Calling all Blues Junkies - GuitarZone.com FORUM

Vince, that tuning was used a lot by Skip (and not a lot of others, it was very specific to that little area of Bentonia County, Mississippi). Skip and a man named Jack Owens (I met Mr. Owens at his home and wrote his obit for a blues magazine about five or six years ago) are the only "authentic Bentonia" musicians who ever were recorded in it (although Bowling Green Cephas, a Virginia bluesman who I learned it from, learned it directly from Skip himself). Jack's music was different to a degree, a little more rhythmic sometimes than Skip's. More for a barrelhouse or a dance than just for listening. (I think I actually have a copy of the obit on a disc in my office here. If I find it quickly I'll code it below). Anyway, a few other of Skips tunes in Dm are "Cherryball Blues" and "I'm So Glad" (covered by the Cream and SRC). Of course there are others, and all of them are really good. Skip originally recorded around 1930 or 31, but he has some excellent recordings from the late '60s where he was still just as skilled (if not more so) as ever and the recording techniques are far superior to the old 78's and their re-masters. I have a small amount of 8mm copied to video of Skip himself doing a few of his tunes (but not Hard Time Killing Floor). Also, many of John Cephas' recordings have a few of Skip's tunes on them (as well as a few excellent Cephas originals in the same style).

As far as Robert Johnson, there's a lot of stuff around on his music. I do have a bit of stuff I tabbed for Spongeyguy a year or two back. Just some Johnson-esqe licks where I used the tune Kind Hearted Woman as sort of a vehicle to put them in. Here's that......

CODE

Author/Artist: Robert Johnson
Title: Kind Hearted Woman (more or less)
Album: Robert Johnson-style Improv
Transcribed by: JM
Email: duolian@msn.com

This is not the tabbed recording. It is a transcription of this tune improvised in
the style typical of Robert Johnson. (Key of A, Standard Tuning)

-----------------------------------(9)----------9-----------9----9--
-----------------------------------(8)-------------8----------------
-----------------------------------(9)----------9------9------------
--------------/7-------------------(7)------7--------------------7--
----------------------0------------(0)------------------------------
-----------------------------------(0)------------------------------
Slide and play...then. (Now holding)..play (or pinch)

----------(8)---------------------8----------8-----8----------------
----------(7)------------------------7-------7----------------------
----------(8)---------------------8-----8---------------------------
----------(7)------------------------------------------7------------
----------(0)-------------------------------------------------------
----------(0)-------------------------------------------------------
now hold...and play (or pinch).....

----------------------(9)--------9---------9--9-----(9)----9h10p9--7-------
----------------------(8)------------8------8-------(8)------------6-------
----------------------(9)--------9-----9------------(9)----9-------7-----7-
------------/7--------(7)-----7--------------------------------------------
-----------------0----(0)--------------------------------------------------
----------------------(0)--------------------------------------------------
Again slide to...(holding) play(or pinch) Now hold..and play. Hold...play

-7h8p7------(5)---------5-------------|----------------------(5)-----7--------
------------(4)---------------4-------|----------------------(7)--7-----7-----
------------(5)---------5---------5---|----------------------(7)-----7-----7--
--------------------------------------|---------------------------0-----------
--------------------------------------|---------------------------------------
--------------------------------------|---------------------------------------
Hold..and play(pinch) Slide up to and hold...pinch or play

-5---8--------(5/8)--8---------5---|------------------------------------------
---------------(7)------7----------|--------------(4)----4-----5-----5--------
-7---7---------(7)---------7-------|--------------(5)----------6--------------
-------------------------------0---|--------------(4)----4-----5-----5--------
-----------------------------------|------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------|------------------------------------------
Now holding....pick Hold and slide..pinching..to pinching.

---------------------------------------------|--------------------------------
-------------------------------------4--5----|--------------------------------
--------------------------------6------------|--------------------1h----------
------------------------------5------4--5----|--------------------2-----------
----------------------------0----------------|--------------------2-----------
---------------------------------------------|--------------------------------
Holding that V-shape, play..and pinch/slide. Hammer into an E-chord

------------0---------------------------------------0--|----------------------
------------------------------------------3---0--3-----|------------0---------
--------1h---------------------------------------------|----0--1--2-----------
------------2-----------------------------2------2-----|------------0---------
-------------------------------------------------------|----------------------
--------0----------------------------------------------|----0--1--2-----------
pinching, adding the pinky for an E7 pinch... Pinch Now,

