A large number of the films on the Folkstreams are available for viewing as streams directly from their site.
I urge you to leave this site immediately and head over to Folkstreams and watch as much as you possibly can, buy DVDs and books and support this unparallelled resource.

I’ve highlighted just a few nuggets buried in the goldmine at Folkstreams.net that might be of interest to some of the blues music enthusiasts who frequent our site. If you look around you’ll also find documentaries on Arthur “Peg Leg Sam” Jackson, George “Kid Shiek” Colar, Gospel singers, gandy dancers, Fife and drum players including Otha Turner, Sonny Terry, Emanuel ‘Manny’ Sayles, Zydeco, New Orleans Jazz, and even Pete Seeger’s film about the Singing Fishermen of Ghana.

The Land Where the Blues Began

The Land Where the Blues Began is one of five films made from footage that Alan Lomax shot between 1978 and 1985 for the PBS American Patchwork series (1991). A self-described “song-hunter,” Alan Lomax traveled the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s and 40s, at first with his father John Lomax, later in the company sometimes of black folklorists like John W. Work III, armed with primitive recording equipment and a keen love of the Delta’s music heritage. Crisscrossing the towns and hamlets, jook joints and dance halls, prisons and churches, Lomax recorded such greats as Leadbelly, Fred McDowell, and Muddy Waters, all of whom made their debut recordings with him.

In the late 1970s Lomax returned with filmmaker John Bishop and black folklorist Worth Long to make the film The Land Where the Blues Began.

Preview:

Give My Poor Heart Ease: Mississippi Delta Bluesmen

An account of the blues experience through the recollections and performances of B.B. King, Son Thomas, inmates from Parchman prison, a barber from Clarkesdale, a salesman from Beale Street, and others.

Give My Poor Heart Ease is one of a series of films made in Mississippi in the mid 1970s by William Ferris and the Center for Southern Folklore and produced in association with Howard Sayre Weaver. This field work is the basis for Ferris’s 2009 book Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues.

Trailer:

Blues Houseparty: Music, Dance and Stories by Masters of the Piedmont Blues

Some of America’s greatest traditional blues masters get together at home to swap songs from the old days and stories of waht those days were like, when blues flourished ‘back down home’ at country breakdowns, corn-shuckings and houseparties. These musicians and their friends create the lively spirit of houseparty blues, while conveying the values, the history, the good and bad times, and the sense of community that gave form to their music and dance (Blurb by Dick Spottswood)

Featuring: John Cephas, Phil Wiggins, Archie Edwards, John Jackson, James Jackson, Cora Jackson, Flora Molton, Larry Wise, John Dee Holeman, and Quentin ‘Fris’ Holloway.

Trailer:

Toot Blues

In the late 1980s, Timothy Duffy, a penniless North Carolina musicology student, set out to document and preserve traditional southern roots and blues music. On his travels from Winston-Salem’s drinkhouse music scene, an off-the-grid hotbed of gritty traditional blues, to deep-south family run churches, he found purpose and inspiration from a cast of amazingly talented, pure and unique set of characters (the artists!!).

Toot Blues remarkably captures the true essence and talent of the artists from Guitar Gabriel, a ‘homeless magic potion selling’ blues genius; to Willa Mae Buckner, a snake charming elderly woman taunting delightfully raunchy blues; to Beverly ‘Guitar’ Watkins, a grandmother who continues to tear up the stage and play a killer electric guitar behind her head; to Bishop Dready Manning and family churning out homebrewed rockabilly-gospel; to Boo Hanks, an 80 year-old bluesman recording an album for the very first time; to blind guitarist, Cootie Stark, mesmerizing crowds world-wide while never failing to find his way home by himself.
Trailer:

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Take a listen to the original and we’ll get started with our modified interpretation:

Every day in the week is played in the Key of G and uses what is commonly referred to as the ‘Key to the Highway’ progression after the song popularized Big Bill Broonzy. This means its an 8 bar blues with the five chord switched with the four, making the structure I – V – IV as opposed to the more common blues progression I- IV- V. Examples of this can be heard in many songs, the aforementioned ‘Key to the Highway’ as well as ‘East St Louis Blues’ performed here beautifully by William Brown (not to be confused with Willie Brown), and ‘Searching the desert for the blues’ by Blind Willie McTell.

