Topic: Adventures in Spanish

[uncle bud]

Hi all,
I was thinking about this topic and realized that after Peg Leg Howell, I am hard put to think of an East Coast Country Blues player playing any non-slide pieces in spanish other than "Spanish Fandango".  Of course you had the Georgia contingent doing slide pieces in spanish--Barbecue Bob, Charley Lincoln, Fred McMullen, Curley Weaver, Blind Willie McTell, et al, but can you all think of any pieces played in Spanish not using a slide by Pink Anderson, Josh White, Rev. Davis, Blind Boy Fuller, John Jackson, Etta Baker or anybody else from the Carolinas on up to Maryland?

John, I was listening to Etta Baker last night and she does do a tune in spanish without slide: Lost John. You can hear a sample here
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000002ZG/qid=1098117149/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_0_2/702-0657386-1774425

It's rather John Hurt-like.

[Johnm]

Thanks for the tip, Andrew.? It's neat to track those rarities down.
All best,
Johnm

Edited to add:
Thinking about this made me go back and check what music I have of Elizabeth Cotten.? I found she did "The Wreck Of The Old 97", "'Til We Meet Again", and "Jesus Is Tenderly Calling" in Spanish (the last two are on the recently released on CD "Shake Sugaree"), and I feel like I heard her do "When I Get Home" in Spanish as well.? So far, it looks like she had the most tunes in Spanish of any East Coast player north of Atlanta.?

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Perhaps these have been reported earlier, but Joe Callicott has two non-slide pieces in Spanish on his "Ain't A Gonna Lie to You" Fat Possum CD:? "France Chance" and "Roll And Tumble".? I particularly like "France Chance".? Ry Cooder put it on his first solo album many moons ago.
All best,
Johnm

[frankie]

Just updated "the list" with the most recent additions - thanks all!

John - I think E. Cotten's When I Get Home might be in spanish, too, but it's been ages since I heard it - a good reason to dig it out!

[Johnm]

I'm with you, Frank.  Any occasion that calls for listening to or learning from Elizabeth Cotten is a happy one.  Her time was so beautiful.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Time to re-visit a great old thread.  I found another one from John Hurt's "Last Sessions" on Vanguard, a song called "Boys, You're Welcome".  I'm on the track of some more.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I came across a passel of Robert Pete Williams non-slide tunes in Spanish.? They are as follows:
? ?* "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues" w/ Guitar Welch, from "Country Negro Jam Session" on Arhoolie
? ?* "Dyin' Soul", "I Got The Blues So Bad", "Sinner Don't You Know" and "I Want To Die Easy", from "Robert Pete Williams, Vol. 2, When A Man Take The Blues", on Arhoolie
? ?* "Lord I Done You Wrong" and "All Out And Down", from "Poor Bob's Blues", on Arhoolie
Robert Pete seems to have particularly favored Spanish tuning for sacred numbers, but a couple of his blues in Spanish, "I Got The Blues So Bad" and "All Out And Down", are really funky.? He gets some sounds on "Lord I Done You Wrong" that I have never heard the like of in Spanish before.? Lots of food for listening and thought here.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I just came across another tune in Spanish that I had not remarked upon before:  Ishmon Bracey's "Suitcase Full of Blues".  The opening of the cut sounds very much in the Charley Patton mold, but once he gets into the song and starts singing it, the accompaniment seems like a sort of hybrid of Teddy Darby's "Built Down On The Ground", over the I chord, and Furry Lewis's "I Will Turn Your Money Green", over the IV and V chords.  The vocal melody is not like either of those songs.  The version I have is from an old Herwin album, and it is really whupped, but Bracey sounds wonderful, despite crummy sound quality and adventurous tuning.  God, what a singer!  He sounds like a million bucks.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Roosevelt Graves does a beautiful version of "I Shall Not Be Moved" in Spanish on the new "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" set on Yazoo.  On the performance, he is joined by his brother, Leroy, and unnamed piano, tuba and cornet players.  The rendition has a sort of Salvation Army band sound, and is more march-like than John Hurt's version.  One thing great about playing "I Shall Not Be Moved" in Spanish is that melody and harmony for the song sit in very accessible places in the treble so that you can play both parts simultaneously.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
A really strong performance in Spanish was brought to my attention by Ryan at his lesson this week.  The song is "You Don't Know My Mind", as performed by Herman E. Johnson on the Arhoolie CD he splits with Smoky Babe.  Johnson's rendition is exceptional, both in the playing and the singing.  His vocal tone is a bit reminiscent of the Natchez singer and player, Cat Iron, but his playing sounds all his own.  There is a great moment in one of the solos where he suddenly launches into an idea that seems to have come from an altogether different song, something perhaps related to "I Will Turn Your Money Green".
Actually, there are a host of exceptional performances in Spanish on this recording, for Smoky Babe played almost everything in Spanish, too.  Between Smoky Babe and Herman E. Johnson, there are a host of good songs played in Spanish.  People looking for material would be wise to seek out this recording.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
There are a couple of really nice performances in Spanish by Willie Doss, a musician found by the late Ralph Rinzler in Ashford, Alabama, on the the old Vanguard album, "The Blues At Newport 1964, vol.2".  I know Vanguard has recently put out a big "Blues at Newport" set, but I don't know if Willie Doss's two cuts, "Coal Black Mare" and "Hobo Blues", made it onto the CD set.  If not, it's a real shame, though it is understandable that Doss, an unknown, might get lost in a program that included John Hurt, Libba Cotten, Robert Wilkins and the just-rediscovered Skip James!
Doss's playing is rough, for sure, really country, but I like it, and I particularly like his singing.  I think he may have gotten "Hobo Blues" from John Lee Hooker, though I'm not sure.  At one point, he exclaims, "This guitar won't act right.".  I don't know if he ever had any other festival appearances or coffee house circuit gigs.  I never heard of him performing after his Newport appearance.  He probably just returned home to Alabama.
All best,
Johnm

