Topic: spike driver blues vs 99 year blues

[dave stott]

Hi all

if you compare MJH Spike Driver Blues to Julius's 99 year blues;

The 2 tunes sound eerily alike aside from the location of the capo on the guitar.

Did one predate the other OR.... is there an even earlier version?


Dave

[banjochris]

Their guitar parts are indeed similar; for some reason the guitar part to 99 Year Blues sounds more banjo-like to me. There are a ton of one-chord G banjo tunes that I would assume would be the inspiration for both tunes. Both tunes have really old verses in them, too, so who knows?

The melody of 99 Year is also very similar to the melody of The Train that Carried My Girl from Town.
Chris

[Rivers]

One-chord blues and the melody in question is such an old form with it's muddy roots way back in field hollers that it's possible (probable IMHO) there was no influence between these songs. I'm not sure I agree 99 Year's guitar part sounds much like Spike Driver either, when you get down to details.

Here's the chronology of the three songs mentioned anyway:

Train That Carried The Girl From Town - NYC, 28 Sept 1926
99 Year Blues -Atlanta, 19 Feb 1927
Spike Driver Blues - NYC, 28 Dec 1928

Click on the Julius Daniels tag I added to the bottom of this thread to see a couple of related discussions.

[frankie]

Train On The Island - J.P. Nestor (banjo) and Norm Edmonds (fiddle) - 1927

I've always thought this tune shared the same melody as 99 Year Blues and The Train That Carried My Girl From Town.  You can find it (along with 99 Year Blues) on the Anthology of American Folk Music.

[Rivers]

Thanks Frank, I don't have the J.P. Nestor tune, which is a good excuse to go shopping this morning.

[banjochris]

Train On The Island - J.P. Nestor (banjo) and Norm Edmonds (fiddle) - 1927

I've always thought this tune shared the same melody as 99 Year Blues and The Train That Carried My Girl From Town.  You can find it (along with 99 Year Blues) on the Anthology of American Folk Music.

Hadn't thought about that one but yeah, although the rhythm's a little different. I agree there's probably no influence between Spike Driver and 99 Year. As for the guitar part, the left hand positions are similar but the right hand is very different.

Another question of course is just what island Nestor and Edmonds have in mind. Sometimes the words to that tune are also sung to the melody of "June Apple," another common fiddle tune not melodically related.
Chris