A-Z Songbook, Intermediate Electric, Motown & Soul

Jimmy Mack chords by Martha and the Vandellas

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Jimmy Mack | Chords + Lyrics

Intro

Verse 1

Chorus 1

| Ebm | Emb7 | Db | Gb |
Hey, Jimmy, Jimmy. Oh, Jimmy Mack, when are you comin’ back.
| Ebm7 | Gbmaj7 | Dbmaj7 | Gb Ab |
Jimmy, Jimmy. Oh, Jimmy Mack, you better hurry back.

Verse 2

He calls me on the phone, about three times a day.
Now my heart doesn’t listen to, what he has to say.
But this loneliness I have within is reaching out to be his friend.

Chorus 2

Hey, Jimmy, Jimmy. Oh, Jimmy Mack, when are you comin’ back.
Jimmy, Jimmy. Oh, Jimmy Mack, you better hurry back.

Chorus tag 1

Solo

Verse 3

Chorus 3

Chorus tag 2

| Db Gb | Db Gb | Ebm | Ebm7 |
Need your loving (Hurry back, Jimmy Mack). Need your loving (Hurry, hurry).

Outro

||: Db Gb :||
Hey Jimmy Mack, you better hurry back (Hurry back, Jimmy Mack).
Hey Jimmy Mack, when are you coming back (Hurry back, Jimmy Mack).
Oh, I’m not getting any stronger (Hurry back, Jimmy Mack, oh).
I can’t hold out very much longer (Hurry back, Jimmy Mack, oh).
Jimmy Mack when are you coming back (Hurry back, Jimmy Mack, oh).
Need your loving. Oh Jimmy Mack (Hurry back, Jimmy Mack, oh).

Jimmy Mack Chords: Learn the progressions

Jimmy Mack’s intro is almost the same as the chorus, the difference being that we use bigger extensions or substitutions (more on this below). Here are the intro chords.

And here’s the chorus (notice the difference in bar 2, that’s a substitution).

||: Db (I) Gb (IV) :||x3
| Gb (IV) Ab (V) |
||: Db (I) Gb (IV) :||x8

The only other chords are to be found in the solo. First, we play like the verse before a new idea appears, like this:

||: Db Gb :||x4
| Ebm (II) | Emb7 Ab (V) | Db (I) Gb (IV) | Gb (IV) Ab (V) |

Here’s a chord chart I made for you.

Jimmy Mack Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro

Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Jimmy Mack Chord Chart PDF.

This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file: Jimmy Mack iReal Pro. With the app, you can easily change the key last minute.

I always find it interesting how when you change to the key of C, it always looks so much easier. The Roman Numerals feel more obvious and I feel as if I understand the song better, even when I switch back.

Speaking of keys, the key of Db is one of the most difficult to play in. Jimmy Mack is an excellent opportunity to get better at playing in this key all over the neck.

Below is a preview of how we practise this in the course as we chord substitute as well in this very awkward key.

When you can play Jimmy Mack’s chords anywhere on the neck in an improvised way, and chord substitute, you’ve come a long way.

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Jimmy Mack TAB | Course Preview

The path to success when it comes to playing rhythm parts is to know your CAGED shapes so well that you can move around the fretboard in an improvised way.

In Jimmy Mack, we’re in the key of Db. As this is a difficult key for guitar players, we have a perfect opportunity to test our chord knowledge in the context of an actual song.

To see how well you know your CAGED shapes, try playing along with the backing track provided in the playlist above, using Jimmy Mack’s chords and lyrics to guide you.

If all goes well, the next step is to start substituting the chords, this is a relatively complex harmonic trick that you will only be able to pull off if you know all your CAGED chords and understand the fundamentals of harmony.

Here’s a quick introduction to chord substitution, using Jimmy Mack’s intro:

Jimmy Mack starts with the chords II – IIm7 – I – IV. In the key of Db that becomes:

Ebm – Ebm7 – Db – Gb

Here are a few substitutions you could try, instead of extending the chords:

Gb – instead of Ebm7
Gbmaj7 – Instead of Ebm9
Fm – instead of Dbmaj7

Try the play-along TAB loop above to see this concept in more detail as we play a Gbmaj7 instead of an Em7, creating an Em9 sound. Here’s the TAB for what I’m talking about:

Jimmy Mack chords and TAB, intro example 1 and 2.

Once you get it, you’ll see that we’ve opened a can of worms here. You can easily spend the rest of your life chord substituting, ask any keyboard player, and they’ll chew your ear off!

Next up in the course for this lesson, we look at four more examples for the same section. Practice all these and you’ll be able to improvise your rhythm guitar part.

For the rest of the lessons on Jimmy Mack, we learn the verse, chorus, and solo. After I play the complete song with the band and give you all the TAB for it, it’s your turn in step 8 to play with the band.

Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: Jimmy Mack – Guitar Lessons with TAB.

Jimmy Mack was one of Martha and the Vandellas’ biggest hits!

Jimmy Mack is a 1967 single by Martha and the Vandellas.

Written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, it would become one of the group’s most successful songs, released as the last in a string of hits after Heat Wave (1964), Dancing In The Street (1964), and Nowhere To Run (1965).

These are all classics on the working Motown/Soul band’s repertoire and fit perfectly alongside tunes by other contemporary female acts like The Supremes, The Ronettes, and singers such as Mary Wells, Fontella Bass, and Freda Payne.

You could easily put together a repertoire for a female-fronted Motown/Soul band from the above-mentioned artists and groups and have yourself a working band. I spent a decade doing just this, it was always a success with the crowd.

Some bands even turn this concept into a touring theatre show that goes on never-ending tours around the country, making guest appearances on cruise ships, and sometimes even rejigging their show into a West End-like musical.

To enter this world you need one thing more than anything: a repertoire. Why not start with learning Jimmy Mack’s chords?

Jimmy Mack Chords | Related Pages

Jimmy Mack | 8 Step-by-step Guitar Lessons + TAB

Jimmy Mack is your introduction to chord substitutions, this is something we’ll do a lot more of in the future.

Seemingly simple to do, once you get it, you’ll see that we’ve opened a can of worms here. You can easily spend the rest of your life substituting chords.

Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics

When you can play Jimmy Mack's chords, try these five tunes from the songbook.

The Funk Brothers tunes

Motown’s house band, The Funk Brothers was the most successful group of studio musicians of all time.

Their contributions can be heard on Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Dancing In The Street, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, My Girl, and My Guy.

The Funk Brothers on the web

Holland-Dozier-Holland tunes

Holland Dozier Holland wrote Jimmy Mack.

Motown’s main songwriting team, Holland-Dozier-Holland are responsible for some of the biggest tunes of all time.

Their hit parade includes classics such as Can I Get A Witness, Jimmy Mack, Reach Out, I’ll Be There, You Can’t Hurry Love, and Band Of Gold.

Holland-Dozier-Holland on the web

Listen to Hollan Dozier Holland on Spotify

Martha and the Vandellas tunes

Martha and the Vandellas recorded Jimmy Mack.

Martha met her Vandellas as she was a secretary at Motown’s hit factory where her soon-to-be backing singers sang for Marvin Gaye.

Together they had seven years of hits including Jimmy Mack, Nowhere To Run, and perhaps Motown’s biggest hit of them all, Dancing In The Street.

Martha and The Vandellas on the web

Listen to Martha and The Vandellas on Spotify.

About me | Dan Lundholm

Dan Lundholm wrote this guitar lesson on Jimmy Mack's chords.

This was a guitar lesson about Jimmy Mack chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.

Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.