Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[EddieD]

I hear it as "Not" rather than "I've" as well Harriet. I still cant make out the second word. Something with an "L" sound as everyone else hears.

[banjochris]

I'm not exactly sure what the missing word is in "Circle" but I think I know what's happening there. I believe he's interrupting himself with the name of the circle.

You can't tell me nothin' 'bout the circle because... [here he interrupts himself to stress the name of it] not [it sounds like Lake something] Circle.

I hope that makes sense the way I'm trying to explain it.

Update: Pretty sure he's saying Laconia Circle there -- there's a Laconia Circle Levee.

So: You can't tell me nothin' 'bout the circle because...not Laconia Circle.
Chris

[Johnm]

Well, hats off, Chris, you got it for sure, and that is amazing!  Last night I was hearing something like "linked", as Harriet was suggesting, but "not Laconia Circle" is plain as day, once it is deciphered.  I will make the change.  That is one for the books, as far as I'm concerned--great hearing combined with good research.  Thanks!
All best,
Johnm

[harriet]

While I was writing this post John Miller confirmed this but probably no harm in leaving a slowed down clip up in support.

[Prof Scratchy]

Phew, that's a relief! Well done Chris!

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have a couple of new puzzlers for you.  The first is Robert "Guitar" Welch's "Bad Luck Blues".  "Guitar" Welch was discovered in Angola Prison by Dr. Harry Oster at the same time that Robert Pete Williams was discovered there, I believe.  Here is the track:



INTRO

I'm a bad luck child, baby, havin' bad luck everywhere I go
I'm a bad luck child, bad luck everywhere I go
Everybody I know, mama, Lord, they drove me from their door

Bad luck and trouble, baby is my bosom friends
Bad luck and trouble, baby, is my bosom friends
Where di my bad luck leave me?  My trouble's just begin

SOLO (spoken):  Take it easy a while, man.  That's what I'm talkin' about.  Ain't it a shame?  That boy got the blues.)

Sometimes I wonder, baby, Lord, will I ever get back home?
Sometimes I wonder, baby, will I ever get back home?
You know, I been gone so long, pretty mama, Lord, I don't know my right way home

SOLO (spoken: Get it now!)

The questions on "Bad Luck Blues" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did "Guitar" Welch use to play the song?
   * Where did he fret the descending run from :20--:23?
   * Where did he fret the passage from 3:35--3:40?

The second puzzler is Frankie Lee Sims' "Married Woman Blues".  What a rocker!  Here is the track:



The questions on "Married Woman Blues" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Frankie Lee Sims use to play the song?
   * Where did Frankie Lee Sims fret the bass run he plays three times consecutively from :32--:39?
   * Where did Frankie Lee fret the solo passage from 1:12--1:16?

Please use only your ears and your guitars to figure out your answers, and please don't post any answers before 8:00 AM your time on the morning of Thursday, May 7.  Thanks for your participation, and I hope you enjoy the songs.
All best,
Johnm

[Gumbo]

And Happy Birthday to Robert 'Guitar' Welch. Wheresoever he may be! Born this day in 1896 according to Eric's Blues dates.

[Lyndvs]

Well,here goes,I could be making more of a pig`s ear of this than I did on the Roland/Scott duet.
GUITAR WELCH:
SPANISH
descending run 20-23 secs:
1st string-3rd fret,2nd fret,open
3rd string-3rd fret slide 4th fret,open
4th string 2nd fret,open
5th string 3rd fret slight bend
3rd string open
5th string open
passage 3.35-3.40secs.
barre across strings 1, 2 & 3 at 12th fret slid down to 11 th fret then back up to 12th fret played against pulse on open 5th string.
I can`t really hear the third string ringing out in this passage so it may not be played at all?

FRANKIE LEE SIMS:
A standard.
bass run 32-39 secs.:
5th string open,3rd fret hammer on 4th fret
4th string 2nd fret played twice,4th fret
3rd string 2nd fret
4th string 4th fret, 2nd fret
3rd string 2nd fret
5th string open.

solo passage 1.12-1.16:
this is tricky  but I came up with

1string slide into 9th fret
2nd string 10th fret
1string open,5 th fret
2nd string  5th fret
1st string 5th fret
1st string open,5th fret
1st string open,5th fret
2nd string slide into 10th fret
1st string 9th fret
2nd string 10th fret
1string slide into 9th fret
2nd string  10th fret
1st string open,5th fret,8th fret slight bend .
Great tracks.Hope I`m closer than on my last attempt.

[EddieD]

"Bad Luck Blues"

* What playing position/tuning did "Guitar" Welch use to play the song?
 
A position, Standard tuning but about a 1/4 step flat give or take a bit


* Where did he fret the descending run from :20--:23?

Code: [Select]

E-----3-2-------------------
B-----2-2--5-2--------------
G-----2--------2--------2~~~
D-----2----------4-2--------
A--0-----------------3b---0-
E---------------------------

~ = let ring, b = 1/4 bend
* Where did he fret the passage from 3:35--3:40?

Code: [Select]

E--12--12--
B--14--13--
G----------
D----------
A----------
E----------
I use up strokes with my fingers for this part.
Hit the first one about 10 times and second a few less, then back to the first double stop.

"Married Woman Blues"

* What playing position/tuning did Frankie Lee Sims use to play the song?
   

A position standard tuning


* Where did Frankie Lee Sims fret the bass run he plays three times consecutively from :32--:39?

Code: [Select]

E---------------------
B---------------------
G-------------2-----2-
D--------2-4----4-2---
A--00-3b--------------
E---------------------
* Where did Frankie Lee fret the solo passage from 1:12--1:16?

Code: [Select]

E---9----------------------------9-------------9\--
B-----10-----10----10----10----10-10----10----10\--
G----------9----9-----9-----9---------9----9---9\--
D--------------------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------


[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any other takers for the "Guitar" Welch and Frankie Lee Sims puzzlers?  Come one, come all, and answer as many of the questions as you wish.
All best,
Johnm

[eric]

For Bad Luck Blues, I'll say A position, but that's based on my thinking that the :20-:23 riff sounds similar (but not exactly) to a riff in Willie Brown's Mississippi Blues, and the following turnaround sounds to me like the one in RJ's Kindhearted Woman.  So no great transcription skill on my part, just a guess based on tunes I know. 

[Prof Scratchy]

Coming late to this one, and all the heavy lifting has been done. But on election day here, my vote goes to Lyndvs for Spanish on the Guitar Welch one, and A standard for Frankie Lee Sims. And yes, what a rocker of a tune that is! I know that most folk thing A as well for Guitar Welch, but what makes me think Spanish is that I hear a few Big Joe Williams licks in there. Anyone else hear a similarity?

[EddieD]

Listening again, it could be spanish. Im pretty confident in the notes I picked out but now I'm questioning the tuning which would change where everything is fretted. Oh well, I will leave it as is and wait for Johnm to post the answer

[Johnm]

Hi all,
It looks as though probably everyone who intends to respond to the "Guitar" Welch and Frankie Lee Sims puzzlers has done so, so I'll post the answers.
For "Guitar" Welch's "Bad Luck Blues":
   * He did play the song out of Spanish tuning, as Lyndvs and Prof Scratchy had it.  Since the intervals of the open strings in Spanish are 5-R-5-R-3-5, exactly like an A chord in standard tuning fingered 0-0-2-2-2-0, the distinction between Spanish and A standard can be a tricky one.  A good way to discern the difference is to listen for the V7 chord.  In A standard, the V7 chord will be E7, which has a very distinctive sound with the third of the chord voiced at the first fret of the third string, often hammered into, etc.  The V7 chord most often played in Spanish, 0-X-0-2-1-0, has a much more drony, open sound because it has no third in it, being voiced R-X-R-5-b7-R.
   *  The fill that "Guitar" Welch played from :20-23 was played precisely as Lyndvs mapped it out--well done, Lyndvs!  Just to place it in the pulse, the third fret of the 1st string is picked on the + of beat one, followed by a triplet on beat two, going from the second fret of the first string to the open first string and a slide into the fourth fret of the third string.  Beat three similarly has a triplet, going from the open third string to the second fret fret of the fourth string followed by the open fourth string.  Beat four has a bent third fret of the fifth string on the beat resolving to the open third string on the + of beat four, and the run concludes with an open fifth string on the downbeat of the next measure.
   *  Welch's fill from 3:35--3:40 has him hitting triplets on the open third string with his thumb and brushing triplets on the first two strings, first at the twelfth fret for two beats, then at the eleventh fret for three beats, then back to the twelfth fret.  In making that move on the first two strings from the 12th to the 11th fret, Welch is effectively going from a G major chord to a G diminished chord--it sounds great, and it is easy!  I believe I have heard Big Joe Williams do this move, as Prof Scratchy noted.
For Frankie Lee Sims' "Married Woman Blues":
   *  Frankie Lee's playing position was A position in standard tuning, as everyone had it--well done!
   *  Frankie Lee's bass run in the passage from :32--39 operates like so:  On beat one he hits the third fret of the fifth string.  On beat two, he hits the second fret of the fourth string.  On 3+, he goes from the fourth fret of the fourth string to the second fret of the fourth string.  On beat four, he hits the second fret of the third string.  On 1+ of the second measure he goes from the fourth fret of the fourth string to the second fret of the fourth string.  On 2+ in the second measure he goes from the second fret of the third string to the open fifth string, letting that open fifth string sustain through beats three and four.  It is a wonderfully catchy run and very fun to play.  I should add that he occasionally intersperses a couple of index finger picks of the second fret of the third string in the course of playing the bass run.
   *  For his fill from 1:12 to 1:16, Frankie Lee plays an A chord out of a D shape up at the ninth fret and simply picks the appropriate strings to get his lick, exactly as EddieD had it--well done, Eddie!

I hope you enjoyed the songs and working on them, and thanks for participating.  I will post another puzzler soon.  The lyrics for "Married Woman Blues" are already up in Weeniepedia, by the way, and there is a fairly full "Frankie Lee Sims Lyrics" thread, if you're interested in more of his music.

All best,
Johnm

[frankie]

A good way to discern the difference is to listen for the V7 chord.  In A standard, the V7 chord will be E7, which has a very distinctive sound with the third of the chord voiced at the first fret of the third string, often hammered into, etc.  The V7 chord most often played in Spanish, 0-X-0-2-1-0, has a much more drony, open sound because it has no third in it, being voiced R-X-R-5-b7-R.

That is definitely a clincher and makes its appearance within the first 20 seconds of the song. Another thing that you can notice in this song is the movement from 0:52-0:55 on the IV chord. It's a partial barre across all but the 6th string at the fifth fret, followed by the flat III chord at the third fret:

x55555

x33333

those chords are voiced R5R35 and while that's certainly possible in standard tuning, it is far, far easier to get that in spanish since you just lay a finger across all those strings at the fret in question. Getting the 1st string to ring cleanly using that position in standard can kinda be a knuckle buster.