Blues standards [Archive] - Mandolin Cafe Forum

Strobel

Apr-09-2007, 7:59pm

What are some blues standards to learn if your going to join an acoustic jam? #What would you consider to be some mandolin blues standards?

mandocrucian

Apr-10-2007, 8:36am

I wouldn't worry about mandolin blues standards and instead get familiar a wide spectrum of blues standards. There's Chicago Blues, Memphis Blues, Texas blues, Detroit etc. all with their own characteristics. #Then you have all the Piedmont guitars fingerpicker (MS John Hurt. Rev. G Davis, Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Skip James....)
The blues has totally infiltrated most of American music and that includes country and old-time stuff as well.

You can opt for tunes from blues mandolin players like Yank Rachell or Johnny Young, but you'll probably get to jam a lot more if you go with the hits of the grand masters (Muddy, Wolf, Hooker, T-Bone, BB and all those guys.)

If you want the cream of that material, look through the tune selections of the 60's Brit bands (Stones, Yardbirds, Mayall) cause they cherry-picked some of the strongest and most distinctive material. #

And don't get the mistake that "Blues" means only the 12-bar blues form. There are 8-bar, 10-bar, 16-bar blues progressions, not no mention dronal and/or stop time stuff, ragtimey circle of 5ths progressions... #And 12-bar forms can be a lot more than the chord progression - if you're not playing the distictive riffs or bass lines, you're only superficially playing the song

Key To The Highway
Stormy Monday
Night Life

Rockabilly #(though much was oringally done R&B/jump artists first - i.e. Wynonnie Harris, Louis Jordan, Stick McGhee...)
Mystery Train, Hound Dog, Gone Gone Gone, Train Kept A Rollin', Great Balls of Fire, Good Rockin' Tonight

C'mon (Let The Good Times Roll)

Black Magic Woman
Crossroads
Born Under A Bad Sign
Big Boss Man

Muddy Waters: I'm Ready, Rollin' & Tumblin', Got My Mojo Working, I Just Want To Make Love To You, Hoochie Coochie Man, Can't Be Satisfied
Howlin' Wolf: Killing Floor, Wang Dang Doodle, Smokestack Lightnin', Little Red Rooster, Back Door Man
Dust My Broom
Baby Please Don't Go
John Lee Hooker: Boogie Chillun, I'm In The Mood, Crawling Kingsnake, Louise, Boom Boom
BB King: Everyday I Have The Blues, The Thrill Is Gone, Why I Sing The Blues, You Upset Me Baby
Messin' With The Kid
T-Bone Shuffle

Piedmont guitar blues
My Creole Belle, Candy Man (Mississippi John Hurt)
Death Don't Have No Mercy,
Electric Chair Blues,

And there plenty of old country, western swing and honky-tonk blues too:
Hank Sr.: Moanin' The Blues, Honky Tonk Blues, Lowdown Blues, My Bucket's Got A Hole In It (8-bar blues)
Trouble In Mind, Deep River Blues,
Blues For Dixie

Niles H

Peter Hackman

Apr-10-2007, 10:45am

Duke Ellington and Johhny Hodges recorded a blues album for Verve,
Back to Back, where not one single tune was based on the 12-bar
structure alone (although I wouldn't call Wabash Blues a blues).

A typical 16-bar blues: Crawdad, Careless Love,
the A part of You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming
Another: Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
An 8-bar blues: Sportin' Life
Another: Look Down That Lonesome Road

Not sure I would call Blues for Dixie (by Cindy Walker) a blues
but I love to blow on it, and I suppose it would be a nice
item to bring to a jam. Another Bob Wills tune, in a similar
mood, is Cotton Patch Blues.

Don Stiernberg

Apr-10-2007, 11:37am

Niles!!

....what an exclellent answer!You reminded me how much I love a lot of those tunes, and your list is a great introduction to the genre. Bravo.

I would add that Rich Del Grosso's work(just like that of mandocrucian...)is not to be missed. Rich's column in Mandolin Magazine, his books and CD's should help the blues light bulb go on..

In that Bob Wills blues realm I really dig Brain Cloudy which also turns up as Milk Cow Blues in several genres. I think Elvis did it even.
And was She Caught the Katy written by Yank Rachell?

Again, more chords than a standard blues, but I wouldn't want to be without my copy of Paul Butterfield's Better Days
(Amos Garrett, gtr, Geoff Muldaur, SINGER)doing Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone to Love". Oh man.

Another great resource here is Mike Compton who has researched the early stuff real well. Check out his site, and dig him singing "Goin' Down Slow" on Youtube. Yes sir.

Did "Sittin' on top of the World" make the list? Mississippi Sheiks I think, then covered by everyone from Bob Wills to Jimmy Martin to Blood Ulmer...

