How to play You Just Can’t Beat Jesus Chris, Billy Joe Shaver
Howdy, Tele Smellers! Today’s post is going to focus on some incredible licks from legendary guitarist Eddy Shaver on You Just Can’t Beat Jesus Christ. Written by Eddy’s father, Bill Joe Shaver, You Just Can’t Beat Jesus Christ is a great song about…well, Jesus, and the narrator’s journey in finding his way to Jesus. While I am personally not the most religious man on the planet, I got to admit, Billy Joe’s You Just Can’t Beat Jesus Christ kicks some ass. Especially the live version that this lesson was based on. What’s that? You haven’t seen the live version yet? Don’t worry, I got you covered! Check out the YouTube video below for some in-your-face guitar playing!
In today’s post, you’ll find the tablatures for Eddy Shaver’s blistering electric guitar licks from the live performance. And I mean Every. Single. Note. Including the slide guitar licks at the end! If you need to see a demonstration, fear not! I’ve got a YouTube video covering all of the licks! And if you need to have the tablatures or you want to download the backing track and practice track, you access them by becoming a Patreon supporter https://www.patreon.com/smellytele. If all you want is the tabs you can also purchase them at SMP Press https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/22220860.
Gear Corner
To get that sick, crunchy, and spanky tone that Eddy dials in for You Just Can’t beat Jesus Christ, you’re going to want to pull out your trusty Stratocaster! For today’s video, I used my Fender American Elite Stratocaster and switched between the bridge pickup and the neck pickup. I rolled the tone knob back to 8, but I don’t recommend taking the tone knob down too far for this song. The tone is bright, and this brightness is what makes these licks sound crazy. As you’re learning the solos and rhythms down below, you’ll realize that most of these licks are blues-based guitar licks with a few country-sounding 7ths thrown in. And while Eddy is playing fast, he’s not deviating too far from the minor and major pentatonic scales, or even from your standard CAGED system chord shapes.
“OK but how about that amplifier?! It sounds so sick, that it’s got to be a Marshall stack, yes?” Believe it or not, no! From what I can see in the video, it looks like Eddy is playing a Mesa Boogie, and after doing some forum research, I believe he’s playing a Mesa Boogie Mark II Coliseum series. It’s an awesome sound, and you can bet your bottom dollar that he had it CRANKED! Normally I say that less distortion is more, but in this case, you’re going to want to turn the gain up a little extra. You want people to say, “wow, you used a bit more psycho-billy fuzz than you should have…but it sounded GREAT!”
The Chords
Nashville Numbers
You Just Can’t Beat Jesus Christ is a 3 chord songs, and it follows one of the most common progressions in popular music. For those of you who already know basic music theory and Nashville Numbers, you know I’m talking about I-IV-V (1-4-5). In the key of E, a 1-4-5 progression (and variations on this progression) will use the E, A, and B chords. How do we find these chords? Simply play each note of your E major scale and assign a number to each note in ascending order. In E major, your 1st note is E, the second is F#, 3rd is Ab, 4th is A, and the 5th is B. So taking the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes from this scale gives you the 1, 4, and 5 chords in E major. Simple.
Here are a few basic chord diagrams. Eddy uses a B7 for the 5 chord in this song, and this provides a mix of country and blues styling for the song.
Come On, Man!! Where are the Eddy licks!?!
Intro
I suppose I’ve teased you all enough. Time to dig into Eddy Shaver’s spectacular playing. He opens up You Just Can’t Beat Jesus Christ with a simple sounding riff, but this will take some coordination with your right and left hand. I was surprised at how much time I spent just practicing the opening riff for the YouTube video, so if it’s challenging, take your time. Patience and practice are the big keys here for the song’s intro.
Verse 1
The same intro licks continue into the first verse over the E chord. When the band finally kicks it, you’re going to change to your A chord, and the rhythm will change slightly too! You’ll learn a couple cool fill licks too over this A chord.
Then you’re going to play a blues slide up as you go back down to your E chord.
Finally, you move from the B7 chord, down to the A chord, and back to the E chord (or the 1 chord).
Verse 2
This verse is very similar to Verse 1. If you’re less interested in all the intricacies of Eddy’s playing, you can probably just repeat the first verse and skip down to the guitar solo. But there are a couple new things to learn here, so if you’re looking for a challenge, check out the tabs for Verse 2!
GUITAR SOLO!!
OH YEAH! This guitar solo kicks some serious butt. I mean the blending of blues and country in this is perfect, and it’s probably one of the reasons why you’re here. I’ll keep the talking to a minimum here and jump right into the tabs.
Verse 3
Bill Joe is going to let the awesomeness of Eddy’s Shaver slowly fade out for a few bars, because Billy Joe is thinking, “goddamn that boy can play some guitar,” and we all need a moment to process what the heck just happened. Then Billy Joe remembers he’s on stage and proceeds with the third verse. Eddy’s playing is very similar to Verse 1 & Verse 2. You may be able to skip to the last solo and get some slide practice in, but I think it’s worth looking at Verse 3.
Final Solo! Slide Guitar Time!
Now I’ve got to admit, I’m not the best slide player, so we are all getting out of our comfort zones a bit here. If slide is your thing, this solo should be a breeze for you! But for the rest of us, this one takes some patience and slow practice to get the hang of. Eddy’s slide work here is pretty cool, so it’s worth the time and effort!
That’s It!!
Now you know how to play You Just Can’t Beat Jesus Christ!! If you’re looking for more songs with Billy Joe & Eddy Shaver, check out our lesson for Georgia On A Fast Train (smellytele.com)!
Remember, if you would like to support this webpage, please become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/smellytele! A perk of being a patron? You’ll be able to download the practice track, backing tracks, and tabs so you can follow along with the video lessons & our lesson posts!
Also, go and check out some of our other electric guitar lessons! We have rock n roll lessons for Fortunate Son (smellytele.com) and for Don’t Fear The Reaper (smellytele.com).
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