This month and year is the 100th anniversary year of the sinking of the Titanic. Blind Willie Johnson wrote a song about it in 1929 called "God Moves on the Water". If you listen to the original, some of the lyrics are difficult to distinguish. But I really like the song, so I decided to transpose it for harp and figure out the lyrics. I looked up the lyrics on the Web and found some, but whoever did the transcription clearly had a hard time understanding them too. The last verse, especially, is rubbish. So I listened to the song about a billion times and I think my version is very close to the original. But I also noticed that there are some factual errors in BWJ's lyrics and I wanted to correct them. So I wrote a new first verse that sets the scene and left out a verse that blames the watchmen for being asleep. (IMO, it was the captain's fault all the way for ignoring the warnings of ice ahead and pressing on at full speed on a black moonless night.) BWJ also called the captain A.G. Smith, when he was E.J. Smith (a small mistake that I also corrected).
Anyhow here's a link to my Box account to an MP3. I'd like any constructive feedback you might have. (This time I tap my foot to keep time, so I am learning). Thanks for listening. ----------
Last Edited by on Apr 30, 2012 12:37 PM
No constructive criticism here, but I just wanted to tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this piece. It's difficult to keep one entertained with a 4 minute song that consists of only vocals & harp, but you managed very well in my opinion!
Greyowl, thanks. I recorded it sitting in my car, with my Zoom H2 sitting on the dashboard. I'm pretty lazy about editing, so there was no post processing at all. I quite like the sound inside the car; it has some reflective surfaces and some absorbing ones. I was tapping my foot against a vinyl footpad that I thought had a nice deadened sound. I was trying to capture the raw quality that BWJ gets with just his guitar and vocal, so I am thrilled that you heard that.
Here's a question for everyone. In my area buskers have to be acoustic. Do you think that stuff like this would work for busking? I now know three BWJ tunes and maybe half a dozen others that I have arranged in a similar fashion. Would you want to hear more than one in this style or would it get tedious quickly? If so how would you suggest I mix it up? ----------
Last Edited by on May 01, 2012 7:02 AM
Hi Mr S&S: I love this kind of song and arrangement myself. Have been working on something in a similar vein inspired by Bobby Rush's 'Garbage Man'.
I sometimes go acoustic in a pedestrian tunnel. It seems that you can play slow, soulful pieces but they don't get much reaction (i.e. tips). When I'm doing this I usually keep the slow pieces to a minimum, even though I like playing them. The passersby seem to like something they could dance to if they had the inclination. I myself would plat three or four snappy ones in a row then a tune like yours.
@MrSo&So: First off: that was freaking fantastic! I mean really freaking fantastic! Pretty much a perfect piece and perfectly performed... I loved it... So, I have no critique on your playing at all. I do have some advice RE: busking with it: I think that depends upon the venue/crowd. At a jumping street fair or busy bar district at night with tons of people walking and not much stopping, you may not do so well with something like this. You'll be drowned out by crowd noises, and in this situation most people will just walk on by if it's not danceable, especially if they've been drinking (their loss!). But on a "normal" or even a touristy street, during the daytime, you could really just kill with stuff like this. Bronzewailer has some great advice. Try to find a place with natural "amplification" and reverb. Under bridges, in subways, etc. are really great spots, but don't underestimate a really nice doorway, especially one set back with a little alcove. My main busking spot is like this, and it really helps to project the sound (I do go amped, though). In order to get tips with songs like this, you need to build up a crowd. So that means you have to have several songs like this in your arsenal and ready to go. The "endless groove" jams that I usually find get me tips in my busy street-fair that I play at will not go over if you've got a crowd there who want's to hear real songs played from start to finish, and vice versa is true as well...
Very nice. When someone does a good job sometimes it's hard to find anything constructive to say. The only thing I noticed is you maybe over-enunciated the word twelve. How's that for nit-picking! Not particularly useful feedback. Seriously though, very nicely done.
Thanks everyone for your comments and advice, especially Isaac and BronzeWailer for busking suggestions. It's still something I've yet to do and I'm fixing to get out there. ----------
