Topic: Seminal Influences - Innovation
Lighnin’ Hopkins’ version of "Needed Time" allowed for possible innovation because he did not always play it the same way. Taj Mahal added another blessing for change when he transposed the song to the banjo at the end of Sounder.
Eric Bibb introduced three changes in the many performances uploaded to YouTube that did not obscure the outlines of Hopkins’ version. First, he converted it into an audience participation song like Pete Seeger did with "Kumbaya." Some of the longer videos included his introduction that invited the audience to sing. Most just showed them singing the "needed time" lines.
Not all audiences responded the same. The one in Thailand would not sing, or if it did, the camera microphone didn’t pick up their voices. [1] Fewer responded to his request to clap during the instrumental interludes. The only audiences that were able to sing and clap at the same time were in Amsterdam [2] and Hannover, Germany. [3]
Bibb, like the Fourth Street Gospel Band discussed in the post for 14 February 2018, was able to use different instrumental configurations. Starting around 2008 he began appearing with a drum set, string bass, and an electric guitar played by Staffan Astner. [4] A few times he appeared with Michael Jerome Browne playing a slide-style guitar. [5] In these performances he and his backup musicians played as a group.
On some videos he appeared with local musicians. In Italy, Fabrizio Poggi played harmonica, [6] and in Stockholm, Ale Möller played a horizontal member of the flute family. [7] In that Hannover show Bibb appeared with mandolin and dobro players. [3] In these performances, Bibb usually took turns with the others on solo passages.
Bibb went a step farther and wrote his own introduction to "Needed Time." In addition, when he introduced Habib Koité to "Needed Time" the African guitar player added his own verses in Bambara. [8]
Performers
Vocal Soloist: Eric Bibb
Vocal Group: audience
Vocal Director: Eric Bibb
Instrumental Accompaniment: acoustic guitar, often electric guitar
Rhythm Accompaniment: sometimes drum set and string bass
Credits
Bibb always credited Taj Mahal with introducing him to "Needed Time"
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Verses: needed time, bended knee, if you don’t stay long
Vocabulary
Pronoun: I
Term for Deity: Lord, Jesus
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: open-ended with "needed time" treated as a burden
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: Lightnin’ Hopkins
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: alternated between sung sections and instrumental ones. The latter were introduced by the invitation to "think of someone you love" between 2008 and 2011, and with the announcement "it’s praying time" since 2010.
Singing Style: Bibb’s style was unornamented; the audiences sang in unison.
Solo-Group Dynamics: Bibb sang the verses and the audience sang the burden. He often just sang a few words in each line of the burden and let the audience carry the melody.
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: the accompanying instruments were subdued during the singing.
Instrumental-Rhythm Dynamics: Bibb told Keith Shadwick "having a percussionist will allow the sound of the guitar, which was my first love and something I still love, to come through." [14]
Notes on Performance
Occasion: Bibb appeared alone in remote areas like Ontario, [15] Australia, [16] and Thailand, [1] but more often appeared with other musicians.
Location: the videos ranged from small, indoor clubs to outdoor festivals. Some festivals were in tents.
Microphones: floor microphones in most places.
Clothing: Bibb dressed informally in a colored shirt that was open at the neck. He sometimes added a sports jacket and always appeared in a flat-brimmed hat.
Notes on Movement
Bibb might sit or stand while performing, but was always in motion. He used his feet to set the rhythm. In Östersund, Sweden, Astner tapped his toe twice as often as Bibb moved his feet. [4] Koité used his foot less often that Bibb, and one time crossed his ankles. Later he lifted one heel to mark time. [8]
Audience Perceptions
YouTube comments ran the gamut from praise to religious comments to questions about technique. Some recalled other concerts where they saw him perform, and add their memories of singing with him. Typical was Lani Dundore’s comment: "We needed you Eric and you played. We sang along at Laxon Chico World Music Fest." [17]
More specific was the memory of Nevada Cato, who sang backup on Bibb’s 1994 album, Spirit and The Blues. [18] He wrote:
"Awesom guy! Awesom music! Cant forget when he pulled me out out the crowd to join him on this song in Stockholm. Long live Erik Bibb." [19]
Notes on Performers
Bibb was born in New York in 1951. [20] His father, Leon Bibb had moved from Louisville, Kentucky, to New York where he performed in Broadway musicals, before turning to the folk-revival circuit. The elder Bibb was friends with Paul Robeson. [21] After Leon moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Eric went to Paris where he worked with Mickey Baker. [22] He was the Louisville-born musician mentioned in the post 17 August 2018 who worked with John Littleton.
