Topic: On Stage with Blind Weenie Campbell

[GhostRider]

Hi all:

Barbeque John's about-to foray into the world of live public performance got me to thinkin'...What would I do if forced into a similar situation?

Let's say:

Your at your local musical watering hole waiting for the show to start. Tonight it's Blind Weenie Campbell, your favorite. It's about 5 min. past scheduled start time when some mean guy (say...Slack) walks out on stage, spots you and says to you
"Hey, glad you're here. Blind Weenie hasn't shown up yet (again!). We need someone, you, to get up and play eight songs while we wait for the Blind one"

You of course say no, but some other mean guy (say....Jed) pulls out his piece and sticks it in your back.

Your on! What eight songs would you play? What are you best CB pieces (no John Denver allowed). Music and words (you of course don't have you lyric sheets).

If any of you don't play, which 8 songs do you WISH you could play in this circumstance?

The audience is stomping, Jed looks trigger happy. Which songs do you play (wish you could play)?

You're about to be discovered...
Alex

[Slack]

Ha!  Could be a good thread.

Sorry about the mean streak Alex, but I had a mean as hell Grandmother (mothers side) named Leila (called her "Gramma Lila') - made the mistake of sticking my tongue out at her one time, bad idea.  So I blame her for the mean streak, which I refer to as the 'Gramma Lila Mean Gene".   Don;t know what excuse Jed has.

In any case, my shakey set would be, in no particular order:

Rising River Blues
Rocks and Gravel
Frankie (ala Calicott)
As Long As I can See you Smile (been working on and enjoying this one)
Police Dog Blues (or maybe Gambler Blues - need to get in open tuning more often)
Church Bell Blues
Rattle Snakin' Daddy (This would be for the wimin in the audience)
Hard Time Blues

  ,
Slack

[NotRevGDavis]

You of course say no, but some other mean guy (say....Jed) pulls out his piece and sticks it in your back.

I hope Jed can't run as fast as me!

Someday in the hopefully not to distant future:

Catfish Blues- Robert Petway
Red Cross Store- Mississippi Fred McDowell (acoustic)
Sweet Mama Rollin' Stone- Scott Dunbar
Death Letter Blues- Son House
Lawdy Lawdy Worried Blues- Blind Teddy Darby
Gallis' Pole- Leadbelly
Ridin' On Down- Big Bill Bronzy
Forty-Four Blues- Scott Dunbar (two of his 'cause he sounds like he is havin' so much fun singin' the blues)

Gotta go practice?

[GhostRider]

Well:

I guess if I have to...

1. Kindhearted Woman Blues - R. Johnson. Start off with a hit!
2. Crosscut Saw - Tony Hollins. One everybody would know and sort of autobiographical
3. I Got Mine - Franks Stokes. Now that I know the words...
4. Stove Pipe Stomp - BB Broonzy. An instrumental!
5. Spreadin' Snake Blues - BB Broonzy. As Slack would say, for the wimin.
6. Chump Man Blues - Blind Blake. You can't beat a blues in D.
7. Rollin' From Side to Side - Little Hat Jones. Gotta love those dissenences
8. Nothin' in Ramblin' - Memphis Minnie. Lots of practice lately.

Now, if i can duck those tomatoes...
Alex

[uncle bud]

Well, I'd realistically need to practice a couple of these a bit more and memorize some more lyrics but:

1. Canned Heat Blues - Tommy Johnson
2. Keep It Clean - Charley Jordan
3. Tootie Blues - Blind Blake
4. Pistol Slapper Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
5. Down the Dirt Road Blues or Pony Blues - Charley Patton
6. Jailhouse Blues - Robert Wilkins
7. Let's Get Drunk Again - Bo Carter (via Bookbinder)
8. Easy Rider or Chock House Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson

[lindy]

I'm about to do some "performances" at a couple of local nursing homes.  Here's what I'll be subjecting my audiences to:

Turn Your Money Green / Furry Lewis
Mississippi Blues / one Willie Brown or another
Frankie / MJH version
Sportin' Life Blues / Brownie McGhee
Boats Up the River / John Jackson
Nighttime is the Right Time / Mance Lipscomb
Gambler's Blues / Lil Son Jackson
Beulah Land / MJH

For the inevitable curtain call, I'll play Rapahannock Blues by John Jackson.

Lindy

[OMpicker]

Hmm...given my fading memory as I age, there would need to be some long guitar breaks on these...

