I'll assume that you do know Little Walter covered this one and that the Stones cover his cover on their new one. ---------- Ricky B http://www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com RIVER BOTTOM BLUES--crime novel for blues fans available at Amazon/B&N, iTunes, iBook THE DEVIL'S BLUES--ditto HOWLING MOUNTAIN BLUES--Ditto too, now available
I was just trying to see if I could get a rise out of anybody.
Yes, of course I know about Walter's version. It's the only version I've been familiar with these past four decades. Every now and then I put on a mask of innocence and ignorance and see if it fools anybody.
it is something my parents would likely have played on the radio. which i would have promptly changed the station to something more appropriate, "she loves you yeah yeah yeah"
who would of guessed they were into blues before i was.
The late Lynwood Slim covered this version on his old Lost In America album some years back. The Buddy & Ella Johnson is the real original version of this tune made about a decade before LW did a more uptempo cover of it. They also did the original Since I Fell For You, which has been covered by a wide variety of artists in many different genres. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
What fascinates me about this version of the song is that it contains the shotgun references - sung by a woman! Think of all the things you've seen written about Little Walter's predilection for songs (and a lifestyle) containing references to or acts of violence - I.e. Boom Boom - and it is amazing to me that this was a cover with female origins that no doubt contributed to Walter's misyoginistic reputation.
Adam - you've done a lot of work on violence in the blues. Got any academic thoughts on this?
Last Edited by Sundancer on Dec 13, 2016 1:31 PM
I asked my band mates about this issue with the shotgun. One said "that's the blues" and the others shrugged. I asked my daughter and she had a different perspective.
One of my band mates is a schoolteacher. He will not sing good morning schoolgirl but is fine with me singing it.
Cyndi sang the shotgun line. Not such a loaded issue for a woman but for a man to proclaim threats of violence...I dunno. I'm not interested in the right and wrong so much as the potential turn off for a good chunk of audience.
As for the structure, LW does a 12 bar intro and solo, 8 bar verses and an 8 bar bridge. Really it's kind of a 7 bar bridge because he goes straight on into the verse and jumps the change. The band keep on and catch up at the first change. ---------- The Patron Saints
Yep we made a bit of a study of it last time we were in the shed but that was like a month ago. I did try it Walter's way. Sounds easy on the record but it's a little unusual when you try to replicate it. Asked the question Sunday afternoon and decided to play it straight and sort out the approach next time we rehearse. I'll make a study of it in the meantime. Thanks for pointing out the thing with the drums. I'll check that out. great song to sing IMHO. Coming out of the solo into the bridge always feels good. ---------- The Patron Saints
Yeah, Adam, I felt you were fooling around. You might say, 'I'm Just Your Fool'. ---------- Ricky B http://www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com RIVER BOTTOM BLUES--crime novel for blues fans available at Amazon/B&N, iTunes, iBook THE DEVIL'S BLUES--ditto HOWLING MOUNTAIN BLUES--Ditto too, now available
Heres what Dave Barrett had to say in his 'tip of the day' series, about LW's version:
Okay, let's see if you figured it out correctly. Below are the three different chord progressions found in the song, as well as the chorus with the error. Harp Solo (12) I I I I IV IV I I V7 IV I V7 Verses (8) I I7 IV IV I V7 I V7 Bridge (8) IV I IV I IV I V V Chart Harp Solo (12) | Verse (8) x2 | Harp Solo (12) | Bridge (8) | Verse (7.5) | Verse (8) || See if you can figure out where the two beats were dropped in the verse following the bridge and how you could approach the vocals to change this to be a standard 8 bars. To understand the two dropped beats at 1:44 you'll need to listen to one of the other verses for his vocal phrasing. Listen at 2:02 and you'll hear that he starts his vocals on the "and" of 3 leading into the next verse. Listen back to 1:44 and you'll notice that he starts his vocals on the "and" of 1 leading into the vocal verse after the bridge. The pickup to the vocal verse is two beats early. Did Walter mess this up? Maybe... or maybe he was purposefully moving the vocals around for rhythmic interest... no one doubts that Walter had killer rhythmic phrasing. Either way, the result was that the band went to the IV Chord two beats earlier in order to match past rhythmic vocal phrasing and the end result is seamless... don't you wish you had a band that listened to you that closely! If you would like to change that verse to a 8 bar (I recommend you do, you're just asking for grief otherwise), have the vocalist add two beats of rest before starting that verse.
it could very well be a mistake, i haven't a compelling argument otherwise. and if it is not it destroys my concept that 12 blues is the mother of all blues forms.
it would not be the first time someone spliced a tape in the studio. so i would guess it is very likely a mistake........ however.....
take another listen to the original recording, it provides some clues.
Bones, I really like that Carlos Del Junco version. Never heard of him before but will search out more of his work. Is that an Electro Voice mic he's using?
I hadn't realized the song would precipitate such a thorough conversation about structure. I was mostly struck by the sheer fact of having stumbled across another original that Little Walter had transformed. About the shotgun reference: it's important to remember that "See See Rider" was a big song for Ma Rainey in the 1920s, and it had a line about shooting her man with a shotgun. So the violence isn't just a guy-thing by any means. In BLACK BOY, his autobiography, Richard Wright talks about a story he heard about a black woman who, after her husband was killled by a group of whites, walked into their midst with a shotgun concealed within a sheet that she'd wrapped around her hands. Then she blasted them, killing several, before she was killed. Wright said that that story fascinated him; it showed the lengths that black southerners were willing to go to when pushed by white cruelty.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Dec 14, 2016 4:31 AM
on the original recording we have an AABA song structure verse verse chorus verse. typically you would find the "middle eight" located here for a solo but instead we find a 6 bar section only. contrast that to walters 7 bar section. was walter playing an eight bar here, and made a mistake? perhaps it was removed. and the tape spliced together, very likely that is what happened.
perhaps they wanted a 6 bar section like the original? they messed that up too. whatever happened here, it sure makes for a very interesting composition. i am not the only person to have listened to this little walter cut hundreds and hundreds of times. for one of the few times in my life i like a song my parents liked, I want to scream. lol not sure they would like the little walter version. pretty sure i would hear.... can't you play a different song?
i don't know any other way to learn a song other than listening to it repeatedly . all of the small details can drive me crazy, fortunately for me, it is a short drive.
@John -- Yes I'm pretty sure it's an EV re10. Carlos Del Junco is one of THE 'modern blues harmonica' masters. Up there with Jason Ricci IMHO. There is a bunch of him on youtube, - and his CD's are available. The album 'Just Your Fool' is a live album that has two great versions of this tune. http://carlosdeljunco.com ---------- Bone's music videos
Last Edited by bonedog569 on Dec 14, 2016 11:39 AM
That's a different thing though. That's taking little Walter's idea and executing it as I imagine he intended. The difference is that on the little Walter record the band plays out the 8th measure of the bridge and catches up by dropping two beats from the verse. In the clip above they truncate the bridge and play the full verse. Sounds better in my view.
Nah man you're right about the clip above but little Walter gives it a couple beats rest. The clip you posted the vocal comes in right on the back of the last beat in bar 7. But in little Walter's recording he is coming in as Dave describes, on the and of 3
