Re: If you could build your own Jam Tracks ....

["Bob Maglinte" <bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick B" <rick@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Harp-L" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <bluester2001@xxxxxxxxx>; <direwolf71@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, October 03, 2003 6:11 PM
Subject: If you could build your own Jam Tracks ....


>
> Hi Everyone,
> As I mentioned in an earlier email, Pete Schmidt is thinking of creating
of
> creating a backing track CD just for harp players.  I asked harp-l and
> harptalk what would be on the perfect CD.  I thought I'd post the results
so
> they could be further polished.
>
> The basic thought was the there would be two CDs.  The first one would
> contain Little Walter Jam tracks, the 2nd would contain a broad sampling
of
> blues styles.  The first CD would follow Ryan Hartt's idea:
>
> Ryan Hartt of Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts wrote:
> The obvious answer to me is "Lots of Little Walter".  Something like "Off
> the Wall", a triple shuffle like "Oh Baby" or "Watch Yourself" a two beat
> like "Tell me Mama" a slow one in D for chromatic and one in Bb like "Blue
> Midnight", a shuffle like "Shake Dancer" with all that great guitar.
Maybe
> a one chord groove like "Roller coaster", an E grinder/march shuffle and
an
> E low down slow blues.
>
> Rick replies:
> I have questions.  What is a triple shuffle?  I listed to "Oh Baby".  What
> makes it a triple shuffle? Is it the cymbols being hit on the beginning
and
> end triplette?  I hear a walking bass that walks on the quarter notes.
The
> rhythm guitar playsclassic blues guitar boogie woogie with some note
> substitutions.

That's part of it. It is where the accenting falls, especially from the
drummer, and by the Fred Below uses those accents, he is playing musical
mind games, giving the illusion of being quite a bit more uptempo than what
it really is.

> What's a two beat?   What makes "Tell Me Mama" a two beat?

The real time tempo is much faster than you think, and it is actually a 24
bar progression, but by playing it as a 2 beat, it gives the illusion
(musical mind games again) of being 4/4 12 bar blues. "Got My Mojo Working,"
"I'm Gonna Put A Tiger In Your Tank," and "You Can't Judge A Book By Its
Cover," are classic examples.


>What would be sample titles for the styles "a slow one in D for chromatic"

"Blue And Lonesome," "Blue Fog," by George Harmonica Smith

>"an E grinder/march shuffle", and "an E low down slow blues"
ds
Jimmy Reed and Eddie Taylor on the Vee Jay label is a good starting point,
or even "Low Down Woman" by The Fabulous Thunderbirds.

Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA