Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[waxwing]

Lightnin' cool? Nah. Lightnin' was hot! That's why he had to wear those shades, so his glare didn't burn women up. He was so hot when he left Texas on tour the average temperature of the state dropped 10 degrees. He could boil water just by hammerin' on the 1st fret of the 3rd string, without ever pluckin' it. Cool is how guitarists try to appear around other guitarists. Lightnin' never thought about cool. He was a singer, he sang to the women with a simmer, 'cause he knew they want it hot, not cool. Lightnin was the heat risin' in waves off the Permian Basin when the sun is straight overhead. Lighnin' was the gas burnin' off the refinery stacks. Lighnin' was Lightnin'. Who's sayin' Lightnin wasn't hot?

Heh heh, couldn't resist a little hyperbole of my own.

Wax

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I think as many answers are in as we're likely to get, so here are the answers to the "I'm A Crawling Black Snake" puzzler:
   * Lightnin' played the song out of dropped D tuning, tuned a little low.  Congratulations to those of you who made that identification.
   * Lightnin' played the run from :04--:08 as follows:  He hit a pick-up note at the third fret of the second string then landed on his downbeat on the first fret of the first string, going from there to a rhythmically herky-jerky move from the third fret of the second string to the open first string and back to the third fret of the second string, resolving down to first fret of the second string, echoing the herky-jerky rhythm as he went from the second fret of the third string to the open second string and back to the second fret of the third string, resolving down to the open third string, once again echoing the herky-jerky rhythm, going from the third fret of the fourth string to the open third string and back to the third fret of the fourth string, resolving down to the open fourth string, continuing down to the third fret of the fifth string, returning to the open fourth string, bending the fourth string at the third fret, returning to the open fourth string and concluding the run with an octave jump down to the open sixth string.  Whew!
A couple of things about this run:
   1) It lays out beautifully in terms of the execution in the right hand.  Every time Lightnin' does the herky-jerky rhythm, he goes from a fretted lower-pitched string to the the next higher-pitched string open and returns to the fretted lower string.  The string crossing involved in playing the run makes for a less fluid articulation than he would have gotten by playing the same notes all on the same string, and also allows the open strings in the run to sustain across the riff for an instant, making an eerie sort of sound.
   2) If you look at the notes of the open strings he plays in the run relative to the key that he's playing in, you see what a peculiarly colored set of notes they are.  They are the open first string, E, a II note in D, the open second string, B, a VI note in D, the open third string, G, a IV note in D, and finally the open fourth and sixth strings, both D, the I note in D.  So it is that the run emphasizes oddly-colored notes, II and VI, not normally played or sought out in Country Blues runs, and also not notes in the so-called "Blues Scale", I-bIII-IV-V-bVII.  The run, in fact, ends up having a very strong sound of the Dorian mode, which is what you get if you take the notes of a C major scale and run them from D to D, with D as the key center.  Dorian is the II mode, and that is what Lightnin' plays this run in, hitting every note of that scale in the course of it.  I don't think Lightnin' played a lot in the Dorian mode, not nearly as much as did Robert Pete Williams, but I think this song is an instance of the way the notes sat in the tuning and position "giving" Lightnin' the sound.
   3)  A note about Lightnin's time in this run, and throughout this rendition.  He's playing with what you might think of as "tempo dynamics", stretching and compressing the pulse to suit his musical ends.  It's not a treatment of time you encounter all that often in this music, especially to the degree that Lightnin' does it here, but it's good to be reminded that time is, in fact, a fluid commodity, especially in music.  I think the music's common social function of serving as an accompaniment for dancing schooled most of the musicians playing in the style of the necessity of maintaining a strong, regularly felt rhythmic pulse.  It's interesting though, that two other musicians who share Lightnin's predilection for "tempo dynamics" are Texans, too:  Blind Lemon Jefferson (of course) and Ornette Coleman.
   * The IV chord that Lightnin' plays from :28--:34 is a G add 9, fingered 5-X-0-0-3-5, which is what Chris had.  As Chris noted, the third string is most often fretted at the fourth fret in this chord, but Lightnin' left it out, going for the open third string and a dronier sound, with the chord having no third.  He really emphasizes the sixth, second and first strings on this chord.
   * Lightnin's run from :53--:56 utilizes many of the same notes as the run from :04--:08, but if anything it is even odder and more disjunct rhythmically.  He goes from the third fret of the second string to the open first string, from there to the first fret of the first string, skips down to the open second string, continues down to the second fret of the third string, pulls off from the third fret of the fourth string to the open fourth string, gets the second fret of the fifth string, returns to the open fourth string and drops down to the open sixth string.
   * Lightnin's chordal position from 1:21--1:24 derives from the chordal position he starts to play at 1:16, a D chord, 2-3-2 on the top three strings, in preparation for his solo.  Incidentally, this move is what most tellingly identifies the tuning as dropped-D tuning.  At 1:21, he slides that D shape, intact, up three frets to 5-6-5 on the top three strings, giving himself a Dm7 chord and a beautiful dark sound to start his solo.  This move was utilized a lot by Gabriel Brown in dropped D, and I think Brown may have served as Lightnin's, and by extension, Carolina Slim's, model for a lot of their playing in dropped-D.
   * I don't have the vaguest idea of how it was possible for anyone to be as cool as Lightnin' was.

Thanks for your participation, and I hope you enjoyed this song and Lightnin's rendition of it as much as I do.  I'll look for another interesting puzzler to post soon.

All best,
Johnm       

[Stuart]

I saw Lightnin' at a Workshop / Meet and Greet back in the early 70's. He was demonstrating some of his guitar techniques when he hit a clunker. He looked at us and said, "I'm Lightnin' Hopkins. I don't make mistakes."

(I may have posted this before, but  I thought that  it was worth repeating for those who may have missed it.)

[EddieD]

I would have loved to participate in this one as well. I started a new job and the shift I'm on this week and next week is not good for getting lots of guitar time in. By the time I get home from work everyone is in bed so no guitar. But soon the shift will change.  Looking forward to participating again!

[Chezztone]

Ah, yes. After I first listened to it I picked up a guitar that happened to be in Vestapol, and found the notes and chords in that tuning, so posted a quick reply. But I agree now that dropped D works better and is undoubtedly what Hopkins is using. Love that D-chord shape moving up! Thanks, John.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have a new puzzler for you.  The song is "Early Morning Blues" (no similarity to the Blake song of the same title), as performed by James Lowry.  I know nothing about Lowry in the biographical sense, but the song evidently was on a cd of Blues from the Western Piedmont.  In some respects he reminds me a little bit of Eddie Bowles, whose "Blues" was the subject of an earlier puzzler in this thread.  Both Bowles and Lowry were sophisticated players who had some very original sounds and ways of getting around on the guitar.  Here is "Early Morning Blues":



INTRO SOLO

It was four o'clock one mornin' and the blues came rollin' 'round
It was four o'clock one mornin' when the blues came rollin' 'round
They rolled so doggone fast that it was soon all over town

I was thinkin' 'bout my baby, ev'y thing she say
Yes, I was thinkin' 'bout my baby, ev'ything she say
I was all by myself and there wasn't nobody there

SOLO

Yes, I love you, baby, tell I love you for my own
Yes, I love you, baby, and I love you for my own
'T'ain't nothin' in the street, mama, you can't get at home

Yes, I love you, baby, love you too doggone hard
Yes, I love you, baby, and I love you too doggone hard
Who knows how much I love you is only me and God

Yes, you know I love you, baby, is, why you treat me so unkind?
Yes, you know I love you, honey, so why you treat me so unkind?
Say, you keep me worried, bothered all the time

SOLO

The questions on "Early Morning Blues" are:
   * What position/tuning did James Lowry use to play the song?
   * Where is James Lowry fretting what he plays behind the first vocal phrase of his first verse, from :31--:35?
   * Where is James Lowry fretting the fill he plays from :35--:38?
   * Where is he fretting what he plays under the second vocal phrase of his first verse, from :38--:42?

Please use only your ears and your instruments to arrive at your answers, and please don't post any answers before 8:00 AM your time on Thursday morning, June 11.  I hope a lot folks will participate and try to work out the answers to the second, third and fourth questions.  Thanks for your participation.
All best,
Johnm 

[Prof Scratchy]

E standard slightly flat

31:35, maybe he?s playing x76x5x, dragging his thumb across 5th and 4th string before sounding the E note at the 5th fret of the second string?

35?:38 sounds like he may be holding a partial E7 with first finger at 4th string second fret and second finger on second string 3rd get, allowing him then to bounce between E note on 4th string and F sharp note at 4th fret of 4th string

For 2nd vocal phrase of first verse sounds like he?s playing a regular A chord, dragging thumb across strings 6 and 5, then fingering 4th fret of 4th string and pulling off to 2nd fret go 4th string

[blueshome]

I got as far as putting in E standard tuned down.

[One-Eyed Ross]

I agree that it is in E, slightly (just slightly) flat, but I think he's playing it capoed at 4 and playing C shape.  (okay, maybe it's just my ears).  Although I bandied this one back and forth with myself for a long while, trying to decide between E standard and C capoed at 4.

To me, capoed at 4 with C shape makes the run a :31 - :35 much easier to play, and leads into the :35-:38 with just bouncing between a C and F shape.

But, my solution doesn't give me an answer for the second vocal phrase, so....?

[eric]

Sounds like E position to me.

[Old Man Ned]

In agreement with other folks here, E standard about a half step low. 