The diversity of Bibb’s relations with other musicians like Astner was partly the result of his life in Europe. From Paris, he settled in Sweden. Around 1980, he returned to the States, but found the congenial atmosphere he remembered from Greenwich Village had been replaced by one of rugged individualism. [23] He returned to Sweden. Then, after recording for an English company, Bibb moved to London in 2003. After his marriage to Sari Matinlassi, he moved to Helsinki, Finland in 2011. [24]
Availability
I found nearly 30 concert videos on YouTube on 31 January 2018 with the search parameters "Eric Bibb Needed Time." Some are mentioned in the End Notes.
End Notes
1. Eric Bibb. "Needed Time." Uploaded by Ed Vaughan on 31 October 2009. Phuket International Blues Rock Festival, Thailand, 2009.
2. Eric Bibb. "Needed Time." Uploaded by DeKuijp on 28 April 2012. Staffan Astner, electric guitar. Amstel Kerk, concert, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 27 April 2012.
3. Eric Bibb and the North Country Far. "Needed time." Uploaded by snory66 on 16 December 2013. Bluesgarage Isernhagen, club, near Hannover, Germany, 15 December 2013. Petri Hakala, mandolin; Ollie Haavisto, Dobro guitar.
4. Eric Bibb. "Needed Time." Uploaded by dreamingtree72 on 19 April 2010. Gamla Teatern, hotel, Östersund, Sweden, 2010. Staffan Astner, electric guitar.
5. Eric Bibb and Michael Jerome Browne. "Needed Time." Uploaded by randallstaffordcook on 21 January 2016. Hugh’s Room, club, Toronto, Canada, 20 January 2016.
6. Eric Bibb. "Needed time." Uploaded by Alberto Polito on 2 August 2016. Fabrizio Poggi, harmonica; Guy Davis, electric guitar. Liri Blues Festival, near Rome, Italy, 2016.
7. Ale Möller, Eric Bibb, and Knut Reiersrud. "Needed Time." Uploaded by sssler on 18 September 2010. Concert, Stockholm, Sweden, 17 October 2010. Reiersrud, electric guitar.
8. Eric Bibb and Habib Koité. "Touma Ni Kelen/Needed Time." Uploaded by Gudi0510 on 13 November 2012. Harmonie, club, Bonn, Germany, 11 November 2011. Mamadou Kone, shakers.
14. Eric Bibb. Interviewed by Keith Shadwick. "Eric Bibb: Blues with a Pedigree." [London] Independent website. 21 February 2003.
15. Eric Bibb. "Needed Time." Uploaded by Opeongolad on 18 July 2011. Festival, Perth, Ontario, Canada, 2011.
16. Eric Bibb. "Needed Time." Uploaded by SilkySkillsUnited on 24 December 2011. The Basement, club, Sydney, Australia.
17. Lani Dundore. Comment, 2008, on Eric Bibb and Brian Kramer. "Needed Time." Uploaded by zekezement on 30 June 2007. California club, 1999.
18. Eric Bibb. Spirit and The Blues. Opus 3 Records 19401. Sweden, 1994. (Discogs entry for the album.)
19. bangoutaorda. Comment, 2009, on Eric Bibb and Brian Kramer. (See #17 above.)
20. Wikipedia. "Eric Bibb."
21. Joshua D. Farrington. "Bibb, Charles Leon." The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. Edited by Gerald L. Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel, and John A. Hardin. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2015. Robeson was mentioned in the post for 17 August 2018.
