Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[Johnm]

Hi all,
We haven't had a new puzzler for a while,  I've found one--Jimmy Murphy's "Electricity".  Here it is:



The questions on "Electricity" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Jimmy Murphy use to play the song?
   * Describe the bar structure and chord progression, in Roman numerals of Jimmy Murphy's first two solos.

INTRO

Well, you can't see elecitricity a-movin' on the line
How in the world can you doubt it, when you can see it shine?
When you get Salvation, the current, you can feel
You won't have to have nobody, to tell you that it's real

SOLO

Some people don't know the music when they hear it in the air
Some people, they don't know God, when they kneel down in prayer
But let me tell you something and I'm not a-gonna tell you wrong
When you get Salvation, you'll know it by its tone

Well, you can't see elecitricity a-movin' on the line
How in the world can you doubt it, when you can see it shine?
When you get Salvation, now the current, you can feel
You won't have to have nobody, to tell you that it's real

SOLO

Some people don't believe in religion, they think it's all a fake
It's just as real, people, as eating a T-bone steak
It's as sweet as any honey that any bee could make
With a good old sugar molasses and a great big chocolate cake

Well, you can't see elecitricity a-movin' on the line
How in the world can you doubt it, when you can see it shine?
When you get Salvation, now the current you can feel
You won't have to have nobody, to tell you that it's real

SOLO

This old-time Salvation, He gave to me and you
I'm a-feasting on the mountain, like Jesus told me to
I'm a-drinking from God's fountain, that flows from up on high
I'm a-feasting on the mountain where God's fountain won't run dry

Well, you can't see elecitricity a-movin' on the line
How in the world can you doubt it, when you can see it shine?
When you get Salvation, now the current you can feel
You won't have to have nobody, to tell you that it's real

Please use only your ears and guitars to arrive at your answers, and please don't post any responses before 8:00 AM your time on Thursday, March 21.  Thanks for your participation and I hope you enjoy the song.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any takers for the puzzler on Jimmy Murphy's "Electricity"?  Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

What a fantastic number! I have never heard of Jimmy Murphy, will have to seek him out.

It's in Vestapol, sort of reminiscent of "Knoxville Blues" and Doc Watson's version of "Train That Carried My Girl From Town."

I'm bad at writing out bar structures, hopefully this is right:

I / / / | IV / I / | I / I / / | II / V / |
I / / / | IV / III / | IV / I / | V (implied) / I

Chris

Edited to fix a couple things.

[Prof Scratchy]

I agree with what banjochris says! I wonder if he played always in Vestapol? The photo accompanying the video, illustrating his capo placement, leads me to think he maybe always did!

[Johnm]

Hi all,
There have been no responses on the Jimmy Murphy puzzler, "Electricity", in several days, so I'll post the answers.

For Jimmy Murphy's "Electricity":
   * The playing position/tuning was Vestapol, as banjochris and Prof Scratchy had it.  Re Prof's surmise that Jimmy Murphy may have played everything in Vestapol, I thought that was the case, but wasn't sure, so I listened to every track of his that I could find on youtube.  All of his cuts from the '50s were played in Vestapol, and I only found two later-recorded Gospel numbers, one called "Half a Loaf of Bread" and I can't remember the title of the other, in which E position in standard tuning was used, and D in standard tuning was used (though I think the D standard tuning guitar may not have been played by Jimmy Murphy himself).  Chris, you may have heard Mike Seeger play on his old Vanguard album "You Live A Long, Long Time To Get Old", a great Jimmy Murphy number with really sardonic lyrics, which I transcribed many moons ago in the Country Blues Lyrics board, at: https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2183.msg16889#msg16889.
   * The progression of Jimmy Murphy's first two solos was as Chris had it.  Jimmy Murphy's approach to playing in Vestapol in the left hand was similar to that of Doug Quattlebaum.  Both players favored barre chords over the little three -finger chords at the base of the neck.

Thanks to banjochris and Prof Scratchy for participating, and I'll look for another puzzler to post sometime.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
It's been a while since we've had a new puzzler, and I have one now for those of you who are interested.  It is from Lonzie Thomas, and it is his version of "A Hard Pill To Swallow".  Here is Lonzie's version of the song:



The questions on Lonzie Thomas's "A Hard Pill To Swallow" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Lonzie Thomas use to play the song?
   * In the course of his rendition, Lonzie Thomas never frets a note higher on the neck than the ____ fret. (Fill in the blank.)

