Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any takers for the Sylvester Cotton and Jim Brewer puzzlers? Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Old Man Ned]

For Sylvester Cotton's  "Pay Day Blues", I think, is A standard tuning (capo placement around the 2nd fret)
I'm hearing the lick over the IV chord to be fretted at the 10th fret (relative to capo).

For Jim Brewer's "Hair Like A Horse's Mane" I'm hearing in Vestapol tuning. This was bugging me, as listening to Jim Brewer, I kept being reminded of Hayes McMullan for some reason and I don't think he recorded in that tuning. But it sounds like Vestapol to me. I'm still needing to figure out the other 2 parts to the puzzler. This is going take some more listening, which is no hardship. I'm unfamiliar with Jim Brewer but I really like this recording.

All the Best,
Ned

Between :14--:16 is Jim Brewer fretting with the first and second fingers on the 3rd and 4th strings. Moving the position up one fret from the 2nd fret/3rd string & 3rd fret/4th string then back down before playing the open strings?

[blueshome]

I'm with Ned, A standard and Vasterpol.
Sylvester is in Lightnin'Hopkins mode and uses some of his licks but it's a little more attack \i think.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any other takers for the Sylvester Cotton and Jim Brewer puzzlers? Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Prof Scratchy]

Just to mix things up I’ll say Spanish for the first, and Vestapol for the second!

[rein]

To me sylvester cotton sounds more like Lil Son Jackson than Lightnin Hopkins. Also I wonder whether it isnt in Spanish or another tuning or position with the tonic in the third string becuase of the prominent bend third ? The lick is then from the fifth chord on the 7th 9th an 10th fret.
The Jim Brewer song really reminds me of 'thats no way to get along' and other adaptations of Vestapol

[David Kaatz]

Jim Brewer sounds like Vestapol tuning to me.
At :14-:16, I think he is fretting 4th string 2nd fret with 3rd string 1st fret, then sliding that shape up one fret, then back down one fret.
At :35-:36, it is the same shape and strings as above, but he slides from the 2nd and 1st frets two frets up, then back down by half steps.

Dave

[David Kaatz]

Cotton sounds like A position standard tuning. That lick is way up at the 11th fret on the first string, followed by 10th fret, 8th fret same string, then 10th fret, second string. Then, 9th fret third string and 10th fret second string struck together. Then repeats the first four notes the same way, followed by moving down to a partial cowboy A chord - maybe just the fourth and third strings.
Possibly the highest note is achieved by bending up from the 10th fret.

Dave

[Johnm]

Hi all,
There have not been any new responses to the Sylvester Cotton and Jim Brewer puzzlers in several days, so I'll post the answers.

For Sylvester Cotton's "Payday Blues":
   * His playing position was Spanish tuning, as Prof Scratchy and Rein had it.
   * His IV chord lick, from :51--:54 and elsewhere throughout the song is fretted with the index finger fretting the eighth fret of the second string followed by a walk-down of the first string at the eleventh, tenth and eight frets, then returning to the eight fret of the second string. The lick really has an unusual, distinctive sound--the notes he's hitting, relative to the IV chord are V-b9-I-bVII-V. You can try transposing the lick to other keys, like using it for an A chord in an E blues, at the fifth fret of the second string, sixth, fifth and third frets of the first string, and then going back to the fifth fret of the second string where you started.

Sylvester Cotton recorded a number of titles in Detroit in the post-War period. I have him on an anthology, which he splits with Andrew Dunham, who also recorded in Detroit around that time, and whose terrific track "Sweet Lucy Woman", is inexplicably omitted from that anthology. "Sweet Lucy Woman" was the very first puzzler posted in this thread. Go back and listen to it if you haven't heard it for a while or heard it before. It is really great and raw!

For Jim Brewer's "Hair Like A Horse's Mane":
   * His playing position/tuning was Vestapol tuning as all who responded had it--good work!
   * For his lick at :14--:16, Dave Kaatz described its placement on the neck perfectly in his post two posts prior to this one.
   * At :35--:36, the chord that Jim Brewer frets is located at 0-2-2-1-0-0, and is thus fingered like an E chord in standard tuning. In Vestapol, assuming he's tuned to Open D, that position works out to being an E minor chord on those three fretted strings, held over the D note droning on the sixth string. It's a really pretty sound that I don't recall hearing other guitarists use in Vestapol tuning before.

Thanks to all who posted answers to the puzzlers, and I hope that you enjoyed the songs.

All best,
Johnm

[Forgetful Jones]

Sorry I missed this edition of the puzzlers.

Johnm- the chord shape you describe in Hair Like a Horse's Mane (:35-:36) was used in The Allman Brother's Band "Melissa." I'm pretty sure Greg Allman is playing the acoustic on that recording.

Cheers

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have a couple of new puzzlers for those of you who are interested. The first is from Arzo Youngblood, and it is his "Goin' Up The Country Blues". Here it is:



INTRO

Well, I'm gwine up the country, don't you want to go?
Well, I'm gwine up the country, don't you want to go?
Well, I'm goin' take you to the place, where you never been before

Well, I stayed out all night long, baby, brought it all on myself
Yes, I stayed out night long, well, it all on myself
You know I wasn't with you, baby, wasn't with nobody else

Well, one day, baby, you gonna learn my mind
Yeah, one day now, woman, you gon' learn my mind
I'm gon leave here, baby, got for me, bring you down

Well, bring me my pistol, baby, shotgun and my shells
Babe, bring me my pistol, shotgun and my shells
'Cause I know my little woman, sure gon' give me hell

CODA


The questions on "Goin' Up the Country Blues" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Arzo Youngblood use to play the song?
   * Where did he fret his signature lick that he plays twice consecutively from :09--:13 and throughout his rendition?

The second puzzler is Cecil Barfield's "Georgia Blues". Here it is:



The questions on "Georgia Blues" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Cecil Barfield use to play the song?
   * What strings and at what frets did Cecil Barfield play the bass line he plays twice consecutively from :27--:31?
   * In the course of his rendition, Cecil Barfield frets the guitar in only five places. At what frets and on what strings are those five places?

Please don't post any answers before 8:00 AM your time on Tuesday, November 1, and please use only your ears and your guitars to arrive at your answers. Thanks for your participation, and don't feel you have to answer all of the questions--answer only the ones you care to answer. I hope that you enjoy the songs.

All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any takers for the Arzo Youngblood and Cecil Barfield puzzlers? Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Old Man Ned]

Is Arzo Youngblood playing "Goin' Up the Country Blues" out of E position, standard tuning, with the signature lick:
-----0--0------------------
-----0--0--0--2-----------
-----1--1--------0--1-----
-----2--2---------------2--
----------------------------
-0--------------------------
?

Cecil Barfield is unique isn't he?
The position & tuning of "Georgia Blues"? I'm pretty sure it's standard tuning. The playing position I'm caught between E or G, but I'll go with G. The 5 places the guitar is fretted:
6th string, 3rd fret
4th string, 2nd fret
3rd string, 2nd & 3rd fret
2nd string, 3rd fret.

All the Best,
Ned

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any other takers for the Arzo Youngblood and Cecil Barfield puzzlers? Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Old Man Ned]

Yeah, come on guys. Don't leave me hanging here on my own :-)

All the Best,
Ned