22. Wikipedia.
23. James M. Manheim. "Eric Bibb Biography - Steered Toward Blues by Jazz Musician, Moved to Sweden, Influenced by Taj Mahal." JRank website.
24. Wikipedia.
Showing posts with label ~ Seminal Influences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ~ Seminal Influences. Show all posts
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Friday, February 16, 2018
Ilan and Ilanit - Kumbaya
Topic: Seminal Influences - Innovation
The difficulty with innovation within a seminal version of a song is an artist needs to introduce something idiosyncratic without destroying the integrity of the original. With "Kumbaya," Ilan and Ilanit reproduced The Seekers vocal arrangement. Ilanit sang the lines like Judith Durham, while Ilan joined her like the men in The Seekers. A larger group repeated the last line as an interverse continuum, just as The Seekers had done.
They made changes in the instrumentation: instead of two acoustic guitars and a string bass, they used one guitar and a wooden block for rhythm. The major change was the staccato ending of "yah" in the third lines, followed by a cessation of all sound before line four.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: Ilanit
Vocal Group: not identified
Instrumental Accompaniment: acoustic guitar
Rhythm Accompaniment: block
Credits
1971: Folk
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: koom bye YAH
Verses: kumbaya, crying, praying, hears you, needs you
Vocabulary
Pronoun: one
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: three-verse song framed by "kumbaya" with a repeat of line four
Verse Repetition Pattern: AxxxA
Ending: repeated last line an additional time
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: strophic repetition. Ilanit tended to sing the second syllable of the gerunds on a lower note, rather than the same one.
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for Lord in some third lines. The Lord in the fourth line was only one tone.
Solo-Group Dynamics: Ilanit sang each statement alone; Ilan joined her on the refrain. A group repeated the last line interlude as Ilanit began the next verse.
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: the instrumental pattern was set in the introduction and did not change.
Notes on Performers
Ilanit was born Hanna Dresner-Tzakh to Polish Jews who migrated to Palestine. [1] "Kumbaya" was recorded in 1970 by a Germany company. She asked her mother whether she should go there, and was told "‘You know what, you should go. I’m sure Germany has changed, and you should think about your future and not think about the past." [2] However, she remembered
"it was strange because every time I saw an old man with one leg or one arm I thought, ‘He was probably a soldier in the Wehrmacht.’ It was a strange feeling" [3]
Despite her holocaust heritage - both her parents lost relatives - she was closer to Judith Durham than Joan Baez in her views of politics and music. "‘Music is supposed to make people happy and make people forget about troubles and politics,’" she said. "‘I don’t like to interfere - I want to bring happiness to people’." [4]
Ilan was born Shlomo Zach. He began as an Israeli singer, but later became a manager and producer. [5]
Availability
Album: Folksongs Der Welt. SR International 92 480. Germany, 1970. [6]
Album: Shuv Itchem. RR 30600. Israel, 1971. [7]
Reissue CD: Ilan and Ilanit. Hataklit, 1 April 2013. [8]
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Ilanit."
2. Josh Hamerman. "Ilanit Looks Back." Ynetnews website. 11 December 2006.
3. Hamerman.
4. Hamerman.
5. Wikipedia.
6. "Ilan & Ilanit - Folksongs Der Welt." Discogs website.
7. "A Ilan & Ilanit - Shuv Itchem." Discogs website.
8. Amazon website for the album.
The difficulty with innovation within a seminal version of a song is an artist needs to introduce something idiosyncratic without destroying the integrity of the original. With "Kumbaya," Ilan and Ilanit reproduced The Seekers vocal arrangement. Ilanit sang the lines like Judith Durham, while Ilan joined her like the men in The Seekers. A larger group repeated the last line as an interverse continuum, just as The Seekers had done.
