Topic: Wartime Blues

[frankie]

Been singing this the last couple of days and had a moment while everybody was out for a little bike ride.  I was supposed to be getting dinner ready, but I was playing BLJ songs instead.  Bad papa...  baaaad!

Such a great singing song, even if the guitar part's not very fancy.  I tuned down a whole step and it's really fun just to listen to the guitar rattle its way through the tune.

[ArthurBlake]

Been singing this the last couple of days and had a moment while everybody was out for a little bike ride.  I was supposed to be getting dinner ready, but I was playing BLJ songs instead.  Bad papa...  baaaad!

Such a great singing song, even if the guitar part's not very fancy.  I tuned down a whole step and it's really fun just to listen to the guitar rattle its way through the tune.

Great song and great job Frankie, I can't believe I am the first to put a reply post up on this one. I first saw a video of you playing a year ago on youtube and what I saw and heard there amazed me as you were doing "That Crawlin' Baby Blues" and I never thought anyone would get that tune down strong enough to get a pass mark but you managed it. Thanks to you I can play most of the tune's riffs but as for singing it, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE ? Of all the early blues guitarist singers I find BLJ one many songs simply impossible for me to sing without blowing the guitar parts, he truly seems to have two brains and maybe you do too. Just how does he sing a completely different melody to what he plays and plays in odd timing yet it still sounds perfect.
                       As for this song, enjoyed it very much and it seems a much easier song to sing and play, it doesn't seem to have the high degree of difficulty that singing "Black Horse or Bad Luck Blues and That Crawling Baby" do (man they are diabolical and I gave up trying to sing them ages ago but love playing them on guitar) sounds a bit like "One Kind Favor" in the guitar part, is it standard tuning just down a whole step ?

[Kokomo O]

Another fine effort, Frankie. You got a great groove going there, with lots of interest both on top and in the vocal line. Hope you got dinner done too.

[frankie]

Kokomo O - well, everybody's definitely done et since that time, so I guess we're doing ok...  Funny to think this recording is TEN YEARS OLD. Holy crap! The weenie interwebs remembers every damn thing.

ArthurBlake (did i call you blind in another post? sorry!) - I'm not really sure how I sing Crawling Baby - it's not quite the same as Lemon's timing, but I try. He's really a master (along with Rev. Davis) of what I think of as 'musically separate' vocal and accompaniment. I have NO IDEA how or why they came up with that way of playing, but I'm indescribably happy they did...  to me, that way of playing is absolutely the pinnacle - so free!

This tune is in E position and features a minor IV chord. I'm tuned down about a whole step. For me, this is essentially a singing song and has only the subtlest 'guitar nerd' interest...  I love it, but somebody looking for flashy stuff would probably move to the next tune. I love that Lemon is such an understated ace accompanist when he wants to be...  Like Blind Blake playing backup guitar on Gus Cannon's 'Poor Boy Long Ways From Home.' That kind of selfless dedication to the song rather than one's technical prowess is, in my mind, the hallmark of a great accompanist and musician.

[Kokomo O]

Oh, jeez, I didn't even look at the date. Man do I feel silly.

[ArthurBlake]

Kokomo O - well, everybody's definitely done et since that time, so I guess we're doing ok...  Funny to think this recording is TEN YEARS OLD. Holy crap! The weenie interwebs remembers every damn thing.

ArthurBlake (did i call you blind in another post? sorry!) - I'm not really sure how I sing Crawling Baby - it's not quite the same as Lemon's timing, but I try. He's really a master (along with Rev. Davis) of what I think of as 'musically separate' vocal and accompaniment. I have NO IDEA how or why they came up with that way of playing, but I'm indescribably happy they did...  to me, that way of playing is absolutely the pinnacle - so free!

This tune is in E position and features a minor IV chord. I'm tuned down about a whole step. For me, this is essentially a singing song and has only the subtlest 'guitar nerd' interest...  I love it, but somebody looking for flashy stuff would probably move to the next tune. I love that Lemon is such an understated ace accompanist when he wants to be...  Like Blind Blake playing backup guitar on Gus Cannon's 'Poor Boy Long Ways From Home.' That kind of selfless dedication to the song rather than one's technical prowess is, in my mind, the hallmark of a great accompanist and musician.

LOL not sure if you called me blind last time or not but gee, it would make replying to your post very difficult . Yes I agree with that analysis, the song is truly what matters and both Blind Blake and Lemon are truly the greatest, obviously Blake is not quite the singer that Lemon is who is a genius in every way but of course Blake makes up for that on guitar tenfold and I love the great humour in his lyricism, I play some of his tunes as well and have done so in front of audiences and often I break up laughing during the tune, maybe Blake is the funniest blues guy of them all.
                         I did notice you didn't sing quite like Lemon on "Crawlin' Baby" but you did a fine job anyway, incidentally it was only the second recording of Lemon's that I had ever heard, "Matchbox Blues part 1" being the first which was on a compilation. I finally came across an entire Lemon CD and I remember being very excited, I asked the bloke at the CD shop to play me a sample and Crawlin baby blues was the first track on it, to say I was stunned is an understatement, I loved it I just bought the CD. Under that I spied another CD and I had never heard of the guy, his name was Blind Blake and my mate at the shop asked me if I wanted to hear him too, he said I MUST hear this guy. Anyway the first tune that came up was Diddie Wa Diddie, oh I will never forget that moment, it must have been a similar feeling as it was for those in the crowd at Monterey when Jimi Hendrix burst on the scene, to this day my jaw has never gotten up off the floor, he was my hero instantly and to this day he will always be number one in my mind.
                                                 As for your playing, I admire it greatly, especially your ability to work out very difficult stuff like "That Crawlin' Baby Blues" ( I presume you got there on your own). I must come visit the USA one day and bring a guitar with me, you guys have no idea how fortunate you are to be in the home of the Blues, Australia has a few fine blues players but FEW being the operative word and I am a purist so when I hear people calling themselves BLUES ARTISTS only to find they are clueless as to what blues music actually is I get annoyed, down here the name of Blues has taken a real battering. Thankfully we have John Morris, a very good musician and a great Country Blues player. Also Phil Manning is fantastic and we did have the late great Dutch Tilders. Downunder is the land of Hard Pub Rock which is good and not so good depending on who is playing it. Anyway Frankie 'nuff said for now. please keep on keeping on mate, hope I get to meet you oneday. (You are welcome in Australia any day of the week).