Isn't there also a video version in which Rev. Davis plays it at great length while Donovan watches?
Isn't there also a video version in which Rev. Davis plays it at great length while Donovan watches?
That's Children of Zion - also minor. A brilliant performance, too - totally intense and relentless throughout. What a giant!
Thanks for the correction on "Children of Zion", Frank.? Does it have any lyrics?? I remember the video version as being instrumental, and wondered whether Rev. Davis had lyrics to it which he sang in some versions.
Children Of Zion
Reverend Gary Davis
Lord, I wonder where my old mother
Amen
Lord, I wonder where my old mother
Amen
She's somewhere sitting in glory
Amen
Lord, she's somewhere sitting in glory
Amen
I wonder where my old father
Amen
Lord, I wonder where my old father
Amen
I rapped and rapped at mercy's door
'til my head got wet with the midnight dew
Feel like Children of Zion
Amen
I feel like Children of Zion
Amen
Lord, I feel like Children of Zion
Amen
Tell me which a way you travellin'
Amen
Won't you tell me which way you travellin'
Amen
Oh, tell me which a way you travellin'
Amen
Tell me which a way are you travellin'
Amen
I'm on my way to see Jesus
Amen
Lord, I'm on my way to see Jesus
Amen
I'm feelin' more like travellin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like travellin'
Amen
I'm on my way to see Jesus
Amen
Lord, I'm on my way to see Jesus
Amen
I rapped and rapped at mercy's door
'til my head got wet with the midnight dew
Feel like Children of Zion
Amen
Oh, tell me which a way you travellin'
Amen
Won't you tell me which a way are you travellin'
Amen
I'm on my way to heaven
Amen
I'm on my way to heaven
Amen
I'm on my way to heaven
Amen
Lord, I'm on my way to heaven
Amen
I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
I rapped and rapped at mercy's door
I feel like Children of Zion
Amen
Brother, keep on prayin'
Amen
Oh, Brother keep on prayin'
Amen
I'm feelin' more like shoutin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like shoutin'
Amen
I'm feelin' more like shoutin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like shoutin'
Amen
I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
Tell me which a way you goin'
Amen
Tell me which a way are you goin'
Amen
I'm feelin' more like shoutin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like shoutin'
Amen
I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
I'm feelin' more like travellin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like travellin'
Amen
I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like goin'
Amen
I rapped and rapped at mercy's door
'til my head got wet with the midnight dew
Feel like Children of Zion
I feel like Children of Zion
Amen
Lord, I feel like Children of Zion
Amen
Tell me where my preacher
Amen
Won't you tell me where my preacher
Amen
He's setting down in glory
Amen
Well he's setting down somewhere in glory
Amen
I wonder where my old deacon
Amen
Lord, I wonder where my old deacon
Amen
I'm feelin' more like travellin'
Amen
Lord, I'm feelin' more like travellin'
Amen
I'm going to to have to go?back to the video again--it has been a while since I watched it, and I remember one chord change in particular that is sort of nagging at my memory, right near the phrase ending.? Do any of you all play "Children of Zion"?
Geechie Wiley's "Last Kind Word"
Well, if we're going for minor chords, I know some Gary Davis tunes that use an A minor when playing in C.? I don't have a guitar in hand so I hope I am remembering right that Pure Religion is an example.? It is a great little passing chord - I've thrown it into some my own playing -? but the piece certainly doesn't have a minor feel.
Ooh, and Sam McGee's Franklin Blues (which isn't really a blues at all, as near as I can tell) uses a D minor in C.? (again, I think that is right - I am so hands on oriented I can't remember these things without a guitar in my hands!)
I was thinking about this thread and realizing that Robert Pete Williams has a lot of minor blues, most often in Dorian mode, with a major IV chord and minor I chord.Wow, John, you just clued me in on how to look at the chordal backing required for various modes. I've long been aware of what modal scales were, Gre being an Orff teacher, but in Orff they mostly use drone notes as backing to give the children more freedom to improvise. Whenever I asked Gre about chordal backing she wasn't really able to respond. But now I see that different combinations of Major and minor chords of the I, IV and V will give you the different modalities. And I guess maybe a diminished chord comes into play as well, like for the root in Locrian. Cool, I'm gonna have to investigate this further, as it's probably not just that simple. Thanks much.
Hi all,
I recently found another tune with minor chords in JSP's "The Paramount Masters" set. The song is "Come On In (Ain't Nobody Here But Me)", and it is performed by Harum Scarums, which consists of Bill Broonzy on guitar, Georgia Tom on piano and vocals and Mozelle Alderson on vocals.
