Difference between revisions of "The George Mitchell Collection Keys and Positions"
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− | A consolidated sortable list of tracks is available at [[The George Mitchell Collection, Volumes 1-45 - Sortable Track Listing]] | + | {{#css:weenie.css}} |
+ | [[Image:Georgemitchell_cover.gif|right|128px]]<br> | ||
+ | Notes by John Miller [[http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?Itemid=128&topic=5182.0 Go to original forum thread]]<br> | ||
+ | A consolidated sortable list of tracks is available at [[The George Mitchell Collection, Volumes 1-45 - Sortable Track Listing]]<br> | ||
+ | Tuning / position column content varies depending on guitar tuning. Where the guitarist is in an open tuning the column shows the common name, Vestapol (open D/E), Spanish (open G/A), Cross note (open Dm/Em). Where the guitar is in standard tuning the column shows the 1st position I chord. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
== Disc 1 == | == Disc 1 == | ||
=== Cecil Barfield === | === Cecil Barfield === | ||
Albany, Georgia, 1976 | Albany, Georgia, 1976 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">1-01</td><td>Lucy Mae Blues</td><td>G</td><td>A-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-01</td><td>Lucy Mae Blues</td><td>G</td><td>A-</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-02</td><td>I Woke Up Crying</td><td>G</td><td>G#</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-02</td><td>I Woke Up Crying</td><td>G</td><td>G#</td></tr> | ||
Line 13: | Line 15: | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-04</td><td>I Told You Not to Do That</td><td>G</td><td>A</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-04</td><td>I Told You Not to Do That</td><td>G</td><td>A</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Cecil Barfield certainly merits all the discussion his music has been generating lately. His "Lucy Mae Blues" was a terrific choice to open the entire set. The weird, trancey picking pattern ostinato he accompanies himself with is arresting enough, but when he comes in singing with his strangled headtone, he's got you. His bass alternation is one I've never run into before. Over his I chord, G, he alternates third fret sixth to third fret fourth, then third fret sixth to a quick hammer at second fret fourth string. Over his IV chord, the alternation is even more eccentric: third fret fifth string to third fret fourth string, than open fifth string to third fret fourth string--a bass alternation of C-F-A-F over a C chord, in which the only chord tone in the bass is the opening C! He sounds about as much like himself and absolutely nobody else working in the same style as it is possible to do in a vernacular style that had already been around for decades when he was recorded. Judging by the very small sample of his music offered here, he had a special predilection for G position in standard tuning, but the one song he does in E position, standard tuning (tuned a whole step low), "Love Blues", is brutally low-down, as tough as anything that ever came out of the Mississippi delta or hill country. So much for generalizing about sound based on where a player lived. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | ||
=== Buddy Moss === | === Buddy Moss === | ||
Atlanta, Georgia, 1963 | Atlanta, Georgia, 1963 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">1-05</td><td>In the Evening</td><td>E</td><td>D+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-05</td><td>In the Evening</td><td>E</td><td>D+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-06</td><td>Hey Lawdy Mama</td><td>E</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-06</td><td>Hey Lawdy Mama</td><td>E</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | ||
Line 26: | Line 29: | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-10</td><td>Amy</td><td>A</td><td>F#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-10</td><td>Amy</td><td>A</td><td>F#+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Buddy Moss sounds absolutely magisterial here, singing and playing with utter authority. His playing has a tremendous sheen and finish. It's worth remembering, too, how young he was when these recordings were made in 1963: 49-years-old, born in 1914, really the prime of life for a musician. He favors E position in standard tuning and tunes significantly low for all of his tunes. The "Amy" he is shown playing here is Blind Boy Fuller's "Mamie", of course. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | ||
=== Leon Pinson === | === Leon Pinson === | ||
Cleveland, Mississippi, 9/18/67 | Cleveland, Mississippi, 9/18/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">1-11</td><td>Motherless Child</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>C#-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-11</td><td>Motherless Child</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>C#-</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-12</td><td>Somebody is Calling My Name</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>C#-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-12</td><td>Somebody is Calling My Name</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>C#-</td></tr> | ||
Line 37: | Line 41: | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-14</td><td>He'll Understand and Say Well Done</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-14</td><td>He'll Understand and Say Well Done</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Leon Pinson comes across beautifully here with great singing and playing. His first two numbers appear to be played with a slide and the guitar in the conventional position. His final number, "He'll Understand and Say Well Done" sounds as though it is played lap style, and with its extreme vibrato and vocally-inflected phrasing sounds a lot like the work of present-day players working in the Sacred Steel tradition, like Darick Campbell and Aubrey Ghent. Pinson's version of "What God Can Do", more commonly known as "How Great Thou Art", employs extreme low tuning in standard tuning and conventional fretting, a sound likewise employed by Rev. Pearly Brown. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Houston Stackhouse === | === Houston Stackhouse === | ||
Dundee, Mississippi, 8/28/67 | Dundee, Mississippi, 8/28/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">1-15</td><td>Big Road Blues</td><td>Dropped-D</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-15</td><td>Big Road Blues</td><td>Dropped-D</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-16</td><td>Cool Water Blues</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-16</td><td>Cool Water Blues</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | ||
Line 48: | Line 52: | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-18</td><td>Take A Little Walk With Me</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-18</td><td>Take A Little Walk With Me</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Are there other instances of electric bands as faithfully rendering earlier acoustic styles as Houston Stackhouse's band played the music of Tommy Johnson? There must be other such cases, but I can't think of any right now. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Big Joe Williams === | === Big Joe Williams === | ||
Chicago, Illinois, 1963 | Chicago, Illinois, 1963 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">1-19</td><td>Everyone Got A Woman</td><td>Spanish</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-19</td><td>Everyone Got A Woman</td><td>Spanish</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-20</td><td>What She Need with A Rooster</td><td>Spanish</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-20</td><td>What She Need with A Rooster</td><td>Spanish</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | ||
Line 59: | Line 63: | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-22</td><td>Prison Bound</td><td>Spanish</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-22</td><td>Prison Bound</td><td>Spanish</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Big Joe Williams' numbers come from a live performance in which he appeared to be in an unusually pensive mood. He works with extremes in his dynamics, moving from barely audible singing to roaring. When he does a cover like "Prison Bound", it is so much his own. His way of playing in Spanish ventured into a lot of territory that he had all to himself. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== John Lee Ziegler === | === John Lee Ziegler === | ||
Kathleen, Georgia, late 1978 | Kathleen, Georgia, late 1978 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">1-23</td><td>Who's Gonna Be Your Man</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">1-23</td><td>Who's Gonna Be Your Man</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>G+</td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">1-24</td><td>If I Lose, Let Me Lose</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>G+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-24</td><td>If I Lose, Let Me Lose</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>G+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>John Lee Ziegler's two tunes, for which he is joined by an expert spoon player, are the high points of the disc for me. They are just beautiful, he must have had one of the prettiest voices ever in the country blues, up there in Sam Collins' or Lemon's league. There is something special about a tuning or position occurring at a great distance in pitch from where it is normally heard, too. Ziegler is playing in Vestapol at G, considerably higher than that tuning is normally heard, and the sound just draws you in. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | === Othar Turner === | |
− | === | ||
Como, Mississippi, 8/24/67 | Como, Mississippi, 8/24/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">1-25</td><td>Black Woman</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-25</td><td>Black Woman</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">1-26</td><td>Bumble Bee</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">1-26</td><td>Bumble Bee</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Prior to hearing the Othar Turner cuts here, I never knew he played guitar at all, knowing him primarily for his fife playing. He is substantially the roughest player here, and cuts the narrowest swath in terms of the amount of variety in his playing. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | ||
== Disc 2 == | == Disc 2 == | ||
=== Lonzie Thomas === | === Lonzie Thomas === | ||
Lee County, Alabama, early 1980s | Lee County, Alabama, early 1980s | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">2-01</td><td>Rabbit On A Log</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>D+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-01</td><td>Rabbit On A Log</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>D+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-02</td><td>Raise a Ruckus Tonight</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>D+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-02</td><td>Raise a Ruckus Tonight</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>D+</td></tr> | ||
Line 89: | Line 94: | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-04</td><td>Red Cross Store</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>D+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-04</td><td>Red Cross Store</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>D+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Lonzie Thomas, like Cecil Barfield and John Lee Ziegler, is worth the price of admission all by himself. He really was terrific. His "Rabbit on the Log" employs the same melody as John Hurt's "Payday", Henry Thomas' "Shanty Blues", and the Mississippi Sheiks' "Bootlegger Blues". For it and "Raise a Ruckus Tonight", he employs a backwards alternating thumb lead that bears a coincidental similarity to the right hand approach that Roscoe Holcomb used when finger-picking in his personalized Spanish tuning. Lonzie Thomas's time is much more loose-limbed and funky than Roscoe's, and not nearly so quick, though. All of Lonzie Thomas's performances communicate a droll sense of humor; none more than "My Three Women", a sensational one-chord number in Spanish that employs an irregularly recurring greasy bend on his unwound third string. He really reefs on it and it sounds great. Lonzie Thomas compares favorably with any of the rediscovered country Blues musicians of the '60s--'80s | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Sleepy John Estes === | === Sleepy John Estes === | ||
Brownsville, Tennessee, 1962 | Brownsville, Tennessee, 1962 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">2-05</td><td>Rats in the Kitchen</td><td>A</td><td>B+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-05</td><td>Rats in the Kitchen</td><td>A</td><td>B+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-06</td><td>Special Agent</td><td>A</td><td>B+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-06</td><td>Special Agent</td><td>A</td><td>B+</td></tr> | ||
