976. I was 20 years old. One of the two guys I was sharing the room with had it playing on a cheesy little tape player (pre-Walkman days!) and it just jumped out and grabbed my attention. First music I heard that day. I'd never heard anything like it before or since, by any artist and it ensured that I went out and spent the next few years buying up every TR album I could lay my hands on. I loved the structure, the harmony vocals and the sound. The message came to me later with repeated hearings - I don't propose to dissect the song here, that's been done on the list before. What DID hit me was how original it was and that there appeared to be a tap dance solo in the middle. Tap dancing - where did THAT come from? What was in this Rundgren guy's head he would put tap dancing on a record! I've always wondered how he got that effect - my guess is that he clicked a couple of pool balls together and drenched the resulting click in reverb. Anyone know better? Kelli? Couple of months or so back, Lin Sprague and I bounced some ideas off each other for "Play This Game", which Lin subsequently posted in his series for "EZ Guitar". I mentioned at the time I'd like to do the acoustic guitar part for Useless Begging at a future date - there is one there in the song, buried in the mix, but it's there if you listen. So I finally got my act together and, after once more bouncing some ideas for it off Lin, here it is. There's also a version of it on Lin's web site, but we both chose to use slightly different chord voicings in certain places. Lin also covers the intro part in depth, which I omit here. Thanks for being a sounding board Lin, it was a fun joint effort. BTW - usual caveats apply: i. if you think it's wrong anywhere, let me know where - I'm open to correction ii. you'll need to cut and paste this into a text editor to make sense of the diagrams, ie one which displays mono-spaced font. If you have a PC and use Windows, cut 'n' paste it into Notepad. MSWord won't make any sense of it. If you have Mac, then you'll have to cut 'n' paste it into............well, I don't know, I don't have a Mac, but I wish I did. Have fun, Phil. ============================================================= Useless Begging, TR 1974, from the album "Todd" Is that you - Look who's on the skids this time Am7 Em7 Am7 o 5111111 7|11111 5111111 |||||| ||||2| |||||| |3|||| ||3||| |3|||| |||||| |||||| |||||| Bitchin 'bout a place in line Dm7 Dm7/G Cmaj7 x x x 5|11111 5|11111 3|11111 ||||2| ||||2| |||2|| ||3||| |||||| ||3|4| |||||| |||||| |||||| When all you really want is a...........ttention Bbmaj7 Bbmaj7b5 Am7 ______ _____o xo_o_o 111111 11|||| ||||1| |||2|| |||2|| ||2||| ||3|4| ||3|4| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| 'Cause your like every other girl uptown Em7 Am7 o 7|11111 5111111 ||||2| |||||| ||3||| |3|||| |||||| |||||| Who wants to ride her face a......round and wave about that Dm7 Dm7/G Cmaj7 x 5|11111 5|11111 3|11111 ||||2| ||||2| |||2|| ||3||| |||||| ||3|4| |||||| |||||| |||||| power you have to put me down and Bbmaj7 Bbmaj7b5 Bbmaj7 Bbmaj7b5 Am7 ______ _____o ______ _____o xo_o_o 111111 11|||| 111111 11|||| ||||1| |||2|| |||2|| |||2|| |||2|| ||2||| ||3|4| ||3|4| ||3|4| ||3|4| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| so I'll tell ya... ..ah D6 Am7 Am7 G7 x_____ xo___x xo____ ______ |||||| ||||1| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||2||| |||||| |||||| ||||1| |||||| |||||| 111111 ||32|| |||||| |||||| ||||2| |4|||| ||4444 ||3||| To see you like this is really tragic... G7 G6 G7 ______ ______ ______ |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| 111111 111111 111111 ||||2| |||2|| |||2|| |4|||| |3||4| |3|||| ||||4| It's like Ruby says our dreams have ma......gic, but I know C7sus4 C7 Cadd9 C7 C7sus4 C6 8111111 8111111 8111111 8111111 8111111 8111111 |||||| |||2|| |||2|| |||2|| |||||| |||2|| |3|4|| |3|||| |3|||| |3|||| |3|4|| |3||4| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||4||| |||||| |||||| |||||| Useless begging won't help - useless begging won't help me Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 Ab G (to intro) x 5|11111 7|11111 8|11111 4111111 3111111 ||||2| ||||2| |||2|| |||2|| |||2|| ||3||| ||3||| ||3|4| |34||| |34||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| Back to intro.