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Country Blues => Weenie Campbell Main Forum => Topic started by: GhostRider on January 06, 2005, 02:15:10 PM

Title: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: GhostRider on January 06, 2005, 02:15:10 PM
Hey Ramblin' Frank:

The IV to IVm movement with a following vocal melody only occurs in one song I have heard, but it's a good one, Lonnie Johnson's Blue Ghost Blues, one of the few (only?) songs he ever did in E standard.

I love blues with prominent minor chords (in an electric vein "The Thrill is Gone" chills me to the bone). Are there any others with promenent (as opposed to passing) minor chords?

I feel like I'm sinkin' down,
Alex
Title: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: waxwing on January 06, 2005, 02:47:31 PM
I know of one "revisionist" usage. Dave van Ronk used it in his total rearrangement of Brownie McGee's Sportin' Life Blues in Drop D (Brownie played it in A). Dave played an F form G wrapping his thumb to get the 5th fret bass and just lifted a finger to get the minor with the barre. Sweet.
All for now.
John C.
Title: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on January 06, 2005, 09:33:03 PM
I really like DVR's version of that tune. Just great.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on January 08, 2005, 10:07:06 AM
Hi all,
I thought of a song that fit this topic:  Georgia Tom and Tampa Red's "If You Want Me To Love You", from the old Yazoo L-1039, "Tampa Red-Bottleneck Guitar".  It's a great spooky tune in which Tampa Red, rather than tuning to a minor tuning like cross-note to accommodate the minor melody, stays in Vastapol and plays in the relative minor, so that his "do" note, instead of being the open first string, is the second string at the second fret.  It seems like an approach that might bear checking out if you play slide (or even if you don't).  The song is a 16-bar blues with a progression I don't recall having seen before--
   | Iminor | flat VI |Imin/flatVI| I minor |
   | Iminor | Iminor |  V7     |   V7     |
   | Iminor |   V7    | Iminor  | flatVI/V7|
   | Iminor | flatVI  | Imin/flatVI | Imin |
Georgia Tom actually varies the chords a fair amount on the piano.  On the first verse, he plays a V7 chord in the second bar, and about half the time he does the rocking from the I minor to the flat VI chord in the fourth and sixteenth bars, too.  The changes are subtle enough that they don't throw off Red who is just playing some tremendous fills and shadowing the melody.  It's a beautiful and very unusual cut.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Stefan Wirz on January 09, 2005, 05:48:13 AM
how about RGD's 'Death Don't Have No Mercy' ?! Maybe not 'blues' in a narrow sense, but surely an utmost moving song - especially when you not only hear it but see the man in action (Great God Almighty!) on the (Vestapol?) video (btw: Larry Johnson's among the listeners)
Stefan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on January 09, 2005, 06:21:13 PM
You are right, of course, Stefan.  "Death Don't Have No Mercy" is a powerful song without a doubt.  Isn't there also a video version in which Rev. Davis plays it at great length while Donovan watches?
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: frankie on January 10, 2005, 06:33:56 AM
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!
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on January 10, 2005, 07:02:38 AM
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!

Brilliant indeed. I was watching this again recently as it's part of the Ernie Hawkins dvd set on Gary Davis. Achieves total heavyosity. (Oh Glory How Happy I Am also has Donovan watching from the same Pete Seeger Rainbow Quest show - I like how Seeger keeps thinking that one's ending but Gary just keeps goin' and goin').

Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on January 10, 2005, 09:29:25 AM
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.  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"?
All best,
John
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on January 10, 2005, 09:43:54 AM
Hi all,
I recalled another great minor blues, "Ain't It Hard", from Mance Lipscomb's first Arhoolie album.  It is a 16-bar blues in A minor with the following structure:
   | Imin |  V7  | Imin | Imin |
   | Imin | Imin |  V7  |  V7  |
   |  I7    |   I7   | IV7  | IV7  |
   | Imin |  V7  | Imin | Imin |
In the third and fourth bars, Mance sometimes does a repeated hammer from the 4th fret of the 6th string to the 5th fret of the sixth string, resolving it down to the open sixth string in anticipation of the seventh bar of the form.  Wow, is it a great sound!  It is also really exciting when he goes to the long A and A7 in the 9th and 10th bars, after having only played the I chord as a minor chord up to that point.  It really brightens it up.  Mance had such an enormous range, it is fortunate Chris Strachwitz was able to record so much of him.  He seems like he could easily have recorded as much material again without running out of new songs or fresh ideas.
All best,
Johnm 
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: frankie on January 10, 2005, 09:57:30 AM
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.

It does have words - he does a tune called Italian Rag that's an instrumental and also in A minor.? I transcribed the lyrics to Children of Zion from that specific performance at one point - here they are:

Quote
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"?

I do play it, now & then.? The change you're thinking of is an A flat, played at the 1st fret with a C in the bass.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on January 10, 2005, 10:45:12 AM
Wow, thanks for the lyrics and pointer, Frank--ask and ye shall receive, I guess!  Obviously I need to watch that video some more, since I seem to have forgotten many crucial aspects of it.  I will look forward to that.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on January 10, 2005, 06:10:10 PM
Hi all,
Another one in this category is Blind Boy Fuller's "Weeping Willow Blues", with its minor IV chord.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Slack on January 10, 2005, 08:31:42 PM
Aha... I thought the song had to be in a minor key.  Well in that case, Geechie Wiley's "Last Kind Word"
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: frankie on January 11, 2005, 06:11:08 AM
Geechie Wiley's "Last Kind Word"

And Blind Lemon's Wartime Blues.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: a2tom on January 11, 2005, 06:33:40 AM
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!)

tom
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: frankie on January 11, 2005, 07:56:55 AM
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.

Very many of his religious songs in C use this change.? Being, generally speaking, more harmonically sophisticated than the average blues musician, Rev. Davis made frequent use of the relative minor and circle of fifths harmonization.? You find Bminor in the key of? D, Eminor in the key of G, Dminor in the key of F.? To list out all the songs where he used minor chords to flesh out his harmonies would almost be a list of his entire repertoire.? On the other hand, it's my opinion that Rev. Davis is really best thought of as a gospel musician, and indeed, seems to have thought of himself in that way as well.? The whole notion of his music being "Holy Blues" seems kind of revisionist to me - as if tacking the word "blues" to what he does would somehow make him more palatable to a mainstream audience.

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!)

Yep - there's a Dminor in there for sure.? If we're going to include Rev. Davis, we might as well include Franklin Blues.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on January 11, 2005, 09:09:53 AM
Two I'm not sure about without more listening and a guitar in hand but: Blind Lemon's Right of Way Blues, played in E, has minor tonalities to my ear, without necessarily going to obvious minor chords. The other Lemon tune - again hard to tell - but Struck Sorrow Blues, in A and sort of Matchbox-like in a mournful way, sure seems to have a minor quality between the guitar and the vocal melody when he goes to the IV chord. Whether or not he hits an actual minor chord, I can't say. Probably the first time he does it is the easiest to hear in this poor recording. For better ears than mine.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: waxwing on January 11, 2005, 10:53:19 AM
And as I was scanning banjochris' listing of the BWMcT tunes last night I remembered that Dying Crapshooter's Blues is in Dm, and of course the van Ronk St. James Infirmary Blues is in Am.
All for now.
John C.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: GhostRider on January 11, 2005, 12:39:00 PM
Hi all:

Some great suggestions. It's time for the "list":

Bill Williams
Pocahantas

Blind Blake
Rope Strechin' Blues

Blind Willie McTell
Dying Crapshooters Blues, Dm

Various
St. James Infirmary, Am

Lonnie Johnson
Blue Ghost Blues, E

Blind Lemon Jefferson
?Right of Way Blues, E
?Struck Sorrow Blues, A
Wartime Blues

Geeshee Wiley
Last Kind Word

Blind Boy Fuller
Weeping Willow Blues

Mance Lipscomb
Ain't It Hard, Am

Dave van Ronk
Sportin' Life Blues, D

Tampa Red
If You Want Me to Love You

I left off the religious tunes (although they're great) and Franklin Blues

Alex
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on January 11, 2005, 12:51:23 PM
Hi all,
Good to map them all out in one post, Alex.  I just thought of another:  Kentucky guitarist  Bill Williams' sensational A Minor instrumental "Pocahantas".  It's kind of like a much tougher and groovier precursor to the Nashville guitar instrumental "Windy and Warm".  You can check it out on the Juke if you've never heard it.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: a2tom on February 11, 2005, 05:47:11 AM
As I was playing it last night, I realized that Blind Boy Fuller's Careless Love hasn't been mentioned I don't think.? The song is in A, but the first bar and again later on he really rides the C natural as the first note, only to transition to the half bar A major a bar or two later.? I know Stefan Grossman calls the first part A minor in this transcription of the tune, although I am not clear as I sit here without my guitar that one really plays this with a fully fingered A minor chord.? The C stands out as a single note, and I usually play it with only my index finger sitting on the 2nd string first fret.? Its an interesting tune, since the same C then comes back as the melody note at the beginning of the fourth bar as part of the D7 chord as well.

I suppose it might be debatable whether that is really A minor or not.? But I think it is since I was so intrigued by the progression of the tune that I deliberately arranged another tune over the same progression to understand it better.? In my tune, I do play the fully fingered A minor in the first bar and transition the same way to the A major.? It ends up being the basic tonal feel.? Maybe I'll post that someday, but I have other things to work on first, and I don't really have the time to even be writing this...