Line 100: | Line 105: | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-08</td><td>Mail Man Blues</td><td>G</td><td>A+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-08</td><td>Mail Man Blues</td><td>G</td><td>A+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Sleepy John Estes is in great voice here. It's a little surprising not to hear him play in C position standard tuning at all, since it was much his favorite playing position on his early recordings. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Teddy Williams === | === Teddy Williams === | ||
Canton, Mississippi, 9/16/67 | Canton, Mississippi, 9/16/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">2-09</td><td>Down Home Blues</td><td>Dropped-D</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-09</td><td>Down Home Blues</td><td>Dropped-D</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-10</td><td>Catfish Blues</td><td>E</td><td>D+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-10</td><td>Catfish Blues</td><td>E</td><td>D+</td></tr> | ||
− | <tr><td align="center">2-11</td><td>Black Mattie</td><td> | + | <tr><td align="center">2-11</td><td>Black Mattie</td><td>E</td><td>F-</td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">2-12</td><td>Sun Don't Shine</td><td>A</td><td>Bflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-12</td><td>Sun Don't Shine</td><td>A</td><td>Bflat+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Teddy Williams sounds really good and has a lot of variety in his playing. I'm hard pressed to think of many Mississippi players who worked in dropped-D, other than Tommy Johnson, Walter Vinson, Bo Carter and Sam Chatmon. Teddy Williams liked to sing sharp and drive his voice very hard. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Green Paschal === | === Green Paschal === | ||
Talbotton, Georgia, 1969 | Talbotton, Georgia, 1969 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">2-13</td><td>Trouble Brought Me Down</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">2-13</td><td>Trouble Brought Me Down</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>D-</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">2-14</td><td>My Lord</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">2-14</td><td>My Lord</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>D-</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">2-15</td><td>Mother Is Dead</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">2-15</td><td>Mother Is Dead</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>C#+</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">2-16</td><td>Lay My Burden Down</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">2-16</td><td>Lay My Burden Down</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>C#+</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">2-17</td><td>Your Close Friend</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">2-17</td><td>Your Close Friend</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>C#+</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">2-18</td><td>I'm Going to Leave it in the Hands of the Lord</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">2-18</td><td>I'm Going to Leave it in the Hands of the Lord</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>C#+</td></tr> |
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Green Paschal's slide religious numbers in Vestapol sound strong. He doesn't do any left-hand damping to stifle harmonics and it all sounds fine. "Your Close Friend" is an especially strong number. He's a really nice singer, too. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== William "Do Boy" Diamond === | === William "Do Boy" Diamond === | ||
Canton, Mississippi, 9/15/67 | Canton, Mississippi, 9/15/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">2-19</td><td>Hard Time Blues</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>B+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-19</td><td>Hard Time Blues</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>B+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-20</td><td>Just Want to Talk With You</td><td>Spanish</td><td>F-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-20</td><td>Just Want to Talk With You</td><td>Spanish</td><td>F-</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>The liner notes describe William "Do Boy" Diamond as not much of a guitarist, but if you can sing like Diamond could, just a little bit of guitar is all that's needed, and he more than fills the bill. He's a sensational singer with interesting and unusual lyrics and especially sounds good on guitar on "Hard Time Blues", where he is tuned quite low. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Dewey Corley & Walter Miller === | === Dewey Corley & Walter Miller === | ||
Memphis, Tennessee, Summer, 1967 | Memphis, Tennessee, Summer, 1967 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">2-21</td><td>Just I Dream I got on my Mind</td><td>A</td><td>A</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-21</td><td>Just I Dream I got on my Mind</td><td>A</td><td>A</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-22</td><td>Memphis is a Wonderful City</td><td>A</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-22</td><td>Memphis is a Wonderful City</td><td>A</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-23</td><td>Down to Arkansas</td><td>A</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-23</td><td>Down to Arkansas</td><td>A</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Walter Miller was a nice player in A, standard tuning. Dewey Corley, on one-string bass, kazoo and vocals, must have been quite a character. He has the distinction, on "Memphis is a Wonderful City", of doing the very worst kazoo playing I have ever heard, and that includes little kids. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Bud Grant === | === Bud Grant === | ||
Thomaston, Georgia, 1969, Spring | Thomaston, Georgia, 1969, Spring | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">2-24</td><td>Rock Me Mama</td><td>E</td><td>F+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-24</td><td>Rock Me Mama</td><td>E</td><td>F+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-25</td><td>Freight Train Blues</td><td>A</td><td>G#</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-25</td><td>Freight Train Blues</td><td>A</td><td>G#</td></tr> | ||
Line 154: | Line 159: | ||
<tr><td align="center">2-27</td><td>Bud Grant's Grunt</td><td>E</td><td>F+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">2-27</td><td>Bud Grant's Grunt</td><td>E</td><td>F+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
− | <br> | + | <br>Bud Grant was a Georgia player. His "Freight Train Blues" is Blind Boy Fuller's "Lost Lover Blues", a candidate for the most-frequently covered tune in this set. He plays "So Sweet" out of A, standard tuning and it works really well there.<br> |
− | |||
== Disk 3 == | == Disk 3 == | ||
=== Bud White === | === Bud White === | ||
Richland, Georgia, 2/2/69 | Richland, Georgia, 2/2/69 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">3-01</td><td>Go Ahead On</td><td>E</td><td>F+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-01</td><td>Go Ahead On</td><td>E</td><td>F+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-02</td><td>You've Been Gone So Long</td><td>E</td><td>F+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-02</td><td>You've Been Gone So Long</td><td>E</td><td>F+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-03</td><td>White Horses</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-03</td><td>White Horses</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Bud White's first two numbers are fine, but nothing out of the ordinary. "White Horses" will make you sit up and pay attention, though, for it is sensational. Identification of the tuning is unusually difficult, for White never plays an open third string from the beginning to the end of the song. Cross-note at last seems the obvious choice for he inflects a bend of the IV note on the third string, and were he in Vestapol, he would be doing that at the first fret, next to the nut, which is unlikely. What a great performance this one is. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== George Henry Bussey === | === George Henry Bussey === | ||
Waverly Hall, Georgia, 1969 | Waverly Hall, Georgia, 1969 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">3-04</td><td>When I'm Sober I'm Drunk Blues</td><td>G</td><td>F#-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-04</td><td>When I'm Sober I'm Drunk Blues</td><td>G</td><td>F#-</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-05</td><td>Mean Mistreater</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-05</td><td>Mean Mistreater</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat-</td></tr> | ||
Line 176: | Line 180: | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-07</td><td>Looking For My Woman</td><td>A</td><td>E+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-07</td><td>Looking For My Woman</td><td>A</td><td>E+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
− | <br> | + | <br>George Henry Bussey is an uncle of Precious Bryant, nee Bussey. Based only on the sample of his work included in the set, he played most often in a style very derivative of Blind Boy Fuller. He was an unusually diffident singer, and sounds very shy about his singing. His two strongest numbers are those where he is tuned the farthest from concert pitch, most particularly "Looking for My Woman", where he is tuned a full fourth low, giving the guitar a very eerie timbre. One trend that is playing out in the course of this set is the non-importance of tuning to concert pitch for the players here. Players are almost never tuned to concert pitch, and are often as much as a minor third or more high or low of concert pitch. There is no reason to believe that players of an earlier era working in the same style placed any greater an emphasis on tuning to concert pitch. It's more important to suit your vocal range than to conform to an externally imposed standard of whatever type.<br> |
− | |||
=== Jim Bunkley === | === Jim Bunkley === | ||
Geneva, Georgia, 1969 | Geneva, Georgia, 1969 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">3-08</td><td>Old Red #2</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">3-08</td><td>Old Red #2</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>D+</td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">3-09</td><td>Jack of Diamonds</td><td>Spanish</td><td>F+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-09</td><td>Jack of Diamonds</td><td>Spanish</td><td>F+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-10</td><td>Them Greasy Greens</td><td>A</td><td>G+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-10</td><td>Them Greasy Greens</td><td>A</td><td>G+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-11</td><td>Rocking Chair</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-11</td><td>Rocking Chair</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
− | <br> | + | <br>Jim Bunkley sounds like he would have been fun to see in person. His unusual non-slide version of "Jack of Diamonds" is made all the more unusual by being played squarely in the Lydian mode, with a #IV note and major VII note in the scale adhered to throughout the course of the rendition. Rev. John Wilkins' final number at his Saturday afternoon concert set at Port Townsend this year was in the Lydian mode, too.<br> |
− | |||
=== Tom Turner === | === Tom Turner === | ||
Columbus, Mississippi, 9/6/67 | Columbus, Mississippi, 9/6/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">3-12</td><td>Old Breakdown</td><td>E</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-12</td><td>Old Breakdown</td><td>E</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-13</td><td>Drop Down Mama # 1</td><td>Spanish</td><td>G#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-13</td><td>Drop Down Mama # 1</td><td>Spanish</td><td>G#+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
− | <br> | + | <br>Tom Turner's two pieces are terrific. His "Old Breakdown" sounds like it comes from the same family as Robert Wilkins' "Rolling Stone" instrumentally, and from "Catfish", vocally and melodically. His thumb-popped bass notes on "Drop Down Mama #1" have the very sound that Son House got in his post-rediscovery playing, when popping bass notes in Spanish tuning.<br> |
− | |||
=== James Shorter === | === James Shorter === | ||
Senatobia, Mississippi, 8/2/67 | Senatobia, Mississippi, 8/2/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">3-14</td><td>Search Me Lord | + | <tr><td align="center">3-14</td><td>Search Me Lord *</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>Aflat+</td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">3-15</td><td>My Mother Died and Left Me</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-15</td><td>My Mother Died and Left Me</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-16</td><td>Consolation</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>E+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-16</td><td>Consolation</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>E+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-17</td><td>Home Going</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>G-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-17</td><td>Home Going</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>G-</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
