Topic: Mance Lipscomb Keys/Positions

[banjochris]

Hope I got these tag things right.

Someone requested this awhile back, and I don't think we have it here, so I compiled it. This is listed by title; playing position; actual pitch -- if it says + or - it's less than a semitone off in that direction. There's more Mance on video that I could have included, but I think the tunes at least are mostly duplicates. I don't have the album with him, Lightning and Clifton Chenier so if someone wants to add those that would be great.

These are organized with CDs first, followed by tracks from the Arhoolie LPs that haven't been reissued and then some miscellaneous stuff. Corrections/criticism/comments are welcome; particularly on the tunes in A, sometimes it's a little difficult to tell if he's tuned in drop D or not. The A tunes where he doesn't retune tend to have either no IV chord or a very brief allusion to one.

I was surprised also how sharp he usually tunes, and I wonder if some of the more extreme pitches are problems with the original recording. There are a few instances where he's playing out of C but sounding in E and I've never seen a picture of him playing with a capo.
Chris


CD Vol. 1
Sugar Babe (It's All Over Now); E; E-flat+   
Going Down Slow; A (drop D); B
Freddie; E; F+
Jack O'Diamonds; vestapol; E-
Baby Please Don't Go; E; F#+
One Thin Dime; E; E+
Shake, Shake, Mama; A (drop D); B
Ella Speed; C; D
Mama Don't Allow; C; D-
Ain't It Hard; Am; Bm
'Bout A Spoonful; A (drop D); B-flat-
Take Me Back Babe; C; C# 
Rag In G; G/C; G#/C#
Big Boss Man; E; F
You Gonna Quit Me; C; C#
Blues In G; G; G#+
Mama, Don't Dog Me; A (drop D); B-flat
Willie Poor Boy; spanish; G#+
Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night; drop D; E-flat-
Knocking Down Windows; C; C#+
Nobody's Fault But Mine; vestapol; E-flat
Motherless Children; vestapol; E-flat

CD Vol. 2
Charlie James; E; F
Come Back Baby; A; B-flat
Spanish Flang Dang; spanish; G#-
You Got To Reap What You Sow; C; C#
Cocaine Done Killed My Baby; C; C
Joe Turner Killed A Man; spanish; A-flat+
Bumble Bee; E; E+
Boogie In "A"; A (drop D); B-flat
Hattie Green; A (drop D); B-flat+
Silver City; C; C+
The Titanic; vestapol; E+
If I Miss the Train; G; A-flat+
Lord Thomas; a cappella; B-flat
Tom Moore Blues; A; B-flat
So Different Blues; C; C#
Tall Angel At The Bar; E (maybe vestapol); F+
Mama, Don't Dog Me; A (drop D); B-flat
Long Way To Tipperary; C; C#+
Willie Poor Boy; spanish; G#
You Rascal You; C; C#
I Looked Down The Road And I Wondered; vestapol; F
Sentimental Blues; G; G#+
Police Station Blues; A; B-flat+
Missouri Waltz; C; C#+

CD Vol. 3
Captain, Captain!; A; A+
Ain't You Sorry; G; G+
Night Time is the Right Time; E; E+
Mr. Tom's Rag (Guitar Solo); C; C+
I Want To Do Something For You; G; G+
Long Tall Girl Got Stuck On Me; A; B-flat
Rag in "A"; A; A+
Going Up North to See My Pony Run; E; F
Santa Fe Blues; C; C+
Frankie and Albert; C; C+
Sentimental Piece in "G" (Guitar Solo); G; G+
Farewell Blues; E; F
Shorty George; C; C+
Angel Child; A (drop D); A+
Black Rat; A (drop D); A+
Tom Moore's Farm Take 2; A; A-flat+
Foggy Bottom Blues; A; B-flat-
Heel and Toe Polka; G; G#-
Going Back to Georgia; E; G
Easy Rider Blues; G; A-flat
Why Did You Leave Me?; E; F
Me and My Baby; E; F+
Mance's Talking Blues; C; C#

CD Vol. 4
Baby Don't You Lay It On Me; A (drop D); B-flat
Meet Me In The Bottom; A (drop D but retunes to standard -- extra cool move); B-flat
You Gonna Miss Me; E; E+
Keep On Truckin'; C; C+
Trouble In Mind; C; C#+
Tom Moore Blues; A; B-flat+
Mance's Short Haired Woman; E; E+
Tra-La-Ra-La Doodle All Day; C; C#+
Shine On Harvest Moon; C; C#+
Run Sinner Run; vestapol; E
Key To The Highway; E; F
Rock Me Mama; E; F
Wonder Where Easy Rider Done Gone; G; G#+
Late Night Blues & Boogie Woogie; E; F#
Cocaine Done Killed My Baby; C; E+
I Wonder Why; E; F#
It Ain't Gonna Rain No More; C; E-flat
You Gonna Quit Me Baby; C; E-flat
When The Saints Go Marching In; vestapol; E-flat+
Mother Had A Sick Child; vestapol; E-flat+

