Topic: Meat Shakin' Woman - Jug Band Style

[waxwing]

Okay! This was the first thing that came to mind when I weas wondering what to put the jug to, possibly because I've been playing it so long and it's the song my fingers play when I'm talking to someone and not paying attention. Miller and I have been working on it on and off, but when we put the jug and kazoo to it we just started cracking up when we would play it. Instrumentation is as in the pic I just posted in Gitfiddles, Kazoos and Washboards, two men, four instruments, Miller playing the great, Slack-built cigar box mando and me on my 1930 Style O. I really like the tonality of those two together and we're doing Mississippi Blues that way, too. Boy, can't wait to add jug and kazoo to that, not to mention washboard and harp.

Anyway, hope you like it. I'll post again when Miller works himself into a good mando solo and maybe we'll have Mike by then.

[Edit] Thought I'd add: the recording set up is just a little T-mic from my minidisc, run thru an iMic into GarageBand. I lean in on the jug and lean back for the vocals. Post recording I can tweak the pan a little between the two of us as we were sorta on opposite sides. Mixed down into mono, of course for the 800kb limit.

All for now.
John C.

[a2tom]

a fitting tune to go with the pic!  You go, Weenie's Jug Boys!

tom

[uncle bud]

You guys are sick.

Sounds great and sounds like you're having a blast. I really like the sound of everything together. I think you need to do some Memphis Jug Band tunes. Seriously, there is so much great stuff in there you need the JSP set if you don't have it.

Miller, you'll soon be teaching kazoo at Port Townsend...

[Johnm]

This is a great job, guys, really entertaining and your time together sounds super.  The kazoo's response to the softness of the leg is worth the price of admission.  Nice singing, too, John C.  I look forward to hearing you guys do it in person before too long.
All best,
Johnm

[Norfolk Slim]

Yep- great fun.  Really enjoyed that.  You have something really good growing there as a band.

[motmot]

Sweet!  I really like the feel, especially the timing, what sound like "extra" phrases or beats at the end of each line, but fit just right.  Am I miscounting, or are the verses really something like 25 or 26 measures? Whatever, it works!
Best,
mot

[waxwing]

Hey mot, I think you are counting half measures. It's really a 12 bar blues with a two note pick up before the IV chord (5th measure) and another before the V chord (9th measure).

Thanks for the encouragement all. (Sick?)

We worked on a tight arrangement with the mando playing the same licks as the guitar for one verse tonight and Miller is working on a looser break.

All for now.
John C.

[motmot]

Ah, the light bulb comes on and I get it: twelve bars with two extra beats inserted twice, works out to thirteen bars total.  Whatever, those two extra two-beat phrases really make it work.  I hope you'll post the next version you evolve.

cheers,
me mot

[37 Gibson]

That's terrific!  I just love the way everything comes together, and as uncle bud says, it sounds like you're having a blast. Thanks for the inspiration!  Cliff

[Jonas A]

I'm impressed. Do you all do musictheory? Can you run a check on my Troubled Mind? You see, I get all confused about IV, inserted bars and whatever. But I like the idea for a song. I'm to record a sort of jug band-tune myself, in 120 bpm... 

[Prof Scratchy]

Totally fine stuff!

[waxwing]

Thanks for the kudos Gib 37 and Scratch. You should hear the mando parts Miller has been working up, playing in unison with the guitar part while kazooing the melody. We will hopefully be adding Mike with washboard and harp Sunday a week. When we get it really cooking I'll see if I can post another take.

Jonas, from the Troubled Mind take, I would say, since you don't "do" musictheory, that you have grown acustomed to the standard 12 bar form, which was what the Chicago electric bands settled on so that everyone would know what was going on without having to read music or even know the song. With a few variations, like the Quick V and such, you can cover just about all of electric blues.

Pre-war country blues is another matter. If you peruse the Licks and Lessons, and the Lyrics boards you will learn about the vast variety of forms used by primarilly solo players. Yet, often in the jug or string band setting these forms were also used, and, of course, those of us who wish to transform songs we've learned as solo songs, need to be able to figure out and communicate the song to our fellow band mates or the process could take quite a bit longer.

Some of the things you mentioned:

The IV chord: this is when you slide the bottle neck to the 5th fret, which you do at the 5th measure, as the 12 bar form prescribes, and the V chord is when you slide the bar to the  7th fret, in the 9th measure, again, strictly according to form.

Inserted measures: often a blues singer would need a little step before beginning the next line so they would insert two beats, or a half measure, and it gives the song a different feel. Often when I am in a sort of jam situation and, say, an electric bass player tells me he'll just follow what ever I play, I might absentmindedly play something with a few inserted measures. He'll just go off on a 12 bar form and be doing a turnaround (even tho' most country blues don't have one) while I'm still in the 11th bar, not counting the two inserts.  Pretty funny, actually. I have to come in real strong with the vocal to get him back on track.-G-

It doesn't take a clasical training in music theory, just the basic understanding you pick up from learning a variety of different songs, especially when you work them out yourself from the records, which makes you really look at a song closely, that and what you get from chatting with some of the folks who hang out on this forum.

All for now.
John C.