Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[MarkC]

For Spark Plug Smith I think it’s:

Standard tuning, G position (actual key is A, slightly flat on recording)

10th bar he’s playing a 6 chord - E7 in key of G, or F#7 in key of A. Sounds like C7 shape moved up between frets 5-7 if in key of G

For Arthur Pettis I think it’s:

Standard tuning, A position (actual key B, recording is a little flat.)

What makes me think this is correct is the long A to A7.

There’s a lot of interesting stuff in this one. I like them both, I hadn’t heard of Spark Plug Smith before.

[Prof Scratchy]

I was thinking A standard for both these, but don't have a guitar to hand just now as we're away our holidays!

[banjochris]

I'm pretty sure Pettis' "Quarrelin' Mama" is in G position, not A, capoed up to B or so.

I think the main thing that makes it sound like A position at first is the sort-of growling bass, especially at 1:05 or so, but those are the piano – the timbre of it is very close to the guitar.

A few things that point to G:
In the intro at about 0:06, he plays a roll from the third fret of the 3rd string to the open 2nd string – not impossible to execute out of long A, but much less common.

Ditto with his licks around the 4-3 double stop on strings 3 and 2, going down to the open strings. Again, possible in A at 6-5 down to the barred A, but more unwieldy.

His V chord has the third on top sounding out, making it likely he's playing a first position D chord. Again possible in A with a 4-5-4 on the top three strings but that would be pretty unusual too.

The ones that are conclusive for me are:
He's playing the 2nd string 3rd fret along with the 1st string 1st fret for a I7 chord (along with open strings below that), which in A would make a super awkward 0-0-2-2-5-3 chord, but of course it's extremely easy to execute in G.

He ends each verse with at least part of Big Bill's verse-ending lick in G, with a slide up the fourth string to the open 3rd string. Sounds like he follows that up with the rest of that lick as well, but that first bit would not sound the same with closed strings in A.

Chris

[banjochris]

On "Motherless Boy" it sounds like A standard to me with the 6th string out of tune (flat). I think for that 10th bar he's playing an F#7 by just sliding an E7 chord 0-2-2-1-3-0 up two frets and avoiding the 6th string, X-4-4-3-5-0.
Chris

[blueshome]

I think G for Spark Plug Smith and Spanish for Arthur Petties

[Johnm]

Hi all,
The Spark Plug Smith and Arthur Pettis puzzlers have been up for a good while, so I"ll post the answers. I think these are both trickier identification puzzlers than most that have been posted in this thread, and the Pettis track I think is particularly a tough ID.

For Spark Plug Smith's "Motherless Boy":
   * His playing position was A position in standard tuning. The give-away comes at :26 of his rendition, where, while playing in his I chord he alternates between the root of the I chord on the fifth string, and a low V note om the sixth string. Such an alternation would not be possible if he were playing in G position in standard tuning, since the lowest available note for G position in standard tuning would be the open sixth string, E, which is a VI note relative to G.
   * In the tenth bar of each verse, I believe he moves a closed E7 position, 2-1-3 on the fourth, third and second strings up two frets intact for a momentary F#7 chord. This move is much as Chris described it.

For Arthur Pettis's "Quarrelin' Mama":
   * His playing position was G position in standard tuning. The very beginning of the tune makes A position implausible, for he is hitting a sustaining V note in the bass while sliding into a D shape on the first three strings up the neck. In G position, that V note would be the open fourth string, which requires no fingering and makes the slid D position at the seventh fret no problem at all. Were he playing in A position, he'd have to hold down the seventh fret of the fifth string, E, while sliding into that D position on the first three strings at the ninth fret--highly unlikely. He could still be plausibly playing in Spanish tuning at this point, though.
At :06 he crosses strings from the minor third to the major third and resolves down to the root. In G position, that's third fret of the third string to the open second string, resolving to the open third string. In A position, everything would be moved up two frets, a pretty reachy and awkward proposition. Immediately after that, he's going back and forth between a V note on the second string and a bVII on the first string, while alternating between the third and fifth in the bass. in G position, you have that covered simply by fretting, X-2-0-0-3-1. At :25, he slides up from a VI note to a major VII note resolving into the I note on the next higher string. In G position, that's going from the second to the fourth fret of the fourth string and resolving into the open third string. The resolution into the open third string is what makes the lick plausible--in A, it would be a slide from the fourth fret of the fourth string to the sixth fret, resolving into the second fret of the third string, which would be a tough move in any event, but really rugged at the speed at which he plays the lick. Banjochris made many of these same points in his post on the song.

Particularly in the third verse accompaniment, there is a lot of stuff being played in the bass that sounds like Spanish or possibly DGDGBE tuning. but I believe that the piano is hitting those occasional low V notes in the bass over the I chord. Pettis also has a couple of fills that really sound like Clifford Gibson playing in Spanish in the treble. I think this was a really tough identification. I do believe that Pettis was playing in G position in standard tuning, primarily on the basis of what he does in the treble, which lays out beautifully in G position in standard tuning (though it would be the same there in DGDGBE tuning). In listening to this cut, I definitely found myself wishing it had been a solo track. The piano is under-recorded and has just enough volume to confuse things, and the tuning of the harmonica to the guitar and piano is pretty dire.

Arthur Pettis was criminally under-recorded, I think. I don't at all feel like the extant recordings of him give a complete picture of what he did and could do. He's unusual, too, in his ability to be an absolute android at playing like Bill Broonzy--that is so rare in this music.

Thanks to all who participated, and I hope that you enjoyed the songs.

all best,
Johnm   
   

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have been trying to complete a lyric transcription of Arthur Pettis's "Quarrelin' Mama Blues" in the most recent puzzler, and would very much appreciate some help with it, both in the bent bracketed blank section and the rest of it, where I'm not at all sure I have it right. Thanks for any help--I find Arthur Pettis really tough to understand with any degree of certainty.
All best,
Johnm

[Old Man Ned]

The only words I can hear are:
The [               ] have you, the Lord will take you, too

All the best,
Ned

[Blues Vintage]

That 4th verse is really hard. I gotta listen some more,


2.3 I don't want me 'round you, I don't sure don't want to stay

It's possibly arguin' in the last verse instead of hoggin'.

[Slack]

Hi all,
I have been trying to complete a lyric transcription of Arthur Pettis's "Quarrelin' Mama Blues" in the most recent puzzler, and would very much appreciate some help with it, both in the bent bracketed blank section and the rest of it, where I'm not at all sure I have it right. Thanks for any help--I find Arthur Pettis really tough to understand with any degree of certainty.
All best,
Johnm

I cannot imagine anyone figuring that one out, with the possible exception of: "the golden lyrical ear".... banjochris!

[Johnm]

Thanks for the help, Blues Vintage and Old Man Ned. That "sure" was a typo on my part, but "arguin'" is really a great suggestion. I'm sure that's what Pettis was saying and have made the change.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
It's a little while since I posted some new puzzlers and I have a couple for those of you who are interested now. The first is Ma Rainey's early recording of "Farewell Daddy Blues", on which she was accompanied by an unidentified guitarist. Here is "Farewell Daddy Blues":



The questions on "Farewell Daddy Blues" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did the guitarist use to accompany Ma Rainey?
   * Describe the chord progression of the song, based on the playing position/tuning you selected.
   * Was Ma Rainey able to sing well?

The second puzzler is the last untranscribed song of Edward Thompson's, "When You Dream of Muddy Water". Here it is, and I should warn you, it is seriously whupped:



The questions on "When You Dream of Muddy Water" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Edward Thompson use to play the song?
   * Where are the two notes that the melody rocks between in the first of each verse fretted?
   * What chord that most often occurs in a blues is never played in the song?

Please use only your ears and your instruments to arrive at your answers, and please don't post any responses until 8:00 AM your time on Monday, September 12. Thanks to those of you who participate and I hope that you enjoy the songs.
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

I cannot imagine anyone figuring that one out, with the possible exception of: "the golden lyrical ear".... banjochris!

Thanks, Slack – but I'm having a heckuva time with that one myself! I'll keep listening though!
Chris

[banjochris]

I offer this suggestion for the questionable verse in "Quarrelin' Mama" – maybe someone else can make sense of the bracketed part. I can't make any other sense out of the beginning of the tagline other than what I have here:

Oh good looks gon’ help you, but it’s the way you do,
Oh good looks gon’ help you, but it’s the way you do,
No decent behavior, [my heart] will take you too.

Chris

[Blues Vintage]

I'm tryin' to help but I'm guessing really,

No decent behavior, the hearse will take you too