Statesboro Blues
George W.
Banks...not often enough... he's more than happy to show me a trick or
two. The last couple of times it was some bits from his version of
Statesboro Blues in Drop D, which as those of you who've heard it know
is very cool. The little fills, slides and pull-offs really make the
tune. Ted's clean and powerful playing doesn't hurt either. The man's
amazing, and a great teacher.
There's a part of the tune where the bass on the low E(D) string walks
up from open through frets 2, 3 and 4. I've been alternating between
the low E(D) and open D but it doesn't sound full enough. Anyone have
any ideas on this or where to find some tab? Everytime I do a search I
end up with a million Allman Brothers hits....
I've been listening to David Brombergs version of the tune too, which
while also in Drop D has a different feel than Ted's with a few
different licks. It's actually a mix of Statesboro Blues and Church
Bell Blues. Very cool.
G.
Hedberg
<geo_remove...@comcast.net> wrote:
[...]
>
>There's a part of the tune where the bass on the low E(D) string walks
>up from open through frets 2, 3 and 4. I've been alternating between
>the low E(D) and open D but it doesn't sound full enough. Anyone have
>any ideas on this or where to find some tab? Everytime I do a search I
>end up with a million Allman Brothers hits...
The tab that most closely follows McTell's version*, as far as I know,
is by Woody Mann. It was long ago published in a book called _Six
Black Blues Guitarists_ which is still in print, I think, though the
title has changed to de-emphasize the fact that the blues was mostly a
black genre so very very long ago. I don't think you'll find the bass
walk that you're talking about in that tab; I think it postdates
McTell (but of course, I could be wrong). It is very reminiscent of
some of what Blind Blake did in D, though. Listen to either "Chump
Man Blues" (drop D) or more importantly "Police Dog Blues." In the
latter tune Blake had a couple little ascending walks in which he
walks up both the 6th and 4th strings simultaneously. There's a lot
of room for rhythm and syncopation when your playing the notes in the
octave like Blake did.
>I've been listening to David Brombergs version of the tune too, which
>while also in Drop D has a different feel than Ted's with a few
>different licks. It's actually a mix of Statesboro Blues and Church
>Bell Blues. Very cool.
I think Bromberg's version is my favorite. He plays it quite slow at
the start and with careful listening you can learn a lot of cool stuff
to do with a first position D chord. Smither's version in open D is
cool too.
Harold
*A couple months back Jim Page (I think) was talking about the Ernie
Hawkins instructional on McTell. Perhaps he could comment on
Hawkins's tab and how accurate it is -- I've never seen it.
George W.
<snip>
>I think Bromberg's version is my favorite. He plays it quite slow at
>the start and with careful listening you can learn a lot of cool stuff
>to do with a first position D chord. Smither's version in open D is
>cool too.
>
>Harold
Thanks Harold, I'll check around. Yeah, Bromberg's bits in dropped D
are very cool. I worked on figuring out what he was doing at the
beginning last night by listening to it over and over again. Noodling
around with those parts led me to Sittin' On Top Of The World, again
Ted's version which I think is pretty close to the original. Forgot
all about that tune....
G.
Paul Pilch
Rory Block does a version of Statesboro Blues in drop D that is
available with Tab and on CD and may also be on video, all from Homespun
Tapes. She discusses and plays this piece along with some similar pieces
like Big Road Blues (if I remember right) where there are some
variations in the walking base and in the G licks.
Paul Pilch
Hedberg
"Sitting on Top of the World" is often attributed to one of the
Chatmon brothers who was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks. I've got
vinyl of the Sheiks doing the tune (probably the "original") but I
haven't listened to it in years. My recollection is that it's a
string band sort of arrangement rather than a guitar oriented
arrangement. The first version of the song I actually heard was the
Doc Watson version in open D. I heard Ted play that tune at the 2002
EC and he allowed that Watson's version might have influenced his a
tad though for my money Ted's version is actually a bit more
interesting than Doc's. Smither does a beautiful version of that tune
-- my favorite -- in open D played in slow 12/8 (a feel sort of like
Van Ronk's "Come Back Baby") rather than the usual 4/4. It's on
Smither's 1984 Adelphi release "It Ain't Easy" which is one of the
outstanding records.
Harold
* Also attributed to about 100 others including P.D. and Traditional.
David Hajicek
"Hedberg" <hhed...@swbell.net> wrote in message
news:5p6uovg6puits4kue...@4ax.com...
Harold:
Good info. I like Dave Van Ronk's stuff too. I really like Pat Donohue's
version of Statesboro Blues.
Dave Hajicek
ple...@nospam.us
>On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 17:25:21 -0400, George W.
><geo_remove...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 15:34:27 -0500, Hedberg wrote:
>>
>><snip>
>>
>>>I think Bromberg's version is my favorite. He plays it quite slow at
>>>the start and with careful listening you can learn a lot of cool stuff
>>>to do with a first position D chord. Smither's version in open D is
>>>cool too.
>>>
>>>Harold
Bromberg is very cool; I've been a fan of his for longer than I
can remember. However, Harold's version is no slouch; I think I
did a mando accompaniment to it one year at Kerrville.
Al Sato
--
Reply to al_guitar "at" clifftopmusic "dot" com
Kent Fishburn
<ple...@nospam.us> wrote in message
> >>>I think Bromberg's version is my favorite. He plays it quite slow at
> >>>the start and with careful listening you can learn a lot of cool stuff
> >>>to do with a first position D chord. Smither's version in open D is
> >>>cool too.
> >>>
> >>>Harold
>
> Bromberg is very cool; I've been a fan of his for longer than I
> can remember. However, Harold's version is no slouch; I think I
> did a mando accompaniment to it one year at Kerrville.
I didn't realize you were a blues fan Al. I didn't hear you play no blues
over the weekend at TX-4, but I heard you accompany on mando on just about
everything after a few beers:-) I'm a big Bromberg fan also. It was fun when
he first moved to Chicago and starting building violins, cause he played
around quite a bit, so I caught a few of his solo shows. Great performer.
Sorry you didn't make it to TX-4 Harold. I was looking forward to meeting
you.
Kent
Eric Johnson
live disc by Roy BookBinder. He and Jorma play some
great licks.
eric johnson
ej...@uic.edu
In article <8ddtovcpe53gkvqsd...@4ax.com>,
geo_remove...@comcast.net says...
Eric Brindley
course ) I've heard is by Ralph McTell on his "Blues Skies, Black
Heroes" cd, its been tabbed in an accompanying book. He was so
associated with "Stateboro Blues" in his early days that it led to him
becoming named Ralph McTell ( his real name being Ralph May ). I
heartily recommend it to anyone - it can be obtained at
www.mctell.co.uk if anyone wants to follow this up.
paul asbell
Eric Brindley wrote:
I was beginning to wonder if anyone was gonna mention Willie McTell's
version at all... thanks, Eric!
To my ears, it's really beautiful, and i find it odd that the original,
far more distinctive version was "morphed' into such a far more
"generic' one by some later reinterpreters, a la Allmans...
My $.02...
--
Best regards
Paul
Paul Asbell
pas...@paulasbell.com
www.paulasbell.com
Eric Johnson
version, funny how much it sounds like Taj Mahals' which
was recorded several years prior to theirs.
eric johnson
ej...@uic.edu
In article <3F9158BF...@verizon.net>, paul....@verizon.net says...