Johnny Cash — Wreck Of The Old 97 Tab

Wreck Of The Old 97

Tabbed by: MrModigh

Capo on 1st fret.

This is from the Sun—recording done in the 50's.
The intro and solo are as played by Luther Perkins.
I haven't found the correct solo tab so I've made it myself,
and I think it's the most accurate.

The solo that Bob Wootton plays at San Quentin, 
is the same except for the part with the slide.
I think Wootton plays it like this instead: D|——67676—— (but I'm not sure).

If you want to play along with the recording, 
you have to tune up your guitar 3/4 (or 1/4 with the capo on 1st fret).
This will match Luther's tuning.

/= slide into
PM= Palm Mute


Intro
e|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|
b|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|
G|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|
D|——————2—2—2———————————————PM—————————————————————————————————————|
A|——0—4———————4—5—4—2—0——(4—2—0)———————————————————————————————————|
E|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|
                          
          A                       D
Well, they gave him his orders at Monroe, Virginia.
       A                        E
Said, "Steve, you're way behind time.
        A                         D
This is not Thirty—Eight, this is old Ninety—Seven.
 A           E         A
Put her into Spencer on time".

Well he turned around and said to his big, greasy fireman,
Hey "shovel on a little more coal.
And when we cross that White Oak Mountain,
Watch old Ninety—Seven roll."

Solo
e|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|
b|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|
G|——————————————————————————————2———————————2—4—2——————————————|
D|——————2—2—2—————————0—0—0—0—4———4—2—2—2—4———————4/6——————————|
A|——0—4———————4—0—2—4——————————————————————————————————————————|
E|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|
                                                                            
e|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|
b|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|
G|——————2—2—2———————————————————2——————————————————————————————|
D|——2—4———————4—2—————0—0—0—0—4———4—2—2—2———0————————————PM————|
A|————————————————2—4—————————————————————4———4—2—0———(4—2—0)——|
E|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————|

It's a mighty rough road from Lynchburg to Danville.
In a line on a three mile grade.
It was on that grade that he lost his airbrakes,
You'd see what a jump he made.

He was going down the grade makin' ninety miles an hour.
His whistle broke into a scream.
He was found in the wreck, with his hand on the throttle,
scalded to death by the steam.

Now all you ladies you better take a warnin',
From this time on and learn
Never speak harsh words to your true lovin' husband
he may leave you and never return.


This verse wasn't in the original Sun—recording, 
but Johnny sings it in the San Quentin version.
So here it is (3rd verse).

And then a telegram came from Washington station,
this is how it read:
"Oh that brave engineer that run old Ninety—Seven, 
is lyin' in old Danville dead".