Monday, March 25, 2013

Monkey Man ukulele chords - Toots and the Maytals


Yep, my daughter is totally awesome!  Here we are rockin' out to this classic ska song on the ukulele.  Monkey Man was released in 1969 by Toots and the Maytals and hit number 47 on the UK singles chart.  A lot of popular covers of this one, including a notable one by The Specials and a more recent version by the
late Amy Winehouse.

Here's the chords to play on the ukulele.  If you need help with chords, check out the ukulele chord finder.  This is a basic down/up ska strum.  I throw a few chord slides in, but I won't list them off here.  Just play what sounds right to you.  Here's the basic idea....


Monkey Man
note: I've heard a bunch of different versions of this song - all of which had slightly different lyrics, so the words here are in no way true to the original.
Ab
Aye-aye-aye   Aye-aye-aye
Db.....................Eb....................Ab
Talkin' bout the big monkey man
Ab
Aye-aye-aye   Aye-aye-aye
Db.......................Eb...................Ab
Talkin' bout the big monkey man
Ab
I never saw you.  I only heard of you.
Db......................Eb..................Ab
Talkin' bout the big monkey man
Ab
I never saw you.  I only heard of you.
Db.......................Eb....................Ab
Talkin' bout the big monkey man
Ab
It's no lie.  It's no lie.
Db.......................Eb..................Ab
Talkin' bout the big monkey man
Ab
It's no lie.  It's no lie.
Db.......................Eb..................Ab
Talkin' bout the big monkey man
Ab
Now I know that.  Now I understand.
Db...............Eb................Ab
Turnin' the monkey on me
Ab
Now I know that.  Now I understand.
Db..............Eb.................Ab
Turnin' the monkey on me.
Ab
Aye-aye-aye   Aye-aye-aye
Db......................Eb....................Ab
Talkin' bout the big monkey man
Ab
Aye-aye-aye   Aye-aye-aye
Db......................Eb....................Ab
Talkin' bout the big monkey man



....that's really all there is to it.  Just three chords.  Easy to adjust the key on this one if you need to move it up or down.  Happy Uke'n!





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