Hi all,
Frank Stokes seemed a good candidate for one of the Weenie Campbell tables outlining the playing positions and keys of his recordings. He has had 42 titles issued in the re-issue era. Format of the table is to indicate the song title, recording date, playing position of Stokes (and Dan Sane, for the titles on which he's featured) and the play-back keys at which the performances sound. Note that except for the pitch at which the guitars were tuned, they were always in standard tuning. For the keys at which the renditions sound, + indicates sharp of the pitch, - indicates flat of the pitch, and multiple plus and minus sounds indicate intensified sharpness or flatness. This post shows Stokes' recordings prior to 1929, and his 1929 titles will be shown on the second part. Here goes:
Song Title Recording Date Playing Positions Key
1) You Shall August, 1927 Stokes, D, Sane, G F+
2) It's A Good Thing " Stokes, D, Sane, G A flat
3) Sweet To Mama " Stokes, G, Sane, C B flat
4) Half Cup of Tea " Stokes, G, Sane, C B flat
5) Beale Town Bound " Stokes, C, Sane, G A
6) Last Go Round " Stokes, C, Sane, F D
7) Jazzin' The Blues " Stokes, G, Sane, C A-
8 ) You Shall September, 1927 Stokes, D, Sane, G F-
9) It's A Good Thing " Stokes, D, Sane, G F-
10) Mr. Crump Don't Like It " Stokes, C, Sane, F E flat+
11) Chicken, You Can Roost Behind The Moon " Stokes, G, Sane, C B flat
12) Blues In "D" " Stokes, D, Sane, G E+
13) Downtown Blues, Take 1 2/1/28 Stokes, G, Sane, C C
14) Downtown Blues, Take 2 " Stokes, G, Sane, C B-
15) Bedtime Blues " Stokes, A, Sane, D D-
16) What's The Matter Blues " Stokes, D, Sane, G G
17) Mistreatin' Blues 8/27/28 Stokes, E F-
18) It Won't Be Long, Take 1 " Stokes, C D
19) It Won't Be Long, Take 2 " Stokes, C D flat
20) Nehi Mama Blues " Stokes, C D
21) I Got Mine " Stokes, C D--
22) Stomp That Thing 8/28/28 Stokes, C, Sane, C D
23) 'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do, Part 1 8/30/28 Stokes, C, Sane, C E flat-
24) 'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do, Part 2 " Stokes, C, Sane, C D
25) 'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do, Part 3 " Stokes, C, Sane, C E flat-
26) Take Me Back " Stokes, C, Sane, C E flat-
27) How Long " Stokes, C, Sane, C E flat-
NOTES:
* Based on the tone of Frank Stokes' voice on the August, 1927 version of "It's A Good Thing", it seems very likely that the play-back pitch of the recording was compromised, and that it is fast.
* Of the 12 titles recorded in 1927, 10 of them required Dan Sane to tune lower than at standard pitch, most often a whole step low, but on a couple of the songs, a full minor third low (a step-and-a-half). Because of the amount of time involved in tuning/re-tuning during the recording process it seems fairly likely that Sane was tuned a whole step low routinely, and went lower than that as the song contexts dictated. This tuning approach would also make sense in light of the photograph of the duo in which Frank Stokes was capoed three frets higher than Dan Sane. Were both players tuned to standard pitch, Stokes would have to be capoed five frets higher than Sane for their characteristic playing positions to work. In either event, the duo's musical division of labor (except when playing in C on the later tracks) presumed that at least one of the players would be using a capo. Note also, that unlike a lot of duos, Stokes and Sane were always in tune with themselves and with each other.
* For "Last Go Round" and "Mr. Crump Don't Like It", Stokes played out of C position and Sane played out of the F position. Note that both of these songs employ circle-of-fifths progressions, and thus never required Sane to go to a IV chord, B flat in the key of F. For all subsequent recordings the duo did in which Stokes played out of the C position, Sane played out of the C position, too, for most of the songs were conventional blues that went to the IV chord.
* It has been suggested that the duo switched roles for "Beale Town Bound", and that does seem plausible, for the player of the lower guitar part, normally Sanes' role, has an altogether different touch and tone, and the player of the high part is playing single string descending lines almost exclusively.
* It is interesting, though difficult to attach any particular significance to the fact that on songs where Stokes and Sane had more than one take, or Stokes himself had multiple takes, the takes are not done at the same pitch. The second take is almost always a half-step lower. Was this the musicians' idea or the idea of some A & R person from the record company?
The remainder of Frank Stokes' recordings will be shown on Part 2.
All best,
Johnm
Frank Stokes seemed a good candidate for one of the Weenie Campbell tables outlining the playing positions and keys of his recordings. He has had 42 titles issued in the re-issue era. Format of the table is to indicate the song title, recording date, playing position of Stokes (and Dan Sane, for the titles on which he's featured) and the play-back keys at which the performances sound. Note that except for the pitch at which the guitars were tuned, they were always in standard tuning. For the keys at which the renditions sound, + indicates sharp of the pitch, - indicates flat of the pitch, and multiple plus and minus sounds indicate intensified sharpness or flatness. This post shows Stokes' recordings prior to 1929, and his 1929 titles will be shown on the second part. Here goes:
Song Title Recording Date Playing Positions Key
1) You Shall August, 1927 Stokes, D, Sane, G F+
2) It's A Good Thing " Stokes, D, Sane, G A flat
3) Sweet To Mama " Stokes, G, Sane, C B flat
4) Half Cup of Tea " Stokes, G, Sane, C B flat
5) Beale Town Bound " Stokes, C, Sane, G A
6) Last Go Round " Stokes, C, Sane, F D
7) Jazzin' The Blues " Stokes, G, Sane, C A-
8 ) You Shall September, 1927 Stokes, D, Sane, G F-
9) It's A Good Thing " Stokes, D, Sane, G F-
10) Mr. Crump Don't Like It " Stokes, C, Sane, F E flat+
11) Chicken, You Can Roost Behind The Moon " Stokes, G, Sane, C B flat
12) Blues In "D" " Stokes, D, Sane, G E+
13) Downtown Blues, Take 1 2/1/28 Stokes, G, Sane, C C
14) Downtown Blues, Take 2 " Stokes, G, Sane, C B-
15) Bedtime Blues " Stokes, A, Sane, D D-
16) What's The Matter Blues " Stokes, D, Sane, G G
17) Mistreatin' Blues 8/27/28 Stokes, E F-
18) It Won't Be Long, Take 1 " Stokes, C D
19) It Won't Be Long, Take 2 " Stokes, C D flat
20) Nehi Mama Blues " Stokes, C D
21) I Got Mine " Stokes, C D--
22) Stomp That Thing 8/28/28 Stokes, C, Sane, C D
23) 'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do, Part 1 8/30/28 Stokes, C, Sane, C E flat-
24) 'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do, Part 2 " Stokes, C, Sane, C D
25) 'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do, Part 3 " Stokes, C, Sane, C E flat-
26) Take Me Back " Stokes, C, Sane, C E flat-
27) How Long " Stokes, C, Sane, C E flat-
NOTES:
* Based on the tone of Frank Stokes' voice on the August, 1927 version of "It's A Good Thing", it seems very likely that the play-back pitch of the recording was compromised, and that it is fast.
* Of the 12 titles recorded in 1927, 10 of them required Dan Sane to tune lower than at standard pitch, most often a whole step low, but on a couple of the songs, a full minor third low (a step-and-a-half). Because of the amount of time involved in tuning/re-tuning during the recording process it seems fairly likely that Sane was tuned a whole step low routinely, and went lower than that as the song contexts dictated. This tuning approach would also make sense in light of the photograph of the duo in which Frank Stokes was capoed three frets higher than Dan Sane. Were both players tuned to standard pitch, Stokes would have to be capoed five frets higher than Sane for their characteristic playing positions to work. In either event, the duo's musical division of labor (except when playing in C on the later tracks) presumed that at least one of the players would be using a capo. Note also, that unlike a lot of duos, Stokes and Sane were always in tune with themselves and with each other.
* For "Last Go Round" and "Mr. Crump Don't Like It", Stokes played out of C position and Sane played out of the F position. Note that both of these songs employ circle-of-fifths progressions, and thus never required Sane to go to a IV chord, B flat in the key of F. For all subsequent recordings the duo did in which Stokes played out of the C position, Sane played out of the C position, too, for most of the songs were conventional blues that went to the IV chord.
* It has been suggested that the duo switched roles for "Beale Town Bound", and that does seem plausible, for the player of the lower guitar part, normally Sanes' role, has an altogether different touch and tone, and the player of the high part is playing single string descending lines almost exclusively.
* It is interesting, though difficult to attach any particular significance to the fact that on songs where Stokes and Sane had more than one take, or Stokes himself had multiple takes, the takes are not done at the same pitch. The second take is almost always a half-step lower. Was this the musicians' idea or the idea of some A & R person from the record company?
The remainder of Frank Stokes' recordings will be shown on Part 2.
All best,
Johnm