What Prof Scratchy has for what's been played around 31:35 & 35:38 sounds good to me.  For 31:35 I'm thinking the x7675x shape but am I hearing just a hint of the open E string before it gets sort of muffled and he's then brushing the 5th, 4th & 3rd strings?  For 31:38 I'm definitely hearing the F# on the 4th string, and love that.  Am a bit confused though, as if he's up the neck a bit for 31:35 he needs to come down the neck for 35:38 and I can't help thinking he's playing 31:38 without this movement, though I can't figure anything out yet.

I don't think he's using a capo at the 4th fret as I'm sure I'm hearing the open E string at various times.  Didn't get chance to look at the last part of the puzzler. I decided on E standard real quick but had trouble with the next 2 parts of the puzzle.  Who would have thought a few seconds of music could be so tricky :-)

[One-Eyed Ross]

Ned, that up and down the neck thing was one of the main reasons I went with the capo, since it just seems to make it easier...but I agree, it is a puzzler for sure.

[David Kaatz]

James Lowry Early Morning Blues
I didn't get last one right either, but still plugging away.

I think this is played in cross-note tuning, EAEGBE, tuned a little low. Cross-note because the fingering is easier and especially for the bass part is played when preparing to move to the IV (A) chord. It probably could be played in standard tuning as well.

It is interesting that the high E string is rarely played if at all. I wonder if he has only 5 strings?

The guitar behind the opening stanza from :31-:35 is rocking between an E7 chord and an E diminished chord.
beats    + + + + + + + +
     E|-------------------
     B|--3---2---3---2----
     G|--4---3---4---3----
     E|-0---0---0---0-----
     B|-------------------
     E|-------------------


From :35 - :38
I don't think I can capture the timing on this, since I can't even play it, but he plays the 3rd fret 2nd string between the beats, then starts to rock between 2nd fret, 4th string and open 4th string. Even Lowry can hardly play it over the other verses.

Kind of like this:

beats    +   +   +   + 
     E|-------------------
     B|3---3---3---3------
     G|-------------------
     E|--2-0-2-0-2-0------
     B|-------------------
     E|-------------------

From :38-:42
The s4 on the 5th string indicates sliding up to the 4th fret.
beats    +   +   +   +   +
     E|------------------------
     B|------------------------
     G|------------------------
     E|--2---0-2-0---0-2-0--0-2
     A|---s4------s4------s4---
     E|------------------------

Dave

[frankie]

   * What position/tuning did James Lowry use to play the song?

Standard tuning, E position - Cross-note and EAEGBE are interesting alternatives, but the full V7 (and VI7) rules them out.

   * Where is James Lowry fretting what he plays behind the first vocal phrase of his first verse, from :31--:35?

He rocks back and forth between these shapes:

0x6430
0x5420

Has the effect of going back and forth between the I7 and the diminished, like Luke Jordan in Church Bell Blues.

   * Where is James Lowry fretting the fill he plays from :35--:38?

Weird with a beard...  can't tell what's happening on the 3rd string, but E and F# are sounding on 4th string and D is sounding on the 2nd string. The riff might be thought of as rocking between these shapes:

0x2x30
0x4x30

You could think of it as a C shape moved up to sound a D, and then played in the context of the low E note....  this gives the net effect of an E9.

   * Where is he fretting what he plays under the second vocal phrase of his first verse, from :38--:42?

sounds like 3rd fret/5th string, 4th fret/5th string, 5th fret/4th string, 4th fret/4th string - a riff on an A7.

[Lyndvs]

position:I like EAEGBE as it makes finguring for what I came up with at 35-38 much easier

31-35secs:alternating between
0x0434 and 0x230
35-38 secs.:
4TH STRING OPEN 3RD FRET 2ND STRING PINCHED
1ST FRET  3RD STRING  3RD FRET  2ND STRING
2ND FRET  4TH STRING 1ST FRET  3RD STRING  3RD FRET 2ND STRING PINCHED TOGETHER 
OPEN 4TH STRING  1ST FRET  3RD STRING   3RD FRET  2ND STRING  PINCHED TOGETHER
2ND FRET  4TH STRING 1ST FRET  3RD STRING  3RD FRET 2ND STRING PINCHED -TWICE
OPEN 4TH STRING  1ST FRET  3RD STRING   3RD FRET  2ND STRING  PINCHED TOGETHER
2ND FRET  4TH STRING 1ST FRET  3RD STRING  3RD FRET 2ND STRING PINCHED TOGETHER
OPEN 4TH STRING  1ST FRET  3RD STRING   3RD FRET  2ND STRING  PINCHED TOGETHER
4TH STRING 1ST FRET  3RD STRING  3RD FRET 2ND STRING PINCHED TOGETHER
I think I can hear open 1st string ringing here and there during pinches.

38-42:
5th string open 4th string open
brush up  then down on 2nd and 3rd strings both fretted at 2nd fret
4th fret 5th string  4th string open brush up then down 2nd and 3rd strings both fretted at 2nd fret repeat 3 times