They made changes in the instrumentation: instead of two acoustic guitars and a string bass, they used one guitar and a wooden block for rhythm. The major change was the staccato ending of "yah" in the third lines, followed by a cessation of all sound before line four.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: Ilanit
Vocal Group: not identified
Instrumental Accompaniment: acoustic guitar
Rhythm Accompaniment: block
Credits
1971: Folk
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: koom bye YAH
Verses: kumbaya, crying, praying, hears you, needs you
Vocabulary
Pronoun: one
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: three-verse song framed by "kumbaya" with a repeat of line four
Verse Repetition Pattern: AxxxA
Ending: repeated last line an additional time
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: strophic repetition. Ilanit tended to sing the second syllable of the gerunds on a lower note, rather than the same one.
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for Lord in some third lines. The Lord in the fourth line was only one tone.
Solo-Group Dynamics: Ilanit sang each statement alone; Ilan joined her on the refrain. A group repeated the last line interlude as Ilanit began the next verse.
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: the instrumental pattern was set in the introduction and did not change.
Notes on Performers
Ilanit was born Hanna Dresner-Tzakh to Polish Jews who migrated to Palestine. [1] "Kumbaya" was recorded in 1970 by a Germany company. She asked her mother whether she should go there, and was told "‘You know what, you should go. I’m sure Germany has changed, and you should think about your future and not think about the past." [2] However, she remembered
"it was strange because every time I saw an old man with one leg or one arm I thought, ‘He was probably a soldier in the Wehrmacht.’ It was a strange feeling" [3]
Despite her holocaust heritage - both her parents lost relatives - she was closer to Judith Durham than Joan Baez in her views of politics and music. "‘Music is supposed to make people happy and make people forget about troubles and politics,’" she said. "‘I don’t like to interfere - I want to bring happiness to people’." [4]
Ilan was born Shlomo Zach. He began as an Israeli singer, but later became a manager and producer. [5]
Availability
Album: Folksongs Der Welt. SR International 92 480. Germany, 1970. [6]
Album: Shuv Itchem. RR 30600. Israel, 1971. [7]
Reissue CD: Ilan and Ilanit. Hataklit, 1 April 2013. [8]
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Ilanit."
2. Josh Hamerman. "Ilanit Looks Back." Ynetnews website. 11 December 2006.
3. Hamerman.
4. Hamerman.
5. Wikipedia.
6. "Ilan & Ilanit - Folksongs Der Welt." Discogs website.
7. "A Ilan & Ilanit - Shuv Itchem." Discogs website.
8. Amazon website for the album.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
4th Street Gospel Band - Needed Time
Topic: Seminal Influences - Innovation
Taj Mahal laid the foundation for non-blues versions of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ "Needed Time" when he used a lively version at the end of the film Sounder in 1972. [1] While the credits rolled by, he played the song on a banjo with a double handclap rhythm.
A generation or so later, the Fourth Street Gospel Band of Saint Charles, Missouri, sang the verses in the close harmony style associated with country music and used Western Swing instruments in 2010. The fiddle played the melody once in every instrumental interlude. The keyboard player introduced more variations in his two solos; the second was jazzier than the first. The electric guitar played stayed within the rhetoric of country and country-rock musicians.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: man
Vocal Group: two and at least one other man
Instrumental Accompaniment: electric guitar, fiddle, keyboard
Rhythm Accompaniment: electric bass, drum set
Credits
"Lightning Hopkins’ classic, gospel blues song."
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Verses: won’t you come by here, down on my knees, if you don’t stay long, needed time
Vocabulary
Pronoun: I
Term for Deity: Jesus, Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: "needed time" treated as burden
Verse Repetition Pattern: AB-CB- DB-BC
Ending: repeat last line once
Unique Features: treated "come by here" and "come down here" as interchangeable
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: Lightnin’ Hopkins
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: Alternated vocal and instrumental verses; instrumental verses mirrored verse-burden format with two instruments each playing three lines of the six-line melody (AAABBB).
Singing Style: unornamented with unison or timbraic harmony
Solo-Group Dynamics: male soloist sang the first line; woman and possibly other men began a measure later in second line and continued the line with him; same pattern in third line.
Instrumental Style: modern western swing. On Facebook, one member wrote: "We come from backgrounds of gospel, country, blues, and rock and roll to produce a unique sound." [2]
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: subdued during sung verses.
