When I think of approaches to "Spoonful" on harp I think of Howling Wolf, or my personal favorite, Walter Horton on Willie Dixon's 1970, "I Am the Blues" album. But I'm curious. How would you approach a harp solo if asked to sit in on this rendition? Position? mode? thoughts?
@jnorem:5th position. I was wondering about 4th and 5th. Would you use minor pentatonic or the full mode to try for that African-Middle-eastern feel used by the "fiddle"? I'm not sure how good my ear is, but I think Plant is even incorporating some of that into his vocals.
This could be an example of the evolution of blues in a certain direction.
I felt it was fantastic...
Once again, my inspiration - Miles Davis- was on this path when he "created" new directions. His electric phase that began at the tail end of 1968 was to rethink the role of the rhythm section, using his trumpet to cue ideas in and out.
This example is also a rethinking of the role of rhythm section, using an old blues standard as the starting point.
This version of Spoonful is simply a plodding, noisy mess and Robert Plant is the least convincing imitation of blues singer. It's dreadful, these people should hang their heads in shame and apologize and give their money away. If your going to adapt a song from Howlin' Wolf (written by Willie Dixon), own it, make it yours, change it around and make sure it is guts, glory , feeling. Take the Etta James version; it swings, it rocks, it will sock in in the goddamned jaw.
As long as we are debating versions: there is no harp here, but playing live as a trio I lack the nerve to try real blues with a racked harp on top of bass:
I am putting this version up because someone had to; what I like here isn't how much Cream replicates blues or achieves some nuanced suggestion of emotion, but rather how these instrumentalists--a blues guitarist with no jazz technique whatsoever and two jazz musicians contantly battling it out for who play the busiest business in a live set--but rather how far they were able to stretch this two-chord song into a sixteen improvisation that is, on its own terms, brilliant. It's about sound, interweaving of guitar, bass and drums, picking up rhythmic cues and tempo changes, at times leaving all resemblance of the song behind and achieving a sort of heaven of pentatonic riffing. Some find this repitious, and so be it; it's my kind of repetition, like Fillmore Live Miles Davis. Alive, raw, exploratory, nasty, brutal and extended.
Last Edited by Ted Burke on Jun 29, 2014 3:15 PM
this is a very difficult song in some ways. Stays on the one and the hook is the blue third on the second beat of 3 of 4 measures. Great lyrics. It gets boring quick on the solos I am not sure I see the difference in the Cream versions and the Plant versions, that is to go somewhere else to avoid the repetition, though the Cream version is to go pentatonic jam band and the Plant version is to do some arranged.. though mostly unrelated, filler in between.
