Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[One-Eyed Ross]

So, after getting a tuner out, I found myself almost a full tone low....which accounts for my D(+/-) remark earlier....but I still think of this as a Vestapol tuning.  It sounds almost like a banjo style roll in places, at least  to my poor twitter-pated brain.

[eric]

I think C position.  The first couple of measures are very close to the way I play Candyman, like lastfirstface said,  with the move to C7 using the b flat on the 3rd string.  At first, I thought vastapol, but I couldn't quite get it to work.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any other takers for the Babe Stovall puzzler?  Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Old Man Ned]

I'm hearing this in C too.  Pretty much as Lastfirstface has it.  I can't tell if the bass note goes to a G or stays at the C on the 5th string on the 3rd beat though.  I tried Open D for this but it just didn't seem to work for me.

[blueshome]

Without the guitar it sounds like C.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Thanks for all the responses.  I think that probably everyone who intends to respond has done so by now, so I'll post the answers.
For Babe Stovall's "Worried Blues":
   * His playing position was C in standard tuning.  Congratulations to all of you who made that identification.   
   * For the passage from :00--:11, what Babe Stovall played is very close to what Lastfirstface had, and the comparison to Rev. Davis's version of "Candyman" is an apt one.  Here's how what Babe Stovall played in the bass was fingered and what he played over the first 8 bars of his opening pass through the form.

   In the left hand, he fingered the first fret of the second string for the entire 8 bars.  He used his second finger to fret the second fret of the third string, used his little finger to fret the third fret of the third string, used his third or ring finger to fret the third fret of the fifth and sixth strings and used a thumb wrap to fret the first fret of the sixth string in the F chord.  For his first three bars, he hit the third fret of the fifth string on beat one, used his index finger to pick the first fret of the second string on the + of beat one, hit the open third string on beat two with his thumb, hit the third fret of the sixth string on beat three, picked the first fret of the second string on the + of beat three, and on beat four+ hit the second fret of the third string with his thumb and pulled off to the open third string.  So if you think of just his thumbwork in those measures the strings he's hitting on beats one--four are: fifth, third, sixth third.  The thumb is really just maintaining an alternation.  In the fourth measure, he goes to C7 in the left hand, continues to pick the first fret of the second string on the +s of beats one and three, and alternates his thumb from third fret of the fifth string to third fret of the third string to third fret of the sixth string to third fret of the third string, pulling off to the open third string. 
For measures four and five, he goes to his F chord.  In the fifth measure, he hits the open fifth string on beat one, hits the second fret of the third string pulling off to the open third string on beats 2+ and 4+, and hits the first fret of the sixth string on beat three.  He continues to hit the first fret of the second string on the +s of beats one and three.  In measure six, he hits the first fret of the sixth string on beats one and three and hits the second fret of the third string pulling off to the open third string on beats 2+ and 4+. 
For measures seven and eight, he returns to C.  In measure seven he hits the third fret of the fifth string on beat one, hits the second fret of the third string pulling off to the open third string on 2+, hits the third fret of the sixth string on beat three and the open third string on beat four.  In measure eight he alternates from the third fret of the fifth string on beats one and three to the open third string on beats two and four.
I think the way way that Babe Stovall achieves the movement and flow in these measures has both a beautiful sound and a beautiful economy in the right and left hands.

   * Babe Stovall played the following positions in the passage from 1:05--1:11.  He is brushing his open G (third string) right through this four-bar passage, and playing harmonized double stop sixths or chordlets on his first two strings, fingering 8-12 on the second and first strings respectively in the first two measures, dropping down in measure three to 5-8 on the second and first strings and returning to 8-12, and in the fourth measure going from 5-8 on the first two strings to 3-6 on the first two strings.  If we analyze what voices he is playing of a C chord in those various double stops we get this:  The open first string is a 5 note, a drone or pedal that sits underneath the whole thing.  The 8-12 double stop is 5-3, the 5-8 double stop is 3-R, and the 3-6 double stop is 9-b7 (WOW!). 
It took me a little while to hear what Babe Stovall was doing here and figure it out, and I think it is really brilliant--original and beautiful, especially ending up in that C9 double stop.  I really mean original, too.  I have never heard any other guitarist in the style utilize these double stops in this way while playing in C position in standard tuning, and I'm including Rev. Davis, Blind Blake, or anyone else you'd care to name.  The first double stop especially is a "big hand" sort of position with a four-fret stretch and is definitely not what I would think of as "intuitive".  The movement between the two lower double stops is especially pretty and sort of inevitable after the fact, meaning once you hear it, you wouldn't want it to be any other way.

Thanks to all who participated, and I hope you enjoyed the song.  I'll look for another good song to post a puzzler on soon.

All best,
Johnm   

 

[frankie]

Babe Stovall is f.u.n.k.y.

Just to throw this out there...  this is Babe taking essentially the same lyrical theme and giving it a totally different melody and accompaniment.



f.u.n.k.y!!

[Slack]

Wow, thanks for posting frankie... such expressive singing over that driving funky accompaniment... love it.  No guitar in hand, but that sounds out of G position.  Remnants of Memphis Minnie in parts, to my ear.

[One-Eyed Ross]

One of the reasons I do this is to learn.  Great song....

[eric]

I had not heard Babe Stovall before, and he does indeed have a great funky sound.  When I first heard Worried Blues, the banjo-like sound had me thinking: aha-he's in an open tuning; that 's why I tried vestapol.