A note on the tabs:
Listen to the examples to get the proper timing. A downloadable pdf version of the following tabs is available at the end of this article.

Structure

Take a minute to get comfortable with the progression and feel before we begin. The verses are G D7 and C7 (I-V-IV), and the chorus/Turnaround is G7 E7 A7 D7 G. It follows this structure throughout the entire song. I’m going to strum through it a few times here using some different chord voicings, feel free to alternate back and forth when you start playing, it will give your performance more colour and dynamics.

Intro

The intro plays a slightly modified version of the verses, shortening the d7 by a beat and jumping straight into this funky lick. The single note run that starts in bar 5 is played by alternating the thumb and picking finger, for example:

0 3 2 1
T i T i

Verses

The verses don’t vary much throughout the song. Take note of the pattern used the bars 2-4, it’s used consistently in all the picking parts which follow. The turnaround/chorus part that comes in on the G chord in Bar 5 has a several variations which Pink throws in intermittently, the first pattern here is what is used most often. Notice the combination of finger picking and strumming, the right hand stays very busy.

Verse:

Turnaround:

Solo

The solo is deceptively simple: easy but hard to pull off properly. It starts with holding down a full G chord. To get the rhythm you need to hit the 6 string with your thumb, and on the off beat upstroke the top of the chord using your ring or middle finger. The bass string riff is played with the thumb and doubled notes are hit using the thumb and index finger (or just the thumb if you can get the speed). Concentrate on getting the idea of this rhythmic style under your belt before getting to the solo:

Example:

Solo:

Outro

This is a cool little riff that Pink plays at some point during the outro.

That’s the bulk of the main bits and pieces. Here they are stuck together in the unofficial Fingerstyle Blues interpretation :

Download the full transcription here [pdf 984kb]

The original song has an odd structure, listen to get the exact number of versus and where to put the solos. The second solo is identical to the first but played a little more spirited and less precisely. As the song gets towards the last two versus it becomes a little chaotic, and that’s where this lesson ends. It’s well worth listening to and learning, because Pink throws in some great stuff here, if you can follow it.

This is a really fun song to play; I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as I do. Once you get the hang of this arrangement be sure to go back and listen to the original for all the nuances and subtleties that were lost in our clumsy approach. When you do play along with Pink you’ll notice his guitar is tuned a semitone sharp. You can either use a capo, re-tune the guitar or use a program like Transcribe to adjust the pitch and speed to whatever you want.

Every Day in the Week Blues Lyrics

I woke up this morning, when the clock was striking four
You oughta heard my baby cry, ‘daddy, please don’t go’
I can’t believe you woman, God knows I have to go
Had the blues so long since I made my poor heart so

Well the blues jumped the devil, run the devil a solid mile
The devil sat down and he cried like a newborn child
If you’ve got you one woman, well you sure better get you five
Cuz two might quit you and the other three might die

I’ve got a Monday woman, works on 4th and Main
I’ve got a Tuesday woman brings me all her change
My Wednesday woman brings me whiskey and beer
I’ve got a Thursday woman, raise sand if she catch me here
My Friday woman just won’t treat me right,
I got a Saturday woman I declare works me all night
My Sunday woman leaves me on my own to sleep
You gotta know about that, got a gal every day in the week

I don’t love no yellow woman, and I ain’t crazy about no brown
Cuz you can’t tell the difference I declare when the sun go down
My old grandma, and my grandpa, both of them got old and grey
If grandpa hadn’t a talked careful I wouldn’t have been here today

I’m going to sing this verse and I declare I ain’t gonna sing no more
I’m gonna leave here directly, gonna walk and tell everything I know
Transcribed by Fingerstyleblues.com

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It’s been a little while since the last update, but there’s been a lot of movement behind the scenes here and things are finally moving forward. The site was moved to a new server and we lost and broke a lot of stuff, so if you find any broken links, missing images, lessons, audio clips or transcriptions please let me know by emailing admin@fingerstyleblues.com, these things can really go to hell when you turn your back on them for a minute.

On the brighter side, we’ve finally replaced our equipment and will be able to record some new material very soon.

Keep on checking back, and keep on picking!

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This jump suited, one man force of nature plays the drums with his feet, sings through a telephone taped to the visor of a motorcycle helmet, and plays an incredibly original, warped form of blues on his old Silvertone. It might be tempting to dismiss him as some sort of punk/rock/blues sideshow, but his music is borne from a deep love and understanding of Delta blues, scotch, breasts, and a little insanity.

Born in Tuscon, Arizona, Bog Log got his first guitar at 11. By the time he was 16 he was deeply immersed in Delta Blues. Raised on the music of Screaming Jay Hawkins and Lightnin’ Hopkins, his sound is inspired in equal parts by Mississippi Fred McDowell and AC/DC. He’s a formidable guitarist who’s forged his own unique style. Utilizing super low tunings his slide playing sounds monstrous, the loose strings combined with his powerful finger picking let him snap and pluck and slide his dirty electric blues in a way that probably shouldn’t be possible.

He began his career playing with a metal/blues band named Mondo Guano, which he left to form the blues rock duo Doo Rag. While on tour his percussionist suddenly quit, leaving Log scrambling for a way to finish the booked dates. Donning a recently aquired thrift store helmet he miked his guitar case and kicked it to keep the beat. Eventually he replaced the case with a kick drum and cymbal, augmenting his one man rhythm even further by adding a drum machine he triggers with his feet.

If you can get past the lyrics, your in for something great. Whatever you do, don’t miss the opportunity to see him love.

Bob Log’s official site
http://www.myspace.com/boblog111/>Myspace

For Further Study:

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Lesson #19: Jingle Bell Blues

It’s not even Halloween yet, so you must be wondering, ‘Where have you been with the lessons?’ and, ‘Why the hell a Christmas song?’ As some of you know, there was an equipment meltdown here at fingerstyle blues central which put things on the back burner for a while. We’re back, albeit in a limited capacity. As for the country blues style arrangement of a Christmas song just think of it this way, there aren’t many recorded Christmas blues songs worth listening too, this one has three chords and a strong melody making it fun to play, and finally, you have two months to learn it so you can impress your friends and loved ones while imbibing heavily on the ‘nog.

This arrangement has two variations for the chorus. The first has a straightforward alternating bass with melody on top. If you find the alternating bass is throwing you, brush up on some finger patterns or try approaching it with more of a Bill Broonzy style by playing a solid rhythm instead of alternating. (ex: on the E chord instead of playing strings 6-4-6-4-6-4-6-4, stay on the 6). The second has a walking bass added to make life difficult. I recommend getting the first chorus down before battling the knucklebuster second variation. As always, take it slow.

A note on the Chords used.

The chord E7(1) may be new to you, it’s a very handy position which you’ll hear often in the playing of Rev Gary Davis. Use your index finger (4th string) to mute the 5th string and you’ll never hit a wrong note. A(1) and B(2) are barre chords with the root played by the thumb. B7(3) is A(2) slid up two frets, the note on the 5th string was added to help smooth out the walking bass line. Look at page one of the transcription if you have no idea what I’m talking about.

This recording may be a little sloppy, but I feel it adds to the overall country blues feel of the piece. At any rate, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Download the transcription here[pdf 984kb]

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March 15, 1912 — January 30, 1982

“People have learned how to strum a guitar, but they don’t have the soul. They don’t feel it from the heart. It hurts me. I’m killin’ myself to tell them how it is.”
-Lightnin’ Hopkins, 1968 Interview

Sam ‘Lightnin’ Hopkins was a very influential Texas Blues musician whose songs have inspired everyone from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn to The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many points in between. Hopkins began his career in the 1920’s and for the next sixty years barely altered inimitable his style.

Sam’s father died while he was still a young child. He was taught how to play guitar by his older brother Joel, his first instrument a cigar box guitar with chicken wire strings. When he was eight years old he met and befriended Blind Lemon Jefferson, who encouraged him and gave him some playing tips. He shadowed Jefferson, following him to church socials where he would play along with his cigar box guitar. He was soon playing with his older cousin, the formidable Texas Alexander. When Hopkins hit his teens he became a traveling bluesman, hopping trains, gambling and busking on street corners throughout the state. This rough and tumble lifestyle landed him in jail in the mid 30’s.

Upon his release he began playing with his cousin Alexander once again, but money was tight all around and they were both forced to take a series of day jobs. The pair finally had their first big break in 1946 when they were offered a recording contract with Aladdin Records. On the day of the session, only Sam showed up at the studio where he accompanied the pianist Wilson ‘Thunder’ Smith on the song ‘Katie Mae.’ The duo were billed as ‘Thunder and Lightnin,’ a moniker which stuck with Hopkins for the rest of his career. He eventually cut nearly 50 sides for Aladdin Records, while at the same time moonlighting with other record companies on the side.

Lightnin’ Hopkins toured and recorded prolifically until the mid 50’s when the new Chicago electric blues began to make his acoustic style appear old fashioned. In 1959, a young blues enthusiast named Sam Charters managed to track him down, and together they recorded ‘The Roots of Lightning Hopkins’ in his apartment, using a guitar he had to borrow. Hopkins had lost none of his intensity, and when the album was released it launched him to legendary status alongside such blues heroes as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. He began to record again and became incredible prolific, cutting roughly 35 albums in the 60’s for any label that would pay him cash up front. Many of his songs were improvised on the spot, they were what he called ‘air songs,’ composed about whatever was on his mind when he entered the studio.

He finally began to slow down after a car crash in 1970, and died of cancer in 1982 at the age of 79.

Recommended Listening:

All links open in a new window

The Complete Aladdin Recordings

This double album contains 43 incredible late 40′s sides including his recording of Katie Mae.

Gold Star Sessions Volumes 1 & 2

Scorching Texas blues from Hopkins days in Houston in the 50′s.

The Roots of Lightnin’ Hopkins

The 1959 recordings that put Lightnin’ back on the map, includes Penitentiary Blues, Bad Luck and Remembrances of Blind Lemon. This album crackles with energy and emotion, one of my favorites.

Mojo Hand

This Rhino compilation is a great overview of Lightning Hopkins career, the recordings date between 1947 to 1969. The emphasis here is on his earlier work and treads very lightly on the music recorded after his ‘rediscovery.’

Texas Blues

Stunning songs and guitar work from this awesome album composed of sides recorded throughout the sixties.

For Further Study:

Lightnin’ Hopkins: His Life and Blues by Alan B. Govenar

By the time of his death in 1982, Sam ‘Lightnin’ Hopkins was likely the most recorded blues artist in history. This brilliant new biography–the first book ever written about him–illuminates the many contradictions of the man and his myth.

The Guitar Of Lightnin’ Hopkins DVD

by Ernie Hawkins

Offered here are all the basics, many of the secrets and tricks of Lightnin’s deeply accomplished, deceptively simple acoustic Texas boogie guitar style. This lesson features rare video footage of Lightnin from the 1950′s and 1960′s. Lightnin plays the tune and then Ernie analyzes it lick by lick. This video presents a wonderful opportunity to go the source of Texas blues and learn from the master who inspired generations of guitar heroes. Titles include: Pull A Party, Goin Down Slow, Shining Moon, Baby Please Don t Go and Take Me Back.

Lightnin’ Hopkins: Rare Performances 1960-1979 DVD

In 1960, German filmmaker Dietrich Wavzyn captured Lightnin’ on his Houston home turf, and the clips here of him perfoming on the street and in a Houston bar are rare glimpses into his milieu (and the earliest known footage of Hopkins). Seven years later, a relaxed Lightnin’ delivered engaging folk-blues performances for Seattle folklorists, five of which appear here. In 1970 he painted a masterful and entertaining musical self-portrait in eight songs from the Los Angeles PBS shows Boboquivari. Finally, Lightnin’s “lion-in-winter” appearance on Austin City Limits in 1979 shows a still powerful country bluesman disproving the old dog/new tricks adage with a Stratocaster and a wah-wah pedal!

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The story of fingerpicking guitar styles and techniques was born in the southern states of America. Black musicians shaped and developed this approach. The sounds and ideas varied greatly from the rough rhythmic approach of the Mississippi Delta to the piano sounding guitar of Blind Blake. It is very important for guitar students to have a good understanding of blues guitar in order to develop their fingerpicking abilities. Country Blues Guitar Workshop was put together to give the guitar student a panorama of the techniques and styles that were developed, explored and recorded during the 1920’s – 1940’s.
-Stefan Grossman

For anyone who wants to expand their knowledge of the history of the blues, learn about the techniques of the most innovative and important players of the era, or just listen to some great music performed by the masters, this series cannot be missed.

Direct Links to the artists covered:

Show #1: Charley Patton

Show #2: Son House

Show #3: Skip James

Show #4: Tommy Johnson

Show #5: Robert Johnson

Show #6: Bukka White

Show #7: Mississippi John Hurt

Show #8: Muddy Waters

Show #9: Lonnie Johnson

Show #10: Blind Lemon Jefferson

Show #11: Blind Willie Johnson

Show #12: Lightnin’ Hopkins

Show #13: Barbecue Bob/Charlie Lincoln/Willie Baker

Show #14: Blind Willie McTell

Show #15: Blind Blake

Show #16: Big Bill Broonzy

Show #17: Blind Boy Fuller/Reverend Gary Davis

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This song exists in contrasts with a lot of Slim’s material, which was frequently lighter and jocular.

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This is Blind Willie McTell’s stunning rendition of the old Gospel song of the same name. The passion of his vocals is matched by what must be a host of angels helping his hands create miracles on his 12 string. The end result is miraculous, almost as if McTell was letting God know that when he arrived at the pearly gates that he was to be let in on his own terms. It was recorded late in his career, shortly before he gave up the blues and became a preacher, singing only spirituals. In fact his wife recalled that around 1957, “He said he felt like he was coming to the end of his journey, he was coming back to God.” He died two years later at the age of 58, gone to join his friends who’ve gone on to that land, to live in that great mansion.

This recording comes from the album Pig ‘n Whistle Red, recorded in 1950 for Regal Records. It was named for a whites only barbecue place where McTell played requests for tips. This was also his last recording with occasional partner Curley Weaver.

Sending Up my Timber Lyrics

I have a dream that I dream
of my heavenly home
and I know that I’m going there someday
It may be morning, night or noon
I don’t know just how soon
That’s why I’m sending up my timber everyday

There a great consolation
for heartaches and pains
If you just send up some timber
Everyday, Lord everyday
And the hope, that he has given
We know the word of God is true
Pretty white mansion, waiting for you
Oh yes I’m sending up my timber
up to heaven, everyday
oh there’s a mansion
He has prepared there
Lord in Heaven for me
I will join with my friends
Who have gone on to that land
That’s why I’m sending up my timber everyday
Jesus died, oh yes he suffered
for you, Lord and for me
So that a soul so unworthy
Might live, lord might live.
If you just send up some timber
every now, oh and then
You can live in that great mansion
in the wind
Oh yes I’m sending up my timber
up to heaven, everyday
oh there’s a mansion
He has prepared up there
Lord in Heaven for me
I will join with my friends
Who have gone on to that land
That’s why I’m sending up my timber everyday
Transcribed by fingerstyleblues.com

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Thanks to Youtube’s Prewar music for posting this and other pre war gems.

His legacy has been sustained by four songs. “Fishin’ Blues” was covered by Taj Mahal and The Lovin’ Spoonful. “Bull Doze Blues” was recorded by Canned Heat with new lyrics, retitled “Goin’ Up The Country”. Here Thomas’s melody on quills was reproduced note for note by flautist Jim Horn. “Don’t Ease Me In” was covered by the Grateful Dead on their album Go to Heaven; and “Honey Won’t You Allow Me One More Chance” was covered by Bob Dylan (as “Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance”) on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Thomas’s vintage recording of “Don’t Ease Me In” is included on the compilation album The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead. In 1993 the band Deacon Blue released a song entitled “Last Night I Dreamed Of Henry Thomas” on their Whatever You Say, Say Nothing LP. Wikipedia

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