− | <br> | + | '*' = w/Jessie Mae Hemphill<br> |
− | + | James Shorter's a capella religious numbers are wonderful, really one of the high points of the entire collection. "My Mother Died and Left Me" and "Consolation" could not be improved upon, even in one's imagination. It is such beautiful and controlled singing. Jessie Mae Hemphill, who joined Shorter for "Search Me Lord" and a little bit of "Home Going" sounds like a child, very sweet.<br> | |
=== Abe McNeil === | === Abe McNeil === | ||
Memphis, Tennessee, 1962 & Friar's Point, Mississippi, Summer 1967 | Memphis, Tennessee, 1962 & Friar's Point, Mississippi, Summer 1967 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">3-18</td><td>Better Than Myself</td><td>G</td><td>Aflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-18</td><td>Better Than Myself</td><td>G</td><td>Aflat+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-19</td><td>Steady Rollin' Man</td><td>G</td><td>Aflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-19</td><td>Steady Rollin' Man</td><td>G</td><td>Aflat+</td></tr> | ||
− | <tr><td align="center">3-20</td><td>Drink, Drink, Drink | + | <tr><td align="center">3-20</td><td>Drink, Drink, Drink *</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> |
</table> | </table> | ||
− | <br> | + | '*' = hambone, clapping w/Robert Diggs, harp and vcl<br> |
− | + | Abe McNeil sounds good in G position in standard tuning, sort of like he started with Tommy McClennan's licks in that position and kept going. Robert Diggs' singing and playing on "Drink, Drink, Drink" are excellent.<br> | |
=== Joe Callicott === | === Joe Callicott === | ||
Nesbit, Mississippi, 9/1/67 | Nesbit, Mississippi, 9/1/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">3-21</td><td>Country Blues</td><td>C</td><td>B+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-21</td><td>Country Blues</td><td>C</td><td>B+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">3-22</td><td>River Blues</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">3-22</td><td>River Blues</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat-</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Joe Callicott sounds wonderful, as always, on his two numbers. He was another beautiful singer.<br> | |
=== Johnny Woods w/ Fred McDowell === | === Johnny Woods w/ Fred McDowell === | ||
Senatobia, Mississippi, 8/26/67 | Senatobia, Mississippi, 8/26/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">3-23</td><td>3 O'Clock in the Morning</td><td>Cross harp, Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">3-23</td><td>3 O'Clock in the Morning</td><td>Cross harp, Vestapol slide</td><td>F-</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">3-24</td><td>I's Be Troubled</td><td>Cross harp, Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">3-24</td><td>I's Be Troubled</td><td>Cross harp, Vestapol slide</td><td>F-</td></tr> |
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Johnny Woods and Fred McDowell play so well together on all of their material from this period it's as though they shared one mind and had the same impulses simultaneously, translated to work on each one's instrument. Harmonica/guitar duos can't get much better than this.<br> | |
== Disk 4 == | == Disk 4 == | ||
=== Robert Diggs === | === Robert Diggs === | ||
Friar's Point, Mississippi, Summer 1967 | Friar's Point, Mississippi, Summer 1967 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">4-01</td><td>Someday Baby</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-01</td><td>Someday Baby</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">4-02</td><td>Racehorse Charleston</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-02</td><td>Racehorse Charleston</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
Line 248: | Line 249: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Robert Diggs was a beautiful harmonica player and singer, with a big, open, relaxed sound on the harp and a much lighter singing voice. His every move on the harmonica bespeaks a very high level of musicianship. He belongs right up there with people like Noah Lewis, Sonny Terry, Alfred Lewis. . . you name it. If I was a harp player, I would be studying his playing.<br> | |
=== Cliff Scott === | === Cliff Scott === | ||
Draneville, Georgia, 3/24/69 | Draneville, Georgia, 3/24/69 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">4-05</td><td>Woke Up This Morning</td><td>Spanish, slide</td><td>Bflat </td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-05</td><td>Woke Up This Morning</td><td>Spanish, slide</td><td>Bflat </td></tr> | ||
− | <tr><td align="center">4-06</td><td>Long Wavy Hair</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">4-06</td><td>Long Wavy Hair</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>E </td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">4-07</td><td>Please Come Home</td><td>A</td><td>G#- </td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-07</td><td>Please Come Home</td><td>A</td><td>G#- </td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">4-08</td><td>Pole Pattin'</td><td>G</td><td>G#- </td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-08</td><td>Pole Pattin'</td><td>G</td><td>G#- </td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Cliff Scott was evidently a younger player, in his 30s when George Mitchell recorded him. If he's still alive, he could be as young as 70 or in his mid-70s, possibly a candidate for Port Townsend. His "Woke Up This Morning" is essentially the same song as Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues". "Please Come Home" is Blind Boy Fuller's "Lost Lover Blues". "Pole Pattin'" is very old sounding, somewhat akin to a piece like Henry Thomas's "Old Country Stomp". My favorite of Scott's numbers is "Long Wavy Hair".<br> | |
=== Jimmy Lee Harris === | === Jimmy Lee Harris === | ||
Phenix City, Alabama, early 1980s | Phenix City, Alabama, early 1980s | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">4-09</td><td>I Wanna Ramble</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>E </td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-09</td><td>I Wanna Ramble</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>E </td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">4-10</td><td>Sitting Here Looking 1000 Miles Away</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>E-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-10</td><td>Sitting Here Looking 1000 Miles Away</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>E-</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Jimmy Lee Harris's two numbers are tricky to identify with regard to tuning/position. "I Wanna Ramble" has a vaguely Latin feel, kind of mamboish, with the "Spanish tinge" Jelly Roll Morton mentioned, and Jimmy Lee's brother, Eddie, supplies the guitar accompaniment. Jimmy Lee apparently mastered a technique while in prison, of doing a vocal impression of a blues harp, thus inspiring his fellow inmates to dub him "Harp Boy". When he comes in doing the impression, you really do a double take. Jimmy Lee's second number, "Sitting Here Looking, 1000 Miles Away" brings to mind Ornette Coleman's observation that he realized at a certain point that it was possible to play "sharp in tune and flat in tune". In Jimmy Lee's case, it is "sharp in tune", for every time he comes to the normally flatted seven note in the blues scale, he splits the difference between it and the major seventh note, and since he is singing right on top of his playing and does the very same pitch inflection on the guitar that he does with his voice, there can be no question as to his intent, especially since to get the pitch where he wants it requires a bend (his guitar is in tune). | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | ||
=== R. L. Burnside === | === R. L. Burnside === | ||
Coldwater, Mississippi, 8/24/67 | Coldwater, Mississippi, 8/24/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">4-11</td><td>Just Like a Bird Without A Feather</td><td>E</td><td>C+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-11</td><td>Just Like a Bird Without A Feather</td><td>E</td><td>C+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">4-12</td><td>Skinny Woman</td><td>Spanish</td><td>G+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-12</td><td>Skinny Woman</td><td>Spanish</td><td>G+</td></tr> | ||
Line 279: | Line 281: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | The R.L. Burnside recordings included here are Burnside's debut recordings and they are spectacular. "Just Like a Bird Without a Feather", tuned quite low, opens with extreme bends and absolute authority, both instrumentally and vocally; it ends with a fade, and it makes you wonder how long Burnside actually played the song. On "Skinny Woman", Burnside indulges in some guitar top rhythm-keeping, a la Bukka White on "Aberdeen Mississippi", and I have never heard the technique used to better effect. "Goin' Down South" is very trancey, and once again, tuned quite low. "Poor Black Mattie" employs a great time lick and is taken at a much quicker tempo than is Robert Belfour's version. Burnside's singing and playing throughout these four tunes could not be improved upon. Whew, George Mitchell must have been so excited when he first heard him and realized what he could do.<br> | |
=== Robert Johnson === | === Robert Johnson === | ||
Skene, Mississippi, 7/2/69 | Skene, Mississippi, 7/2/69 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">4-15</td><td>Hold My Body Down</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">4-15</td><td>Hold My Body Down</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>D- </td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">4-16</td><td>Trying to Make It Home</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">4-16</td><td>Trying to Make It Home</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>D </td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">4-17</td><td>Precious Lord</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">4-17</td><td>Precious Lord</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>D </td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">4-18</td><td>He'll Make a Way</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>D </td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-18</td><td>He'll Make a Way</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>D </td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>The four Robert Johnson numbers, for which he is joined by three of his daughters on vocals, are spectacular. Johnson was a very strong player in Vestapol, with great time, and a strong singer, with a serious-sounding deep voice. When his daughters first come in singing back-up on "Hold My Body Down", the effect is hair-raising. It is yet another reminder of the power that religious music can have. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Robert Longstreet === | === Robert Longstreet === | ||
Starkville, Mississippi, Summer 1967 | Starkville, Mississippi, Summer 1967 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">4-19</td><td>Sugar Mama</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-19</td><td>Sugar Mama</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">4-20</td><td>Black Gal</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">4-20</td><td>Black Gal</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
Line 301: | Line 303: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Robert Longstreet was a strong solo harmonica player with a hyper-dramatic vocal delivery, somewhat along the lines of Junior Wells, but with a deeper voice. He sounds like he should be fronting a Chicago blues band.<br> | |
=== Fred McDowell w/Johnny Woods === | === Fred McDowell w/Johnny Woods === | ||
Senatobia, Mississippi, 8/26/67 | Senatobia, Mississippi, 8/26/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">4-23</td><td>Shake 'Em On Down</td><td>Vestapol slide | + | <tr><td align="center">4-23</td><td>Shake 'Em On Down</td><td>Vestapol slide, cross harp</td><td>E-</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">4-24</td><td>Mama Says I'm Crazy</td><td>Vestapol slide | + | <tr><td align="center">4-24</td><td>Mama Says I'm Crazy</td><td>Vestapol slide, cross harp</td><td>E-</td></tr> |
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | The Fred McDowell/Johnny Woods duo has been discussed previously in this thread. Their two tunes on this disc are among their most exciting.<br> | |
== Disk 5 == | == Disk 5 == | ||
=== John Henry Barbee === | === John Henry Barbee === | ||
Chicago, Illinois, 1963 | Chicago, Illinois, 1963 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-01</td><td>That Ain't It</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-01</td><td>That Ain't It</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-02</td><td>Gonna Lose Your Mind</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-02</td><td>Gonna Lose Your Mind</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | John Henry Barbee generates the kind of rhythmic momentum and big sound on his two numbers here that would normally require an entire band to achieve. He was a strong singer who sounded mature. "Gonna Lose Your Mind" especially has some terrific lyrics.<br> | |
=== Albert Macon & Robert Thomas === | === Albert Macon & Robert Thomas === | ||
Society Hill, Alabama, early 1980s | Society Hill, Alabama, early 1980s | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-03</td><td>Flat Foot Boogie</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-03</td><td>Flat Foot Boogie</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-04</td><td>Mama Can I Lay It Down</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-04</td><td>Mama Can I Lay It Down</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | ||
Line 330: | Line 332: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Albert Macon and Robert Thomas played pretty much right on top of each other, both working out of E position in standard tuning. They create quite a din, and I can see them being in demand for dances or parties.<br> | |
=== Jessie Clarence Gorman === | === Jessie Clarence Gorman === | ||
Thomaston, Georgia, Spring, 1969 | Thomaston, Georgia, Spring, 1969 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">5-06</td><td>John Henry</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">5-06</td><td>John Henry</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>D-</td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-07</td><td>Goin' Up to the Country #1</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-07</td><td>Goin' Up to the Country #1</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-08</td><td>Goin' Up to the Country #2</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-08</td><td>Goin' Up to the Country #2</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Jessie Clarence Gorman was a relatively younger man at the time he was recorded (born in 1928), and was kind of a shy singer. His 16-bar blues, "Goin' Up to the Country, parts 1 and 2 is a really nice piece in Vestapol that would be worth figuring out. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Will Shade === | === Will Shade === | ||
Memphis, Tennessee, 1962 | Memphis, Tennessee, 1962 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-09</td><td>Dirty Dozens</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-09</td><td>Dirty Dozens</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-10</td><td>Won't You Send Me John</td><td>C</td><td>B+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-10</td><td>Won't You Send Me John</td><td>C</td><td>B+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-11</td><td>Wine Headed Man</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-11</td><td>Wine Headed Man</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | ||
− | <tr><td align="center">5-12</td><td>K. C. Blues | + | <tr><td align="center">5-12</td><td>K. C. Blues *</td><td>G (tnr gtr), cross harp</td><td>G-</td></tr> |
</table> | </table> | ||
− | <br> | + | '*' = w/Charlie Burse<br> |
− | + | Will Shade sounds like a consummate pro, even after you find that he had fallen on hard times during the period in which these recordings were made. His version of "Dirty Dozens" is indeed dirty, the dirtiest version I've heard on record, and he delivers it with great relish. "Won't You Send Me John" bears a resemblance to "I Got Rhythm"--same bridge and similar A parts, in which it substitutes I-I7-IV-IVminor for I-VI-II-V. The recording of "K. C. Blues" with Will Shade switching to harmonica and being joined by Charlie Burse showcases Shade's still-very-fine harmonica playing, and is the most clearly audible recording I've ever heard of Burse on tenor guitar. He sounds really good, and it makes you realize how valuable he must have been as an ensemble rhythm player.<br> | |
=== Georgia Fife and Drum Band === | === Georgia Fife and Drum Band === | ||
Waverly Hall, Georgia, 1969 | Waverly Hall, Georgia, 1969 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-13</td><td>Every Time I Come Around</td><td>n/a</td><td>Aflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-13</td><td>Every Time I Come Around</td><td>n/a</td><td>Aflat+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-14</td><td>J. W.'s Special</td><td>n/a</td><td>Bflat/Dflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-14</td><td>J. W.'s Special</td><td>n/a</td><td>Bflat/Dflat</td></tr> | ||
Line 361: | Line 363: | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-16</td><td>Buck Dance</td><td>n/a</td><td>n/a</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-16</td><td>Buck Dance</td><td>n/a</td><td>n/a</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>The Georgia Fife and Drum Band was the first such band, I believe, to be found outside of northern Mississippi. Their "Every Time I Come Around" you might know as "You've Gotta Stop Kicking My Dog Around". It was difficult for me to figure out what key "J.W.'s Special" and "Old Hen Cackle" were in, and I'm not at all sure I have it right. The fife in the band is microtonally tuned (or played) and is not easily oriented as even being in a pentatonic scale, for instance. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Como Fife and Drum Band === | === Como Fife and Drum Band === | ||
Como, Mississippi, 1967 | Como, Mississippi, 1967 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-17</td><td>Hey Freddie</td><td>n/a</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-17</td><td>Hey Freddie</td><td>n/a</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-18</td><td>Late in the Evening</td><td>n/a</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-18</td><td>Late in the Evening</td><td>n/a</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
Line 373: | Line 375: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | The Como Fife and Drum Band is much easier to hear for me. Their song, "Punky Tony" is the song Little Walter recorded as "My Babe".<br> | |
=== Maxwell Street Jimmy === | === Maxwell Street Jimmy === | ||
Chicago, Illinois, 1963 | Chicago, Illinois, 1963 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-21</td><td>You Got to Reap What You Sow</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-21</td><td>You Got to Reap What You Sow</td><td>E</td><td>E-</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-22</td><td>Everything's Gonna Be Alright</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-22</td><td>Everything's Gonna Be Alright</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Maxwell Street Jimmy sang with a very smooth, rapid tremolo, and excelled at rapidly trilled hammers on the guitar. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
=== Precious Bryant === | === Precious Bryant === | ||
Waverly Hall, Georgia, 1969 | Waverly Hall, Georgia, 1969 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-23</td><td>That's the Way the Good Thing Go</td><td>E</td><td>F#</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-23</td><td>That's the Way the Good Thing Go</td><td>E</td><td>F#</td></tr> | ||
− | <tr><td align="center">5-24</td><td>Georgia Buck</td><td>C</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> | + | <tr><td align="center">5-24</td><td>Georgia Buck</td><td>C position, tuned EflatGCFAD</td><td>Bflat</td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-25</td><td>When the Saints Go Marching In</td><td>E</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-25</td><td>When the Saints Go Marching In</td><td>E</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Precious Bryant was the youngest musician to be included on the set. She sounds very much as she does today, which is very fine, with a sassy sort of vocal delivery. She is really a nice guitarist. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | ||
=== Rosa Lee Hill === | === Rosa Lee Hill === | ||
Como, Mississippi, 8/23/67 | Como, Mississippi, 8/23/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">5-26</td><td>Pork & Beans</td><td> | + | <tr><td align="center">5-26</td><td>Pork & Beans</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>C#</td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">5-27</td><td>Count the Days I'm Gone</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>Bflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-27</td><td>Count the Days I'm Gone</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>Bflat+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-28</td><td>Roll & Tumble</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-28</td><td>Roll & Tumble</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>C#+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">5-29</td><td>Bullying Well</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">5-29</td><td>Bullying Well</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
+ | <br>Rosa Lee Hill, Sid Hemphill's daughter, is one of the major finds of the entire set for me. She was a sensational guitarist and very strong singer. She normally (at least on these cuts) tuned significantly low and on "Count The Days I'm Gone", she's tuned almost a diminished fifth low, playing in cross-note at Bflat--that is LOW! The slackness of the strings on the various low-tuned songs allowed for extravagant bends, which she delivers with beautiful consistency and sustain. It is superb blue guitar-playing. I'd rank her with any of the great playing woman blues singers of the past--Geeshie Wiley, Elvie Thomas, Memphis Minnie, you name it, as well as any of the men players from her part of the world. She sounds as good as any of them to me. | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | |||
== Disk 6 == | == Disk 6 == | ||
=== Furry Lewis === | === Furry Lewis === | ||
Memphis, Tennessee, 1962 | Memphis, Tennessee, 1962 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">6-01</td><td>Good Morning Judge </td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">6-01</td><td>Good Morning Judge </td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>C#+</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">6-02</td><td>Furry Lewis' Careless Love</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">6-02</td><td>Furry Lewis' Careless Love</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>C</td></tr> |
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Furry Lewis is in fine form here, very expansive. "Furry Lewis' Careless Love" is "See that My Grave Is Kept Clean"<br> | |
=== Jimmy Lee Williams === | === Jimmy Lee Williams === | ||
Porlan, Georgia, 1977 | Porlan, Georgia, 1977 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">6-03</td><td>What Make Grandpa Love Grandma So</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">6-03</td><td>What Make Grandpa Love Grandma So</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>Eflat-</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">6-04</td><td>Have You Ever Seen Peaches</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">6-04</td><td>Have You Ever Seen Peaches</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>C#</td></tr> |
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Jimmy Lee Williams is terrific. Like the Furry Lewis cuts and the J. W. Warren cuts that follow, the cuts of Jimmy Lee that are offered here are available on a Fat Possum commercially released disc that is devoted wholly to his music, called "Hoot Your Belly", that is reviewed in the Music Reviews section of the board.<br> | |
=== J.W. Warren === | === J.W. Warren === | ||
Ariton, Georgia, 1981 & 1982 | Ariton, Georgia, 1981 & 1982 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">6-05</td><td>Hoboing Into Hollywood</td><td>Dropped-D</td><td>C#-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-05</td><td>Hoboing Into Hollywood</td><td>Dropped-D</td><td>C#-</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">6-06</td><td>Sundown Blues</td><td>A</td><td>G#-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-06</td><td>Sundown Blues</td><td>A</td><td>G#-</td></tr> | ||
Line 433: | Line 436: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | <br> | + | J. W. Warren likewise sounds excellent. "Sundown Blues" is a Blind Boy Fuller cover. I like "Rabbit On A Log" the best of his tunes; on it, he pretty much plays banjo on the guitar. "You're Gonna Miss Me" is a tough identification, and I don't recall it from J. W.'s CD. I wonder if it is being released for the first time here?<br> |
+ | |||
=== Eddie Harris === | === Eddie Harris === | ||
Phenix City, Alabama, early 1980s | Phenix City, Alabama, early 1980s | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">6-09</td><td>House on the Hill</td><td>E</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-09</td><td>House on the Hill</td><td>E</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">6-10</td><td>I Have to Love Somebody</td><td>E</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-10</td><td>I Have to Love Somebody</td><td>E</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Eddie Harris was the brother of Jimmy Lee Harris, who was featured earlier in the collection.<br> | |
=== James Davis === | === James Davis === | ||
Henderson, Georgia, late 1970s | Henderson, Georgia, late 1970s | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">6-11</td><td>Old Country Rock #1</td><td>F</td><td>G</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-11</td><td>Old Country Rock #1</td><td>F</td><td>G</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">6-12</td><td>Instrumental #1</td><td>E</td><td>G</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-12</td><td>Instrumental #1</td><td>E</td><td>G</td></tr> | ||
− | <tr><td align="center">6-13</td><td>Who Stole the Lock off the Henhouse Door | + | <tr><td align="center">6-13</td><td>Who Stole the Lock off the Henhouse Door</td><td>E</td><td>G</td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">6-14</td><td>Instrumental #4</td><td>E</td><td>G</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-14</td><td>Instrumental #4</td><td>E</td><td>G</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | James Davis sounds wonderful, with a beautiful, screamy tone on his electric guitar, and an ensemble that consists, apart from him, of two rocking drummers. They play great dance music, and their last number has a very funky Cajun/Zydeco feel and sound.<br> | |
=== Robert Nighthawk === | === Robert Nighthawk === | ||
Dundee, Mississippi, 8/28/67 | Dundee, Mississippi, 8/28/67 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">6-15</td><td>Canned Heat</td><td>G</td><td>G</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-15</td><td>Canned Heat</td><td>G</td><td>G</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">6-16</td><td>Nighthawk Boogie</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-16</td><td>Nighthawk Boogie</td><td>E</td><td>Eflat+</td></tr> | ||
Line 463: | Line 467: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Robert Nighthawk--whew, what a player! He was the most boppish of the blues players who ended up playing amplified in Chicago that I have heard, and "Down By The Woodshed", in particular, is hot, hot, hot.<br> | |
=== Jessie Mae Hemphill === | === Jessie Mae Hemphill === | ||
Dundee, Mississippi, August, 1967 | Dundee, Mississippi, August, 1967 | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">6-18</td><td>Home Going</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>F#</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-18</td><td>Home Going</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>F#</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">6-19</td><td>I Want to be Ready</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>B-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">6-19</td><td>I Want to be Ready</td><td>(a capella)</td><td>B-</td></tr> | ||
Line 473: | Line 477: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | <br> | + | Jessie Mae Hemphill is joined by an unnamed male singer on "Home Going" (probably James Shorter) and they shadow each other's phrasing so well. Both of her numbers are beautifully sung, but it would have been nice to include something that featured her playing.<br> |
+ | |||
== Disk 7 == | == Disk 7 == | ||
=== Jessie Lee Vortis === | === Jessie Lee Vortis === | ||
(Unknown location and date) | (Unknown location and date) | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">7-01</td><td>Miss Maybelle</td><td>Spanish</td><td>F#-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-01</td><td>Miss Maybelle</td><td>Spanish</td><td>F#-</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">7-02</td><td>When My Baby Got On Board</td><td>Spanish</td><td>F#</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-02</td><td>When My Baby Got On Board</td><td>Spanish</td><td>F#</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Jessie Lee Vortis' two numbers in Spanish are excellent, and are really tantalizing. It would be interesting to know how many more titles by him were recorded by George Mitchell. "Miss Maybelle", re-titled as "Hoppin' Frog", has been covered by the Otis Brothers, Pat Conte and Bob Guida.<br> | |
=== George Hollis === | === George Hollis === | ||
(Unknown location and date) | (Unknown location and date) | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">7-03</td><td>Them Greasy Greens #1</td><td>F (gtr), unknown (vln)</td><td>Eflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-03</td><td>Them Greasy Greens #1</td><td>F (gtr), unknown (vln)</td><td>Eflat</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">7-04</td><td>Rock and Roll to Milledgeville</td><td>unknown (vln)</td><td>Eflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-04</td><td>Rock and Roll to Milledgeville</td><td>unknown (vln)</td><td>Eflat</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | George Hollis was a very rough fiddler. On his version of "Greasy Greens #1", he is accompanied by a barely audible guitarist. He sounds like he is cross-tuned for "Rock and Roll to Milledgeville", the title of which I suspect to be a misapprehension of "Rocky Road to Milledgeville".<br> | |
=== Willie Rockomo, Bruce Upshaw === | === Willie Rockomo, Bruce Upshaw === | ||
(Unknown location and date) | (Unknown location and date) | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">7-05</td><td>Black Rat Swing</td><td>A</td><td>A</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-05</td><td>Black Rat Swing</td><td>A</td><td>A</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">7-06</td><td>Tease Me Baby #2</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>A</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-06</td><td>Tease Me Baby #2</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>A</td></tr> | ||
Line 504: | Line 509: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | The cuts by Willie Rockomo and Bruce Upshaw are mixed up with regards to the credits. "Black Rat Swing" is shown as a solo number and it is clearly a guitar/harmonica duet. I believe Upshaw was the harmonica player in the duo, and he was really superb. His solo numbers are excellent.<br> | |
=== Buddy Hubbard === | === Buddy Hubbard === | ||
(Unknown location and date) | (Unknown location and date) | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">7-10</td><td>I Got A Woman</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">7-10</td><td>I Got A Woman</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>Eflat-</td></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">7-11</td><td>So Sweet</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>F#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-11</td><td>So Sweet</td><td>Vestapol</td><td>F#+</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | <br> | |
=== Ira "Tiny" Coney === | === Ira "Tiny" Coney === | ||
(Unknown location and date) | (Unknown location and date) | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">7-12</td><td>You're Gonna Miss Me</td><td>A</td><td>F#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-12</td><td>You're Gonna Miss Me</td><td>A</td><td>F#+</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">7-13</td><td>Mamie</td><td>A</td><td>F#+</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-13</td><td>Mamie</td><td>A</td><td>F#+</td></tr> | ||
Line 523: | Line 528: | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Ira "Tiny" Coney was an earnest-sounding fellow who liked to phrase long.<br> | |
=== Eddie Hodge === | === Eddie Hodge === | ||
(Unknown location and date) | (Unknown location and date) | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">7-15</td><td>Blood Red River</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>Eflat-</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-15</td><td>Blood Red River</td><td>Cross-note</td><td>Eflat-</td></tr> | ||
− | <tr><td align="center">7-16</td><td>Sitting on Top of the World</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">7-16</td><td>Sitting on Top of the World</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>D+</td></tr> |
− | <tr><td align="center">7-17</td><td>Glory Hallelujah</td><td>Vestapol | + | <tr><td align="center">7-17</td><td>Glory Hallelujah</td><td>Vestapol slide</td><td>D+</td></tr> |
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | Eddie Hodge's "Glory Hallelujah" is more commonly know as "When I Lay My Burden Down"<br> | |
=== Pettis Sisters === | === Pettis Sisters === | ||
(Unknown location and date) | (Unknown location and date) | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">7-18</td><td>Jesus is Coming Back to Me</td><td>F</td><td>F</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-18</td><td>Jesus is Coming Back to Me</td><td>F</td><td>F</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">7-19</td><td>Bound for Zion</td><td>Eflat</td><td>Eflat</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-19</td><td>Bound for Zion</td><td>Eflat</td><td>Eflat</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
− | + | The Pettis Sisters do some very exciting up-tempo Gospel. Their accompanists sound a bit more uptown than is the norm for this set.<br> | |
=== Houston & Sara Mae Stovall === | === Houston & Sara Mae Stovall === | ||
(Unknown location and date) | (Unknown location and date) | ||
− | <TABLE class="Resources | + | <TABLE class="Resources"> |
− | <tr><th width=" | + | <tr><th width="20">Track</th><th align="left" width="310">Title</th><th align="left" width="178">Tuning / position</th><th width="64">Pitch</th></tr> |
<tr><td align="center">7-20</td><td>You Told Me Baby</td><td>E</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-20</td><td>You Told Me Baby</td><td>E</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
<tr><td align="center">7-21</td><td>Sweet as an Apple on a Tree</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-21</td><td>Sweet as an Apple on a Tree</td><td>Cross harp</td><td>E</td></tr> | ||
Line 553: | Line 558: | ||
<tr><td align="center">7-24</td><td>Tell Me You Love Me</td><td>A</td><td>A</td></tr> | <tr><td align="center">7-24</td><td>Tell Me You Love Me</td><td>A</td><td>A</td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
− | + | <br>I believe that in the Houston & Sara Mae Stovall duo, Sara Mae played the guitar and Houston played the harmonica and sang. He was a very expert harmonica player and really exciting, especially on "Juke #2". "You Told Me Baby" is more commonly known as "But That's All Right", I think. "Tell Me You Love Me" is the Jimmy Reed song, "Honest I Do", and it is sort of a shambles, due to the guitarist accompanying it as though it were a 12-bar blues, which it certainly is not. It's an odd choice to conclude such a glorious collection of music.<br> | |
[[Category:Guitar]][[category:The George Mitchell Collection]] | [[Category:Guitar]][[category:The George Mitchell Collection]] |
Revision as of 17:11, 24 September 2018
Notes by John Miller [Go to original forum thread]
A consolidated sortable list of tracks is available at The George Mitchell Collection, Volumes 1-45 - Sortable Track Listing
Tuning / position column content varies depending on guitar tuning. Where the guitarist is in an open tuning the column shows the common name, Vestapol (open D/E), Spanish (open G/A), Cross note (open Dm/Em). Where the guitar is in standard tuning the column shows the 1st position I chord.
Disc 1
Cecil Barfield
Albany, Georgia, 1976
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
1-01 | Lucy Mae Blues | G | A- |
1-02 | I Woke Up Crying | G | G# |
1-03 | Love Blues | E | D |
1-04 | I Told You Not to Do That | G | A |
Cecil Barfield certainly merits all the discussion his music has been generating lately. His "Lucy Mae Blues" was a terrific choice to open the entire set. The weird, trancey picking pattern ostinato he accompanies himself with is arresting enough, but when he comes in singing with his strangled headtone, he's got you. His bass alternation is one I've never run into before. Over his I chord, G, he alternates third fret sixth to third fret fourth, then third fret sixth to a quick hammer at second fret fourth string. Over his IV chord, the alternation is even more eccentric: third fret fifth string to third fret fourth string, than open fifth string to third fret fourth string--a bass alternation of C-F-A-F over a C chord, in which the only chord tone in the bass is the opening C! He sounds about as much like himself and absolutely nobody else working in the same style as it is possible to do in a vernacular style that had already been around for decades when he was recorded. Judging by the very small sample of his music offered here, he had a special predilection for G position in standard tuning, but the one song he does in E position, standard tuning (tuned a whole step low), "Love Blues", is brutally low-down, as tough as anything that ever came out of the Mississippi delta or hill country. So much for generalizing about sound based on where a player lived.
Buddy Moss
Atlanta, Georgia, 1963
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
1-05 | In the Evening | E | D+ |
1-06 | Hey Lawdy Mama | E | C#+ |
1-07 | Thousand Woman Blues | A | G |
1-08 | Blue Shadow Falling | E | C#+ |
1-09 | Cold Rainy Day | E | C#+ |
1-10 | Amy | A | F#+ |
Buddy Moss sounds absolutely magisterial here, singing and playing with utter authority. His playing has a tremendous sheen and finish. It's worth remembering, too, how young he was when these recordings were made in 1963: 49-years-old, born in 1914, really the prime of life for a musician. He favors E position in standard tuning and tunes significantly low for all of his tunes. The "Amy" he is shown playing here is Blind Boy Fuller's "Mamie", of course.
Leon Pinson
Cleveland, Mississippi, 9/18/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
1-11 | Motherless Child | Vestapol | C#- |
1-12 | Somebody is Calling My Name | Vestapol | C#- |
1-13 | What God Can Do | Standard | E |
1-14 | He'll Understand and Say Well Done | Vestapol | Eflat+ |
Leon Pinson comes across beautifully here with great singing and playing. His first two numbers appear to be played with a slide and the guitar in the conventional position. His final number, "He'll Understand and Say Well Done" sounds as though it is played lap style, and with its extreme vibrato and vocally-inflected phrasing sounds a lot like the work of present-day players working in the Sacred Steel tradition, like Darick Campbell and Aubrey Ghent. Pinson's version of "What God Can Do", more commonly known as "How Great Thou Art", employs extreme low tuning in standard tuning and conventional fretting, a sound likewise employed by Rev. Pearly Brown.
Houston Stackhouse
Dundee, Mississippi, 8/28/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
1-15 | Big Road Blues | Dropped-D | C#+ |
1-16 | Cool Water Blues | E | Eflat+ |
1-17 | Big Fat Mama Blues | A | Aflat+ |
1-18 | Take A Little Walk With Me | E | Eflat+ |
Are there other instances of electric bands as faithfully rendering earlier acoustic styles as Houston Stackhouse's band played the music of Tommy Johnson? There must be other such cases, but I can't think of any right now.
Big Joe Williams
Chicago, Illinois, 1963
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
1-19 | Everyone Got A Woman | Spanish | Bflat |
1-20 | What She Need with A Rooster | Spanish | Bflat |
1-21 | Sink or Swim | Spanish | Bflat |
1-22 | Prison Bound | Spanish | Bflat |
Big Joe Williams' numbers come from a live performance in which he appeared to be in an unusually pensive mood. He works with extremes in his dynamics, moving from barely audible singing to roaring. When he does a cover like "Prison Bound", it is so much his own. His way of playing in Spanish ventured into a lot of territory that he had all to himself.
John Lee Ziegler
Kathleen, Georgia, late 1978
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
1-23 | Who's Gonna Be Your Man | Vestapol slide | G+ |
1-24 | If I Lose, Let Me Lose | Vestapol | G+ |
John Lee Ziegler's two tunes, for which he is joined by an expert spoon player, are the high points of the disc for me. They are just beautiful, he must have had one of the prettiest voices ever in the country blues, up there in Sam Collins' or Lemon's league. There is something special about a tuning or position occurring at a great distance in pitch from where it is normally heard, too. Ziegler is playing in Vestapol at G, considerably higher than that tuning is normally heard, and the sound just draws you in.
Othar Turner
Como, Mississippi, 8/24/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
1-25 | Black Woman | Vestapol | C#+ |
1-26 | Bumble Bee | Vestapol | C#+ |
Prior to hearing the Othar Turner cuts here, I never knew he played guitar at all, knowing him primarily for his fife playing. He is substantially the roughest player here, and cuts the narrowest swath in terms of the amount of variety in his playing.
Disc 2
Lonzie Thomas
Lee County, Alabama, early 1980s
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
2-01 | Rabbit On A Log | Vestapol | D+ |
2-02 | Raise a Ruckus Tonight | Vestapol | D+ |
2-03 | My Three Women | Spanish | F# |
2-04 | Red Cross Store | Vestapol | D+ |
Lonzie Thomas, like Cecil Barfield and John Lee Ziegler, is worth the price of admission all by himself. He really was terrific. His "Rabbit on the Log" employs the same melody as John Hurt's "Payday", Henry Thomas' "Shanty Blues", and the Mississippi Sheiks' "Bootlegger Blues". For it and "Raise a Ruckus Tonight", he employs a backwards alternating thumb lead that bears a coincidental similarity to the right hand approach that Roscoe Holcomb used when finger-picking in his personalized Spanish tuning. Lonzie Thomas's time is much more loose-limbed and funky than Roscoe's, and not nearly so quick, though. All of Lonzie Thomas's performances communicate a droll sense of humor; none more than "My Three Women", a sensational one-chord number in Spanish that employs an irregularly recurring greasy bend on his unwound third string. He really reefs on it and it sounds great. Lonzie Thomas compares favorably with any of the rediscovered country Blues musicians of the '60s--'80s
Sleepy John Estes
Brownsville, Tennessee, 1962
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
2-05 | Rats in the Kitchen | A | B+ |
2-06 | Special Agent | A | B+ |
2-07 | Trying To See | G | A+ |
2-08 | Mail Man Blues | G | A+ |
Sleepy John Estes is in great voice here. It's a little surprising not to hear him play in C position standard tuning at all, since it was much his favorite playing position on his early recordings.
Teddy Williams
Canton, Mississippi, 9/16/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
2-09 | Down Home Blues | Dropped-D | E |
2-10 | Catfish Blues | E | D+ |
2-11 | Black Mattie | E | F- |
2-12 | Sun Don't Shine | A | Bflat+ |
Teddy Williams sounds really good and has a lot of variety in his playing. I'm hard pressed to think of many Mississippi players who worked in dropped-D, other than Tommy Johnson, Walter Vinson, Bo Carter and Sam Chatmon. Teddy Williams liked to sing sharp and drive his voice very hard.
Green Paschal
Talbotton, Georgia, 1969
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
2-13 | Trouble Brought Me Down | Vestapol slide | D- |
2-14 | My Lord | Vestapol slide | D- |
2-15 | Mother Is Dead | Vestapol slide | C#+ |
2-16 | Lay My Burden Down | Vestapol slide | C#+ |
2-17 | Your Close Friend | Vestapol slide | C#+ |
2-18 | I'm Going to Leave it in the Hands of the Lord | Vestapol slide | C#+ |
Green Paschal's slide religious numbers in Vestapol sound strong. He doesn't do any left-hand damping to stifle harmonics and it all sounds fine. "Your Close Friend" is an especially strong number. He's a really nice singer, too.
William "Do Boy" Diamond
Canton, Mississippi, 9/15/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
2-19 | Hard Time Blues | Vestapol | B+ |
2-20 | Just Want to Talk With You | Spanish | F- |
The liner notes describe William "Do Boy" Diamond as not much of a guitarist, but if you can sing like Diamond could, just a little bit of guitar is all that's needed, and he more than fills the bill. He's a sensational singer with interesting and unusual lyrics and especially sounds good on guitar on "Hard Time Blues", where he is tuned quite low.
Dewey Corley & Walter Miller
Memphis, Tennessee, Summer, 1967
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
2-21 | Just I Dream I got on my Mind | A | A |
2-22 | Memphis is a Wonderful City | A | Bflat |
2-23 | Down to Arkansas | A | Bflat |
Walter Miller was a nice player in A, standard tuning. Dewey Corley, on one-string bass, kazoo and vocals, must have been quite a character. He has the distinction, on "Memphis is a Wonderful City", of doing the very worst kazoo playing I have ever heard, and that includes little kids.
Bud Grant
Thomaston, Georgia, 1969, Spring
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
2-24 | Rock Me Mama | E | F+ |
2-25 | Freight Train Blues | A | G# |
2-26 | So Sweet | A | G+ |
2-27 | Bud Grant's Grunt | E | F+ |
Bud Grant was a Georgia player. His "Freight Train Blues" is Blind Boy Fuller's "Lost Lover Blues", a candidate for the most-frequently covered tune in this set. He plays "So Sweet" out of A, standard tuning and it works really well there.
Disk 3
Bud White
Richland, Georgia, 2/2/69
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
3-01 | Go Ahead On | E | F+ |
3-02 | You've Been Gone So Long | E | F+ |
3-03 | White Horses | Cross-note | Eflat+ |
Bud White's first two numbers are fine, but nothing out of the ordinary. "White Horses" will make you sit up and pay attention, though, for it is sensational. Identification of the tuning is unusually difficult, for White never plays an open third string from the beginning to the end of the song. Cross-note at last seems the obvious choice for he inflects a bend of the IV note on the third string, and were he in Vestapol, he would be doing that at the first fret, next to the nut, which is unlikely. What a great performance this one is.
George Henry Bussey
Waverly Hall, Georgia, 1969
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
3-04 | When I'm Sober I'm Drunk Blues | G | F#- |
3-05 | Mean Mistreater | E | Eflat- |
3-06 | Blues Around My Bed | E | C# |
3-07 | Looking For My Woman | A | E+ |
George Henry Bussey is an uncle of Precious Bryant, nee Bussey. Based only on the sample of his work included in the set, he played most often in a style very derivative of Blind Boy Fuller. He was an unusually diffident singer, and sounds very shy about his singing. His two strongest numbers are those where he is tuned the farthest from concert pitch, most particularly "Looking for My Woman", where he is tuned a full fourth low, giving the guitar a very eerie timbre. One trend that is playing out in the course of this set is the non-importance of tuning to concert pitch for the players here. Players are almost never tuned to concert pitch, and are often as much as a minor third or more high or low of concert pitch. There is no reason to believe that players of an earlier era working in the same style placed any greater an emphasis on tuning to concert pitch. It's more important to suit your vocal range than to conform to an externally imposed standard of whatever type.
Jim Bunkley
Geneva, Georgia, 1969
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
3-08 | Old Red #2 | Vestapol slide | D+ |
3-09 | Jack of Diamonds | Spanish | F+ |
3-10 | Them Greasy Greens | A | G+ |
3-11 | Rocking Chair | E | Eflat+ |
Jim Bunkley sounds like he would have been fun to see in person. His unusual non-slide version of "Jack of Diamonds" is made all the more unusual by being played squarely in the Lydian mode, with a #IV note and major VII note in the scale adhered to throughout the course of the rendition. Rev. John Wilkins' final number at his Saturday afternoon concert set at Port Townsend this year was in the Lydian mode, too.
Tom Turner
Columbus, Mississippi, 9/6/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
3-12 | Old Breakdown | E | C#+ |
3-13 | Drop Down Mama # 1 | Spanish | G#+ |
Tom Turner's two pieces are terrific. His "Old Breakdown" sounds like it comes from the same family as Robert Wilkins' "Rolling Stone" instrumentally, and from "Catfish", vocally and melodically. His thumb-popped bass notes on "Drop Down Mama #1" have the very sound that Son House got in his post-rediscovery playing, when popping bass notes in Spanish tuning.
James Shorter
Senatobia, Mississippi, 8/2/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
3-14 | Search Me Lord * | (a capella) | Aflat+ |
3-15 | My Mother Died and Left Me | (a capella) | E |
3-16 | Consolation | (a capella) | E+ |
3-17 | Home Going | (a capella) | G- |
'*' = w/Jessie Mae Hemphill
James Shorter's a capella religious numbers are wonderful, really one of the high points of the entire collection. "My Mother Died and Left Me" and "Consolation" could not be improved upon, even in one's imagination. It is such beautiful and controlled singing. Jessie Mae Hemphill, who joined Shorter for "Search Me Lord" and a little bit of "Home Going" sounds like a child, very sweet.
Abe McNeil
Memphis, Tennessee, 1962 & Friar's Point, Mississippi, Summer 1967
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
3-18 | Better Than Myself | G | Aflat+ |
3-19 | Steady Rollin' Man | G | Aflat+ |
3-20 | Drink, Drink, Drink * | Cross harp | E |
'*' = hambone, clapping w/Robert Diggs, harp and vcl
Abe McNeil sounds good in G position in standard tuning, sort of like he started with Tommy McClennan's licks in that position and kept going. Robert Diggs' singing and playing on "Drink, Drink, Drink" are excellent.
Joe Callicott
Nesbit, Mississippi, 9/1/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
3-21 | Country Blues | C | B+ |
3-22 | River Blues | E | Eflat- |
Joe Callicott sounds wonderful, as always, on his two numbers. He was another beautiful singer.
Johnny Woods w/ Fred McDowell
Senatobia, Mississippi, 8/26/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
3-23 | 3 O'Clock in the Morning | Cross harp, Vestapol slide | F- |
3-24 | I's Be Troubled | Cross harp, Vestapol slide | F- |
Johnny Woods and Fred McDowell play so well together on all of their material from this period it's as though they shared one mind and had the same impulses simultaneously, translated to work on each one's instrument. Harmonica/guitar duos can't get much better than this.
Disk 4
Robert Diggs
Friar's Point, Mississippi, Summer 1967
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
4-01 | Someday Baby | Cross harp | E |
4-02 | Racehorse Charleston | Cross harp | E |
4-03 | Done Lost My Health | Cross harp | E |
4-04 | Drive Your Car | E (gtr), cross harp | E |
Robert Diggs was a beautiful harmonica player and singer, with a big, open, relaxed sound on the harp and a much lighter singing voice. His every move on the harmonica bespeaks a very high level of musicianship. He belongs right up there with people like Noah Lewis, Sonny Terry, Alfred Lewis. . . you name it. If I was a harp player, I would be studying his playing.
Cliff Scott
Draneville, Georgia, 3/24/69
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
4-05 | Woke Up This Morning | Spanish, slide | Bflat |
4-06 | Long Wavy Hair | Vestapol slide | E |
4-07 | Please Come Home | A | G#- |
4-08 | Pole Pattin' | G | G#- |
Cliff Scott was evidently a younger player, in his 30s when George Mitchell recorded him. If he's still alive, he could be as young as 70 or in his mid-70s, possibly a candidate for Port Townsend. His "Woke Up This Morning" is essentially the same song as Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues". "Please Come Home" is Blind Boy Fuller's "Lost Lover Blues". "Pole Pattin'" is very old sounding, somewhat akin to a piece like Henry Thomas's "Old Country Stomp". My favorite of Scott's numbers is "Long Wavy Hair".
Jimmy Lee Harris
Phenix City, Alabama, early 1980s
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
4-09 | I Wanna Ramble | Vestapol | E |
4-10 | Sitting Here Looking 1000 Miles Away | Vestapol | E- |
Jimmy Lee Harris's two numbers are tricky to identify with regard to tuning/position. "I Wanna Ramble" has a vaguely Latin feel, kind of mamboish, with the "Spanish tinge" Jelly Roll Morton mentioned, and Jimmy Lee's brother, Eddie, supplies the guitar accompaniment. Jimmy Lee apparently mastered a technique while in prison, of doing a vocal impression of a blues harp, thus inspiring his fellow inmates to dub him "Harp Boy". When he comes in doing the impression, you really do a double take. Jimmy Lee's second number, "Sitting Here Looking, 1000 Miles Away" brings to mind Ornette Coleman's observation that he realized at a certain point that it was possible to play "sharp in tune and flat in tune". In Jimmy Lee's case, it is "sharp in tune", for every time he comes to the normally flatted seven note in the blues scale, he splits the difference between it and the major seventh note, and since he is singing right on top of his playing and does the very same pitch inflection on the guitar that he does with his voice, there can be no question as to his intent, especially since to get the pitch where he wants it requires a bend (his guitar is in tune).
R. L. Burnside
Coldwater, Mississippi, 8/24/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
4-11 | Just Like a Bird Without A Feather | E | C+ |
4-12 | Skinny Woman | Spanish | G+ |
4-13 | Goin' Down South | E | C# |
4-14 | Poor Black Mattie | Spanish | F# |
The R.L. Burnside recordings included here are Burnside's debut recordings and they are spectacular. "Just Like a Bird Without a Feather", tuned quite low, opens with extreme bends and absolute authority, both instrumentally and vocally; it ends with a fade, and it makes you wonder how long Burnside actually played the song. On "Skinny Woman", Burnside indulges in some guitar top rhythm-keeping, a la Bukka White on "Aberdeen Mississippi", and I have never heard the technique used to better effect. "Goin' Down South" is very trancey, and once again, tuned quite low. "Poor Black Mattie" employs a great time lick and is taken at a much quicker tempo than is Robert Belfour's version. Burnside's singing and playing throughout these four tunes could not be improved upon. Whew, George Mitchell must have been so excited when he first heard him and realized what he could do.
Robert Johnson
Skene, Mississippi, 7/2/69
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
4-15 | Hold My Body Down | Vestapol slide | D- |
4-16 | Trying to Make It Home | Vestapol slide | D |
4-17 | Precious Lord | Vestapol slide | D |
4-18 | He'll Make a Way | Vestapol | D |
The four Robert Johnson numbers, for which he is joined by three of his daughters on vocals, are spectacular. Johnson was a very strong player in Vestapol, with great time, and a strong singer, with a serious-sounding deep voice. When his daughters first come in singing back-up on "Hold My Body Down", the effect is hair-raising. It is yet another reminder of the power that religious music can have.
Robert Longstreet
Starkville, Mississippi, Summer 1967
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
4-19 | Sugar Mama | Cross harp | E |
4-20 | Black Gal | Cross harp | E |
4-21 | Sloppy Drunk | Cross harp | E |
4-22 | Decoration Day | Cross harp | E |
Robert Longstreet was a strong solo harmonica player with a hyper-dramatic vocal delivery, somewhat along the lines of Junior Wells, but with a deeper voice. He sounds like he should be fronting a Chicago blues band.
Fred McDowell w/Johnny Woods
Senatobia, Mississippi, 8/26/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
4-23 | Shake 'Em On Down | Vestapol slide, cross harp | E- |
4-24 | Mama Says I'm Crazy | Vestapol slide, cross harp | E- |
The Fred McDowell/Johnny Woods duo has been discussed previously in this thread. Their two tunes on this disc are among their most exciting.
Disk 5
John Henry Barbee
Chicago, Illinois, 1963
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
5-01 | That Ain't It | E | E- |
5-02 | Gonna Lose Your Mind | E | E- |
John Henry Barbee generates the kind of rhythmic momentum and big sound on his two numbers here that would normally require an entire band to achieve. He was a strong singer who sounded mature. "Gonna Lose Your Mind" especially has some terrific lyrics.
Albert Macon & Robert Thomas
Society Hill, Alabama, early 1980s
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
5-03 | Flat Foot Boogie | E | Eflat |
5-04 | Mama Can I Lay It Down | E | Eflat+ |
5-05 | How Can You Do It | A | Aflat+ |
Albert Macon and Robert Thomas played pretty much right on top of each other, both working out of E position in standard tuning. They create quite a din, and I can see them being in demand for dances or parties.
Jessie Clarence Gorman
Thomaston, Georgia, Spring, 1969
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
5-06 | John Henry | Vestapol slide | D- |
5-07 | Goin' Up to the Country #1 | Vestapol | E |
5-08 | Goin' Up to the Country #2 | Vestapol | E |
Jessie Clarence Gorman was a relatively younger man at the time he was recorded (born in 1928), and was kind of a shy singer. His 16-bar blues, "Goin' Up to the Country, parts 1 and 2 is a really nice piece in Vestapol that would be worth figuring out.
Will Shade
Memphis, Tennessee, 1962
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
5-09 | Dirty Dozens | E | E- |
5-10 | Won't You Send Me John | C | B+ |
5-11 | Wine Headed Man | E | E- |
5-12 | K. C. Blues * | G (tnr gtr), cross harp | G- |
'*' = w/Charlie Burse
Will Shade sounds like a consummate pro, even after you find that he had fallen on hard times during the period in which these recordings were made. His version of "Dirty Dozens" is indeed dirty, the dirtiest version I've heard on record, and he delivers it with great relish. "Won't You Send Me John" bears a resemblance to "I Got Rhythm"--same bridge and similar A parts, in which it substitutes I-I7-IV-IVminor for I-VI-II-V. The recording of "K. C. Blues" with Will Shade switching to harmonica and being joined by Charlie Burse showcases Shade's still-very-fine harmonica playing, and is the most clearly audible recording I've ever heard of Burse on tenor guitar. He sounds really good, and it makes you realize how valuable he must have been as an ensemble rhythm player.
Georgia Fife and Drum Band
Waverly Hall, Georgia, 1969
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
5-13 | Every Time I Come Around | n/a | Aflat+ |
5-14 | J. W.'s Special | n/a | Bflat/Dflat |
5-15 | Old Hen Cackle | n/a | A |
5-16 | Buck Dance | n/a | n/a |
The Georgia Fife and Drum Band was the first such band, I believe, to be found outside of northern Mississippi. Their "Every Time I Come Around" you might know as "You've Gotta Stop Kicking My Dog Around". It was difficult for me to figure out what key "J.W.'s Special" and "Old Hen Cackle" were in, and I'm not at all sure I have it right. The fife in the band is microtonally tuned (or played) and is not easily oriented as even being in a pentatonic scale, for instance.
Como Fife and Drum Band
Como, Mississippi, 1967
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
5-17 | Hey Freddie | n/a | E |
5-18 | Late in the Evening | n/a | E |
5-19 | Punky Tony | n/a | E |
5-20 | Shimmy She Wa | n/a | F#+ |
The Como Fife and Drum Band is much easier to hear for me. Their song, "Punky Tony" is the song Little Walter recorded as "My Babe".
Maxwell Street Jimmy
Chicago, Illinois, 1963
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
5-21 | You Got to Reap What You Sow | E | E- |
5-22 | Everything's Gonna Be Alright | E | Eflat+ |
Maxwell Street Jimmy sang with a very smooth, rapid tremolo, and excelled at rapidly trilled hammers on the guitar.
Precious Bryant
Waverly Hall, Georgia, 1969
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
5-23 | That's the Way the Good Thing Go | E | F# |
5-24 | Georgia Buck | C position, tuned EflatGCFAD | Bflat |
5-25 | When the Saints Go Marching In | E | C#+ |
Precious Bryant was the youngest musician to be included on the set. She sounds very much as she does today, which is very fine, with a sassy sort of vocal delivery. She is really a nice guitarist.
Rosa Lee Hill
Como, Mississippi, 8/23/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
5-26 | Pork & Beans | Cross-note | C# |
5-27 | Count the Days I'm Gone | Cross-note | Bflat+ |
5-28 | Roll & Tumble | Cross-note | C#+ |
5-29 | Bullying Well | Cross-note | E |
Rosa Lee Hill, Sid Hemphill's daughter, is one of the major finds of the entire set for me. She was a sensational guitarist and very strong singer. She normally (at least on these cuts) tuned significantly low and on "Count The Days I'm Gone", she's tuned almost a diminished fifth low, playing in cross-note at Bflat--that is LOW! The slackness of the strings on the various low-tuned songs allowed for extravagant bends, which she delivers with beautiful consistency and sustain. It is superb blue guitar-playing. I'd rank her with any of the great playing woman blues singers of the past--Geeshie Wiley, Elvie Thomas, Memphis Minnie, you name it, as well as any of the men players from her part of the world. She sounds as good as any of them to me.
Disk 6
Furry Lewis
Memphis, Tennessee, 1962
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
6-01 | Good Morning Judge | Vestapol slide | C#+ |
6-02 | Furry Lewis' Careless Love | Vestapol slide | C |
Furry Lewis is in fine form here, very expansive. "Furry Lewis' Careless Love" is "See that My Grave Is Kept Clean"
Jimmy Lee Williams
Porlan, Georgia, 1977
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
6-03 | What Make Grandpa Love Grandma So | Vestapol slide | Eflat- |
6-04 | Have You Ever Seen Peaches | Vestapol slide | C# |
Jimmy Lee Williams is terrific. Like the Furry Lewis cuts and the J. W. Warren cuts that follow, the cuts of Jimmy Lee that are offered here are available on a Fat Possum commercially released disc that is devoted wholly to his music, called "Hoot Your Belly", that is reviewed in the Music Reviews section of the board.
J.W. Warren
Ariton, Georgia, 1981 & 1982
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
6-05 | Hoboing Into Hollywood | Dropped-D | C#- |
6-06 | Sundown Blues | A | G#- |
6-07 | Rabbit On A Log | Vestapol | B- |
6-08 | You're Gonna Miss Me | Vestapol | F#- |
J. W. Warren likewise sounds excellent. "Sundown Blues" is a Blind Boy Fuller cover. I like "Rabbit On A Log" the best of his tunes; on it, he pretty much plays banjo on the guitar. "You're Gonna Miss Me" is a tough identification, and I don't recall it from J. W.'s CD. I wonder if it is being released for the first time here?
Eddie Harris
Phenix City, Alabama, early 1980s
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
6-09 | House on the Hill | E | E |
6-10 | I Have to Love Somebody | E | E |
Eddie Harris was the brother of Jimmy Lee Harris, who was featured earlier in the collection.
James Davis
Henderson, Georgia, late 1970s
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
6-11 | Old Country Rock #1 | F | G |
6-12 | Instrumental #1 | E | G |
6-13 | Who Stole the Lock off the Henhouse Door | E | G |
6-14 | Instrumental #4 | E | G |
James Davis sounds wonderful, with a beautiful, screamy tone on his electric guitar, and an ensemble that consists, apart from him, of two rocking drummers. They play great dance music, and their last number has a very funky Cajun/Zydeco feel and sound.
Robert Nighthawk
Dundee, Mississippi, 8/28/67
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
6-15 | Canned Heat | G | G |
6-16 | Nighthawk Boogie | E | Eflat+ |
6-17 | Down by the Woodshed | G | G- |
Robert Nighthawk--whew, what a player! He was the most boppish of the blues players who ended up playing amplified in Chicago that I have heard, and "Down By The Woodshed", in particular, is hot, hot, hot.
Jessie Mae Hemphill
Dundee, Mississippi, August, 1967
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
6-18 | Home Going | (a capella) | F# |
6-19 | I Want to be Ready | (a capella) | B- |
6-20 | Interview | n/a | n/a |
Jessie Mae Hemphill is joined by an unnamed male singer on "Home Going" (probably James Shorter) and they shadow each other's phrasing so well. Both of her numbers are beautifully sung, but it would have been nice to include something that featured her playing.
Disk 7
Jessie Lee Vortis
(Unknown location and date)
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
7-01 | Miss Maybelle | Spanish | F#- |
7-02 | When My Baby Got On Board | Spanish | F# |
Jessie Lee Vortis' two numbers in Spanish are excellent, and are really tantalizing. It would be interesting to know how many more titles by him were recorded by George Mitchell. "Miss Maybelle", re-titled as "Hoppin' Frog", has been covered by the Otis Brothers, Pat Conte and Bob Guida.
George Hollis
(Unknown location and date)
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
7-03 | Them Greasy Greens #1 | F (gtr), unknown (vln) | Eflat |
7-04 | Rock and Roll to Milledgeville | unknown (vln) | Eflat |
George Hollis was a very rough fiddler. On his version of "Greasy Greens #1", he is accompanied by a barely audible guitarist. He sounds like he is cross-tuned for "Rock and Roll to Milledgeville", the title of which I suspect to be a misapprehension of "Rocky Road to Milledgeville".
Willie Rockomo, Bruce Upshaw
(Unknown location and date)
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
7-05 | Black Rat Swing | A | A |
7-06 | Tease Me Baby #2 | Cross harp | A |
7-07 | Someday Baby #1 | Cross harp | A |
7-08 | Wonder Why My Baby Treat Me so Bad | G | G |
7-09 | Rosa Lee | Cross harp | A |
The cuts by Willie Rockomo and Bruce Upshaw are mixed up with regards to the credits. "Black Rat Swing" is shown as a solo number and it is clearly a guitar/harmonica duet. I believe Upshaw was the harmonica player in the duo, and he was really superb. His solo numbers are excellent.
Buddy Hubbard
(Unknown location and date)
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
7-10 | I Got A Woman | Vestapol slide | Eflat- |
7-11 | So Sweet | Vestapol | F#+ |
Ira "Tiny" Coney
(Unknown location and date)
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
7-12 | You're Gonna Miss Me | A | F#+ |
7-13 | Mamie | A | F#+ |
7-14 | I'm So Lonesome | A | F#+ |
Ira "Tiny" Coney was an earnest-sounding fellow who liked to phrase long.
Eddie Hodge
(Unknown location and date)
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
7-15 | Blood Red River | Cross-note | Eflat- |
7-16 | Sitting on Top of the World | Vestapol slide | D+ |
7-17 | Glory Hallelujah | Vestapol slide | D+ |
Eddie Hodge's "Glory Hallelujah" is more commonly know as "When I Lay My Burden Down"
Pettis Sisters
(Unknown location and date)
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
7-18 | Jesus is Coming Back to Me | F | F |
7-19 | Bound for Zion | Eflat | Eflat |
The Pettis Sisters do some very exciting up-tempo Gospel. Their accompanists sound a bit more uptown than is the norm for this set.
Houston & Sara Mae Stovall
(Unknown location and date)
Track | Title | Tuning / position | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|
7-20 | You Told Me Baby | E | E |
7-21 | Sweet as an Apple on a Tree | Cross harp | E |
7-22 | Juke #2 | Cross harp | E |
7-23 | Woke Up this Morning | E | E |
7-24 | Tell Me You Love Me | A | A |
I believe that in the Houston & Sara Mae Stovall duo, Sara Mae played the guitar and Houston played the harmonica and sang. He was a very expert harmonica player and really exciting, especially on "Juke #2". "You Told Me Baby" is more commonly known as "But That's All Right", I think. "Tell Me You Love Me" is the Jimmy Reed song, "Honest I Do", and it is sort of a shambles, due to the guitarist accompanying it as though it were a 12-bar blues, which it certainly is not. It's an odd choice to conclude such a glorious collection of music.