CD Vol. 5
Texas Blues; G; F#
Black Gal; A (drop D); A-flat
Oh, Baby! (You Don't Have To Go); E; E-flat
Whiskey Blues; G; F#
Haunted House Blues; G; F#
Mance's Blues; E; F
Does She Ever Think Of Me; E; E+
I Just Hang Down My Head And I Cry; G; A-flat
Rag In F; F; F+
Wonder Where My Easy Rider Gone; G; A-flat-
Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night; E; E+
Corrine, Corrina; G; A-flat+
Evil Blues; E; E
Mama, Let Me Lay It On You; A (drop D); B-flat
Louise; drop D; E-flat
Sometimes I Feel Like; vestapol; E
Blues In The Bottle; A; B-flat
Angel Child; A (drop D); B-flat

CD Trouble in Mind
Captain, Captain; A; B-flat-
Careless Love; C; C#+
When Death Come Creeping in Your Room (Run, Sinner Run); vestapol; E-flat+
Alabama Bound; G; A-flat+
Buck Dance (Instrumental); C; C#+
Night Time Is the Right Time; E; F+
Rocks and Gravel Makes a Solid Road; E; F+
Johnnie Take a One on Me; C; C#+
Motherless Children; vestapol; E-flat+
Which-a-Way Do the Red River Run; E; F+
Trouble in Mind; C; C#
Ballad of the Boll Weevil; C; C+
Boogie in 'A' (Instrumental); A (drop D); B-flat+
Hattie Green; A (drop D); B-flat-
Bumble Bee Blues; E; F+
Shine on Harvest Moon; C; C+
Cocaine Done Kill My Baby; C; C#
Hey Lawdy Mama; A; A+
Is You Gonna Quit Me Baby; C; C#
Frankie Was a Good Woman; spanish (tonic at 7th fret); E-flat
You Gonna Look Like a Monkey; G; A-flat+
Black Gal; A (drop D); B-flat+
Casey Jones; F; F#+
After Hours (Instrumental); E; F+
Angel Child; A (drop D); A-

CD So Different Blues (bad sound quality on this CD)
So Different Blues; C; B-flat+
See You Mama Every Night; F; E
Late Hours Blues; E; E-flat+
Nobody Cares For Me; C; B
Shorty George Cut Down; C; C
Corinna Corrina (12-string); G; G
Rock Me Mama (12-string); E; E
Shine On Harvest Moon (12-string); C; C
Good As I Am To You (12-string); C; C
Long Way To Tipparrary (12-string); C; C
Getaway Blues; G; F
Trouble In Mind; C; B-flat+
Going Down Slow; A (drop D); G+
Baby Please Don't Go; E; D+

LP You'll Never Find Another Man Like Mance
Meet Me in the Bottom*; A (drop D but retunes); B-flat
Tom Moore's Farm*; A; B-flat
Keep on Trucking; C; C+
Joe Turner Killed a Man; spanish; A-flat+
Alabama Bound; G; A-
You've Got to See Your Mama Every Night; F; G-
Out and Down; E; E+
Angel Child; A (drop D); A+
You Rascal You; D; E-flat
Mance's St. Louis Blues; C; C#
Baby, Don't You Lay It on Me; A (drop D); B-flat
Tall Angel at the Bar; vestapol; E
Johnny Take a One on Me/Buck Dance; C; C
*same recording as on CD Vol. 4

LP Vol. 1
Rock Me Mama All Night Long; E; F#
Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'; C; C#-
Goin' to Louisiana (See See Rider); C; C#-

LP Vol. 2
Key to the Highway; E; F
Heel and Toe Polka; G; A-flat
Alabama Jubilee; F; F#+

LP Vol. 5
Long Way to Tipperary; C; B
Mother Had a Sick Child; vestapol; D
Looking for My Jesus; vestapol; D

LP Vol. 6
When Death Comes Creeping in Your Room; vestapol; E+

Blues 'N Trouble
Back Water Blues; A; B-flat

Blues With a Feeling (Newport)
Freddie; E; E+
So Different Blues; C; C#+
God Moves on the Water (The Titanic)*; vestapol; E-flat
*also on Folk Music at Newport Part 1

The Great Blues Men
Blues in G; G; G+

LP "Blues Festival" (from John Miller)
Stop-Time; C
I Ain't Got Nobody; C
Take Your Arms From Around My Neck, Sugar Babe; E
When the Saints Go Marching In, vestapol

The following are from memory and I didn't check the pitches. I'm 99% sure of the keys, though.