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, April 25.  Thanks for your participation, and I hope you enjoy the song.
All best,
Johnm

[Prof Scratchy]

* What playing position/tuning did Lonzie Thomas use to play the song? - I'll say EAEGBE tuning, tuned quite low.
* In the course of his rendition, Lonzie Thomas never frets a note higher on the neck than the _4th___ fret. (Fill in the blank.)

[Old Man Ned]

This is a terrific tune. Lonzie Thomas is new to me but I just want to hear more of his playing after hearing this. I'm swithering between E standard tuned a step low and Prof Scratchy's posting of EAEGBE.

I thought E standard at first, but then at about 3:42, to me it sounds like an E chord and the strings all sound open, not fretted. I can't decide. Can I sit on the fence? No, for now I'll go with my initial feeling of E standard.

I'm not getting anything above the 3rd fret though (1st string bent so sounding higher?)

[blueshome]

Cross note tuning was my first guess but relistening I will go with the Prof.

[Prof Scratchy]

Phil, you never learn! I?m expecting a 100% fail rate on this!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[blueshome]

I?m the one with the tin ear......

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any other takers for the puzzler on Lonzie Thomas's "Hard Pill to Swallow"?  Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
It appears that all of the responses are in for the Lonzie Thomas puzzler on "Hard Pill To Swallow", so I'll post the answers.

For Lonzie Thomas's "Hard Pill To Swallow":
   * His playing position/tuning was cross-note tuning.  As you listen to the song, you can hear the first fret hammer on the third string to the major third of the I chord, and it's apparent that the I note is the open sixth string and the open first string.  This puts Lonzie in either E position, standard tuning, EAEGBE tuning or cross-note.  Lonnie never hits anything on his fourth string except a I note, and that note is never inflected, either hammered into, pulled off into, or bent, so it seems safe to assume that it is an open string since that would make the left hand so much easier than having to hold down the second fret of that string down for the duration of the song.  This eliminates E position in standard tuning as a possibility, leaving EAEGBE and cross-note in the running.  Lonzie never hits anything lower than a V note on his fifth string, and never plays a low IV note in the bass at all--in the instances in which he implies a IV chord, he always hits a VI note, the third of the IV chord in the bass.  Since EAEGBE makes an open string IV note available in the bass, and that note never gets played in the course of the song, what it suggests is that the V note on the fifth string is an open string, and the VI note that is occasionally played on the fifth string lives at the second fret of the fifth string, where it is commonly fretted in Vestapol and cross-note tuning.  Since Vestapol was eliminated from the running early on, that leaves the piece in cross-note tuning.  You had it, Phil--you should have stood your ground!
   * In the course of his rendition, Lonzie Thomas never frets a note on the neck higher than the third fret, as Old Man Ned had it.  In fact, the piece is a model of economy in the left hand, with the only fretting in the course of the song occurring at the second fret of the fifth string, the second and first frets of the third string, the third and second frets of the second string and the third and second frets of the first string.  I haven't really tried to play the piece, but I think it will--it lays out beautifully.  I love the way Lonzie Thomas played time, with intermittent notes in the bass and sort of built-in pauses in his phrasing.
I believe Lonzie Thomas has three or possibly four songs on the George Mitchell collection on Fat Possum, but he actually recorded about an album's worth of songs for George Mitchell which can be purchased from Fat Possum.  I think he was one of George Mitchell's really stellar discoveries, a wonderful singer and player with a very distinctive and original style.  It's worth picking up everything he recorded.

Thanks to Prof Scratchy, Old Man Ned, and blueshome for responding to the puzzler, and I hope that folks enjoyed the song.  I'll look for another puzzler to post before too long.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have a new puzzler for those of you who are interested.  It is Charles Caldwell's "I Got Something To Tell You".  Here is the song:



The questions on Charles Caldwell's "I Got Something To Tell You" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Charles Caldwell use to play the song?
   * Which of the three chords, I, IV or V, usually played in blues is altogether omitted from "I Got something To Tell You"?
   * Charles Caldwell does virtually all of his singing over what chord?

Please use only your ears and guitars to arrive at your answers, and please don't post any answers before 8:00 AM your time on Tuesday, May 14.  Thanks for your participation, and I hope you enjoy the song.
All best,
Johnm

[Old Man Ned]

I'm hearing Charles Caldwell's "I Got Something To Tell You" in A standard with the V chord omitted and singing over the IV chord.