Ko-Ko Joe by Jerry Reed

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro

• A
  I

Verse 1

• A – E7 – A – C – D – A
  I – V7 – I – bIII – IV – I

Chorus 1

• B7 – D7 – A7 – B7 – D – D/C – D7 – B7 – E7
  II7 – IV7 – I7 – II7 – IV – IV (bass C) – IV7 – II7 – V7

Transition 1

• A7
  I7

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Chorus 4

• B7 – D7 – A7 – B7
  II7 – IV7 – I7 – II7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• C (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• B7 acts as V/V: it resolves to E7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0713, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.