Quick Facts
- Call The Doctor was recorded by JJ Cale on his Naturally album back on June 9, 1971 in Bradley’s Barn Studio in Mt Juliet, TN.
- The album also includes After Midnight which was made famous by Eric Clapton, Call Me The Breeze, later covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Crazy Mama which would become Cale’s only top 40 hit, Clyde which would be covered by both Dr Hook and Waylon Jenning and Magnolia, a personal favourite.
Call The Doctor – Guitar Chords and Lyrics
The song is in the key of F# minor and is made up of three chords, F#m, G#m, and A major. F#m is the relative minor to the key of A and so I am playing a Hohner Special 20 in the key of A.
Call The Doctor music and lyrics are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes and personal use only.
If you want the real thing, use the links above.
This is my rendition, transcription, envision of an all time awesome song.
Somebody call for a doctor, I think I’m sick
Ain’t had my medicine in over a week
My mind’s fine but my body feels weak
Call a doctor, I think I’m sick
Shady lady took all my bread
Ravaged my body Lord, messed with my head
I don’t know but I’ve had my fill
Call the doctor, I think I’m ill
Money’s gone and I got no place to go
I don’t believe I’ve ever felt so low
If you got time while you’re standing ’round
Call the doctor and tell him I’m down
Musical Instruments and Recording Equipment
Takamine Acoustic-Electric EG Series Guitar
In this video I am playing a Takamine Electric Acoustic EG series guitar similar to the one pictured here.
It has a solid spruce top with nato back and sides and a rosewood fretboard with abalone fret markers.
The built-in Takamine TK-40 preamp features EQ Bypass, Notch Filter, Mid Contour, Bass, Mid, Treble and Gain in addition to a built-in electronic tuner.
This guitar performs great and records great.
Hohner Special 20 Key – A
I’m using a Hohner Special 20 in the key of A for Call The Doctor. The song is in F#minor which is the relative minor to A major – it shares the same key signature so works for us here.
Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder
I made my first harmonica holder out of an old wire coat hanger. It wasn’t beautiful but it worked and put me on the road to earning my McGyver certificate at an early age.
For me now, a comfortable and properly fitting harmonica holder is a must for hands free harmonica playing. This
Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder works great for me.
Another harmonica holder that you may want to try that has gotten great reviews is the
Lee Oskar Harmonica Holder. You can also check out other harmonica holders on my George’s Harp Shop page.
Call The Doctor Video Transcription
Hi, George here. Welcome to this video where I show you how I play JJ Cale’s Call The Doctor from his album Naturally on guitar and harmonica. I’ll start by going through guitar chords and strumming pattern. I’ll go over the harmonica, the key I’m using for this as well as the tabs for the melody. Then we’ll just jam through a little bit and put it all together.
Call The Doctor is made up of three chords that repeat over a two bar progression that repeats over and over again. The three chords are F#m, G#m, and A major. So we have to use bar chords for this. For F#m, start with the Em chord formed with the third and fourth fingers. Move this up to the fourth fret and then place a bar with your first finger across the second fret. This is F#m. In order to create G#m, we need to move the F#m up 2 frets. Finally, to make A major, form a bar on the fifth fret and then create an E shape with fingers 2, 3, and 4.
The song is a slow blues shuffle so it has a swing feel – do bah do bah do – where the second eighth note in an eighth note pair is not as long as the first eighth note resulting in the swing feel. Play the root know on 1 and 3 and the chords on ‘and 2’ and ‘and 4’.
Looking at the harmonica. The song is in F#m which is the relative minor to A major so I’m going to use and A major harmonica.
Here are the tabs for the melody
-6 -6 -6 -6 6 -6 6 5 | 5 5 5 5
-6 -6 -6 7 7 7 | 7 7 7 7 -7
-6 -6 6 | 5 -4 5 5 5 5
5 -4 5 5 | 5 5 5 5 6 -6
Ok, so let’s play this.
I hope you enjoyed the video. Please leave a comment below and tell a friend.
Thanx Goerge good lesson!!
Really nicely done, many thanks
Cool. I’d like to hear that.
Many thanks for lesson! I Do it on bass & harp!
Hi George, I feel like I should be able to play this but I seem to be out of sync I know it’s a timing thing.I will plug on.. Thank You for this great lesson It’s great to have .And is a real challenge for me. Greger
George, can’t thank you enough for taking the time to make all these great lessons. Hands down the best instruction to be found on the internet for guitar and harmonica. Always happy to see a new lesson uploaded as they are always of excellent quality. Thanks again!
Thanks Sean. It’s always good to know the effort is appreciated.
Excellent. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Sriram. Much appreciated.
yes good as usual…thanks!
Mr. George Goodman ! Thank you SOOO MUCH!!! I learn so much from you! I am not WORTHY!!! You been bless by God thank you so much for sharing ! Jerry Tucker
Hi Jerry. You are so worthy. and welcome.
A great comment like that deserves a request. Got one?
Cheers, George
Thanks Man
Fantastic as usual George