Thanks again, Niles. Your list got me all fired up for the blues.

kww

Apr-10-2007, 1:18pm

Ann Cole and the Suburbans original of "Got My Mojo Workin'". Skip the Muddy Waters corruption.

Ted Eschliman

Apr-10-2007, 3:53pm

C Jam Blues.
Uh, what key do you play it in, Don?

http://jazzmando.com/images/Msmiley.gif

Gary S

Apr-10-2007, 4:18pm

How about the St Louis Blues...Gary

ShaneJ

Apr-10-2007, 4:31pm

I'm watching these responses by the masters closely, and really enjoying it. I've been focusing on country blues guitar for the last year or so, but am dusting off my mandolin for the same tunes now. My favorites are Lightnin' Hopkins and Big Bill Broonzy. Just about any of their songs would suit a mandolin part very well - like all blues.

I started with three Lightnin' Hopkins tunes on guitar: "Baby Please Don't Go" (originally Big Joe Williams), "Sail On", and "Mojo Hand". If you can play these three, you can play probably 75% of Lightnin's songs. He uses a lot of the same licks and turnarounds in many songs, just with varying rhythms and put together in different ways.

I'm just starting on Broonzy's stuff (Hey, Hey Baby, is all I have so far). I love Big Bill's version of "Trouble In Mind" as well as "In The Evening When The Sun Goes Down", "How You Want It Done", "Louise", and "When Things Go Wrong (It Hurts Me Too)", and a whole bunch more.

Leadbelly's classics, Robert Johnson's too-short list, Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Son House, etc.....there is enough REALLY great blues music out there that fits mandolin and acoustic guitar like a glove to keep you busy the rest of your life.

edit: Oh yeah, don't forget Bob Wills, as was already mentioned. He and The Playboys did a great "Milk Cow Blues", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", and several other bluesy tunes. "Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer)" is swing at its finest, but if you slowed it down, it would sound a lot like a blues too.

Don Stiernberg

Apr-10-2007, 4:37pm

Ted,

every time we played C Jam Blues with Jethro, it was in C! Imagine that...

He opened almost every show with "Every Day I Have the Blues", having been inspired by the Count Basie/Joe Williams version. He voiced the sax section parts chord melody style and it was a gas..

then we would sit in with Newgrass Revival and play another great hardswingin' blues: Foggy Mountain Special!

i like those Miles Davis blues too--All Blues, and also No Blues. The Wes Montgomery record of No Blues from Smokin' at the Half Note will make your hair stand on end. Even if you don't have any hair!Pat Martino's solo on All Blues from his Live at Yoshi's was Grammy nominated and will similarly blow your mind..

So many flatted thirds, fifths, and sevenths...so little time!

jmcgann

Apr-10-2007, 5:42pm

The Wes Montgomery record of No Blues from Smokin' at the Half Note will make your hair stand on end. Even if you don't have any hair!

So THAT's what happened to mine! Ah, Wes was worth it- what a great album...and I'd also point to the monumental 1962 live "Full House" with Miles' rhythm section- "Blue 'n Boogie" has one of the most incredible guitar solos ever, and Johnny Griffin gooses it up a few notches on his solo as well...

Hows about anything by Cannonball Adderley- even when it's not a blues, like "Love for Sale", he's as bluesy as Lightnin' Hopkins*...Mingus is another who never lost the blues edge no matter how 'sophisticated' the tune...

* "It's rainin', Lord, it's rainin'...on both land, sea and air....."

Peter Hackman

Apr-10-2007, 10:57pm

Ted Eschliman

Apr-11-2007, 6:52am

Smokin' at the Half Note will make your hair stand on end. Even if you don't have any hair!
Glad for the disclaimer, Don. We follically challenged appreciate that.

sam b

Apr-11-2007, 7:29am

Minor Blues are a lot of fun. One of my favorites is Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments" from the aptly, and maybe a little pretentiously, titled "The Blues and the Abstract Truth." This is a wonderful album with some great playing from Oliver Nelson, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Roy Haynes! The tune's head is AABA with a really nice chromatic B-section, but the solos are played over a straight 12-bar minor blues. It's fun to solo over the B part, though.
Best,
Sam

mandocrucian

Apr-11-2007, 9:18am

What are some blues standards to learn if your going to join an acoustic jam?

If you are actually going to jam, you'd probably want some songs that don't require as much prior knowledge of the melody vs. as opposed to instrumentals (say "Night Train", "Juke"). Sing a couple verse/choruses of the song and by the time the breaks come around, your jammers should have more than enough of a walk through to play off of even if they've never played it (or heard it) before.

