Hersal Thomas was (one of) the finest guys I ever knew... We came up together, in Chicago... He taught me everything I know... He was the master of all pianists in those days... King of the boogie woogie... These rocks the way he would play 'em... Really sad he didn't live... Today he would be king... He knew everything, this boy from Texas... O.K Hersal this is for you, wherever you are - Dan Burley, Hersal's Rocks
This is Blind Blake's Rag which was arranged by Joe Cainen and tabbed by Steve McWilliam, see http://www.consult-eco.ndirect.co.uk/guitar/tab.htm Was this written by Blind Blake? Or written by Joe Cainen in the style of Blind Blake? There is another totally different tune also called Blake's Rag which John Jackson plays, that is actually an instrumental version of Blind Blake's Dry Bone Shuffle. Si
There are definitely elements of "St. Louis Tickle" in there (cf. Dave Van Ronk's and Pat Sky's versions, as well as "Buddy Bolden's Blues" by Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band), but as the Professor says "fine picking just the same."
Nice job on the playing - perhaps you can increase the speed just slightly ? Very nice to see some bits of your own coming out in places too - very enjoyable.
Anyway, as to whether it is Blind Blake - I suppose the answer has to be a guarded - no ! If you look in the comments part of the TablEdit file (Click on the 'N' at the bottom of the TablEdit display) you will see that this was Joe's take on an arrangement by Ralph McTell. Ralph used to play (and still does play) this tune around the Folk Clubs of Cornwall and beyond in the 1960s. Very few people (at least in Britain) had worked out any accurate Blake at that time. The arrangement is concocted from a number of Blake's melodic licks and ideas combined with bits from other contemporary tunes BUT does not contain the double thumbed dancing bass for which Blake was/is rightly acclaimed and which gave his tunes their particularly unusual bounce. In Ralph's own words on his web-site he says 'I rattled off ?Hesitation Blues? in one take and also the wrongly titled "Blind Blake?s Rag? This was an amalgam of tunes I had learned in Paris from my friend Gary Petersen.' Do check out Ralph McTell and see if you can hear his version of this (it has altered and improved over the years) and he has a couple of CDs of country blues material out now as well as his more well known more folky stuff - nonetheless an excellent player though not usually as raunchy as many of the players on Weenie. Try over at: http://www.mctell.co.uk/? and? http://www.ralphmctell.co.uk/? and check out the CDs entitled "Blue Skies, Black Heroes", "Stealin' Back" and "National Treasure".
However, from the way you played the tune you seemed to have enjoyed it (great) and your playing sounds really good and tasty !!
Cheers and keep on pluckin'.
Steve ?
« Last Edit: December 28, 2005, 12:26:38 PM by SteveMcBill »
I tried to learn St. Louis Tickle years ago, well before I was capable of it. You've inspired me to have another go. At least the Van Ronk version has some nasty fingerings especially up the neck. I don't know what you're playing up the neck, but it sounds great. I love the bit of Maple Leaf Rag in there.
I like the relaxed feel, but I wonder if you ever do play it a bit more up tempo with a bit more bounce, too?
I take it you mean that the midi file had a squeal on it ??
I just tried playing the midi file (newly downloaded from the site) myself and didn't get any squeal. However, the first few notes of the file were played back at a high speed as the Win Media Player software tried to catch up with itself. It makes me wonder if the squeal you heard was just the software compressing the first 10, 20 or 30 notes into a very short time period. All I can suggest is stopping the player and re-starting it by hand (click the play button) after the file has completely downloaded).
Hope that helps.
Cheers, take care, keep on pluckin' and have a great 2006.
Steve?
P.S.: Ahhh, you were referring to Si's MP3 file - now I understand.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2006, 11:06:32 PM by SteveMcBill »
The mp3 recording I uploaded does have a whine throughout, it is very high frequency probably audible on some computer speakers not others. I recorded with a cheap mic into soundcard using Audacity. I have tried turning off all nearby electrical appliances and unplugging bluetooth transciever but haven't identified cause yet. Apologies for the whine and thanks for all your comments. Si
Here is a YouTube rendition of the same tab (Blind Blake's Rag by Ralph McTell) - (really a mix of St. Louis Tickle and Buddy Bolden's Blues) played by Ray Norris from Orkney:
This is Blind Blake's Rag which was arranged by Joe Cainen and tabbed by Steve McWilliam, see http://www.consult-eco.ndirect.co.uk/guitar/tab.htm Was this written by Blind Blake? Or written by Joe Cainen in the style of Blind Blake? There is another totally different tune also called Blake's Rag which John Jackson plays, that is actually an instrumental version of Blind Blake's Dry Bone Shuffle. Si
As far as I can tell that is Jelly Roll Morton's tune, "I thought I heard Buddy Bolden sing"
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I met a woman she was a pigmeat some Big fat mouth, I followed her home She pulled a gun and broke my jaw Didnt leave me hard on, I didnt get sore