MOVIE A Well-Spent Life (he plays other tunes in this movie but this is the only one not officially available anywhere else)
St. James Infirmary; Am

MOVIES Out of the Blacks into the Blues/Good Morning Blues (I forget which volume and which tune is on which)
See See Rider; C
See See Rider; E
All Night Long; G

VIDEO Masters of Country Blues: Mance Lipscomb/Lightnin' Hopkins
Sugar Babe; E
Ella Speed; C
Can I Do Something for You; G
Baby Please Don't Go; E
Shine On Harvest Moon; C
You've Got to See Mama Every Night; F
Goin' Down Slow; A (drop D)
Night Time is the Right Time; E
Jack of Diamonds; vestapol

VIDEO Mance Lipscomb in Concert
So Different Blues; C
Take Me Back; C
Going Down Slow; A (drop D)
Keep On Trucking; C
Alcohol Blues; G
Angel Child; A (drop D)
Silver City; C
Night Time Is The Right Time; E
Key To The Highway; E
You Got To See Your Mama Every Night; F
Mama Don't Allow; C
Long Way To Tipperary; C
Baby, You Don't Have To Go; E
When The Saints Go Marching In; vestapol
Motherless Children; vestapol
I Want To Do Something For You; G


(Edited 3/31 to fix wrong position for very last song, 4/2 for correction from Blue in VT, 4/8 for tunes from John Miller.)

[uncle bud]

That's tremendous, Chris. A lot of meat for Mance fans to chew on. I also hadn't realized there was so much film footage of him. Had forgotten about the Les Blank film, A Well-Spent Life, which I have not seen.

Obviously, we'll get this into the Keys to the Highway section asap. As soon as I have a moment of downtime from work!

(Tags worked fine. Good idea on the Texas tag, too.)

[Blue in VT]

Banjo,

YOU ARE MY HERO!!!!  I was the one who mentioend this before and I was SO excited to see this today when I logged in...THANK YOU SO MUCH!!  As someone who is just begining to start attempting to transcribe by ear...just having a Key to start with will make alife alot easier.

ONCE AGAIN....THANK YOU!!!!

Cheers,

Blue

[Blue in VT]

I'm just starting to digest this list.....

I will mention that on the Ernie Hawkins DVD's he teaches "shake, shake Mama" aka "Cherry Ball" in Key: A Tuning Drop D

Cheers,

Blue

[banjochris]

Thanks, Blue -- I missed that one -- "Shake, Shake Mama" does have the drop D tuning.
Chris

[Johnm]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for posting the list.  It is great and really unusual to have the music of someone of Mance's generation so thoroughly documented.  I knew he had recorded a lot, but didn't realize how much it all came to.  Thanks to Chris Strachwitz for not losing interest after the first couple of albums.
I realized I do have the Arhoolie "Blues Festival" album, so I dug it out and found that on it Mance plays the following songs:
   * "Stop-Time", in C position, standard tuning
   * "I Ain't Got Nobody", in C position, standard tuning
   * "Take Your Arms From Around My Neck, Sugar Babe", in E position, standard tuning
   * "When The Saints Go Marching In", in Vestapol, slide.
All best,
Johnm

[Blue in VT]

Excellent additions John thanks...it is quite a vast assortment of music eh?  Just working thru the existing instructional material has exposed me to a lot of different keys and musical themes...I think its wonderful music and just a lot of fun to play.

Thanks again to both of you,

Chris

[lampens]

Hi, is there anybody who has got a tab for goin down slow like the way he plays it in this youtube video. It's short but sweet. The open a drop d tune to b explanation here made things a bit clearer I almost got it but it's such an awkward tuning to play in. Can't quite figure it out but the intro to this song has got to be one of the sweetest sounding pieces of music ever made.

[Blue in VT]

Lampens,

I'm not sure I have TAB for that particular performance but I do have 3 or 4 different TABs for tis song and would be glad to share them with you.  Drop me a line if your interested

Blue

[lampens]

Yeah, that would be great. I like lightning hopkins version too. I keep trying mances version. I get it to the point that it sounds sorta like it but his fingering is altogether different.

Oh, I got it all wrong. I thought he meant the tuning of open a, drop b but tuned up to B. But it's standard tuning tuned up a whole note with the E string dropped a whole note.
Man, I was impressed Mance knew that many tunings but the author of this thread meant played in the key of A.
Jeez, I'm such a dumbass. The fingering seems to correspond better now.

[banjochris]

Sorry if there was any confusion. All the tunings are standard unless they say spanish, vestapol or drop D. The second key is the absolute pitch of the tune. So Going Down Slow is indeed in standard tuning, with the sixth string dropped one whole step, played in A position. On that particular recording he's tuned a whole step sharp (A is B, if that makes sense).
Chris

[lampens]

Found a great lesson on Mance at the gibson site. It's from the book by ernie hawkins.
http://www.gibson.com/lesson/lesson/lesson_detail.aspx?LessonID=115&InstrumentID=1&SkillSetID=2&StyleID=2&TypeID=1&ArtistID=0
There is also a nice Lightnin Hopkins lesson there.