Hi all,
a while since i posted so i thought i'd update on progress, maybe it will help others following in the future.
I eventually went with Ain't no Sunshine by Bill Withers to try and support the Dmin practice. This uses all the stage 2 minor chords, so thought that would be a decent option. It isn't in my songbook, but Justin has uploaded a quite recent video tutorial.
Changes to Dmin are now around 45, which i'm pleased about so moved to stage 3 a fortnight ago and as such i am now working on Gmaj and Cmaj.
The song however is still a challenge, the change from Emin to Dmin is a real ****** when trying to keep time, so i find myself limbering up with a couple of minutes of Emin to Dmin changes before attempting the song practice. I'd say i'm hitting it 50% of the time, or so, as trying to force the change rather than slow down. As such the song very much feels like a number of separate practice sessions rather than a fluent play through, i think the middle section also is stopping this, it doesn't feel particularly natural playing Amin over and over for the "i know, i know...." section.
anyway just thought i'd share.