Topic: Marshall Owens' "Try Me One More Time" and "Texas Blues"

[uncle bud]

Marshall Owens sounds like he may have been an older man when he recorded, based on his vocal tone.

Good guess.  According to family, Owens was born around 1880.  So he would have been in his early 50s when he recorded in 1932.  He died in 1974 at the age of (around) 94.

Did anyone ever track him down in the 60s?

[dj]

According to Ken Romanowsky's notes to the Document CD, Don Kent "stumbled upon" information concerning Owens' whereabouts shortly after his death.  Surviving family was interviewed, but it was too late to interview Marshall Owens himself.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
One of the interesting things about Marshall Owens' vocal/instrumental phrasing on "Texas Blues" is that while it looks like a straight 12-bar blues when you look at the lyrics, he didn't play it that way.  Marshall Owens shortened up the instrumental response time at the end of each vocal phrase by two beats, much as Booker White did for his blues that were recorded in his great sessions for Lester Melrose.  So it is that Marshall Owens' form for "Texas Blues" looks like this, assuming four-beat measures except where otherwise indicated.

   |    I    |    I    |    I +2 beats    |

   |   IV   |  IVm |    I +2 beats(V7)    |

   |   V7   |   I     |   I + 2 beats    |

Owens gets a distinctive effect, too, by anticipating the V7 chord on the sixth beat of the last measure in the second phrase, very straight-up-and-down, square on the beat.  He varies his phrasing for the hummed verses, in which he plays the first phrase as a conventional four measures of four beats each.

Marshall Owens utilized a beautiful voicing for his IVminor chord that I don't think even Buddy Boy Hawkins used.  He (Owens) goes from his IV chord, fingered X-0-2-0-1-X to a IVm Major 7, fingered
X-0-1-0-0-X, and boy, is it pretty.  It gives the song a really special cast there.  It's interesting, I've heard a lot of people cover "Try Me One More Time", and I've never heard anybody cover "Texas Blues".  It's a beauty.
All best,
Johnm

[Prof Scratchy]

Not very good, but I did have a go.....:
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2351.msg17810#msg17810

[uncle bud]

Not very good, but I did have a go.....:
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2351.msg17810#msg17810

I beg to differ. That's totally cool! Real nice version, IMO.

[Johnm]

Well there you go, it has been covered, and very nicely by Prof. Scratchy.  I agree with uncle bud, a very nice job, Allan, and you got all that timing stuff like rolling off a log.  Well done!
All best,
Johnm

[Slack]

Me three - really nice professor!

[Prof Scratchy]

Thanks, folks - hard to believe that was nearly 6 years ago...

[Parlor Picker]

Scratchy strikes again!

[Lignite]

Sorry to come into this thread so late, boys, but I just finally discovered this great tune. It seems to work pretty well on the banjo too in a C tuning gCGCE (one Uncle Dave seemed to use alot). Great key to sing it in too since the G tuning is capoed up to B by Marshall. F chord is 0-2-0-1. C7 is 0-3-00 and G7 2-0-2-1. Not as pretty as the guitar accompaniment but effective and fun nonetheless.