---------------------------------|---------------(2/5)---------5--5--5--5--5--
-------(1)----1-p0------1--1--0--|----------------(2)-------------------------
-------(2)----------2------------|----------------(2)-------2-----------------
------------------------0--0--0--|----------------(2)----------2--5--5--4--4--
--------------0------------------|----------------(0)-------0-----------------
-------(0)----------2------------|----------------(0)-------------------------
holding...play Now hold (long-A)...pinch

--5--5---|--------------------------------------------0-------------0---------
---------|------------------------------------------------3--0--3-------------
---------|------------------------1h-------------1h---------------------------
--3--3---|------------------------2-------------------2------2------2---------
---------|------------------------2-----------------------2-----2-------------
---------|---------------------------------------0----------------------------
Hammer back into E chord and play/pinch, add 7th,

Of course I can name a zillion great artists to learn in different styles from different areas and all that (and you know I'll be glad to if you want them

). And here's that Jack Owens obituary........

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The Passing of Jack Owens

On Thursday, February 13, 1997, about a hundred people filed into the Old
Liberty Missionary Baptist Church in Bentonia, Mississippi. They came for
the funeral of Jack Owens who had passed away a few days earlier in a Yazoo
City hospital at the age of 92. Some came to mark the passing of "Mr. Jack",
the farmer down the road who played old-time blues on his front porch for
visitors from around the world. Others came to say good-bye to a friend who
had for more than half a century given them an escape from life's dreariness
in his music and weekend front-room juke parties. And others came to pay their
respects to one of the last surviving links to the roots of American blues.
Jack Owens farmed all his life in the small town of Bentonia. He also ran a
juke joint weekends where he'd sell barbecue and his homemade white whiskey.
"When I was real young, I used to hear the young guys talking about that they
was goin' up to Jack Owens' place", long-time Bentonian Dorothy Burrell said
as she recalled Jack in days long passed.
"Jack Owens' place" was the front parlour of his small house, emtied of its
furniture and with a hole carved in the wall through which food and drinks
were served from his kitchen. His parties would start Friday night and often
run until Sunday evening and would often have local blues players like Henry
Stuckey or Skip James. Sometimes Jack himself would play while others would
dance to the driving rhythm of his powerful bass lines and the heavy pounding
of his foot.
Except for occasional weekend arguements set straight by Owens and his pistol,
he led a relatively quiet life. He never felt the need to leave his native
Bentonia. He was well-liked in his community and had made a comfortable
place for himself there. Unlike fellow Bentonian Skip James, who travelled
and lived throughout the South, Owens never had the opportunity to be discov-
ered by a talent scout like H. C. Spier, whose discovery of James led to a
1931 recording session for Paramount from which which sides released, becoming
legends in country blues recordings.
Jack Owens was born to Celia Owens on or about November 17, 1904. His father,
who's last name was Nelson, left when Jack was five or six years of age.
This left young Jack to be raised as an Owens in the household headed by his
grandfather Samuel Owens. A 1910 census lists the children of the house as
Savannah, Will, Lonnie, Jack (mistakenly listed as "Nelson Owens"), Leonard,
Pearlee, Lucy and Willie. At least two more children were born after 1910;
not named in this census are Owens' sisters Lee Esther and Viola, who, with
Willie, are still living as of this date.
Owens learned to play fife at a young age, and picked up a few chords on the
guitar from his father and uncle. He also learned some piano and fiddle, but
the guitar was to become his main instrument.
In 1966, folk musicologist David Evans interviewed Bentonian blues singer
Cornelius Bright, whom Evans had heard about from Skip James. Bright took him
to meet Jack Owens that night. Owens' playing was in some ways similar to that
of Skip James, but with a rough edge not found in James' more delicate style.
Owens was also a more powerful singer who did not use the falsetto style James
frequently used. Evans began a series of recordings which would extensively
document Owens' music over the next fifteen years.
Several cuts from these recordings appeared on various compilation albums, but
it wasn't until 1971 that a full album of Owens' music, accompanied by Bud
Spires on harmonica, was released. These tracks, plus some unissued recordings,
were re-issued in 1995.
Owens' playing was one of the most complex styles developed within a folk
tradition. Owens used a number of alternate guitar tunings, including open D-minor and certain
variations on standard tuning that might have originated with him. He used
fingerpicks for a brighter, louder tone and maintained a solid, driving beat
with his foot.
Jack approached music very differently than Skip James, who thought
his playing to be art music intended for close listening. Owens' music was
intended for dancing and drinking. The two men shared a great deal of lyrics,
melodies and guitar figures, but overall their music differed greatly. Many of
these differences have often been overlooked. Jack's singing and playing styles
were as personally unique as they were complex.
Jack Owens was a tremendous representative of a musical tradition which is now
all but lost in today's entertainment industry. With his passing we lose one
of the last connections to a time and place that brought the world The Blues.