[Lastfirstface]

The only Babe Stovall CD I have has the version Frankie posted of Worried Blues, which is different enough that this one threw me for a loop for a second. They're both great in their own way.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have a new set of puzzlers for you, both from a musician we've not looked at here previously:  Sam Chatmon.  I think Sam is a terribly under-rated musician; he was by no means simply a lesser version of his more acclaimed brother Bo Carter.  Sam had a lot of moves that Bo never utilized, at least on his recordings, and I suspect he may have picked up some things from Eugene Powell and Hacksaw Harney.  And what a singer Sam was!  He had a voice like a bell, big and bright. 
The first song we'll look at is "Hollandale Blues", named for Sam's adoptive home of his later years.  Here it is:



Says, I'd rather be in Hollandale, baby, I mean, any small town I know
Says, I'd rather be in Hollandale, woman, than any doggone small town I know
Said, it take the Chief Police, pretty mama, man, to make me go

Says, when you go over on Blue Front, sweet baby, and just don't find me there (Spoken: Oh, I'm bein' to where they sell all that whiskey, woman!)
Ah, when you go over on Blue Front, mama, I mean, just don't find me there
Say, you can bet your bottom dollar, I'm really countin' cross ties somewhere

Says, 61 run through Hollandale, baby, and it ain't but one doggone stop
Says, 61 run through Hollandale, sweet baby, and I swear it ain't but one stop
Say, when you go over on Blue Front, sweet baby, I mean you have to squeeze them 'til they oughta stop

Sayin', I got so doggone many women in Hollandale, 'til I don't know who I love (Spoken: Oh boy, I'm the admirer of them curly-haired women!)
I got so doggone many women in Hollandale, 'til I don't know who I love
Says, they gang around me, pretty mama, like the angels up above

Says, I'd rather be in Hollandale, baby, than any other place I know
I'd rather be in Hollandale, sweet baby, I mean, any other place I know
Well now, it take the woman I love, pretty mama, man, to make me dry just so

Well, when you come to Hollandale, baby, and don't have yourself some fun
It's just because you ain't got no, a-doggone mon'
All you got to do, have yourself a ball
Then if you got a dollar you heared all the gals squall,
"Here come that moneyman, I mean, he's dropped down in this land.
I mean, now he done come to Hollandale, pretty mama, I mean, floatin' in the plan."

Well, Hollandale is the place, pretty baby, I always long to be
I mean, Hollandale is the place, pretty mama, always long to be
Well, I could stay away from there longer but I got a cool, kind mama waitin' for me

Edited 5/29 to pick up corrections from Scott N

Here are the questions on "Hollandale Blues":
   * What playing position/tuning did Sam use to play the song?
   * Where did Sam fret the chord he plays from :28--:35?
   * Where did Sam fret the positions he rocks back and forth between in the stretch from 1:37--1:49?

The second song of Sam's we'll look at is "She's My Baby".  Here it is:



Well, my Mama says she's reckless, Daddy says she wild
Don't make no difference that's my angel child
REFRAIN: She's my baby, she's so nice and brown
Every time that woman touch me makes my love come fallin' down

Oh, she touch me in the morning, touch me at night
Time she touch me , you know I feel just right
REFRAIN: She's my baby, she's so nice and brown
Every time that woman touch me makes my love come drippin' on down

Well, now look-a-here, woman, you oughta be 'shamed
Get me my lovin', tell, I'm in blame
REFRAIN: She's my baby, you so nice and brown
Every time you touch me, man, you makes my love come easin' on down

Oh, I got up this mornin', she touched my head,
"Don't give me no breakfast, get your gown, let's go back to bed."
REFRAIN: You my baby, you so nice and brown
Every time you touch a man you make your love come slippin' on down

SOLO (Spoken: Oh, let's slip it once, boy!)

Oh, she touched me in the mornin', touched me at noon
Goin' back tonight and let her touch me 'round there soon
REFRAIN: She's my baby, she's so nice and brown
Every time that woman touch me, makes my love come slippin' on down

Here are the questions on "She's My Baby":
   * What playing position/tuning did Sam use to play the song?
   * What well-known tune supplied the melody that Sam uses to open the song?

Please use only your ears and instruments to arrive at your answers and please don't post any answers before 8:00 AM your time on Wednesday morning, May 27th.  Thanks for participating and I hope you enjoy Sam's renditions.

All best,
Johnm

[EddieD]

Awesome John! I love Sam Chatmon but have not worked on any of his songs yet. This should be fun.

[One-Eyed Ross]

I agree, Sam Chatmon is great....  I can't understand why he isn't as famous as Bo, excepting that Bo's lyrics might make the difference...

[Blues Vintage]

I love Sam Chatmon but I've never seen any of his songs in TAB books anywhere. Yes, very underrated singer and player. According to the liner notes of the album Sam Chatmon (Flyright 63) he claimed he could play in any key. "I can pick in E flat just as good as I can in B flat". And told the interviewer his brother Bo could only pick in G or E. Not sure if that's true.

I'm pretty sure the opening melody of She's my baby" is from a piano instrumental called Cow Cow Blues (Charles "Cow Cow" Davenport).
The song is in F#. I'm not sure about the position/tuning. Could possibly be tuned 1/2 step down in G position so that would make it F# position?