Yet Another Juke Question[long reply]

["Keith Dunn" <keith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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WVa Bob <rmcgraw@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<Was Juke improvised or "arranged?" I've got a LW CD with an alternate =
take
of Juke that is very different; this might suggest that the Juke we know =
was improvised, or it could it be that it was more-or-less an =
arrangement that LW had worked out on the bandstand while playing the =
tune with Muddy's
group=85..>

I am sure that many of you have heard this but I will repeat it here. =
Jimmy Rogers, who of course was playing in Muddy=92s band with Little =
Walter at the time, told me several things that may shed some light =
here. Juke was their break song at the time the band recorded it. They =
would play it two or three times a nite so I would imagine that they had =
a version worked out but did they always choose to play it? Also, =
according to JR, LW rarely played anything the same way twice. Listen to =
any of his alternate takes and you will here that. Also remember that =
these guys were young and wild and that improvisation was (and IMHO =
should still be) a major component of the music. They were creating a =
style and we are still talking about it. Something else that Jimmy =
Rogers said was that they were young, needed money and would sometimes =
change a song from what they would normally do on the bandstand to what =
they thought Chess would want to hear on a record just to get their =
money, keep him quiet and get out of there.

This probably does not answer your question but hopefully offers =
something to think about.

All the best to everyone for supporting this music.
Keith Dunn=20