Tom Waits: Bass Transcriptions

This arrangement is different from the studio version.  I transcribed this version because I like Marc Ribot's guitar playing on it, a rawer and more aggressive than the studio version played by Fred Tackett of Little Feet.

Live arrangement 

I plugged 16 shells from a thirty-ought-six
And a black crow snuck through a hole in the sky
So I spent all my buttons on an old pack mule
And I made me a ladder from a pawn shop marimba
And I leaned it up against a dandelion tree
Leaned it up against a dandelion tree
Leaned it up against a dandelion tree
 

I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
16 shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
16 shells from a thirty-ought-six
 

Well I slept in the holler of a dry creek bed
And I tore out the buckets from a red Corvette
Tore out the buckets from a red Corvette
Lionel and Dave and the Butcher made three
You got to meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree
With the strings of a Washburn stretched like a clothes line
You know me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
Me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
 

I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
16 shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
16 shells from a thirty-ought-six 

 I love everything about this song, especially Marc Ribots guitar  work.  As a Bass player its a good beginner song for fret-less bass.

One  thing to watch out for, (in the verse,  bars 17-18) most chord charts  seem to leave out the Ab/C and Bb/D - the slash root notes.  Also you  will need to listen to the song to confirm the timing of the slides  down.  I've included the target notes and the timing as best I could.   This is one of my earlier transcriptions so any constructive feedback is  welcome.

I've transcribed some of Marc's Guitar lines for bass, they work great  in a duo or trio setting where the guitar is holding down the rhythm.   Leave a comment if you would like me to add them to this post.