[Harp-L] My Babe at the Blues Jam

[Elizabeth Hess <TrackHarpL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Little Walter tune, "My Babe", is familiar to many but not to all.

If my ear is correct, on the recording it has a non-standard 16-bar progression for the verses, and a standard 12-bar progression for the solos as follows:

Verse:

I	I	I	I
I	I	V	V
V	V	IV <break>
I	I	I	I


Instrumental Solos:

I	I	I	I
IV	IV	I	I
V	IV	I	I/V


I tried this at my local open mic jam several weeks ago, and it went okay, mostly because of the luck of the draw with the other musicians I got, EXCEPT that for the solos everyone (including me, whups!) ignored my instructions and instinctively played the first two lines just like the verse, and the last line as a standard turn-around:

I	I	I	I
I	I	V	V
V	IV	I	I/V


My question:  Do any of you lead this song in a jam situation where you don't know -- or barely know -- the other musicians and their abilities?  What instructions to the band give you the best results, where "best" means something that hangs together and sounds good to the audience, even if it varies from the recorded version?

Elizabeth H. (aka "Tin Lizzie")
Jammus Rattus