Johnny Smith Transcriptions

[duaneb...@ca.rr.com]

Anyone know of a book of Johnny Smith Transcriptions? I'm looking for
his chord melodies for the tunes more than the single note solos. I
know that Mel Bay has a book like this, but does it contain the chord
melodies? Thanks for all the help.

[nospam]

The Hal Leonard is single note solos.
Don't know of a chord melody book.

<duaneb...@ca.rr.com> wrote in message
news:1185345962.8...@j4g2000prf.googlegroups.com...

[pmfan57]

His own books have some transcriptions and are available as ebooks
here:

http://www.djangobooks.com/archives/2004/06/28/new_ebook_johnny_smith_guitar_interpretations.html#000097

and

Vol. 2

https://shoppingcart.djangobooks.com/cgi-bin//cp-app.cgi?usr=&rnd=9483925&rrc=N&cip=24.19.35.240&pg=prod&ref=johnny_smith_guitar_2&cat=guitar_ebooks&catstr=HOME:ebooks:guitar_ebooks

The ebooks are pdf's and are reasonably priced. I downloaded the
Eddie Lang and Van Eps ones.

[charles robinson]

I'll tell you the truth the arrangements in those two books sound more like
the work of Harry Volpe. There are some long scales and arpeggios that are
to be played rapidly that are characteristics of Smith's playing but for the
most part there isn't much in them that sounds like Smith. I remember being
disappointed.
Charlie

"pmfan57" <jwra...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1185369515....@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

[Gerry]

On 2007-07-25 06:18:35 -0700, pmfan57 <jwra...@aol.com> said:

> The ebooks are pdf's and are reasonably priced. I downloaded the
> Eddie Lang and Van Eps ones.

As did I. Did you note there is a another Eddie Lang book there? It's
called "Eddie Lang's Fingerboard Harmony". Have you seen it?
--
///---

[pmfan57]

On Jul 25, 10:34 am, Gerry <somewh...@sunny.calif> wrote:

> On 2007-07-25 06:18:35 -0700, pmfan57 <jwrag...@aol.com> said:
>
> > The ebooks are pdf's and are reasonably priced. I downloaded the
> > Eddie Lang and Van Eps ones.
>
> As did I. Did you note there is a another Eddie Lang book there? It's
> called "Eddie Lang's Fingerboard Harmony". Have you seen it?
> --
> ///---

I have both Lang books. They are both well worth the price. Fun to
peruse through. Lang was one of the first plectrum masters in the
sense of chord inversions, movable forms, concepts that were expanded
upon by later players obviously.

[Gerry]

Okay, just for fun: did you note an old "swing" banjo book there?
Seems I recall you doing some pit/big band work with a banjo in the
past few years, no?
--
///---

[pmfan57]

On Jul 25, 1:50 pm, Gerry <somewh...@sunny.calif> wrote:

You must be thinking of someone else. Maybe Tffan or jpfan?

[Charlie X]

HI..there are no transcriptions of Johnny Smith chord melodies. The
books mentioned above do not have his classic arrangments but the one
does have his single string solos which are less desirable to learn.
HOWEVER, if u check my web site and cd, you will note that i do a
number of smith arrangements that I have transcribed myself. I sell
these for a price as well as many other smith transcriptions that i
have done (most of his classics). thanks lemme know

hear my clips at http://charliex.org

[Gerry]

On 2007-07-25 18:20:10 -0700, Charlie X <diym...@excite.com> said:

> I sell these for a price as well as many other smith transcriptions that i
> have done (most of his classics). thanks lemme know

Do you have any ethical problems with this?

This is the first time I've seen someone selling transcriptions of
another guitarist. Particularly a living guitarist.
--
///---

[Tone]

On Jul 25, 10:05 pm, Gerry <somewh...@sunny.calif> wrote:

> On 2007-07-25 18:20:10 -0700, Charlie X <diymu...@excite.com> said:
>
> > I sell these for a price as well as many other smith transcriptions that i
> > have done (most of his classics). thanks lemme know
>
> Do you have any ethical problems with this?
>
> This is the first time I've seen someone selling transcriptions of
> another guitarist. Particularly a living guitarist.
> --
> ///---

You could start with Steve Khan's whole book full of Pat Martino solo
transcriptions and go from there. It's not rare.

Pretty sure jazz players have no ownership rights to their solos. For
lack of a written score up front... sort of a catch 22 :-\ OTOH
somebody putting words to someone else's solo, like the Lambert
Hendrix and Ross type things... bizarre.

[Gerry]

On 2007-07-25 19:21:45 -0700, Tone <a.ko...@computer.org> said:

> On Jul 25, 10:05 pm, Gerry <somewh...@sunny.calif> wrote:
>> On 2007-07-25 18:20:10 -0700, Charlie X <diymu...@excite.com> said:
>>
>>> I sell these for a price as well as many other smith transcriptions that i
>>> have done (most of his classics). thanks lemme know
>>
>> Do you have any ethical problems with this?
>>
>> This is the first time I've seen someone selling transcriptions of
>> another guitarist. Particularly a living guitarist.
>

> You could start with Steve Khan's whole book full of Pat Martino solo
> transcriptions and go from there. It's not rare.

You think Khan didn't chat with Martino about it?

> Pretty sure jazz players have no ownership rights to their solos. For
> lack of a written score up front... sort of a catch 22 :-\

Oh I know they have very little legal status of ownership to what
they've created. But that's law. I mentioned ethics.

> OTOH somebody putting words to someone else's solo, like the Lambert
> Hendrix and Ross type things... bizarre.

--
///---

[ott...@hotmail.com]

> >> This is the first time I've seen someone selling transcriptions of
> >> another guitarist. Particularly a living guitarist.
> >
> > You could start with Steve Khan's whole book full of Pat Martino solo
> > transcriptions and go from there. It's not rare.
>

Seems to me Wolf Marshall has a fair amount of Players'
transcriptions, and I'm sure there are Wes and Burrell transcriptions
out there.

I'm pretty sure Johnny Smith would give his approval if asked?
Bg

[Gerry]

Good to know.
--
///---

[samiam]

There are a couple of Smith transcriptions in The Sal Salvador
Collection of Classic Solos for Pick-Style Guitar (one place offering
it:
http://www.elderly.com/books/items/02-97744.htm).

It has a nifty rendition of Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair.

[Tone]

On Jul 26, 12:41 am, Gerry <somewh...@sunny.calif> wrote:

> On 2007-07-25 19:21:45 -0700, Tone <a.kola...@computer.org> said:
>
> > On Jul 25, 10:05 pm, Gerry <somewh...@sunny.calif> wrote:
> >> On 2007-07-25 18:20:10 -0700, Charlie X <diymu...@excite.com> said:
>
> >>> I sell these for a price as well as many other smith transcriptions that i
> >>> have done (most of his classics). thanks lemme know
>
> >> Do you have any ethical problems with this?
>
> >> This is the first time I've seen someone selling transcriptions of
> >> another guitarist. Particularly a living guitarist.
>
> > You could start with Steve Khan's whole book full of Pat Martino solo
> > transcriptions and go from there. It's not rare.
>
> You think Khan didn't chat with Martino about it?

I just checked and Kohn mentions on his website that he had passed out
his transcriptions to (presumably paying) students for years before
putting out the Martino book. Which sounds like it was a pain to get
published. Maybe because Martino or "his people" weren't crazy about
it. I wouldn't know.

>
> > Pretty sure jazz players have no ownership rights to their solos. For
> > lack of a written score up front... sort of a catch 22 :-\
>
> Oh I know they have very little legal status of ownership to what
> they've created. But that's law. I mentioned ethics.

I don't see an ethical problem personally. It's selling time and
expertise - writing down whats there for everyone to hear, and getting
paid for it. For that matter that's what a lot of guitar teachers do,
on the spot. I have a good friend who's done a 6 or 7 books of guitar
transcriptions for Mel Bay. They send him a CD, he sends them the
transcriptions for a price. Its just saving someone the time and
effort of doing it themself, and other than laziness on the buyer's
part I don't see a problem with it. Johnny evidently made decent money
(via the Ventures) from writing a new melody over somebody else's
changes and I don't have a problem with that either although with some
more effort he probably could have written a whole new tune ;)

[Keith Freeman]

> Maybe because Martino or "his people" weren't crazy about
> it. I wouldn't know.

Pat (on his allaboutjazz bulletin board) recommends people to go to Doc
Heuser to buy transcriptions of his solos, so he evidently doesn't have a
problem with that nowadays.

-Keith

Portable Changes, tips etc. at http://home.wanadoo.nl/keith.freeman/
e-mail only to keith DOT freeman AT orange DOT nl

[Keith Freeman]

> It has a nifty rendition of Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair.

Is that the solo version? If so, it's also in Jazz Guitar transcribed by
James Birkett, pub. IMP.

Jack Grassel has JS' Easy Living in Jazz Guitar Classics, but it's a single
note solo.

[Keith Freeman]

> Sal Salvador
Funny, incidentally, how much difficulty people having spelling his name
correctly. The site you quote, www.elderly.com/books/items/02-97744.htm,
has Sal Salvadore, and archtop.com calls him San Salvador!

[samiam]

> Is that the solo version? If so, it's also in Jazz Guitar transcribed by
> James Birkett, pub. IMP.

It's the chord melody version. Granted the chords are sparse, but it's
true to at least one version of the song I heard Johnny play.

[samiam]

> Funny, incidentally, how much difficulty people having spelling his name
> correctly. The site you quote,www.elderly.com/books/items/02-97744.htm,
> has Sal Salvadore, and archtop.com calls him San Salvador!

That reminds me: last week I was asked if I knew the bossa nova tune,
"The Girl from Iwo Jima."

[Keith Freeman]

> It's the chord melody version.

Yes, that's what I meant, I should have said 'unaccompanied'.

[Jon G]

Yeah, me too! Funny.
What a classic tune.

[danny...@cox.net]

During the 1970's, Chord Melody Productions in Severna Park, MD, has
an extensive library of JS "transcriptions." These were neither in
standard notation nor tab, but rather a series of fingering diagrams,
with lots of little arrows to show the order of the single notes. Most
were from the Roost recordings and served to show just how hard it is
to play like Smith.

I think this is the same outfit in a new location, but I don't see the
transcriptions on their website:

http://www.chordmelody.com/

Danny W.

[pmitc...@hotmail.com]

Here's the link to a page containing a transcription of 'Pavane' from
'The Man With The Blue Guitar':

http://www.classicjazzguitar.com/articles/article.jsp?article=26

Paul M B