Big Bill Blues -- BBBroonzy (C)
Good Old Wagon -- B. Smith (E)
Oh Papa -- Ma Rainey, but learned an instrumental version (E. Schoenberg) (G)
Careless Love -- cobbled together from a (horrors!) Dr. John piano arrangement (E)
Winin' Boy -- JRM (G)
How Long Blues -- LCarr (D)
Blues in A (G capoed up a couple) (can't think of the name of that tune JoAnn Kelly did..."Folks may call you pigmeat..."
One of those BBHawkins tunes in open G
(Might try to sneak in Waitin' For A Train - Jimmie Rodgers)

[thumbstyle]

Well, I'll just consult the set list from my last little coffee house gig. After removing "Country Roads" and "You Fill Up My Senses"? , it looks something like:

1. Windy And Warm (a la Doc Watson & Chet Atkins)
2. Kansas City Blues (Jim Jackson - pretty much stolen from Paul Rishell)
3. Goin' To The River (got this from a Cephas & Wiggins CD)
4. Lovesick Blues (my fingerstyle arrangement of the Hank Williams hit)
5. I Get The Blues (Bo Carter)
6. Weeping Willow (Blind Boy Fuller)
7. Walking My Troubles Away (BB Fuller)
8. Guitar Highway (my arrangement of the Brownie McGee tune)

[Rivers]

I'd probably take the bullet since I's juggling a seriously deconstructed fusion repertoire at this time... but if there was no one else who was dying, so to speak, to get up there:

1. Nobody - Bert Williams
2. Smoke That Cigarette - Travis
3. Davenport Blues - Bix
4. Lazy river - Hoagy
5. Steel Guitar Rag - lapsteel, various
6. Railroad Blues - Sam McGee, segue into... Blue Railroad Train - Delmores
7. Mister Sandman-a-la-Chet
8. Big Bad Bill - Yellen/Ager

In the unlikely event of an encore, perhaps a RGD medley, Hesitation / Candyman / Cocaine / True Religion.

Not totally Country Blues I admit but that's where my head is at.

[wildcotton]

Well, if he's got a piece leveled at my head, I play

1--Mississippi Blues (William Brown) and play it real slow to give Blind Weenie time to arrive
     He's not here yet, so
2--It'll Be Me (Jack Clement)
3--Milwaukee Blues (Charlie Poole, Steve James' version, sort of)
4--Louise (Paul Rishell's version)
5--Careless Love (BBFuller)
6--Candyman (MJH)
7--Jesus on the Mainline (Washington Phillips?)
8--Septic Tank Man (my song ,to kill 'em at the end)

...and finally, here's Blind Weenie Campbell!

[GhostRider]

Gentlemen of the Committee:

I'm not sure if this topic should be in Preformance Corner, but it's a good one to revive. How' bout some others getting us know about your  eight song set list you'd do whilst waiting for "the Blind One".

Alex

[Prof Scratchy]

First I'd want to know what BWC would have been paid had he turned up. Then I'd ask for double and donate it to Weenie Juke Radio (as I'm sure the rest of you already have....). Then:
Broke and Hungry -  William Brown
Racketeer's Blues - Lonnie Johnson
32-20 - robert Johnson
How Come you Do Me...? - Buddy Boy Hawkins
Wild WAter Blues - Kokomo Arnold
Yo yo blues - BBQ Bob
Send Me an Angel - Blind Willie McTell
Blind Arthur's Breakdown - Billy James and his Guitar!

[uncle bud]

How Come you Do Me...? - Buddy Boy Hawkins

While I'd love to hear all of them, this one I really want to hear!

[frankie]

If it was me & Kim, we'd do these, prolly:

G-Rag (A. Baxter/GA Yellowhammers)
Highway 61 (Jack Kelly)
We Both Are Feeling Good Right Now (MS Sheiks)
Crow Jane (C. Martin)
Curly Headed Woman (Burnett & Rutherford)
K.C. Railroad Blues (A & J Baxter)
Baby, How Can It Be? (Bo Carter w/Lonnie Chatmon)
She's Crazy 'Bout Her Lovin' (MS Sheiks)

Maybe not in that order, I guess.

[dj]

Mostly standards:

Hunkie Tunkie (Charley Jordan)
Hambone Blues (Ed Bell via johnm)
Weeping Willow (Blind Boy Fuller)
Louis Collins (John Hurt)
Conversation about women, relationships, and train wrecks while I retune
Maybelline (Chuck Berry, to a modification of Furry Lewis's Kassie Jones accompaniment)
Conversation about how humor doesn't translate over time and across cultures very well while I retune
Don't Like The Things You Do (Teddy Darby)
Diddy Wah Diddy (Blind Blake's words, Blind Boy Fuller's You Got Something There on the guitar)
Keep It Clean (Charley Jordan)

For an encore...   
Southern Casey Jones (Jesse James)

And to quiet the crowd so I could get off stage...   
I Am A Pilgrim (no idea where this came from)