this goes slightly put of time period but Bo Carter's stuff is known for being rude (that actually got released at the time). it also manages to sounds really bleak and eery though
Blues in the 1920's
- Thread starter Knotted
- Start date
A couple of years ago I thought I would learn Spoonful Blues as it's nice and simple. But no it isn't easy, the way the slide and the finger picking work together is not easy at all. Definitely will get that book.
I think for that kind of stuff there's no better primer than Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music box set on Folkways, which you should be able to find easily enough from the usual sources.
ohh if you haven't got it and are interested in this music then it is an essential buy! I got given the Rev Gary Davis volume when I was about 11 or 12, still learning stuff from it, it is so rich... it also includes photos showing how to form every weird chord shape, how he did it (using thumb etc). Great archive photos and interview snippets in it too. (good version of spoonful in that one too).
there are tapes/cds to go along with every volume too... not as important now with youtube etc, but at the time it was the only way to hear a lot of the tunes.
You might also like Frederic Ramsey Jr. jazz anthology too, the earlier volumes of which make very explicit the substantial crossover between early country, blues and jazz - I've got vol.1 on atm and it's great.
I'm aware that Gary Davis's music is real hand stretching stuff. Ouch
Yes it is not really suitable for a 11/12 year old hand ha. but even more than the technique it is the endless variations on a song he can do totally naturally, that is the mind blowing bit. TBh the main thing I took from his playing that I use in my own, though, is that it is cool to be a little bit out of tune ha. wrong era for this thread tho, I will hold back from posting!
Last edited:
I give the hot 5s & 7s recordings a spin from time to time, they're magic all the way through.
Yes they are the gold (the king oliver ones are great too but not quite on the same level tbh)
ska invita
back on the other side
theres loads of Louis Armstrong stuff on BBC radio at the moment - some really interesting bits
BBC Sounds - Remembering Louis Armstrong - Available Episodes
Listen to the latest episodes of Remembering Louis Armstrong on BBC Sounds.
www.bbc.co.uk
though this might be the relevant one to the thread as blues selection louis
(havent listened to this one)
BBC Radio 2 - The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews, Celebrating Louis Armstrong
Cerys marks 120 years since the birth of the great Louis Armstrong.
Humberto
Callooh! Callay!
I think this was recorded in the '30s but interestingly he'd figured it out in 1910s. Jelly Roll Morton, The Crave. He grew up in New Orleans so would have been contempories with Lonnie Johnson and Louis Armstrong. He learnt to get good by playing in the houses of ill repute. So kind of similar what to what you hear in the old Westerns in the saloons and so on.
Similar threads