Back to work,

tom
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on February 11, 2005, 09:12:23 AM
Hi Tom,
In an instance like you describe with "Careless Love" as played by Fuller, I always try to decide whether it is in major or minor by seeing how it sounds with "boom-chang" chordal back-up, first in minor, then in major.  Done with that test, "Careless Love" definitely sounds major, with the blue third C note clashing with the harmony.  I think if you back it up with minor all the tension goes, because the chord and melody note are in agreement.  In minor, it has a folky sort of sound to me, like "Black is the Color of my True Love's Hair", or something like that.
Another blues with minor chords is Blake's "Rope Stretchin' Blues".
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: GhostRider on March 14, 2005, 10:14:29 PM
Hi all:

I spent the evening with Funny Papa Smith  (well, at least the Document complete CD). Always a worthwhile endeavor, this guy had so many great musical ideas.

Anyway in 11th and 12th bars of"Corn Whiskey Blues" he plays the following turnaround (Key of E, capo I)

E/Am-E

He also play a variation of the Mamlish Blues riff and his arrangement also bears some resemblances to parts of "This Old World's in a Tangle"

Alex
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on May 03, 2005, 05:16:25 PM
Hi all,
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.  Here are a few of his minor titles:
   * "Louise", "Lord, I'm Going Home Soon", and "Jesse James" from "Long Ol' Way From Home" on Fuel
   * "When A Man Take The Blues", from "When A Man Take The Blues"--Robert Pete Williams, Vol. 2 on Arhoolie
   * "Angola Special", "Pardon Denied Again", "I'm As Blue As A Man Can Be", "Up and Down Blues", and "Levee Camp Blues" from "I'm As Blue As A Man Can Be"--Robert Pete Williams, Vol. 1 on Arhoolie
There's a ton of great material here.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: waxwing on May 06, 2005, 10:01:38 AM
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.
All for now.
John C.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on May 06, 2005, 02:35:34 PM
Hi JohnC.,
Yes, your inference of the I chord in Locrian mode being a dimished triad is right on the money.? For any of you who might be interested in the Greek modes, a relatively easy way to think of them is deriving from a "white note" scale on the piano, using no sharps or flats.? So you can think of the C major scale as being the "parent" scale.
? ?C---D--E--F--G--A--B--C
Now, in that major scale, the half steps fall between III-IV and VII-VIII.? You can construct the "diatonic" triads off of each successive note of the scale by figuring out what notes of the scale will be the third and fifth for each note of the scale.? (Diatonic means not using notes outside the scale, as opposed to chromatic, which would include all the sharps and flats as well.)? Using this method, you end up with a I chord of C-E-G, a II chord of D-F-A, a III chord of E-G-B, a IV chord of F-A-C, and so on, right on up the scale to the VII chord, B-D-F.
Having figured out what notes constitute the various diatonic triads, what you find is that the various notes of the major scale end up having the following chord types rooted off of them.
?C-------D-------E-----F-------G------A---------B---------C
Major? ?Minor? ?Minor? Major? ?Major? Minor? ?Diminished?? Major
Since all major scales are structurally identical, this ordering of the diatonic chords will be the same no matter what key you're playing in.

The Greek Modes are formed by playing scales starting on different notes of the major scale.? They are as follows:
? ?*? Ionian, or I mode, is the same as the major scale, and runs from I to I
? ?*? Dorian, or II mode, runs from II to II
? ?*? Phrygian, or III mode, runs from III to III
? ?*? Lydian, or IV mode, runs from IV to IV
? ?*? Mixolydian, or V mode, runs from V to V
? ?*? Aeolian, or VI mode, runs from VI to VI
? ?*? Locrian, or VII mode, runs from VII to VII
Since the structure of the parent major scale has not been changed to construct the modes (you are just starting on different notes than the original I note), you can figure out both the scale of the different modes and the diatonic chords associated with them pretty easily.? So the Dorian, or II mode, based off of the C major scale, will contain the following notes and diatonic chords:
? ?D------E-----F-------G------A--------B-------C-------D
?Minor? Minor?Major? ?Major? ?Minor Diminished Major? ?Minor
So it is, that when Robert Pete Williams plays a Blues in D Dorian, his I chord is minor, his IV chord is major, and his V chord (if he hits one) is minor.? It is a beautiful, spooky sound, especially the major IV chord in a minor key, which really has an eerie sound.? In the Dorian mode, you can also see that the half-steps fall between II-III and VI-VII.

All the modes will not work equally well in a blues context.? The III mode, Phrygian, won't work well for a blues at all, but just strum its I chord (E minor in this case) followed by its II chord, III chord, back to II, and back to I--Spanish music!? The modes that occur most frequently in songs and fiddle tunes coming out of the British Isles and surviving in Appalachia are the Dorian mode, the Mixolydian mode and the Aeolian mode.? These mixed with a lot of music coming out of the African and American black traditions to make some pretty great music.
Thanks for mentioning that point, John C, it's great to see how this stuff works.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: waxwing on May 06, 2005, 11:05:48 PM
Hey John M,
Thanks for laying it out so clearly (as you did on the BLJ thread, too, while we were fumbling around with nuances -G-). And Gre thanks you, too. You always seem to be leading me to look at the next thing.
All for now.
John C.
P.S. JohnM, I had editted your post to get the notes and their chordal types to line up better, but I take it you editted it back, so it must look totally different in whichever browser you are using. In Safari, the names are stretched out a lot more than the notes. Can still make sense of it, tho', no problem. Sorry, just tryin' to help.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on May 07, 2005, 12:32:16 AM
Hi John C.,
Hey, no problem with the editing help--I can use all the help I can get in that area!  You are right, that for some reason, even when I preview a complicated post and it shows up fine in the preview, when I take it to the post step it sometimes ends up kind of garbled looking.  I need to get a newer operating system, I think, or better skills--maybe both.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: a2tom on May 07, 2005, 05:50:50 AM
The theory is good to see layed out again - too far in the dim recesses of my mind and youth to be able to recall it!  Thanks.

A tiny hint on getting things to line up - use the bid red A button on the posting page to insert some font face tags and then change Verdana to Courier.  This a fixed-width font and whatever you type between the tags ought to line up if you count spaces (or actually type it out in Courier in a text editor first and then paste between the font tags.  Takes out the guesswork.

Each      of        these     words     takes     ten       spaces.
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890

even thought they were NOT spaced correctly in the text editing window, which is using a variable width font.  Slack - any way to be able to edit in different font face?

tom
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: a2tom on May 07, 2005, 06:06:20 AM
BTW, I learned and have been working on Bill Williams Pocahontas stimulated by JohnM's listing it on this thread - thanks there too!  Great and really fun little tune to play, not too hard really, although it is a workout on the pinky picking up the bass notes out of the Am chord position (that's the way I've been doing it, and finding my pinky lacking some strength there...).

tom
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on September 15, 2005, 11:52:21 AM
Hi all,
The mention of Hacksaw Harney over on the guitar duet thread made me check out his CD "Sweet Man" again.  The title cut is played in A minor, so it would fall into this category.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on January 21, 2006, 10:56:38 PM
Hi all,
I was thinking about an unusual song that falls into this category:  Bo Carter's song "Some Day", from 1938.  Bo plays it out of C in standard tuning.  The song is in two alternating 12-bar sections, and is the only blues I have encountered with such a structure.  Bo never really takes a solo on this one, though he's playing plenty of nifty runs.  Rather he just keeps going back and forth between the two parts.  The first 12-bar section is a recognizably conventional 12-bar blues form, like so:

|      I         |       V7        |       I         |      I      |

|     IV        |      IVm7      |       I         |      I      |

|     V7       |   IV-IVm7     |       I         |      I      |

One slightly unusual touch that Bo gives to this first section is that he voices his I chord, C, with its fifth, G, in the bass.  This was the preferred C voicing for Elizabeth Cotten, and Rev. Davis used it too, "Cocaine".

The second 12-bar section in "Some Day" is the odd one.  In it, Bo switches to the relative minor of C major, A Minor, and rocks back and forth between the V7 of A minor, E7, and A minor, like so.

|      V7     |    V7        |      Im7       |       Im7    |

|      V7     |    V7        |      Im7       |       Im7    |

|      V7     |    V7        |      Im7       |       Im7    |

The tonality of this section is made really ambiguous by the runs that Bo plays over the A minor chord, for he never really fingers an A minor chord.  He just plays a string of runs that are like C runs with an A note in the bass.  Bo's sound on this is so different from what you usually hear, and so original that it's hard even to make a guess as to who his models may have been for this harmonic concept.  Perhaps it is all his own.