Vocal-Rhythm Dynamics: drum set beat but only played flourishes in the introduction.
Notes on Performance
Occasion: concert
Location: they were on a stage with a brick wall in back.
Microphones: floor mikes were set at mouth level in front of all the instrumentalists except the drummer; female singer had a hand mike.
Clothing: casual. Most of the men were wearing blue jeans and button-front shirts. She was wearing white slacks with a shirt and cerise over shirt.
Notes on Movement
Drummer and keyboard player were seated; fiddle player knelt; the others were standing. As soon as the drum began, the woman began tapping her foot. The guitar player tapped his foot and the keyboard player raised and lowered one knee.
Notes on Audience
Applauded at end.
Notes on Performers
Facebook said the Fourth Street Gospel Band was organized in 2009 in Saint Charles, Missouri. It listed the following members: Scott Adair, Danny Mills, Randy Shields, Glenn Uhls, and Glynelle Wells. [3] Elsewhere, one member wrote "4 of us are from the nazarene church in bridgeton (yes that is the one that was leveled by a tornado) 2 from Church of Christ, and 1 from evangelical free." [4]
On a website where it advertised its availability, a spokesman wrote:
"play and sing gospel music for Church Concert, event, tent meeting, fund raiser, picnic. Play lot of old time gospel/ hymns some contemporary christian. With a St. Louis Style of Blues/ country mix you will love." [5]
On Facebook, a spokesman added "We can bring from 1-8 musicians to you for your event." [6] He or she assured potential customers "we can play quiet with brushes" instead of drums. [7]
Availability
YouTube: uploaded by Scott Adair on 10 March 2010.
End Notes
1. Taj Mahal’s version was discussed in the post for 10 February 2018.
2. "4th Street Gospel Band." About page, Facebook.
3. Facebook.
4. "4th street Gospel band." Gig Salad website
5. Gig Salad.
6. Facebook.
7. Gig Salad.
Taj Mahal laid the foundation for non-blues versions of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ "Needed Time" when he used a lively version at the end of the film Sounder in 1972. [1] While the credits rolled by, he played the song on a banjo with a double handclap rhythm.
A generation or so later, the Fourth Street Gospel Band of Saint Charles, Missouri, sang the verses in the close harmony style associated with country music and used Western Swing instruments in 2010. The fiddle played the melody once in every instrumental interlude. The keyboard player introduced more variations in his two solos; the second was jazzier than the first. The electric guitar played stayed within the rhetoric of country and country-rock musicians.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: man
Vocal Group: two and at least one other man
Instrumental Accompaniment: electric guitar, fiddle, keyboard
Rhythm Accompaniment: electric bass, drum set
Credits
"Lightning Hopkins’ classic, gospel blues song."
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Verses: won’t you come by here, down on my knees, if you don’t stay long, needed time
Vocabulary
Pronoun: I
Term for Deity: Jesus, Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: "needed time" treated as burden
Verse Repetition Pattern: AB-CB- DB-BC
Ending: repeat last line once
Unique Features: treated "come by here" and "come down here" as interchangeable
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: Lightnin’ Hopkins
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: Alternated vocal and instrumental verses; instrumental verses mirrored verse-burden format with two instruments each playing three lines of the six-line melody (AAABBB).
Singing Style: unornamented with unison or timbraic harmony
Solo-Group Dynamics: male soloist sang the first line; woman and possibly other men began a measure later in second line and continued the line with him; same pattern in third line.
Instrumental Style: modern western swing. On Facebook, one member wrote: "We come from backgrounds of gospel, country, blues, and rock and roll to produce a unique sound." [2]
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: subdued during sung verses.
Vocal-Rhythm Dynamics: drum set beat but only played flourishes in the introduction.
Notes on Performance
Occasion: concert
Location: they were on a stage with a brick wall in back.
Microphones: floor mikes were set at mouth level in front of all the instrumentalists except the drummer; female singer had a hand mike.