Spoonful - Howlin' Wolf, Cream
Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' Wolf, Grateful Dead
Good Morning Little School Girl - Sonny Boy Williamson (1), Yardbirds, Grateful Dead, Johnny Winter, Taj Mahal, Ten Years After.....
One Way Out - Muddy Waters, Allman Brothers

However, if your definition of acoustic jam views the presence of of saxes, trumpet (and other instruments regularly found in jazz sessions) as normal and routine, then it maybe isn't really thread migration to start suggesting lesser known Horace Silver, Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Charles Lloyd, Sonny Stitt, Pharoah Sanders etc. compositions as jamming vehicles. However, I gotta say that unless it was suggested by an acoustic guitar player who was really into Renbourn/Jansch/Pentangle/Davy Graham, I can't remember encountering "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" in a jam. Someone may have done it, but it probably wasn't much of a "jam".

NH

jmcgann

Apr-11-2007, 2:54pm

However, I gotta say that unless it was suggested by an acoustic guitar player who was really into Renbourn/Jansch/Pentangle/Davy Graham, I can't remember encountering "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" in a jam. Someone may have done it, but it probably wasn't much of a "jam".

Hang with horn players much? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

Jeff Beck recorded a great version, but instead of playing over the changes (a bitch!) after the head, he wrote a couple-of-chords vamp. Really cool take on it, but hard to beat the original Mingus with Booker Ervin on tenor...

If players are capable of jamming on the changes, you can be assured it is a hell of a jam session!

Peter Hackman

Apr-11-2007, 9:26pm

I haven't listened to PPH lately, but I believe Mingus wrote simpler
blowing changes. I once tried to work out a guitar arrangement
in the cowardly key of D (and open D tuning), and must say
the first four chords were a revelation. Otherwise, I suppose it's a real
jam-stopper.

Returing to the original question, I'm not sure what is meant by "acoustic jam",
some genre or simply non-electric. As, to me, "the blues ain't nothin'
but a good man feelin' bad", I would probably
worry less about specific songs and prepare
myself with some blues strategies. Various forms,
variations on the blues scale, 12, 16, 8 bars, different
variations on the last four bars, rhythms, riffs, the ability to create
and follow riffs on the spot, etc.

Strobel

Apr-12-2007, 3:32pm

Thanks for all the replies. I currently play at old-time and bluegrass jams. I don't know of any acoustic blues jams in my area, only open mics. From playing old-time and bluegrass I know there are some tunes that everyone knows and was wondering if that was the same for blues. I guess I was just wondering what are the "Old Joe Clarks" of the blues world.

jmcgann

Apr-12-2007, 5:43pm

once tried to work out a guitar arrangement
in the cowardly key of D (and open D tuning), and must say
the first four chords were a revelation.

Peter, check out Tony MacManus' DADGAD version of it- a total mind blower!!!

ShaneJ

Apr-12-2007, 6:23pm

Strobel, there are some blues standards like Robert Johnson's "Walkin' Blues", "Come On In My Kitchen", "Phonograph Blues", Son House's "Death Letter", Leadbelly's (if he was the original??) "How Long", and songs like those. Really, if you can get familiar with playing a few different blues songs in different styles, you'll be able to hold your own in a blues jam. You just have to listen to lots of blues and pick along to get familiar. Rich Delgrosso's recent book/CD combination "Mandolin Blues" is a MUST read/listen to get a good foundation in blues as it relates to the mandolin and just blues in general.

The Roots Music Listening Room (http://www.juneberry78s.com/sounds/index.htm) website is an INCREDIBLE resource for old blues recordings - as well as Gospel, folk, bluegrass, jazz and other old music from the early 20th century. If you email the sitemaster, you can get a password to access the "Blues & Gospel from the 1920s and 1930s" area. I highly recommend that. TONS of old 78s have been turned into mp3's and archived and catalogued there.

Peter Hackman

Apr-12-2007, 11:56pm

Peter Hackman

Apr-13-2007, 7:17am

once tried to work out a guitar arrangement
in the cowardly key of D (and open D tuning), and #must say
the first four chords were a revelation.

Peter, check out Tony MacManus' DADGAD version of it- a total mind blower!!!
begin OT:
Heard a clip on his home page - there's a bass in there, too.
Ralph Towner and Gary Burton recorded it for ECM, 12-string and vibes,
and my guess is he used open D. That version is closer to my
way of hearing things.

Those first four chords, the way I heard
them (after a bit of a struggle) would be D7#9, Bb7, Ebmaj7, Ab7b5,
and people were SO impressed when I barred five of the six strings
(omitting the 1st string) with my thumb. Hard to do in DADGAD.
end OT

arbarnhart

Apr-17-2007, 1:23pm

Thanks for all the replies. #I currently play at old-time and bluegrass jams. #I don't know of any acoustic blues jams in my area, only open mics. #From playing old-time and bluegrass I know there are some tunes that everyone knows and was wondering if that was the same for blues. #I guess I was just wondering what are the "Old Joe Clarks" of the blues world.
I wanted to find a blues jam nearby and couldn't find one, so I posted to a few local music boards, to Weenie Campbell (which is not local, but is nothing bu acoustic blues), chatted with some neighbors and followed up with a day and time that seemed like it would work, backed a car out of the garage and set up a few folding chairs and now there is a blues jam on the day and time I like and I don't even have to drive home from it.

I am far less skilled than many who have responded, but I will echo that learning how to play blues in general is as important (if not moreso) than knowing some specific songs. I also found that a general blues jam with a mix of acoustic and electric songs atracts more players. I play mando on some acoustic stuff and electric bass on the electric songs.

As far as the "Old Joe Clark" of the blues jam goes, I would say that a 12 bar blues in E comes pretty close. You can start playing the rhythm to one and have others say "oh - I know that one" and start singin and playing any of about a dozen standards. Sometimes we even change which song it is mid stream. We often start it as Rockin' Robin, then someone will take over singing and go into another (I forget the song, but it has a lot of clock times in it -"I looked at the clock it was a quarter past 10" or something like that) and then after a verse someone will start shuffling the chords and we are doing "Baby, What You Want Me to Do?" and so on, and so on...

JimRichter

Apr-22-2007, 3:15pm

One problem regarding "standards" for any genre of music is the geography/locale.

For instance, blues in Indiana--especially central Indiana--has been greatly influenced by Chicago (due to proximity) and Texas (through the number of white guys who got started listening to the Fabulous Thunderbirds). And for Chicago, besides the obvious southside influence, there is a very strong west side influence.

For blues jams in this area, besides the standards that Niles mentioned, other ubiquitous tunes are:

Fabulous T-Birds: Walkin' with my Baby, Part Time Lover, The Crawl, Wait on Time

Magic Sam: Just A Little Bit, You Belong to Me

Otis Rush: All My Lovin'

Junior Wells: Hoodoo Man Blues, Over Yonder's Wall, Snatch It Back and Hold It, Messin' With the Kid

Hollywood Fats: Rock This House, Too Many Drivers, Red Haired Girl

The Paladins: Going Down to Big Mary's, Let's Buzz

The Red Devils: Automatic, Devil Woman

Bobby Bland (later Ronnie Earl): I Smell Trouble

Ronnie Earl (later Kim Wilson): Ridin' in the Moonlight

Freddie King: Tore Down, Hideaway, Sen Sa Shun, San-Ho-Zay

Slim Harpo: Scratch My Back, Rainin' in My Heart

Jimmy Reed: Bright Lights, Big Boss Man

This is just a sampling of common tunes in this area. Lot of guys got into blues through the Fabulous Thunderbirds or James Harman or later Stevie Ray Vaughn, so there is an abundance of these tunes in the geographical repertoire. These guys were the generation before me and they heavily influenced those of us who grew up in this blues community West Side Chicago is also pretty big here as well. Part of this may also be that many of the west side guys like Lefty Dizz or Magic Slim would get down in this area to play.

Growing up playing bluegrass in south eastern Indiana, we were very heavily a Flatt and Scruggs/Ralph Stanley area, rather than Monroe. Hardly any mandolin or fiddle players, but tons of banjoists and singers. The repertoire tended to be real heavy toward banjo driven bands like Flatt and Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, and JD Crowe.

For anyone going out to their local blues jam for the first time, I'd go out and just listen to what is being played. More than likely, this will give you some idea of the focus of the tunes to learn for the jam.

Also, as I stated earlier with the banjo anecdote, the standards also depend on whether singers, guitarists, or harpists are driving the jam. Singers will look to Bobby Bland or Jimmy Witherspoon and be much more interested in the song than the jam. Guitarists will pick tunes such as "Born Under a Bad Sign" or "Killing Floor" to show off (or it's the stuff they've practiced ad infinitum). The harpists will focus on either Little Walter material or west coast swing and you'll be playing stuff like Juke or swing tunes in Bb. West coast swing blues is very big out here.

And to get to the acoustic blues specific part of the question, I've played many of the above "electric" blues tunes in acoustic blues jams--mainly because the guys who do electric blues are also doing the acoustic jams.

But for acoustic specific standards, look to Robert Johnson (Phonograph Blues, Love in Vain) as someone stated, Lightning Hopkins (Blues in the Bottle), Fred McDowell, Big Bill Broonzy, etc. Again, look to see what the local guys are into since you'll be jamming with them.

Just some thoughts from a guy who haunted the blues jams for almost two decades.

Jim