This is a really cool and unusual song that is never performed and that would not be hard to figure out by ear, since the re-issued versions are crystal clear.  When I hear Bo's more Pop-sounding material I sometimes wonder if he missed his calling on Tin Pan Alley.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on January 22, 2006, 05:39:01 AM
More Rev. Gary tunes, Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning is an Em opus of course. Running to The Judgement is a monotonic bass G song and moves from the IV (C) to A minor for one and a half very bluesy bars. It's a 16 bar form so I also added it to that thread.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: waxwing on January 22, 2006, 07:24:25 AM
Hey, John M, I have been listening with a keen ear to Some Day, since the Bo Carter CD with your liner notes was one of a few CDs I brought with me on this trip. Thanks for the refinement of your description, giving more detail than the CD notes. This is definitely on my "must learn" short list.
All for now.
John C.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: MTJ3 on March 06, 2006, 05:19:03 PM
I don't mean even to get anywhere near starting a discussion of Walter Davis's harmony, but his post-War "You Are The One I Love" is an 8 bar blues (well, sort of 8 bars--it is highly irregular metrically) in a minor key.  It is purely Im, with the exception of the V7 in the 6th (sort of) measure. "The Only Woman," which he recorded in 1941, also starts out with "St. James Infirmary" changes and morphs into a 12 bar blues.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on March 06, 2006, 06:41:53 PM
Hi MTJ3,
Thanks for mentioning Walter Davis.  I particularly admire his music and his harmonic sense was special in every way.  Really, I think he deserves his own thread (and a good deal more study on my part, before starting such a thread).  Oddly enough, I think a lot of what he was doing was trying to sound like Leroy Carr (pianistically), but his unusual instincts kept him distinctively his own man.  "Sloppy Drunk Again", "I Can't See Your Face"--so many wonderful songs and performances.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on July 06, 2006, 08:53:05 AM
Another one to add: the Memphis Jug Band's "Fourth Street Mess Around". Unusual form in this one which I'm not going to analyze now, 'cause my guitar's in Spanish, but give it a listen.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on November 07, 2006, 11:25:27 PM
Hi all,
There were a few complicated raggy tunes recorded by Leecan & Cooksey that had minor sections.  "Blue Harmonica" starts out with a tour de force flat-picked intro by Bobby Leecan in A minor, modulates to C for Robert Cooksey's harmonica entrance and concludes with a modulation to F for the final section of the tune.  "Macon Georgia Cut-Out" similarly starts in E minor and modulates to G major.  Finally, "Cold Morning Shout", which was recorded with a line-up featuring Robert Cooksey on harmonica, Bobby Leecan on tenor banjo and Alfred Martin on guitar, starts in A minor and modulates to C major.  If you were at PT two years ago, you may have been fortunate enough to see Del Rey and Steve James perform their version of this tune, for which Del has created an amazing ukulele lead part.  Del and Steve have the piece worked out beautifully.  Those of you who particularly favor a sophisticated raggy sort of blues owe it to yourselves to check out the music of Leecan & Cooksey.  Whew, were they great!
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on November 17, 2006, 11:14:04 AM
Another one with minor chords. Sylvester Weaver's What Makes a Man Blue starts out in what sounds like Am (no guitar handy) with an intro 8 bar verse, then goes into C major and a standard 12 bar AAB form.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on November 18, 2006, 08:02:05 AM
I just noticed another Rev. Davis E minor gospel blues. The Angels' Message To Me (on Early Recordings) incorporates a lot of the elements of Death Don't Have No Mercy and Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning. Since the latter two were not recorded back then it's interesting to compare.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on July 04, 2007, 03:44:43 PM
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
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on December 09, 2007, 06:59:18 PM
St Louis Blues was one we missed. The A part is a 12 bar major sequence I-IV-I-I  IV-IV-I-I  V-IV-I-I, usually in the key of E on guitar. In part B it modulates to a 16 bar form with the root minor Im-Im-V-V  Im-Im-I/II/V (x2), then reverts to the major in the A part. Very effective use of chords and forms by W.C. Handy I always think.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on January 25, 2008, 09:05:51 PM
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

Hah, I was just going to post about this song and find John beat me to it ages ago. Dave's question about the Famous Hokum Boys led me to it, as a very similar (but I think different version) is on Vol 1 of the Famous Hokum Boys on Wolf. The sound is atrocious and this version on the Paramount Masters is much better and the same arrangement.

Is this the first song to use the lyric "I'm drunk and disorderly and I don't care/If you want to you can pull off your underwear"?

BTW, another minor version, which sticks to minor right through the form, is delivered by Washboard Sam.

And BTW, Washboard Sam is just great IMO. I've been enjoying him immensely lately...
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: dj on January 28, 2008, 01:53:25 PM
Jimmie Gordon's "L & N Blues", recorded June 4 1940 in Chicago, is a standard 12 bar blues in g minor with all minor chords.  The song features some nice alto sax from Buster Bennett and absolutely lovely piano playing from Sammy Price.  The song has the ring of an older piece.  Does anyone know if it's taken from Clara Smith's 1925 recording of the same name?  Walter Davis and Bill Gaither also each recorded an "L & N Blues", but these are unrelated lyrically and in major keys.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on August 14, 2008, 07:13:25 AM
Hi all,
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 and found on the CD a blues in A minor, "Weeping Willow", that is completely different from Blind Boy Fuller's song of the same name.  Tarheel Slim's song is slow, very moody, and employs voicings I haven't heard used elsewhere by country blues musicians.  For his I chord, he rocks between these two A minor chords:  X-0-2-2-1-0 and X-0-3-2-1-0, a surprising A minor#5.  For his IV chord he uses an F (IV of the relative major of A minor, C), rocking between a conventional F, 1-X-3-2-1-1, and an F6:  1-X-3-2-3-1.  His V chord is really exotic, very Spanish-sounding, rocking between 0-x-2-1-0-0 and E add flat9:  0-X-3-1-0-0!  If you are a player, you may want to try these chords out; they're really something.  Tarheel Slim doesn't really do picking on this number, but sticks to smooth kind of brush strokes with his thumb from the sound of it.  It makes sense, because the brushing really brings out the sound of the chords.  His singing was terrific, too.
Elsewhere on the CD, Tarheel Slim plays a song, "My Baby's Gone", in B in standard tuning, and he has a couple of nice tunes in Vestapol.  He was really a nice singer and player, and if you find this CD, entitled "No Time At All", you may want to pick it up, because it is no longer in print.
All best,
Johnm 
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Parlor Picker on August 14, 2008, 07:22:15 AM
Ha! Good job I let Phil have the CD...  I hadn't listened to it for years (I believe it came my way as a review copy) and when Phil expressed an interest I listened again and was very pleasantly surprised.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Bunker Hill on August 14, 2008, 09:34:29 AM
Hi all,
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 
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! :)
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on November 24, 2008, 05:26:21 PM
Brother Can You Spare A Dime works really well on guitar out of an A minor position, capo 3 if you want to pitch it like Bing. Not a blues, just real bluesy and very satisfying to play.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on November 24, 2008, 06:45:59 PM
Another song I listened to recently using a minor chord to great effect is Mance Lipscomb's "Evil Blues", found on the Arhoolie CD "Texas Country Blues Vol 5". It's very much in the vein of Lemon's "Wartime Blues", a 16-bar blues with a minor IV chord, and a I chord that hovers harmonically between a major and a minor feel by not emphasizing the 3rd.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on November 24, 2008, 07:12:39 PM
Another one that I listened to recently is the version of "Ella Speed" by the obscure Tricky Sam on the Document CD "Texas Field Recordings 1934-39", DOCD-5231. This is a really nice version of the song, poorly recorded, but I'd say that Sam uses a minor II chord as the second chord of the major key (in C), raggy form he employs, rather than the II7 that might be more typically found in this this progression:

A Dm G (G7) C
A Dm F#dim
C D7 G7 C

(with variations and 7ths employed throughout).

The minor II is of course the way the triad would normally be built. A really pretty version with a nice progression.

I wonder if you were to sketch this out numerically what that F#dim chord is.

VI II-minor V I
VI II-minor ??
I II7 V7 I
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on November 24, 2008, 07:25:14 PM
I'm guessing here since I don't have that one (Tricky Sam), sounds intriguing. This inversion of F#dim might fit: 2-0-1-2-0-X

Voicing is a bit less brash than the in-yer-face version at the fourth fret (2)-0-4-5-4-5 and anyway it's nice to interchange them.

Given the resolution is to C would the numeric descriptor be something like bVdim? Never seen that written down, I have no real clue what the correct annotation would be. Look forward to being enlightened!
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: waxwing on November 24, 2008, 07:57:37 PM
Riv, wouldn't that be 2-0-1-2-1-X? In fact, any part of 2-0-1-2-1-2 would be available in 1st position and looking at those top 3 strings sure makes it look like a substitution for the II7 chord?

All for now.
John C.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on November 24, 2008, 08:04:12 PM
UB: After consulting with Mrs Rivers, who knows more about this than me, try Vbo - which doesn't read the way you want to say it, 'flat 5 diminished', but looks credible.

Wax, my grip on diminished chord formation is tenuous. To analyze it, you're adding a higher C note, another I. I have a dominant 7 (B), which tends to be the way I use it, since I'm usually resolving to the I, a C chord. You are correct. Or maybe my version is 'the other' diminished, which includes the dom 7?

Cheryl says 'flat the 3rd and the 5th'. But there are two versions of a dim, right? Dims are a big hole in my chord theory, even though I can usually find the version I need by ear. I hope to be enlightened in short order when JohnM gets back, meanwhile I'll research it.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on November 24, 2008, 09:15:26 PM
The formation Tricky Sam uses for the diminished chord is at the 4th fret, xx4545 (so F# in the bass, which is why I named it such). It's a full diminished chord, not a half diminished. So Flat V diminished makes sense to me. Vbo would be new to me but that ain't saying much.

BTW, Wax, you're right, it does behave like a substitution and given it's F#, I wonder if this is what the jazzers would call a tritone substitution.

Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: waxwing on November 24, 2008, 11:04:42 PM
Saying that, UB, you launched me into a little reverie about "well, how does a tritone work" harmonically, and then I realized that a diminished chord is made up of two tritones. -G- Life's little discoveries.

Right, so then I realize that a minor 3rd is half a tritone. D'oh. And in a dom7 chord, you already have a minor 3rd between the 3rd and the 5th, and between the 5th and the flat 7th, so the one note that is out of whack, if you want a diminished chord, is the root. Usually when I think of making a dim I think of the E chord X-X-2-4-3-4 being scrunched down to X-X-2-3-2-3, moving the rest of the chord down to the root to make an Edim, but harmonically, maybe you move the root up, X-X-3-4-3-4, for an Fdim? Here, in my extrapolation of Riv's voicing, we have the X-X-1-2-1-2, which we would call a D#dim, i.e. a D7 (II7) with the root moved up to D#. Since F# is also in the D#dim chord, you can move it up to Tricky Sam's X-X-4-5-4-5 voicing and call it an F#dim, or the dim of the tritone. Since you could also substitute the chord in the same way for the F7 (IV7) it starts to look pretty useful. I guess the other possible substitutions would be for the Ab7 (flat VI7 - gets used in raggy turnarounds) and the B7 (VII7 ?!?).

Hmm? Kinda like, when in doubt, play the tritone dim?

Sorry, just musing into the keyboard.

All for now.
John C.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on November 25, 2008, 04:46:59 AM
In my 'play-by-ear w/some theory' chord construction approach I tend to be listening for either the melody note(s) on the top (chord melody), and also an alternative voicing on the bass side around the same fret position where the bass line is heading toward my resolution, for comping or variation. Hence I throw in the dom 7 (B) into that diminished chord to resolve to C

I have no idea about tritones, I really need to study up on that. The wikipedia definition ran me aground on shores of confusion after the first paragraph.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on November 25, 2008, 05:23:58 AM
Hi guys.

About the F#dim7 chord, in the key of C, I believe I've seen it mostly analyzed as being a #IVdim7, rather than the bVdim7. You could look it as an F7b9 chord (IV7b9) without the root, and with the b9 in bass. Strictly speaking, the b9 would be a Gflat instead of the enharmonically equivalent F sharp. I guess the chromatically ascending bassline results in people mostly using the F sharp. This interpretation is straightforward in the sense of the bassline. You could think of it as  a IV7 chord with the root "modified" to creat a chromatic bassline.

However I believe that the chord in question is also often thought to be an inversion of a rootless II7b9 chord with the 3rd on bass (D7b9/F#) which will of course progress nicely to the V chord through the cycle of 5ths. A progression to the I chord with the 5th on bass would be very common too (C/G).

As Waxwing pointed out, the diminished chord can have any of it's notes as the root, and can be also seen as 4 different rootless 7b9 chords, which maybe explains the different interpretations.

There are some  practical uses for this too: Every diminished licks you play can be repeated in a series of minor 3rd up or down. As for the tritone subs, two minor thirds are a tritone, so the D7b9 chord has as a tritone sub the Ab7b9 chord.
Also when the accompaniment moves with the dom7 chords though the cycle of 5ths, you can play chromatically descending diminished chords / arpeggios / scales, and vice versa; if the dom7 chords descend chromatically, you can play "cycle" licks against the descending bassline. This way you'd be creating counter movement, which should sound interesting to the listener.

Just my 2 cents... :)

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on November 26, 2008, 11:33:54 AM
Hi all,
I just got back, and have been reading through these recent posts.  I agree with Pan, that in the key of C, as in the version of "Ella Speed" that Uncle Bud cites, the F#dim7 chord would be analyzed numerically as #IVdim7.  In the progression, what it's doing is creating an ascending chromatic line from the IV note, F, that is the minor third of the II minor chord that precedes it, up one half step to F#, the root of the #IV dim7, resolving upward by half-step to G, the fifth of the I chord.  What makes this particular resolution a little more colorful than usual is that that it employs a "cross-relation", in that the movement from F to F# doesn't occur in the same voice, by moving the F in the D minor chord on the first string up one fret to F#.  Instead, it "crosses" the chord voices on the second and third strings and resoves to F# on the D string.  Resolution of chord voices across other voices, as in this instance, was considered a major no-no in counterpoint as employed by Bach and other composers in his tradition before and after him. 
The diminished 7 chord is structurally symmetrical in that it is the same distance, a minor third (1 and 1/2 steps) from every note in the chord and its higher and lower neighbors.  A number of interesting effects result from this symmetrical structure.
   *  Since the chord is structurally symmetrical, any one of the four notes that comprise the chord can function as the root of the chord, depending on the musical context in which it is employed.
   *  Since each of the chord voices is a minor third from the next higher or lower voice, you can move the diminished seven chord shape up or down three frets, intact, and get the same chord, just inverted.
   *  Since the chord is structurally symmetrical at the distance of a minor third, there are really only three dimished seventh chords:
   C-Eflat-Gflat-Bdouble flat (normally spelled as A)
   C#-E-G-Bflat
   D-F-Aflat-Cflat (normally spelled as B)
Moving up chromatically, the next diminished seven chord would be an inversion of the first one, the one after that would be an inversion of the second one, etc.
Augmented triads are also structurally symmetrical, but repeat themselves at the distance of a major third (two whole steps) rather than at the distance of a minor third, like the dimished third.  Thus, you have:
   C-E-G#
   C#-E#-G## (normally written as A)
   D-F#-A#
   Eflat-G-B (or D#-F##-A##)
The next augmented triad ascending chromatically would repeat the first one, via inversion. 
All best,
Johnm
   
     
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Mr.OMuck on November 26, 2008, 01:17:46 PM
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. 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.
Has someone mentioned "If you want me to love you" The Georgia Tom, Tampa Red misogyny extravaganza?


Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on November 26, 2008, 02:31:59 PM
JM, Pan, thanks, I see, mostly. I've never understood when something should be notated '#IV' versus a 'bV', or is that buried in there and I'm too dense to see it?

And in this context (raggy, key of C), what would this chord be, emphasis on the bass 4 strings? 2-0-1-2-(0)-(2)? F#dim, right?

And if you play the 2nd string open B, how does that change it?

Merle Travis uses it a lot, the second and third chords in his signature walk-up from the I, IV or V to a higher voicing of the same I, IV or V
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: frankie on November 26, 2008, 02:53:00 PM
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.

F it is  - I think the moment you're talking about is really just one note, and it's an excellent moment - an A-flat played on the 1st fret of the 3rd string while the open A string is sounded.  Crunch city!  Sounds so good, he repeats it quite a few times, depending on the particular performance we're talking about.  He uses it in other F songs, too, but he seems to really lean on it in Blow Gabriel.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: frankie on November 26, 2008, 02:54:22 PM
Cflat

I love that note!
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on November 26, 2008, 03:01:15 PM
Hi Rivers,
With a fingering of 2-X-1-2-0-(2), what you end up with is a B7 chord with it's fifth, F#, in the bass, and the chord voiced:
    perfect fifth-X-major third-flat seventh-root-(perfect fifth).  
In order to get a diminished seventh chord, you need to raise the second string, so that you end up with 2-X-1-2-1-(2), as John C. said.  Voiced that way, it works out as:
   root-X-dimished seventh-minor third-diminished fifth-(root).  
Thus, even though you've only changed one note in a four-note chord by one half-step, functionally all of the voices change, as does the way they are named.  
The question of whether something should be named #IV versus flatV has to do with the tendency of the context in which it occurs.  If it derives from chromatic upward movement from the IV note, as in this instance, you would designate it a #IV.  If it derives from a downward chromatic movement from a perfect fifth, you would designate it a flat V.
All best,
Johnm  
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on November 26, 2008, 04:41:29 PM
Excellent! Thank you. So my chord, in a C-rag context, could be notated as a slash chord, B7/F#

Likewise I now also get the #IV vs flatV decision, depends on whether one is descending or ascending the scale from start chord.

Thanks very much for the enlightenment there.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on December 06, 2008, 06:57:44 PM
Another song that's done in a minor key -- resolving to a major at the end of the form, somewhat like Blind Blake's Rope Stretching Blues -- is Victoria Spivey's "Blood Thirsty Blues". It actually alternates verses between all major, and the minor to major format of Rope Stretchin'. Some nice guitar playing from Lonnie Johnson. Found on DOCD-5316 Victoria Spivey Vol 1.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: arlotone on December 16, 2008, 12:06:10 PM
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.

This is the first song that came to mind when I saw the title of this thread. I'm curious how you all play it? In the key of C, I like to play Am-Em-Am-Em in the first line -- rather than E major or E7. I do this because I like the melody better if it drops a whole step between "I'm standing on the (drop) corner..." rather than a half step. The melody notes are A to G, so I need to play an Em to avoid a clash.

Would anyone be scandalized if they heard it played this way?
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Mr.OMuck on December 16, 2008, 02:17:48 PM
Scandalized? US?! If ya' wanna be scandalized listen to the Holy Modal Rounder's version from 1963 which features the first media instance of the word "Psychedelic".
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on December 16, 2008, 05:09:52 PM
I've played Hesitation Blues forever and always played Am - E7. I just tried Am - Em and it does work too. Sounds more bluesy with the Em, and more raggy with the E7. You can also kill the 3rd entirely and get a different sound again, modal? I might throw it in as a subtle variation, thanks! After 40 years of playing it pretty much the same way it was in dire need of a change.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on January 04, 2009, 08:11:25 AM
I'm just listening to a great Dixieland Jug Blowers song "When I Stopped Running I Was at Home", which has sections both in relative minor and major keys.

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on March 30, 2009, 06:07:44 PM
Lawd have mussy, how did we miss Gus Cannon's brilliant Tired Chicken Blues? I had my ipod on shuffle today and it came on, song is in the key of C. The IV is a biggest fattest F minor in country blues.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on August 14, 2009, 07:30:40 PM
Hi all,
I've been listening to Frank Edwards' Trix album recently, and he does "When The Saints Go Marching In" in a minor version there, something I'd never heard before.  It works really well.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on September 15, 2009, 08:16:31 AM
Georgia White's Dead Man's Blues is a real nice one with minor chords (and could also be part of a much shorter thread called "Tango Blues"). Lonnie Johnson on guitar.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on October 03, 2009, 06:14:57 AM
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.
This is an interesting chord progression in a minor key, which occasionally goes to the major key of the same root.

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Bunker Hill on October 03, 2009, 12:25:06 PM
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.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on October 03, 2009, 02:18:50 PM
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.

Thanks Bunker Hill.  ;)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on October 22, 2009, 08:29:35 AM
One that just played on the Juke: Papa Charlie Jackson's "Papa's Lawdy Lawdy Blues" features a couple minor chords, I believe.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: hortig78rpm on October 27, 2009, 02:27:54 AM
hello

all gys forgett mostly the piano-players who often use minior beginnings ( cow cos`s alabama strut, roosevelt sykes: thanks but no thanks) or one time greatest minor blues:
lil johnson: that bonus done got thru
montana taylor : i cant sleep

regards
mike
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on November 28, 2009, 09:14:06 AM
Ma Rainey's "Down in the Basement" features minor harmonies/chords. After an intro style verse, the structure and harmony of the song is very reminiscent of Tampa Red's "If You Want Me to Love You".

Also features musical saw playing in minor.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on January 16, 2010, 09:59:45 AM
Another early blues in a minor key: Blind Richard Yates aka Uncle Charlie Richards singing "Sore Bunion Blues", one of those sore feet songs that seem to have been popular among blues singers. Recorded in 1927, it's on Document's Male Blues of the Twenties Volume 1, DOCD-5482. Piano accompaniment by Louis Hooper.

Bunions, bunions, won't you hear my plea
Bunions, bunions, won't you hear my plea
Stop your achin', let my poor feet be
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on January 18, 2010, 10:06:06 AM
And it turns out Sore Bunion Blues was recorded first by Monette Moore in December 1924. It's the same song but her version backed by the Choo Choo Jazzers is not actually done in a minor key like Blind Richard Yates did his 3 years later. He was probably looking to give it more gravitas.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on July 30, 2010, 06:14:55 PM
Hi all,
Libba Cotten's "Fox Chase" is in A minor, as is Etta Baker's instrumental "Alabama Wagon Wheel".
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on March 13, 2011, 09:26:05 PM
Hi all,
The McGee Brothers version of "Salty Dog Blues" has A minor and D minor chords in it, and Sam McGee's "Franklin Blues" has a D minor chord in it.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on September 14, 2011, 04:52:57 PM
Hi all,
Yank Rachell's version of "Matchbox", from his Blue Goose album, has a minor IV chord, a la Lemon's "Wartime Blues".
all best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on September 17, 2011, 08:05:50 PM
Walter Davis uses what sounds like a repeating inversion of a IV minor chord resolving to a I chord in What Have I Done Wrong, a duet with Henry Townsend. Boy, what a tune.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on December 12, 2011, 03:19:58 PM
Hi all

I'm just listening to Bull City Red doing "Black Woman And Poison Blues", an 8 bar blues in the Crow Jane style, and I think he plays a minor V chord to the second half of the 7th bar. I think he's playing from the E -position capoed or tuned up to around G, and the chord shape I'm hearing is something like  X-2-0-2-0-0, so with the high E string open, technically this would be a "V minor 11th" chord, if I'm not mistaken?  It's a pretty sound.

You can hear the song here (track 14).

http://www.simfy.de/artists/640740-Bull-City-Red/albums/490012-Blues-And-Gospel-From-The-Eastern-States-1935-1944/tracks/13872433 (http://www.simfy.de/artists/640740-Bull-City-Red/albums/490012-Blues-And-Gospel-From-The-Eastern-States-1935-1944/tracks/13872433)

Cheers

Pan

Edited to add: He seems to be playing the same progression on his "Mississippi River" too, although there appears to be some confusion wether he or Blind Boy Fuller is playing the guitar. Does anyone know of BBF using the V minor chord on another tune?
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on January 09, 2012, 05:16:48 PM
The 2012 Tefteller calendar CD includes The Harum Scarums who do Come On In (There Ain't nobody Here But Me). It's a rag with Big Bill Broonzy on guitar playing real good, Mozelle Anderson vocals, Georgia Tom Dorsey on piano & vocals.

Verse starts on Am, with a really nice change up to to A7, finishing up as a C rag. It's a whole lot of fun and definitely worth stealing.

[later: reading back through this thread I see Johnm and Uncle Bud beat me to it! Glad we have similar tastes: http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=892.msg27257#msg27257 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=892.msg27257#msg27257)]
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on January 28, 2012, 10:56:50 AM
Pianist Harold Holiday recorded as Black Boy Shine and his "Married Man Blues" uses I minor and IV minor chords, resolving the usual way through a V chord to a major I chord.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on February 07, 2012, 07:31:25 AM
Jelly Roll Anderson's "I.C. Blues" uses minor chords.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 15, 2012, 06:32:30 PM
The Mississippi Sheiks negotiate between the relative keys of D-minor and F-major in their song "That's It".

Mississippi Sheiks - That's it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEmd-1Ddb_8#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 24, 2012, 04:12:08 PM
I'm not sure exactly if Sam Collins is really playing a IVm (Cm) chord in "Graveyard Digger's Blues", but he certainly stresses the minor 3rd of the IV chord in the key (E flat in the key of G), both in the vocal and the guitar melody. There's some other weird and fascinating harmonic stuff going on as well.

'Graveyard Digger's Blues' SAM COLLINS (1931) Blues Guitar Legend (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTc6P9MHAmc#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on May 24, 2012, 04:39:37 PM
Wow, what a sensational find, Pan!  I haven't listened to that for a couple of years, and it's an amazing track.  Sam Collins is working out of A position in standard tuning, tuned a whole step low.  If you listen to his solo starting at around 1:34, it's a killer.  He goes from a B, fingered like a "long A" moved up two frets to a B7 out of the same position (sounding a step lower, because of his tuning).  He resolves to E7, then back A.  He then goes from long A to A7 to D resolving to G7(!), the flat seven of which is the same note as the minor third of a D minor  chord.  Then to a momentary E minor resolving to E7, and finally back to A, then to B minor7 to E7 to A for the instrumental version of "I ain't got no lovin' baby now."  Whew, what a ride!
Sam Collins certainly sings to a minor IV chord from beginning to end in the song and plays that minor melody note (flatVI of the scale) over the IV chord, too.  His substitution of the flat VII 7th chord, G7, for the IV minor chord, D minor, is the kind of stuff that is encountered in the writing of people like Antonio Carlos Jobim, Tadd Dameron, and Burt Bacharach.  Sam Collins got a lot of harmonically exotic effects by assuming that the melody note was the root of whatever chord it was happening over, though he goes to many more remote places in this song.  What a beauty this one is, and man could he sing!
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 24, 2012, 11:53:25 PM
Wow! Thanks for the detailed analysis, Johnm! It is very much appreciated, as always. Looks like this tune is a good candidate for the "one of a kind" category as well.

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Batson on May 25, 2012, 05:26:33 AM
I'm also a fan of this song. A clean copy turned up on Yazoo's "The Best There Ever Was" compilation. Also, maybe this is common knowledge, but Blind Boy Fuller's "Lost Lover Blues" seems to be basically the same song (minus the "exotic" chord changes).
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on June 19, 2012, 03:44:05 AM
As Johnm pointed out on Facebook, the song "I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone?" by Tampa Red And His Hokum Jug Band, from 1929, contains minor chords, and I believe, changes back and forth between the relative keys of F-Major and D-minor:

Tampa Red - I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtKkd7m0ohY#)

If I'm not mistaken the 32-bar form goes something like this:


A
|| F7 | % | % | % |

| Bb7 | % | % | % |

| A7 | % | Dm  | % |

| C7 | G7 | C7 | C7 ||

B
|| F7 | % | % | % |

| Bb7 | % | A7 | % |

| Dm | % | A7 | Dm  Gm7(b5)/Db |

| F/C | G7 C7 | F | F ||

According to B&G the personnel here is Tom Dorsey, piano; Bill Johnson bass; Jasper Taylor, washboard; and Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon, vocals.

Cheers

Pan

Edited to reflect corrections by Johnm. I had missed a nice little change in bars 28 to 30. As John points out the Gm7(b5)/Db chord could be played with guitar as: X - 4 - 5 - 3 - 6 - X. The chord could also be seen as being a Bbm6 with the minor 3rd on bass. Also in bar 13, I believe had missed a C7 chord preceding the G7.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: uncle bud on June 19, 2012, 01:18:13 PM
Rev. Gary Davis's Eagle Rocking Blues is a 12-bar blues dirge in E minor.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on June 21, 2012, 01:50:30 AM
Hi all,

Johnm kindly pointed to me, that the chord changes to "I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone?" are a little more complex than I originally thought! 
I've edited my original post above to reflect the changes I'd missed. 

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on June 23, 2012, 03:39:29 AM
Walter Davis' "Please Remember Me" is a very nice minor blues, which reminds me of "St. James Infirmary".

I posted a  link on the YouTube thread:

http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2101.msg72051#new (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2101.msg72051#new)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on August 29, 2012, 08:46:03 PM
Memphis Jug Band ? Oh Ambulance Man is a good one. It's on the juke.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on September 14, 2012, 04:25:34 PM
Hi all

Bumble Bee Slim's "Slave Man Blues" is a very nice blues in a minor key. I like how the B-section starts with a major(b7?) chord with the root of the key, for contrast.

'Slave Man Blues' BUMBLE BEE SLIM (1936) Georgia Blues Legend (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7B9NB01X8#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on September 14, 2012, 05:11:06 PM
That's a great find, Pan, thanks for posting it.  For a song that has a relatively Pop, Tin Pan Alley sort of feel, it still has some really "country" elements, especially in its phrasing.  The B part starts on a I 7 chord, as you noted, and sounds like it is going to be a 12-bar blues, but ends up like so:

   |    I7    |    I7    |    I7    |    I7    |

   |    IV7  |   IV7   |    V7   |   V7  + 2 beats  |

The measure that concludes the B part has two extra beats to accommodate the vocal pick-ups to the return of the final A part.  The A parts are similarly asymmetrical, short in the first line, and long in the second.  It's nice when something calculated for a mainstream market ends up being crooked almost in spite of itself.  I suspect this can mostly be attributed to how Bumble Bee Slim felt the lengths of his vocal phrases.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on September 25, 2012, 02:50:11 PM
A song that I think deserves to be mentioned here, is Clifford Gibson's "Don't Put That Thing On Me".  It is not often that you encounter a II minor chord in a pre-war country blues tune.

Here's JohnM's gret analysis of the song in the "One of a kind" -thread:

http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2044.15 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2044.15)

Clifford Gibson - Don't Put That Thing On Me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCqRHouMtOI#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on October 04, 2012, 05:37:28 PM
E.C. Ball switches back and forth with both the major and minor tonalities in his tune "Warfare". Both with the melody and the tonic chord, I believe.

E.C. Ball - Warfare (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8pLUs6xIyk#ws)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estil_C._Ball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estil_C._Ball)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on October 04, 2012, 05:45:19 PM
Wow, that is a beauty, thanks for posting that, Pan.  The melody sounds like it may have originally been an unaccompanied hymn or ballad.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: frailer24 on October 05, 2012, 01:09:07 PM
Speaking of the Rev., "Children of Zion" is based out of A minor.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on October 12, 2012, 02:05:38 PM
Blind John Davis'  "Alley Woman Blues" is a very nice 8-bar tune which negotiates between the relative keys of C-minor and Eb-Major. Iit seems that the musicians vary the chord changes quite a bit as they go along.

Blind John Davis - Alley Woman Blues (1938) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSXcnRaSn40#ws)

Cheers

Pan

Edited to add: apparently the electric guitar is played be George Barnes, who was one of the first musicians who played the instrument.

Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on October 12, 2012, 04:16:25 PM
Georgia Tom Dorsey's "Maybe It's The Blues" has a verse that starts in E-minor, only to turn later on to the relative G-major key.

Georgia Tom: Maybe It's the Blues (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eoeu5DT0EY#)

The changes go something like this:

Intro
|| C7 | C#dim7| G/D | E7 |

| A7 | D7 | G | G ||

Verse
|| Em | B7 | Em | B7 |

| A7 | D7 | G | G |

| Em | B7 | Em | B7 |

| A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 ||

A1
|| G | G | A7 | A7 |

| D7 | D7 | G | G |

| B7 | B7 | Em | Em |

| A7 | A7 | A7(or D7) | D7 ||

A2
|| G | G | A7 | A7 |

| B7 | B7 | Em | G7 |

| C7 | C#dim7 | G/D | E7 |

| A7 | D7 | G | (D7) ||

SOLOS A1 + A2

Vocals A2 -> End.

Edited to correct; The guitar player seems to be Tampa Red after all, not Big Bill Broonzy as suggested by  B&G!

Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on October 18, 2012, 08:52:14 PM
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
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on October 19, 2012, 05:32:04 AM
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

Thanks for your analysis on the guitar player's position and playing, Johnm. I really don't know what to think of the guitarist's identity anymore. One think that comes to mind though, is that we have seen Scrapper Blackwell  tackle harmonically more sophisticated material with Leroy Carr, as for example in "Longing For My Sugar", which we discussed earlier in this thread along with Snooks Eaglin's "Lipstick Traces".

http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=8331.msg67565#msg67565 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=8331.msg67565#msg67565)

Go figure!

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: mr mando on October 27, 2012, 12:32:14 PM
The recently discussed "Don't Be A Fool" by Al Miller (see topic in the lyrics board) has a minor chord. It's hard to tell if this 13,5 bar song is a blues. The lyrics could be sung over a 12 bar chorus blues (Tight Like That archetype), and the structure is actually 12 bars with an additional half bar pick-up phrase for the chorus and an extra turn-around bar. The chords are far from the usual blues clich?, though:


  | | | |  | | | |   | | | |   | | | |  | |
|    I    |    I    |    I    |    I   |  I |
 | | | |  | | | |  | | | |  | | | | 
|  VIm  |   VIm  |  bVI7  |  bVI7  |
  | | | |   | |  | |    | |  | |   | | | |  | |  | |
|    I    |  I   VI7  | II7  V7  |    I   |  I   V7 |
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on November 06, 2012, 10:49:29 AM
Cow Cow Davenport's "I've Been Hoodoed" came up elsewhere during the Halloween. It has quite a unique chord progression, again switching between relative minor and major keys. The video pitches the song somewhere between F minor and Ab major,  or F#minor - A major, perhaps closer to latter?

Cow Cow Davenport - I've been Hoodooed [with Jim Towel] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0K_xg-rZso#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on November 13, 2012, 04:50:00 PM
Bill Willliams' "Pocahontas" is an instrumental in A minor. In around 1:09 the tune very briefly ventures to A major, only to return to the original minor key.

Bill Williams - Pocahontas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86B6_nw2o7Q#ws)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on November 14, 2012, 10:52:12 AM
Mississippi Sheiks' "That's It" is a nice instrumental in the realtive keys of D minor and F major, if I'm not mistaken.

Mississippi Sheiks - That's it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEmd-1Ddb_8#)

Cheers

Pan

Edited to add: Oops, apparently I already posted this a few pages back. Sorry about that, I could have sworn I did a search before posting.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: GhostRider on November 14, 2012, 11:34:04 AM
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.

Alex
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: slideaway on November 14, 2012, 05:52:27 PM
That tune reminded me of klesmer music. Strange.

nah, its alien outpost planet bar music! ;) (star wars cantina song)
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: slideaway on November 14, 2012, 05:55:47 PM
this Lonnie Johnson tune "a good happy home' weaves in and out minor major, mostly in second half. strange piece .. like the subject is cheering up eventually

http://youtu.be/ayV0pGjNUJ4 (http://youtu.be/ayV0pGjNUJ4)
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on November 20, 2012, 06:08:17 PM
Black Boy Shine's "Married Man Blues" is an interesting mix of minor and major in a 12 bar blues form. I don't think I've ever heard anything quite like it before.
The first A section or 4 bars of the AAB lyric form starts in minor, but ends up in major in the last 2 bars, or the "response" lick. The same thing happens on the next 4 bars, starting on the minor IV chord, ending on the I major.
The last 4 bars are in major, but include a passing bVI chord, if I'm not mistaken.

I'll attach a YouTube video; please note that it has two songs in it, "Married Man Blues" starts in about 2:50, with a (deceiving ?) intro in the G major key. The song ends with a major b7 chord.

Black Boy Shine - Crazy Woman Blues - Married Man Blues.m4v (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqI-1NY226I#ws)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on February 28, 2013, 04:42:17 PM
Hi all

"In the Mornin'" by "Johnson-Nelson-Porkchop" from 1928 is in minor.

"Bluecoat" Tom Nelson & T.C. Johnson - In the Mornin' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG_Cpt1Viy4#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Cleoma on March 01, 2013, 08:16:47 AM
Just now tuning into this thread -- re "That's It"  -- when I was finding material for the Geoff Muldaur & Texas Sheiks recording, Geoff took every one of my suggestions, except for That's It.  He wanted me to play a fiddle instrumental, but That's It was too "ethnic" sounding for him. I ended up playing Yellow Dog Blues, from the Wise String ORchestra, a hillbilly group.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on March 01, 2013, 08:21:37 AM
What a great find, Pan!  This is my favorite "how did that happen?" song I've heard since "Mama's Angel Child".  This definitely qualifies as "One of a Kind and Great".
All best,
John,
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on March 04, 2013, 03:58:14 PM
According to the search function, Sara Matin's "Shipwrecked Blues" isn't listed in this thread. The song has been discussed earlier in here: http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2831.msg21851#msg21851 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2831.msg21851#msg21851)

Sara Martin - Shipwrecked Blues (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvu6WvhqqCM#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on April 08, 2013, 04:23:42 PM
"The Spasm" by Mississippi Sarah & Daddy Stovepipe has a nice variaton to the usual 16 bar chord progression, where the bars 9 - 12 usually have the I chord followed by I7 and IV. Instead Daddy Stovepipe ventures to the relative minor via it's dominant chord, III7 to VIm, or E7 to Am.  The intro is different, with only 12 bars. Something like this:

Intro:
|| C | C | C | C |

| Am | Am | C | C |

| G | G | C | C ||

16-bar chorus
||: C | C | C | C |

| C | C | G | G |

| C | E7 | Am | Am |

| C | G | C | C :||   

The Spasm by Mississippi Sarah & Daddy Stovepipe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5ubPrtjg9w#)

Cheers

Pan

                 
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 13, 2013, 08:18:38 AM
Hi all

I'm trying to figure out Rosetta Howard's and the Harlem Hamfats' tune "Delta Bound". It's in F minor, but a major I chord interestingly seem to appear both on the melody and harmony, occasionally. It sounds like the musician themselves weren't quite sure when to resolve to a major or minor I chord, and it sounds to me, like some clashes occur at times. The B section seems to have a major tonic chord all the times. What I get is something like this:

Intro:
|| Fm | Db7 | C7 | F |

| Db7 | C7 | Fm Bbm | Fm (Fm/C) ||

A
||: Fm | Db7 | C7 | F |

| Db7 | C7 | Fm Bbm | Fm (Fm/C) :||

B
|| Bb7 | Bb7 | F | F |

| Bb7 | Bb7 | F | C7 ||

Back to A

What do you think? Corrections are welcome!

Rosetta Howard - Delta Bound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3m9qIByy-Q#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on May 13, 2013, 09:11:59 AM
I think you nailed it, Pan.  Rosetta Howard and the soloists seem most often to suggest an F major chord in the fourth bar of the A parts, and the mandolin player (Charlie McCoy?) most often plays it as a minor.  Sometimes they're in accord, and sometimes not.  Rosetta Howard's singing on this is spectacular!  I never heard her before, and the way she is phrasing way behind the beat is ultra-cool.  That was a great find.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 13, 2013, 10:04:44 AM
Thank you very much, John! Much appreciated!

When the musicians disagree with the harmony, it can be difficult to figure out, what's going on!

FWIW, I took a try at the lyrics as well: http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=9445.msg79895;topicseen#msg79895 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=9445.msg79895;topicseen#msg79895)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: TallahatchieTrot on May 16, 2013, 10:41:06 AM
A question for guitar players. In the 1960s Ishman Bracey told me that when he recorded for Paramount Records he used a different tuning on his "Woman, Woman Blues." (Pm12970. I asked him what it was and he said G Minor tuning. At that time I didn't know the difference from Spanish G and "natural" so it  was always a question. Give a listen to Bracey's recording and tell me if he is in a minor tuning. Personally as a  Dobro player, I hear no minor chords but  wanted  the forum's perspective. Could he be in "cross note" on that song which is on both Yazoo and Document releases. Also I have never heard of a G Minor tuning.
    Also, Bracey said he only heard or saw one of his PM recordings ands that was the "little comedy record" he and 44 Charlie Taylor did. "Where's My Shoes At?
    Also Bracey's playing on "Woman Woman" is totally different from any of his other recordings.  gdw/
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: banjochris on May 16, 2013, 11:54:33 AM
Gayle -- I've always heard "Woman, Woman" as being in standard tuning, key of E, although I can't remember if he's tuned high or capoed. Son House called standard tuning the "key of minor" in his Library of Congress recordings, for whatever that's worth.

PS and thanks for all the wonderful work you've done preserving and researching the music over the years!
Chris
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Norfolk Slim on May 16, 2013, 01:22:56 PM
I say standard E too- though with an unwound third making for some weird noises and bends.

I have to say though that I base that conclusion primarily on John M teaching it...
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 23, 2013, 08:53:06 AM
Hi all

I was listening to the different versions of "Some Cold Rainy Day", and I came across two interesting versions, where the relative minor VI chord is used instead where you would normally expect the I chord. They are both pretty.

First one is by Bertha "Chippie" Hill, with Tampa Red and Georgia Tom, from 1928. The search function revealed, that MTJ3 has already discussed the changes on the 8-bar blues thread: http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=785.msg17626#msg17626 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=785.msg17626#msg17626) , but perhaps this great tune deserves to be mentioned here too?
The song is in the key of F and on bar 5 they play a Dm chord, where normally you would expect the F chord to continue, with the melody note A. They also start the song with a IV7 chord, and their version is very unique and beautiful IMO.

||: Bb7 | Bb7 | F | F |

| Dm | C7 | F Bb | F C7 :||

Bertha 'Chippie' Hill - Some Cold Rainy Day (1930) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW4Z9Kprhnc#)

Another version I came by is by Meredith Axelrod, with the more usual changes, except that they change the first I chord into a relative minor VI, which gives a nice touch. They play in C:

||: Am | C7 | F | F |

| C | G7 | C | C :||

Some Cold and Rainy Day- Meredith Axelrod and ACF (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7hmN3hmu-k#)

I wonder if this is their own arrangement, or if they picked it up from someone else? Let us know if you know another version or song with the same or similar changes.

I guess some might argue, that "Hesitation Blues" starting with the relative minor is the same case, but since it also employs the V7 chord of the relative minor key (E7 to Am), I would think that this is taking the relative minor thing even a bit further, and momentarily establishing the A minor key, because the resolution from the dominant E7 chord to the Am.

Anyway, you might want to try to occasionally change the I chord to an VIm just for the fun of it, and see if you like it.

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on June 19, 2013, 05:36:46 PM
Hi all

Pianist Deryck Sampson recorded a number of Boogie Woogie tunes in early 40's.  Apart of having some modern sounding harmonies, he also inserted middle parts in minor in his tunes, like in "Chinese Boogie Woogie":

Deryck Sampson - Chinese Boogie Woogie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vElfykMDD0#)

and "Basin Street Boogie":

BASIN STREET BOOGIE by Deryck Sampson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr0M0E5LBgE#)

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.

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Bunker Hill on June 19, 2013, 10:42:52 PM
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.

Cheers

Pan
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.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on June 20, 2013, 01:35:37 AM
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.

Cheers

Pan
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.

Thanks, Bunker Hill

What a pity!

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Bunker Hill on June 20, 2013, 02:44:26 AM
Thanks, Bunker Hill

What a pity!

Pan
I 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.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on June 20, 2013, 04:48:19 AM
Thanks again, BH!

http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Boogie-Woogie-Blues-1943-1946/dp/B00000AEWG (http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Boogie-Woogie-Blues-1943-1946/dp/B00000AEWG)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: jpeters609 on June 20, 2013, 06:41:14 AM
Pan,
I took a quick look at amazon: the Harlequin LP mentioned by Bunker Hill is actually in stock (1 available):

http://www.amazon.com/Boogie-Express-Deryck-Sampson/dp/B0085A9IA0/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1371735574&sr=1-4&keywords=boogie+express (http://www.amazon.com/Boogie-Express-Deryck-Sampson/dp/B0085A9IA0/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1371735574&sr=1-4&keywords=boogie+express)

Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on June 20, 2013, 07:52:32 AM
Thanks Jeff!

Boy, does he look young on that LP cover!

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on August 16, 2013, 04:37:36 AM
Here's a nice one by Victoria Spivey. Dixon & Godrich give a recording year 1936, not 1934, as is stated in the video. The song is in E flat major, but the A section starts in the relative C minor. There seems to be a number of pop tunes that do this, think for example of Love Me Or Leave Me etc.

I tried to transcribe the chord changes and got roughly this:

ANY-KIND-A-MAN             Victoria Spivey

Intro
|| Eb | Fm7 Bb7 | Eb | Eb ||

Verse
|| Eb | Eb | Eb | Eb |

| Eb | Fm7 Bb7 | Eb | Eb |

| G7/D | G7/D | C7| C7 |

| F7 | F7 | Bb7 | Bb7 ||

A
||: Cm | G7/D | Cm | Ab7 /  (Adim Bb7) |

                              1. 3.            2.
| Eb | Fm7 Bb7 | Eb | Fm7 Bb7 :|| Eb ||

B
|| G7 | G7 | C7 (Cm?) | C7 (Cm? |

| F7 | F7 | Bb7 | Bb7 || back to A

I'm not sure about the walk up with A dim to Bb7 on the 4th bar of the A section, the bass line seems to vary.

Also, it sounds to me like the musicians are a little unsure whether the C chord in the B section should be a minor or major. In my ears Spivey's vocals seem to indicate a major chord, and I think the bass player agrees at least on the last B section.

Corrections are welcome!

Victoria Spivey - Any Kind A Man (1934) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ06tV2QnVQ#)

Cheers

Pan

Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on August 28, 2013, 06:14:55 AM
Hi all

Sam Price And his Texas Bluesicians recorded "Do You Dig My Jive" in 1941, if this YouTube video is to be believed.
The song is in E flat minor (yup, that's 6 flats!) and has the typical descending chord changes, but in the chorus the song goes briefly to the E flat major key, which gives it a nice touch.

Something like this:

Verse
||: Ebm Db7 | B7 Bb7 | Ebm Db7 | B7 Bb7 |

| Ebm Db7 | B7 Bb7 | | Ebm Db7 | B7 Bb7 |

| Ebm Db7 | B7 Bb7 | Ab7 | Db7 ||

Chorus
|| Eb | Eb | Ab7 | Ab7 |

| Ebm Db7 | B7 Bb7 | | Ebm Db7 | B7 Bb7 :||

Sam Price And his Texas Bluesicians - Do You Dig My Jive (1941) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFJwFZ7vZNs#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on September 03, 2013, 08:36:23 AM
Hi all

The Hokum Boys apparently recorded a fun 12 bar blues called "The Folks Down Stairs" twice (!) during 1929.
Both versions have Jimmy Blythe on piano. One has Probably Bob Robinson on vocals, the other one Banjo Ikey Robinson.
One of the versions is a pretty straightforward 12 bar blues, but the other interestingly starts in C minor, only to turn into the relative E flat major key, something like this:

||: Cm | G7 | Cm | Ab7 Eb7|

| Ab7 | Ab7 | Eb | Eb C7 |

| Bb7 | Bb7 | Eb | Eb G7 :||

Both versions can be heard on Spotify.

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on September 23, 2013, 01:32:50 PM
Hi all

The South Street Trio's "Big Four" starts by switching back and forth between the relative keys of D minor and F major. The song later turns into a cycle of 5ths progression in F major.

the South Street Trio-big four (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wezdf2yVNu4#)

Cheers

Pan

Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on September 23, 2013, 03:32:04 PM
Hi again

The vocal trio Three Bad Habits recorded their only song "Three Bad Habit Blues", by Marsh Laboratories inc., Chicago, on behalf of the Simplex Piston Ring Co. of America (!), sometime in the 1920's. They were backed by a (their own?) piano, guitar and a banjo.

The song starts with a two minor chords vamp pitched near the key of C# minor:

|| : C#m | G#m :||

The chord changes then proceed from C# minor to E major something like this:

||: C#m | G#m | C#m | G#m |

| C#m | G#m | F#7 B7 | E   G#7 :||

This goes on for quite a while, before the song changes to a jazzy 12 bar blues to the end.

A unique and nicely crafted song, IMO.

The song can be heard on Document's "Too late, too late" vol. 10 compilation (a snippet can be heard here: http://www.allmusic.com/album/too-late-too-late-blues-vol-10-1926-1951-mw0000045475 (http://www.allmusic.com/album/too-late-too-late-blues-vol-10-1926-1951-mw0000045475)), or on Spotify.

Cheers

Pan



Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on October 24, 2013, 03:56:08 PM
Hi all

Bo Carter's "Some Day" is a very nice 12-bar blues with a 12-bar bridge in the relative minor key. Some great falsetto singing there too.

'Some Day' BO CARTER, Delta Blues Guitar Legend (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSwJVMuW8Hw#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: volpino on November 13, 2013, 10:05:31 AM
Not really country blues, but the Harlem Hamfats 'Weed Smokers Dream' translates well into picking. Some of the classic blues gals did some great bluesy stompy stuff as well, like Trixie Smith's 'My Man Rocks Me'.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: alyoung on November 17, 2013, 02:02:05 AM
The Hamfats' "Root Hog Or Die" is another minor-key song that transfers quite well to gtr picking.  I do it in Em.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on November 17, 2013, 09:13:57 AM
Hi all,
There are a raft of Papa Charlie Jackson tunes with what would normally be VI7-II-V7-I circle-of-fifths, raggy progressions in which Papa Charlie used a ii minor chord in place of the V7 chord.  So, in the key of C, this would play out as A7, D or D7, D minor, C.  The D minor chord delivers the chromatic descending line on the first string, moving from the F# in the D or D7 chord to the F note in the D minor, which you would get from the G7 chord if you played the more commonly-encountered circle-of-fifths progression.  He also used the ii minor chord in place of the V7 in raggy tunes in D, substituting an E minor chord, fingered like a D minor moved up two frets, for an A7 chord.
All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on March 04, 2014, 03:54:57 PM
Hi all

Elder Charles Beck and His Congregation did a nice version of "Dry Bones" in a minor key. He recorded it in 1939 as well, but this 1946 version with a jazzy trumpet and string bass could be found on YouTube. Despite of being in a minor key, the tune ends up in a glorious major chord!

Dry Bones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlsbvTHflek#)

Cheers

Pan

Edited to add: Spotify has another version (perhaps the 1939 one?) which appears to be in a major key. http://open.spotify.com/track/2H6ltidNcon7pIduDyJNUn (http://open.spotify.com/track/2H6ltidNcon7pIduDyJNUn)
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on April 29, 2014, 04:33:42 PM
Hi all

Eddie boyd did  "What make these things happen to me"  as "Little Eddie Boyd's Trio" in December 24, 1948 in Chicago, IL; with Eddie Boyd, voc, p; Willie Lacey, g; Ransom Knowling, b; Judge Riley, dr. (see Stefan's discography below).

The song starts out like a common 12 bar blues, but after bar 5, instead of another bar of the IV chord, there's a neat little progression from I (with the 5th on bass) to VIm, then II7 -V7 - I - V7, to finish the A section in just 8 bars.
The IV chord isn't always played on bar 2, on the A section.
The tune is in fact a 32 bars AABA form. 

The chord changes, I believe, are something like this:

INTRO
|| C | F | G7 | C G7 ||

A
||: C | (F) | C | C7 |

| F | C/G Am | D7 G7 | C  G7 :|| (repeat)

B
|| C7 | C7 | F7 | F7 F7 E7 Eb7 |

| D7 | D7 | G7 | G7 || (back to A)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SifWFiYw8ac (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SifWFiYw8ac#ws)

http://www.wirz.de/music/boydfrm.htm (http://www.wirz.de/music/boydfrm.htm)

Cheers

Pan

Edited as kindly suggested by Mr. Mando (see his post below).
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: mr mando on April 30, 2014, 04:22:40 AM
Hi Pan,
thanks for pointing out this tune which I'd not listened to before with much attention to its harmonic structure. 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.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on April 30, 2014, 05:04:15 AM
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.

Hi Mr. Mando

Re-listening, I think you're right! Good catch, a II7 - V7 sounds more like it. Thanks, and I'll make the change.

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 02, 2014, 04:38:12 PM
Hi all

Lil Johnson recorded "That Bonus Done Gone Through" in 1936, with Black Bob on piano.

Lil Johnson - That Bonus Done Gone Thru (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLOfo5K4kt8#ws)

Also, her 12-bar "Minor Blues", with Montana Taylor on piano,  from 1929 starts in C minor but then turns to the relative E flat major, very much resembling the way that later musicians played "Hesitation Blues". The song doesn't appear to be on YouTube, but those of you who have access to Spotify, can hear it here:

http://open.spotify.com/track/0JkLF5C2mNihMRhlsyzTpJ (http://open.spotify.com/track/0JkLF5C2mNihMRhlsyzTpJ)

Edited to add: re-listening I noticed that the harmonic rhythm in the beginning of "Minor Blues" is slower than in "Hesitation Blues", giving the chords a whole bar each, but other than that, the changes do resemble Hesitation Blues.

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 06, 2014, 04:02:13 AM
Hobart Smith - Wabash Blues -via Johnm; see this thread:
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=290.msg87024;topicseen#new (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=290.msg87024;topicseen#new)

Hobart Smith - Wabash Blues (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMoIEj8JOr8#)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: BluesL-00ver on May 09, 2014, 02:35:12 PM
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."
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 11, 2014, 04:31:29 PM
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."

Hi BluesL-00ver,

You might want to check out this thread on cross note tuning:

http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?Itemid=114&topic=648.0 (http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?Itemid=114&topic=648.0)

and this entry on the Weeniepedia:

http://weeniecampbell.com/wiki/index.php?title=Adventures_in_Cross-Note (http://weeniecampbell.com/wiki/index.php?title=Adventures_in_Cross-Note)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 11, 2014, 05:28:25 PM
Hi all

Frankie's very moving "Mother's Prayer" somehow made me think of an old Mahalia Jackson recording, which has been a favourite of mine for many years. I have it on some obscure compilation LP, but apparently there's a live (?) video as well, on YT.

The tune is a medley of the George Gershwin classic "Summertime", and the old gospel song "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child". The two tunes share a similarity to the melody, which is striking, when juxtaposed as in this medley.

Moreover, Jackson's pianist plays a simple, but very elegant accompaniment to the song(s), which differs slightly from what you usually hear with the many versions of "Summertime", and I've always liked this version very much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohnr22zTxc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohnr22zTxc)

The changes are something like this:

Summertime

||: Am E7/B | Am/C E7/B | Am Dm |  Am |

| Dm | Dm D#dim7 | E7 B7 | E7 E7/D F7/C E7/B |

| Am E7/B | Am/C E7/B | Am Dm |  Am |

| C | E7 | Am Dm | Am E7 :||

Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child

|| Am E7/B | Am/C E7/B | Am Dm |  Am |

| Dm | Dm E7 | Am Dm | Am E7 |

| Am E7/B | Am/C E7/B | Am Dm | Am |

| Am | Am | E7 | Am |

| Am | Am E7 | Am Dm | Am ||

I didn't write out the intro and outro.  The Am/C could, of course, be seen as a C6 chord as well.

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all!

Pan



Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: BluesL-00ver on May 12, 2014, 11:37:18 AM
H Pan,

Thanks for the reference to the cross-tuning thread!   What a great thread with great directions for a newbie like me.  Looking forward to noodling when I get home tonight.   

Steve.
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on May 15, 2014, 06:03:34 PM
Hi all

Little Brother Montgomery's  "Mama,You Don't Mean Me No Good" from 1935 shares the relative keys of G minor and B flat major.

Little Brother Montgomery - Mama,You Don't Mean Me No Good (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxPmWcqagXg#ws)

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Prof Scratchy on May 16, 2014, 01:35:14 AM
What a player he was!

Sent from my HUAWEI MT1-U06 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Johnm on May 27, 2014, 12:10:35 PM
Hi all,
Here is a really pretty religious number from E. C. Ball where he hits the relative minor of the key he's in.

E.C. Ball & Lacey Richardson - Tribulations (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuutCctVXe8#)

All best,
Johnm
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on November 09, 2015, 04:58:02 PM
Hi all,

Georgia Tom's & Tampa Red's horribly misogynist  "If You Want Me To Love You" is in a minor key.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmkeEL92Bzc&feature=share

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Pan on September 22, 2016, 10:19:40 AM
Hi all,

Booker T. Washington's "Death Of Bessie Smith" from 1939, with Walter Davis on piano, is a minor blues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXqQYVCgqyA&feature=youtu.be

Cheers

Pan
Title: Re: Blues in Minor/With Minor Chords
Post by: Rivers on September 30, 2016, 07:18:06 PM
Georgia Tom's & Tampa Red's horribly misogynist  "If You Want Me To Love You" is in a minor key.

Hysterically funny when covered by the Asylum Street Spankers.
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