Topic: Blind Boy Fuller Guitar Keys

[Gumbo]

Talking about Little Bit Funny That Way:

Yeah, it's a real nice one, a different sound compared to some of the more typical Fuller rags in C. The end of the main form where he quickly hits I IV I after that G lick is pretty similar to Truckin My Blues Away, a dead giveaway that it's in a C position. The III-VI-II-V-I section occurs in Piccolo Rag as well I believe, also out of C.  It's rather unusual to start the tune with it though.

Fuller's material shows a wide variety of influences: Blind Lemon Jefferson, Memphis Minnie, Tampa Red, Josh White, Buddy Moss, Willie McTell, Sleepy John Estes, Harlem Hamfats and more.

that descending G lick in Funny That Way always sounds like it came from Bo Carter to me

[Chezztone]

I think "Ain't It a Crying Shame" has to be in A+0 (not E+5 as reported above). The reason is, he plays a rolling bass, going from a lower bass note on the 6 string to the tonic on the 5, i.e., E to A. Can't be done in E+5 where the tonic bass is on the 6 string.
However, there probably is a second guitarist on this song, which could make other positions possible! Listen especially to the opening instrumental verse, toward the end, and see if you think one guitarist could possibly be playing all that.
Here is my take on the lyrics:

I forsaken my sister, forsaken my brother
I forsaken my daddy and my dear old mother
I had to do that to change that woman name
Well now she?s fixin to leave me, ain?t this a crying shame

If it wasn?t for love, people, never would be blue
If it wasn?t for women I know what I?d do
She?s awful tricky, but I love ?em just the same
Well my woman she have tricked me, ain?t this a crying shame

I didn?t know, people, she was that tricky kind
I was very weak and I grabbed the hook and line
But she had that feeling and made me change her name
She throwed me down, ain?t this a crying shame

Said them weakminded people, it?s easy to be misled
Especially when I was sleeping in a lonesome bed
She had a feeling and made me change her name
But my baby?s fixin to leave me, ain?t this a crying shame

I woke up this morning, bout the break of day
Reached over and grabbed the pillow where she used to lay
It?s awful, people, but I love her just the same
But my baby fixin to leave me, ain?t this a crying shame

Another interesting thing about this record is that it is a knockoff of Bumble Bee Slim's song of the same name, released in 1934 (the year before Fuller's). The lyrics are almost identical, although Fuller mixes up the second verse a bit. The singing style also is almost identical, as is the signature guitar lick behind the first line of each verse.

[banjochris]

I think "Ain't It a Crying Shame" has to be in A+0 (not E+5 as reported above). The reason is, he plays a rolling bass, going from a lower bass note on the 6 string to the tonic on the 5, i.e., E to A. Can't be done in E+5 where the tonic bass is on the 6 string.
However, there probably is a second guitarist on this song, which could make other positions possible! Listen especially to the opening instrumental verse, toward the end, and see if you think one guitarist could possibly be playing all that.

Gary Davis is definitely playing second guitar on this track, just underrecorded. Sounds to me like Davis is playing out of A position because it sounds like his bass runs in "Mountain Jack," etc.

Fuller's definitely in E position here. Not sure where you mean the rolling bass is, but the main one I hear, emphatically, is going into the IV chord, from the 6th to 5th string. But the second guitar could be throwing off the bass sound a little bit.
Chris

[Chezztone]

Thanks Chris. The "rolling bass" I'm talking about is behind the opening line of each verse, on the I chord. There's a ba-bum, with the ba on a E note and then the bum on the A tonic. But OK, the second guitarist must be doing that, uncapoed. If you want to get that bass part without a second guitarist, you can play the song in A position, yes, you can even get those treble runs. But I agree now that Fuller is in E position on the record, and Davis is doing the ba-bums. OK, Waxwing, you had it right in your original list! Ch.

[waxwing]

Dumb luck.

Wax