[tenderfoot84]

hi everyone,
uncle bud has just informed me that blind joe taggart's 'the storm is passing over' is in spanish. this excellent song is played without a slide and quite frankly rocks. it has so much gospel fervour and energy.
does anyone else know if he played any other tunes in spanish?

speaking of the buddy boy hawkins tracks,
does anyone play his 'number three blues' what positions does he use on this song? it's so beautiful!

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I was doing some listening today, looking for tunes to teach at Port Townsend this year, and happened to notice that all four tunes recorded by William and Versey Smith, "I Believe I'll Go Back Home", "When That Great Ship Went Down", "Everybody Help The Boys Come Home" and "Sinner You'll Need King Jesus" are played in Spanish.  I don't think I had ever noticed either, before, that "Sinner You'll Need King Jesus" is substantially the same song as Willie Johnson's "You Gonna Need somebody On Your Bond".
All best,
Johnm

[framus12]

I just wanted to ask...
Almost all of R.L. Burnside's songs are in spanish. Are they not?
and please correct me if I am wrong or if any of them are in Open D
(or E)  Long Haired Doney
Poor Black Mattie
Walkin Blues
Skinny Woman
Meet me in the bottom
Jumper on the line
ect, are all these in open G? (just not on pitch or exactly at G...)

Also, isn't John Lee Hooker tuned to spanish on alot of his numbers?
...and what do you folks think about tuning to voice or to balance a tuning out to match singing voice or vocal noises and humming.
I wonder if this is how alot of the old players tuned?
What about tuning to harmonics?
Digital tuner or pitch forks?
I tune my second to lowest string to the note that comes easy or natural when I hum and then I balance out the tuning to voice and fine tune it by harmonics. For me anyway, this has made it alot more easy to sing and sound in tune with the guitar.
I almost always only play in openG (or openG balanced to voice and sometimes capoed). I'm shure that I am way off pitch but it sounds alot better to the wife since I started to play/tune like this.
Thanks for all the tunes people have posted,                           helpful and a lot of fun!

[waxwing]

That's why many of us here refer to this tuning as Spanish tuning and not Open G or Open A or wherever you happen to tune it. As many players before you have done, tune it where you want, it's still Spanish tuning.

To tell you the truth I'm not that familiar with Burnside's songs, but Hooker definitely played a lot in Spanish.

Welcome to Weenie Campbell.

I see you started another topic up to discuss tuning, Good thinking.

All for now.
John C.