Blues, Rags, & Stomps #3
Last week, on "Blues, Stomps, & Rags #2," I posted a video of James "Yank" Rachel playing electric mandolin in 1989, toward the end of his life. Here he is, as a young man in 1929, playing "Divin' Duck Blues" on acoustic mandolin. This song, a favourite of mine, is sung by the guitar player, Sleepy John Estes. Steve James teaches this tune on his first teaching DVD, "Learn to Play Blues Mandolin" (#1).
If the links don't work for you, search YouTube for "Sleepy John Estes, Divin' Duck Blues."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXhZZRnHeGE
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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