The song has an unusual 16-bar raggy form, like so, opening with an 8-bar break in minor. (Broonzy is finger-picking out of A minor and C in standard tuning, and I didn't check the pitch--he may be capoed around the third fret.)
| Am | Am | Am | Am |
| Am | Am | Am | Am |
| A | A | D | D |
| C | G | C | C |
The song could work well as a solo piece or in a string band setting like the Mississippi Sheiks, too.
All best,
Johnm
Hi all,FWIW there's a Trix TAG with a potted history of the label complemented by a Trix discography at Stefan's web site that show Slim and Pete Lowrey in jovial mood! :)
A quick report from EBA Bluesweek 2008: Phil Thorne loaned me a Trix CD of Tarheel Slim (Alden Bunn) to listen to here. I had never heard Slim's music before.....Johnm
RGD's Blow Gabriel while in a major key, don't know which off the top of my head (I think F though) , has an un-chorded progression that hovers around becoming a minor, but never quite resolves as a full minor chord. It may be as brief as one note but it manages to conjure up the whole minorific sound.
Cflat
Let's not forget the song that kept me in guitar teaching work for almost a decade after the success of its Hot Tuna hit version, Hesitation Blues.
Not maybe CB strictly speaking, but I just heard a song called "Delta Bound" by the Harlem Hamfats, with a female vocalist, on the Juke.It's Rosetta Howard who had as her accompanists the Hamfats for three Decca sessions in 1937/8.
Not maybe CB strictly speaking, but I just heard a song called "Delta Bound" by the Harlem Hamfats, with a female vocalist, on the Juke.It's Rosetta Howard who had as her accompanists the Hamfats for three Decca sessions in 1937/8.
Hi all,
This one really is a poser. The timing of the phrasing sounds more like Broonzy than Tampa Red to me, and I've never heard Tampa Red play anything near this complex in standard tuning. That having been said, I've never heard Broonzy play anything with this kind of expanded chordal vocabulary either. Whoever is playing guitar is capoed to the fifth fret, playing out of D position to sound in G, doing those big bends at the eleventh fret of the B string, and is really playing to the chord changes, not fudging them as was often the case. I think your assessment of the progression relative to the key placement is dead on, Pan. I love that E minor changing to G7--every time I hear that change it's like I'm hearing it for the first time. Thanks for finding this tune, Pan--it's a great one.
All best,
Johnm
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| I | I | I | I | I |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| VIm | VIm | bVI7 | bVI7 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| I | I VI7 | II7 V7 | I | I V7 |
Mississippi Sheiks' "That's It" is a nice instrumental in the realtive keys of D minor and F major, if I'm not mistaken.
That tune reminded me of klesmer music. Strange.
I found his playing interesting, but practically nothing regarding the man himself could be found on the internet! If you have any biographical or other info, please do share.It's ironic really, in 1984 Bruce Bastin compiled an LP using near mint 78s from his Sampson collection. This he released under the title Boogie Express on a newly formed Harlequin label with, as I recall, a detailed liner note. Bruce must have been ahead of the times because the LP was one of his poorest sellers and sank without trace.
Cheers
Pan
I found his playing interesting, but practically nothing regarding the man himself could be found on the internet! If you have any biographical or other info, please do share.It's ironic really, in 1984 Bruce Bastin compiled an LP using near mint 78s from his Sampson collection. This he released under the title Boogie Express on a newly formed Harlequin label with, as I recall, a detailed liner note. Bruce must have been ahead of the times because the LP was one of his poorest sellers and sank without trace.
Cheers
Pan
Thanks, Bunker HillI used to have it, Bastin gave me a copy. Don't seem to have it anymore. Perhaps I loaned it out and failed to get it back. However, there was a 1990s Magpie CD containing 10 tracks by Sampson, and several other Joe Davis artists, which can be viewed at Stefan's Magpie discography http://www.wirz.de/music/magpifrm.htm (http://www.wirz.de/music/magpifrm.htm) (item 22). Maybe a copy is for sale somewhere on the net.
What a pity!
Pan
I've just listened closely and without an instrument in hand to check, I seem to hear a II note in the bass in bar 7 of the A part (where you have to F), so maybe a Dm7 (or even a D7) could be another possibility for this position in the form.
Never tried to play in open D minor myself, but I understand Skip James did it a lot. Including "Hard Time Killing Floor" and "Devil Got My Woman."
Georgia Tom's & Tampa Red's horribly misogynist "If You Want Me To Love You" is in a minor key.