Topic: Will Shade harp keys

[arlotone]

I recently went through all the reissued Memphis Jug Band and Minnie Wallace recordings to figure out which keys and positions Will Shade used. There was more variety than I expected. Here's what I came up with:

Sun Brimmer's Blues	key of G	C harp (second position)
Stingy Woman Blues	key of C	C harp (first position)
Sometimes I Think I Love You	key of C	F harp (second position) or possibly C harp
Sunshine Blues	key of G	C harp (second position)
Kansas City Blues	key of G	C harp (second position)
Beale Street Mess Around	key of C	F harp (second position)
Coal Oil Blues	key of G	C harp (second position)
Papa Long Blues	key of G	C harp (second position)
Sugar Pudding	key of C	C harp (first position)
A Black Woman is Like a Black Snake	key of C	C harp (first position)
On the Road Again	key of C	F harp (second position)
Whitewash Station Blues	key of C	C harp (first position)
Stealin' Stealin'	key of G	C harp (second position)
Jug Band Waltz	key of C	C harp (first position)
Mississippi River Waltz	key of C	C harp (first position)
The Old Folks Started It	key of G	C harp (second position)
I Can Beat You Plenty	key of E	A harp (second position)
Taking Your Place	key of C	C harp (first position) or possibly F harp
Tired of You Driving Me	key of G	C harp (second position)
Memphis Yo Yo Blues	key of Bb	Bb harp (first position)
K.C. Moan	key of E	A harp (second position)
Cocaine Habit Blues	key of C	C harp (first position)
Bumble Bee Blues	key of E	A harp (second position)
Meningitis Blues	key of A	A harp (first position)
Papa's Got Your Water On	key of A	A harp (first position)
He's In the Jailhouse Now	key of C	C harp (first position)
Got a Letter From My Darlin'	key of G	C harp (second position)
Round and Round	key of G	C harp (second position)
You May Leave But This Will Bring You Back	key of C	C harp (first position)
Move That Thing	key of G	C harp (second position)
You Got Me Rollin'	key of F	F harp (first position)
You Got to Have That Thing	key of C	F harp (second position) or possibly C harp
Bottle It Up and Go	key of F	F harp (first position)
Tappin' That Thing	key of F	F harp (first position)
I Got Good Taters	key of C	F harp (second position)
Come Along Little Children	key of C	F harp (second position)
Mary Anna Cut Off	key of C	F harp (second position)
Jazzbo Stomp	key of C	F harp (second position)
Gator Wobble	key of C	F harp (second position)
The Cockeyed World	key of C	F harp (second position)
Field Mouse Stomp	key of C	F harp (second position)
Let's All Do That Thing	key of C	F harp (second position)
Pick 'Em Up and Put 'Em Down	key of G	C harp (second position)

For the "possibly" songs, all the notes were available on both harps, but one or the other seemed more natural to play. A few of the later recordings play in the key of B on the reissues I have, but I think they should play in C

Corrections / suggestions are welcome.

[Mike Billo]

Wow! Good work! A lot of industry went into that

[Johnm]

I agree with Mike, arlotone--good work.  Would any of you harp players who frequent the site, Mike or Anthony, be willing to vet arlotone's harp and position identifications on the Will Shade tunes?  The reason I ask is that I would like to put this list up in Weeniepedia on its own page under Musicianship, but don't know enough about harp playing myself to ascertain the accuracy of the identifications, and I am loath to put up the list without it having been vetted by someone other than the person who posted it.  Feel free to post any findings here.  Thanks.  If it ends up being posted, arlotone will be credited for having done the work, and any edits that result in changes in the identifications will be credited, too.
All best,
Johnm

[iantonionni]

Yes, great piece of work, arlotone! I'll be happy to have a look. First off, I do believe that Stealin' is played on G and a C harmonicas. The verse in 1st position on a G and the chorus in 2nd position on a C ( apart from one slight departure to a 1st position G lick at one point).

[arlotone]

Thanks, folks. The harmonica player in my band uses two harps for "Stealin'", but I didn't think it was necessary. I'll give that another listen.

Meanwhile, I realized I was wrong about "Memphis Yo Yo" being played on an F harp in 12th position. Since Shade used his F harp a lot, and seemed to be playing tentatively on that song, it made sense. But when playing through it again, I found a note that can't really be played in that position, while it lays out very nicely on a Bb harp in first position. I've updated my original post.

[arlotone]

I tried Stealin' again (in G) on a combination of G and C harps. While it's undoubtedly easier to play the first line of the verse on a G harp, the savings of effort is more than cancelled out on the second line, which in my opinion is harder on a G harp than the first line is on a C harp. In other words, the G harp is easier for one line, but the C harp is easier overall.

I don't think he switches from G to C after the first line, because he often plays the last note of the first line right up until the first note of the second line, or puts a leading note there, leaving no time to switch. They played it quite a bit faster than most bands play it today.

He does miss a couple notes in the second line of the last instrumental on the verse chords, which could be a sign that he's playing the whole verse part on the G harp, where the second line is harder.

But I'd say since all the notes are available on the C harp, and he doesn't play a G harp on any other song, the simplest conclusion is that he played the whole song on a C harp.

[arlotone]

I just posted my best attempt at a replication of the Stealin' harp part on my Jug Tracks website:

http://jugtracks.arlotone.com/song/stealin_stealin

I also posted notation of the harp part. There are some variations throughout the song, but I notated the most common version of each phrase.

[waxwing]

Hey Arlo,

I just wanted to say that the depth of your listening, the dedication and the perseverence that you put into these transcription/replications has truely created a treasure for all of us jug band freaks. And the joy evident in your playing and singing of all the various parts makes these true performances on their own, not mere "replications".

Thank you!

Wax