Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[Old Man Ned]

I'm hearing Gabriel Brown's "Stop Jivin' Me" in D. I'm thinking standard tuning rather than dropped D. Agree with Banjo Chris re what is going on in the fretting hand at the start. For the first two phrases of his solo, from 1:50--1:53 is he not just taking this D shape up and down the neck to a high point of A and D at the lowest, and landing on an F also.

Daniel Pickett's "Decoration Day" I'm hearing in E standard, capo, on my guitar, at the 6th fret.
Not quite figuredout the ascending/descending fill he plays from :22--:23 but I'm making some similar noises out of a standard E shape.

All the Best,
Ned

[blueshome]

Gabriel Brown I've. Got in Drop D
Pickett E capoed well up

[Prof Scratchy]

I agree with blueshome, drop D and E capoed high.

[Forgetful Jones]

Gabriel Brown “Stop Jivin’ Me” - D position in Standard tuning, a little sharp. I broke my capo trying to figure it out.
For the intro, I think he repeatedly slides into his D chord from a fret lower.
To start his solo I’m pretty sure he just plays that D shaped chord up at the 8th fret and works it down to 7th fret then 5th fret. And on the 2nd measure he follows that same pattern and resolves it back to D at the 2nd fret. (That is really awkwardly worded by me, but I hope it makes sense.)

I am a bit discouraged to have broken my capo, and didn’t give Dan Pickett an honest effort, but I think he’s playing in E position capo’d up there 6 or 7 frets up from where my guitar is tuned.

Great song choices again. I hadn’t heard either one before.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
There haven't been any new responses to the Gabriel Brown and Dan Pickett puzzlers for several days, so I'll post the answers.

For Gabriel Brown's "Stop Jivin' Me":
   * His playing position was D position in dropped-D tuning. I think every response had the playing position at D in either standard or dropped-D tuning. This was not an easy identification, by any means, because Gabriel Brown did not emphasize the low D on the sixth string as is most often done when someone plays in that tuning. But if you re-listen to the cut, at :52--:53, you can hear him hit the low D note twice, by itself. Gabriel Brown is one of the few Country Blues players to record a lot of tunes in dropped-D tuning, always using it to play in D position when he did so, unlike Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb and Carolina Slim, all of whom liked to use dropped-D tuning to play in A position.
   * Everyone correctly identified his opening move as sliding a D chord on the first three strings at the base of the neck up one fret, intact, over and over.
   * Old Man Ned and Forgetful Jones correctly identified his moves in the treble at the beginning of his solo as being a D shape (or at least the first two strings of the D shape) being moved up the neck and starting with simultaneous walk-downs on the first and second strings of the eighth, seventh and fifth frets of the first string and the ninth, eighth and sixth frets of the second string, with the second string bent at each step along the way. The second time he plays the phrase he continues on down to a first position D at the second fret of the first string and the third fret of the second string. At the beginning of the solo, he is doing a sort of "three frets up" idea in reverse, and jazzing it up by hitting the intermediate step along the way.

Like banjochris, I had never heard this performance before finding it on youtube. It is not included on the JSP set "Shake that Thing", which has almost all of Gabriel Brown's commercial recordings and a good number of his Library of Congress recordings, too.

For Dan Pickett's "Decoration Day":
   * His playing position was E position in standard tuning, capoed up, as everyone who responded had it--well done!
   * He played the ascending/descending fill from :22--:23 as follows: The fill begins on beat two with a triplet in which the first two notes are the open fourth string, and the second fret of the fourth string, with the third note being the open first string. On beat three, he plays a another triplet, pulling off from the third fret of the second string to the open second string and going from there to the third fret of the third string. On beat four, he hits a concluding triplet, pulling off from the second fret of the third string to the first fret of the third string and hitting the second fret of the fourth string on the last note of the triplet. On the downbeat of the next measure he resolves the fill to the open first string. In the bass, he hits the open sixth string on the first and third notes of the beat three triplet and hits it again on beat four. I really love this fill, it is just ripping. Try it out--it sits so beautifully in the left hand that you barely have to move anything, and the two pull-offs are so intelligently placed that they're just a cinch to play.

I think that Dan Pickett's playing and singing here both show a strong Tommy McClennan influence as do several of his recorded performances. The way that in a couple of verses he hits repeated bends of the third fret of the first string under his singing closely approximates something Tommy McClennan loved to do when playing in G position, but getting his bend at the sixth fret of the first string. I sure wish Dan Pickett had recorded more. He's one of those guys like Robert Petway or Garfield Akers who only had a couple of days in the studio. And like Tommy McClennan, Charlie Patton and Blind Boy Fuller, he was blessed in being completely unintimidated by the recording situation--he just cut loose. Has there ever been a blues singer who could spit out words with such alacrity? On this song and "99-and-a Half Won't Do", Pickett fits in more words than it seems would be possible.

Thanks to all who participated, and I hope you enjoyed the songs. I'll see if I can find some others to post.
All best,
Johnm 
     

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have a couple of new puzzlers for those of you who are interested. The first is from Tarheel Slim (Alden Bunn), and it comes from late in his career, when he recorded for Trix. He is playing the lead electric guitar on the track. The song is "Superstitious", and here it is:



The questions on Tarheel Slim's "Superstitious" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did he use to play the song?
   * Where did he fret the walk-down that he does from :09--:12?

The second song is from Jenny Pope, and it is her "Mr. Postman Blues". The guitarist and jug player on the track are unknown according to DG&R, but it has been suggested that Will Shade was the guitarist. Here is "Mr. Postman Blues":



The questions on "Mr. Postman Blues" are:
   * What playing position/tuning was used to play the song?
   * Where was the walk-down from :06--:09 fretted?
   

Please use only your ears and your guitars to arrive at your answers, and please don't post any responses before 8:00 AM your time on Tuesday, June 7. Thanks for your participation and I hope that you enjoy the tunes.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any takers for the Tarheel Slim and Jenny Pope puzzlers? Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

Sounds to me like Tarheel Slim is in Vestapol and is playing that walk-down starting on the third fret of the fifth and third strings and taking it down fret by fret. It's basically the same lick, with different timing (and of course in a different tuning) that Peg Leg Howell plays in "Low Down Rounder's Blues."
Chris

[Prof Scratchy]

Tar Heel Skin in Vestapol, as banjochris says. What a voice! I have difficulty hearing the guitar on the Jenny Pope track, and really have no idea what’s going on. But that doesn’t stop me from guessing, so I’ll guess E standard with capo on 5th fret!

[blueshome]

I'm with the Prof

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any other takers for the Tarheel Slim and Jenny Pope/Will Shade puzzlers? Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Forgetful Jones]

Tarheel Slim's "Superstitious" I think is in Vestapol tuning. The walkdown sounds like he starts off on the 5th & 3rd strings at the 3rd fret and then moves down to 2nd fret, then 1st fret, then open.

For Jenny Pope's "Mr. Postman Blues" I think the unknown guitar player is in E position Standard tuning capo'd up. Hard to hear on crummy laptop speakers, but sounds like the walkdown is pretty standard for that position, starting off by fretting the 3rd string at the 4th fret and the 2nd string at the 3rd fret. Sounds like he walks that shape down a fret at a time until he resolves to the E chord.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
There haven't been any new responses on the Tarheel Slim and Jenny Pope/Will shade puzzlers in several days, so I'll post the answers.

For Tarheel Slim's "Superstitious":
   * His playing position/tuning was Vestapol as everyone who responded had it--well done!
   * He fretted the walk-down from :09--:12 exactly as banjochris described it in his initial response to the puzzlers, walking down the third and fifth strings from the third fret chromatically to the open third and fifth strings. That walk-down has him going from the fifth to the third of the I chord on the third string and the bVII to the V note of the I chord on the fifth string.

On Tarheel Slim's Trix album, "No Time At All", which you can still find occasionally in its CD version, he played a surprising number of tunes out of Vestapol--the title track, "Fore Day Creep", "180 Days" and "So Sweet". He really was a wonderful singer, as Prof Scratchy noted, and like another singer from the Carolinas, Doug Quattlebaum, had done stints in Gospel quartets, which really shows up in his singing, I think.

For Jenny Pope's "Mr. Postman Blues":
   * The unidentified guitarist's playing position/tuning was E position in standard tuning, as Prof Scratchy, blushome and Forgetful Jones all had it--well done!
   * The guitarist did the walk-down from :06--:09 walking down the third string chromatically from the fourth to the first fret and the fifth string from the fifth to the second fret. Coincidentally, this is exactly the same walk-down that Tarheel Slim did in "Superstitious", walking from the V to the III of the I chord on the third string and the bVII to the V of the I chord on the fifth string. He has to start the third string one fret higher in E position standard tuning than Tarheel Slim did in Vestapol, since the third string is tuned a half-step higher relative to the sixth string in Vestapol than it is in E standard. Likewise, he has to start the fifth string two frets higher in E position standard tuning than Tarheel Slim did in Vestapol because in E position standard tuning, the fifth string is tuned to a IV note and in Vestapol, it is tuned to a V note. I think that figuring out the way this same walk-down can be sussed out in these different playing positions/tunings is a really valuable exercise, both in terms of hearing and the thought process involved.

I sure like the guitar playing on "Mr. Postman Blues"--there are so many nice touches. I believe Jenny Pope only recorded a couple of titles. Her vocal tone really reminds me of Mattie Delaney, with a very pronounced, buzzy headtone.

I hope that folks enjoyed the songs, and thanks to those who participated. I'll look for some more puzzlers.

All best,
Johnm 

   

[Johnm]

Hi all,
It's been a while since we've had any new puzzlers so I thought I would post a couple for those of you who are interested. The first is "Motherless Boy" by Spark Plug Smith. Here it is:



The questions on Spark Plug Smith's "Motherless Boy" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did he use to play the song?
   * Where did Spark Plug Smith fret what he played in the tenth bar of each one of his verses?

The second puzzler is "Quarrellin' Mama Blues" by Arthur Pettis, for which he was joined by an unknown pianist and a harmonica player believed to have been Jed Davenport. Here is "Quarrellin' Mama Blues":



INTRO

I wonder how come, you do me like you do
Lord, if I were to help you, it's a good deed you do

I'm tired of your evil, low-down and dirty ways
Oh, I'm tired of your evil, low-down and dirty ways
I don't want me 'round you, I sure don't want to stay

I been a good boy, you tryin' to treat me mean
I been a good boy, you tryin' to treat me mean
Then you treat me like a, poor boy you never seen

Oh good looks gon' help you, but it's the way you do
Oh good looks gonna help you, but it's the way you do
No decent behavior, the hearse will take you, too

Now you're arguin' and you're quarrelin', each day and every night
Oh, you're arguin' and you're quarrelin', each day and every night
End your arguin' and your quarrelin', then I will treat you right

Edited 9/3 to pick up corrections from Blues Vintage
Edited 9/9 to pick up corrections from banjochris and Blues Vintage

The questions on Arthur Pettis' Quarrellin' Mama Blues" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did he use to play the song?
   * What did you hear that made you arrive at your decision as to his playing position/tuning?

Please use only your ears and your guitars to arrive at your answers and please don't post any responses before 8:00 AM your time this coming Saturday, July 23. Thanks to those who participate and I hope folks enjoy the songs.

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any takers for the Spark Plug Smith and Arthur Pettis puzzlers? Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm