Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any other takers want to try the Frank Edwards and Archie Edwards puzzlers? Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[blueshome]

I’m thinking Spanish and A standard

[Johnm]

Hi all,
We haven't had any new responses on the Frank Edwards and Archie Edwards puzzlers in the past couple of days, so I'll post the answers.

For Frank Edwards' "Terraplane Blues":
   * His playing position was G position in standard tuning, as Old Man Ned and Prof Scratchy had it. You can tell it's not Spanish because when he goes to his IV7 chord, he voices the root in the bass and plays a regular C7 shape. To do that in Spanish you'd have to be fretting the fifth fret of the fifth string.
   * For his signature lick, played for example at :21--:24, he goes from the open fourth string to the fifth fret of the fourth string, from there back to the open fourth string, then moving to the first fret of the fifth string, and from there to the second fret of the sixth string, resolving upward to the third fret of the sixth string, the root of his I chord.

A week or so ago, I posed a question on the Main Forum as to whether anyone could think of a Country Blues guitarist who relegated the guitar so completely to a back-up role as did Sleepy John Estes. It now occurs to me that Frank Edwards is close to Sleepy John in this regard, pretty much eschewing any kind of hot licks, mostly strumming chords and keeping time, with an occasional bass run, like the signature lick in his version of "Terraplane Blues". Peter Lowry put out a really nice album of his music on the Trix label around 1970. I've always found Frank Edwards' singing of his lyrics a real transcription challenge.

For Archie Edwards' "Baby Please Give Me A Break":
   * His playing position was A position in standard tuning, as everyone had it--well done!
   * The first two chords in Archie Edwards' progression are an A7, voiced X-0-7-9-8-9, going from the sixth string to the first string and an A diminished 7 chord, voiced X-0-4-5-4-5, going from the sixth string to the first string. It's a neat kind of variation on the Scrapper Blackwell/Robert Johnson opening move when playing in A standard, which on the A7 voices the first three strings identically to Archie Edwards, but which for the A diminished 7 simply moves the first three strings down one fret, to 8-7-8. And since diminished 7 chords repeat and invert themselves every three frets, you can see how Archie Edwards' version works. It suggests a way of varying a move to a diminished 7 chord that could be duplicated in other songs, in other keys that use that chord.

Thanks to Old Man Ned, Prof Scratchy and blueshome for participating, and I hope folks enjoyed the songs.

All best,
Johnm   

[Old Man Ned]

Prof Scratchy should take all the credit for getting Frank Edwards' "Terraplane Blues" in G, standard tuning. I went for open G (Spanish tuning) in my answer 
All the Best,
Ned

[dj]

I hope folks enjoyed the songs

I always enjoy the more obscure songs you dig up John, as well as the musical analysis.  I have to say that I particularly enjoyed discovering Archie Edwards via Baby Please Give Me A Break.  I'd never paid much attention to Edwards, and discovering him via this thread led me not only to him but to the whole Living Blues USA series of LPs recorded by Siegreied Christmann on a trip around the US in 1980. 

For anyone not familiar with the series, you can find info on all the LPs in Stephan Wirz's L+R discography here: https://www.wirz.de/music/lipprau.htm

And a bit odf discussion about the series here at Weenie Campbell from 13 years ago here: https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=5172.0

[Johnm]

I'm glad you enjoyed finding out about Archie Edwards, dj. A couple more of his songs have had their lyrics transcribed here. You can find them in Weeniepedia and then link back to where they were posted on the Forum and listen to his recordings of them. Thanks, too, to Old Man Ned for pointing out my error in remembering who posted what in the response to to the most recent puzzler. I need to review the responses before posting the answers and not rely solely on my memory of them.
All best,
Johnm

 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
It's been a little while since I posted some new puzzlers and I have a couple of performances I particularly like, so I thought I'd post them for any interested parties. The first is from the St. Louis musician Arthur Weston, a St. Louis musician who had just one recording released under his name, on the Testament label. The song is "Cryin' Won't Make Me Stay", and here it is:



The questions on "Cryin' Won't Make Me Stay" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Arthur Weston used to play the song?
   * Where did Arthur Weston fret his signature lick, as in :09--:13, and how did he articulate it in his picking hand?

INTRO

Well I'm going and I'm going, crying won't make me stay
Well I'm going, I'm going, and your crying won't make me stay
Well, the more you cry, the further you drive me away

If you ever been down, you know just how I feel
If you ever been down, you know just how I feel
Like some broke-down engine that ain't got no driver's wheel

Just take me, baby, I can't be bad no more
Now then, take me, baby, I can't be bad no more
Well, I'm tired of you foolin' around with old Mist' So-And So

The second song is from 1949 acoustic sessions by John Lee Hooker, and it is his version of "Rabbit In A Log" (though he sings it "rabbit on the log"). Here is "Rabbit In A Log":



The questions on "Rabbit In A Log" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did John Lee Hooker use to play the song?
   * Where did John Lee Hooker play the first three notes in his rendition?
   * Where did John Lee Hooker fret the instrumental interlude from :19--:29?

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit on the log, possum up the tree

Rabbit told the possum, "Shake those 'simmons down. Shake those 'simmons down."

INTERLUDE

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit on the log, I ain't got no rabbit dog, got no rabbit dog
Rabbit told the possum, "Shake those 'simmons down."

INTERLUDE

Way down, way down, way down, way down in old [          ]
Rabbit told the possum to shake those 'simmons down, shake those 'simmons down
Possum told the rabbit, possum told the rabbit, "You watch the dog and I'll shake the 'simmons down. You watch the dog and I shake the 'simmons down."

INTERLUDE

Way back, way back, way back, headed to my shanty, way back, mmm,
Way back, way back, way back, way back

Rabbit, rabbit on the log, rabbit on the log and I ain't got no rabbit dog, got no rabbit dog
Rabbit told the possum, "Shake those 'simmons down now, shake those 'simmons down."

INTERLUDE

(Spoken: Yeah, it's the dog.) Ooo, ooo, ooo. Ooo, ooo, ooo. Ooo, ooo, ooo.
Shake those 'simmons down, ooo, ooo, ooo, shake those 'simmons down
Possum told the rabbit, "You watch for the dog. You watch for the dog and I'll shake those 'simmons down, oh Lord
Ooo, ooo, ooo. Ooo, ooo, ooo. Me and my dog, we gonna go and on, go out in the woods. Ooo, ooo, ooo. Shake them 'simmons down

INTERLUDE

Headed way back, way back, way back, to my shanty, way back, way back, way back
Hounds on my track, chickens on my back, headed way back, to my shanty, way back, mmm

INTERLUDE

Shake those 'simmons, shakin' 'em down,
Rabbit told the possum, "Shake those 'simmons, shake 'em down."
Possum told the rabbit, possum told the rabbit, "You watch for the dog, I'll shake the 'simmons down, I shake the 'simmons down, shake them down." Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm

Headed way back, to my shanty, head way back
Moon is a-risin', moon is a-risin'. Possum in the log, possum's a-walkin'
Way way back, way way back
 
Please use only your ears and your guitars to arrive at your answers, and please don't post any answers before 8:00 AM your time on Friday, November 5. Thanks for your participation, and I hope you enjoy the songs.

All best,
Johnm

[blueshome]

Tentatively I’ll put Arthur Weston in C standard up a fret.
JLH - Spanish at C. The lick is bent 3rd string 3rd fret with the open 2nd string.

[Prof Scratchy]

I’m going to go for D standard for Arthur and open D tuned low for JLH.

[David Kaatz]

Cryin' won't Make Me Stay is in open D tuning, actually pitched around C#, so lowest to highest strings are D-A-D-F#-A-D.
I think the signature lick is a pull off where the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings are fretted at the fifth fret and pulled off to let open strings ring, then a thumb roll in the bass: Fourth fret 6th string, then open 5th string. Then the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings are played as before, followed by the thumb playing  the open 5th string and the open 6th string.

It maybe, or sometimes, he slides into the fourth fret 6th string when moving from the 6th to the 5th string. Or hammers from open 6th to the fourth fret, then strikes the open 5th.


Rabbit in a Log sounds like a C tuning - I came up with low to high: C-G-C-G-C-E. Although I couldn't hear the low string at all. The first 3 notes are open 3rd string, hammered to the second fret, then open 2nd string.
The interlude melody is fretted like this, and the third fret of the second string is squeezed/bent for a higher note:
(sorry for the crude tab)
           |downbeats here |             |             |
string:1     3   3           3 1 0         3             0
string:2 0 3   3   3 0   0 3       0   0 3   3   0   0 3     0 0
string:3                                       3           3
string:4
string:5
string:6
There's a bunch of rhythmic strumming or brushing of available lower open strings whilst playing the melody.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any other takers on the Arthur Weston and John Lee Hooker puzzlers? I think both of these tunes have legs and can keep going for a little while longer.
All best,
Johnm

[Old Man Ned]

For Arthur Weston's "Cryin' Won't Make Me Stay" I'm thinking open D tuning too, though where he frets his signature lick and how he articulates it have me scunnered at the moment.

John Lee Hooker's "Rabbit In A Log" is like nothing I've heard from him before. I'm going to take a punt on this and go for G, standard tuning, capo at the 5th fret, so it sounds like C. That's my first impression. May come back to it after I've had a lie down. For some reason I can't get 'Boogie Chillun' out my head now.

All the Best,
Ned

[MarkC]

Crying Won’t Make Me Stay
Sounds to me like open G tuning turned down a half step, but played in D (C#). Top repeating phrase - 3rd fret 2nd string to open 2nd string to second fret third string. Sounds to me like he might be playing the open first
string in unison with the fretted (3rd fret) second string and also droning the open top string along with the open 2nd string.

Rabbit in a Log - sounds to me like open G tuning capoed at the 5th fret, so in Key of C. Starts off on fourth string open, hammers up two frets then open 3rd string.

00:19 section - bends third string at 3rd fret, then open first string. Throws in a fourth note (F) on first fret second string. Also plays the 7th at 3rd fret fourth string.

[Slack]

how he articulates it have me scunnered at the moment.
/quote]

Lol, I've never heard the word 'scunnered" before... very expressive.

Hope things in the EU are ok, US opened its borders today.... which makes it a glorious day here on the border. 

[banjochris]

Weston's song reminds me of Fred McDowell's "Trouble Everywhere I Go":



Chris