Topic: Blind Willie Johnson technique

[uncle bud]

Actually, McTell says "with a steel ring".

[dj]

Sam Charters interviewed Johnson's second wife, Angeline, on at least two occasions.  There's an interesting passage in the chapter on Johnson in The Country Blues, in which Charters says "... he used a pocket knife, playing in the "Hawaiian style" that had been introduced into the United States by the Hawaiian troops [sic, I assume he means "troupes"] that toured the country before the First World War."

Now, by "Hawaiian style", Charters may simply have meant "slide".  And the book was an early work on the blues and contains quite a few errors.  But the sentence is intriguing.   

[banjochris]

Actually, McTell says "with a steel ring".

Yes he does, none of which changes that he's holding a knife in the picture 

[banjochris]

Thanks Chris. I had been looking at the photo again after dj's post, trying to determine what I saw going on in the left hand. All the versions of the photo I find online are smallish and low res, and the reproduction in Nothing But the Blues is surprisingly terrible. Anyway, I can't see an actual knife clearly but his hand position sure looks right for one, so will assume it's my eyes/brain letting me down.

Hadn't seen this before I sent my smart-ass reply and I'll direct folks back to this discussion:
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=8585.0

edited by UB to correct for new URL

[uncle bud]

Thanks, I seem to have missed or completely forgotten that thread which even includes all sorts of photo analysis. Further discussion if any should probably move over there. I'll split and merge things.

edited to add: OK, old thread now combined with new posts. Very enlightening.

[Mr.OMuck]

I think what we got here is a short bottleneck or pipe with his pinky emerging from the top. I took this photo into photoshop raised the dpi and did some shadow dodging around under his hand and what I'm ending up seeing is consistent
( though not 100% conclusive) with a slide not a knife. Also if it were a knife it seems to me he'd have to be in a more ready position to employ it, i.e. with the knife across the strings or a few strings in order to appear as though he were playing or about to play. If its a slide he wouldn't need to "be in position" as it is much easier to get a slide into position than a knife.

[Mr.OMuck]

Extra! Stop the presses. I've been collecting different versions of the photo on the hinternet and tweaking them and think I have just seen Chris's knife, or what looks to be a metallic rounded object under BWJ's second finger.  Its again not clear enough to say with 100% accuracy but it looks to me that that is what's going on...which just blows my mind frankly. Having that much control with such an unstable arrangement? YIKES!

[uncle bud]

Another aspect of Johnson's playing that I think argues for upright playing position and against any theory I may have about lap style is the bass damping and percussive bass notes that are fairly consistent characteristics of his slide playing. Really sounds like right hand damping to me. It's not like it's impossible in lap style, but it seems much easier and more comfortable when playing upright, in my limited experience.

[Mr.OMuck]

Also that can is without question a BOX and it appears to be affixed to the headstock and may be transected by BWJ's guitar strap in some funky way or other. Other observations are that both his head and hands are enormous, and he was actually quite a handsome, distinguished looking dude.

[banjochris]

Is there any consensus on what kind of guitar he's playing?

[Pan]

Is there any consensus on what kind of guitar he's playing?

Neil Harpe seems to think that it might be a Stella.

http://www.stellaguitars.com/What_guitars_they_played.htm

Cheers

Pan

[Rivers]

Coming back to this a few years later I still don't see a knife or slide of any sort. Nor do I see a cup, I still think it's something else on a stand in front of the headstock. Or maybe a coffee can, whatever it is it has squarish edges and is not cylindrical. I also think I can see his pinky curled alongside the ring finger.