On Broadway chords

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On Broadway | Chords + Lyrics

Intro

||: Ab7 Gb | Ab7 Gb7 :|| x4

Verse 1

Instrumental 1 (key change)

||: A G | G A :||

Verse 2

| A7 G | A7 G7 | A7 G | A7 G7 |
They say the women treat you right on Broadway.
| A7 G | A7 G7 | A7 G | A7 G7 |
But looking at them just gives me the blues.
| D7 C | D7 C7 | D7 C | D7 D#7 E7 |
‘Cause how you gonna make some time, when all you got is one thin dime.
| A7 G | A7 G7 | A7 G | A7 G7 |
And one thin dime won’t even shine your shoes.

Instrumental 2 (key change)

||: Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 :|| x4

Verse 3

Solo

||: Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 :|| to end
I won’t quit til I’m a star on Broadway.
No, no, no, no.
I won’t quit til I’m a star on Broadway
Do do do do…

On Broadway’s chords, progressions, bass line, and TAB

George Benson‘s version of that old The Drifters tune On Broadway has terrified guitar players for years. Using just a simple V – IV style progression, On Broadway’s chords work as a platform for George’s insane improvisations.

Before we get that far, we have gone through two key changes and had a very unique take on the blues format so let’s start from the top. Here’s the intro, which is actually the same as the instrumentals, and the solo, just in a different key.

||: Ab7 Gb | Ab7 Gb7 :||

Looking at those two chords, we’d think this is a V – IV in the key of Db, and in a way it is, but it also isn’t. Instead, think of this as a blues in Ab, moving from chord I – bVII.

When the verse starts, this becomes more obvious. Here are On Broadway’s verse 1 chords:

As you can see, this is a 16-bar blues where we go between the I – IV – V, back to chord I. For the I and IV chords, we constantly move down a tone, so I – bVIIx, and IV – bIIIx.

To get to the V chord we move chromatically from IV. In the key of Ab, that’s Db7 – D7 – Eb7.

Following this first verse, we move up a semitone and play an instrumental section, just like the intro again but now in A, like this:

||: A7 G | G7 A7 :||

This is followed by verse 2, which is identical to verse 1, just a semitone higher, in the key of A. The next instrumental section again moves up a semitone and stays there twice as long.

The final verse is the same as verses 1 and 2, just now in the key of Bb.

Lastly, we loop that intro riff forever, still in the key of Bb. This is when George Benson shows us all how it’s done.

Before you start to transcribe George’s crazy licks, a good starting point is to learn the bass line that this tune is based around, Here it is in TAB in the key of Ab:

Next, learn the chords, I’ve made these chords Ab7 – Gb, then Ab7 – Gb7. For the first Ab7 we hammer on from minor to major, the second Ab7 we slide into.

This creates enough variation to make it interesting, but not too much so it takes away the focus from either the vocal or the solo. Here are On Bradway’s chords in TAB for verse 1: