Hi all,
There is an idea, sometimes put forward, that Country Blues players did not at all, or only very rarely used capos when playing. The recorded evidence flies in the face of this idea, however. A fair number of Country Blues guitarists recorded pitched so high relative to the playing positions that they were working out of that simply "tuning high" could not plausibly have put them at the pitch at which their renditions sounded. I thought it might be interesting to identify players, who based on the recorded evidence, either used capos in all of their playing, or at least a great deal of it. Here are a couple to get the ball rolling:
* Clifford Gibson--Clifford Gibson often, when recording in Spanish tuning, sounded as high as D or even E flat. Even assuming he recorded in Spanish at A rather than G, sounding in those keys would have required him to capo at the fifth or sixth fret, respectively. Similarly, for the pieces in which he used the EAEGBE tuning, he often sounded in G or higher keys. I believe he used a capo for virtually all of his recordings.
* Henry Thomas--Henry Thomas often played in D position in standard tuning to sound in G, G# or A, and similarly used C position in standard tuning to sound in F, F# or G. Unless he used a small guitar like a requinto, tuned very high, he almost definitely used a capo on all of his recordings with the possible exception of "Shanty Blues" and "Texas Easy Street".
* Charley Jordan--For Charley Jordan's solo recordings that he played out of E position in standard tuning (everything but "Raiding Squad" and "Spoonful"), he is most often pitched around B flat or B. Did he tune his guitar that high? No, he used a capo.
Can you think of other players who habitually used a capo?
All best,
Johnm
There is an idea, sometimes put forward, that Country Blues players did not at all, or only very rarely used capos when playing. The recorded evidence flies in the face of this idea, however. A fair number of Country Blues guitarists recorded pitched so high relative to the playing positions that they were working out of that simply "tuning high" could not plausibly have put them at the pitch at which their renditions sounded. I thought it might be interesting to identify players, who based on the recorded evidence, either used capos in all of their playing, or at least a great deal of it. Here are a couple to get the ball rolling:
* Clifford Gibson--Clifford Gibson often, when recording in Spanish tuning, sounded as high as D or even E flat. Even assuming he recorded in Spanish at A rather than G, sounding in those keys would have required him to capo at the fifth or sixth fret, respectively. Similarly, for the pieces in which he used the EAEGBE tuning, he often sounded in G or higher keys. I believe he used a capo for virtually all of his recordings.
* Henry Thomas--Henry Thomas often played in D position in standard tuning to sound in G, G# or A, and similarly used C position in standard tuning to sound in F, F# or G. Unless he used a small guitar like a requinto, tuned very high, he almost definitely used a capo on all of his recordings with the possible exception of "Shanty Blues" and "Texas Easy Street".
* Charley Jordan--For Charley Jordan's solo recordings that he played out of E position in standard tuning (everything but "Raiding Squad" and "Spoonful"), he is most often pitched around B flat or B. Did he tune his guitar that high? No, he used a capo.
Can you think of other players who habitually used a capo?
All best,
Johnm