Clothing: casual. Most of the men were wearing blue jeans and button-front shirts. She was wearing white slacks with a shirt and cerise over shirt.
Notes on Movement
Drummer and keyboard player were seated; fiddle player knelt; the others were standing. As soon as the drum began, the woman began tapping her foot. The guitar player tapped his foot and the keyboard player raised and lowered one knee.
Notes on Audience
Applauded at end.
Notes on Performers
Facebook said the Fourth Street Gospel Band was organized in 2009 in Saint Charles, Missouri. It listed the following members: Scott Adair, Danny Mills, Randy Shields, Glenn Uhls, and Glynelle Wells. [3] Elsewhere, one member wrote "4 of us are from the nazarene church in bridgeton (yes that is the one that was leveled by a tornado) 2 from Church of Christ, and 1 from evangelical free." [4]
On a website where it advertised its availability, a spokesman wrote:
"play and sing gospel music for Church Concert, event, tent meeting, fund raiser, picnic. Play lot of old time gospel/ hymns some contemporary christian. With a St. Louis Style of Blues/ country mix you will love." [5]
On Facebook, a spokesman added "We can bring from 1-8 musicians to you for your event." [6] He or she assured potential customers "we can play quiet with brushes" instead of drums. [7]
Availability
YouTube: uploaded by Scott Adair on 10 March 2010.
End Notes
1. Taj Mahal’s version was discussed in the post for 10 February 2018.
2. "4th Street Gospel Band." About page, Facebook.
3. Facebook.
4. "4th street Gospel band." Gig Salad website
5. Gig Salad.
6. Facebook.
7. Gig Salad.
Monday, February 12, 2018
The Gospel - Kumbaya
Topic: Seminal Influences - Innovation
Once performers have become familiar with a seminal version of a song they may innovate within its boundaries. The simplest form is a substitution of one voice or instrument for another. This modification requires at least one member of a group be able to do transpositions of keys.
The Gospel recorded a version of "Kumbaya" in Oslo, Norway, in 1970 that vocally copied The Seekers with a soprano lead. Except for the first verse, she said the final Lord on one note like Judith Durham with no other ornamentation. On the second verse the group used a call-response form, but after that the group joined the soloist like the men in The Seekers had done with Durham.
The innovations were in the instrumentation. Instead of two guitars and a string bass playing the melody through once before the singing commenced, a pennywhistle was used with the bass. By then, the idea of using African drums had been introduced and one began when the soprano started singing. Since this was 1970, it probably was a bongo.
Instead of the group repeating the last line between sung verses, as The Seekers had done, the instruments played it. The most unusual was a trumpet which began in the third verse and began to add its own flourishes in the final iteration.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: soprano
Vocal Group: men and women
Vocal Director: not identified
Instrumental Accompaniment: pennywhistle, keyboard, trumpet
Rhythm Accompaniment: string bass, triangle, bongo
Credits
© 1970 Arne Bendiksen Records AS
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: Com bye yah
Verses: kumbaya, crying, praying, singing,
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: four-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate; last note sustained
Basic Structure: alternate sung verses with instrumental interludes; key changed between second and third verses
Singing Style: one syllable to one note; unison
Solo-Group Dynamics: verse 1 soloist only, verse 2 solo statement and group refrain, verses 3 and 4 soloist and group in unison
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: pennywhistle and string bass play the introduction. Bongo drum replace bass with verse 1 and keyboard replace pennywhistle on 2. Trumpet added with verse 3 that become louder and more ornamented in verse 4.
Vocal-Rhythm Dynamics: bongo drum constant from verse 2
Notes on Performers
No information was provided on the group. The album containing "Kumbaya" was recorded in Arne Bendiksen’s studios. He was a popular singer in the 1960s, who took over a recording company in 1964. He was interested in promoting melodic music in the years when the Beatles and Rolling Stones were ascendent. [1]
One side of the Jeg Vil Tro album was in Norwegian and the other in English. [2] It included American religious songs like "Just a Closer Walk with Thee." "All My Sorrows" was popularized by Joan Baez, while "This Train" was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and by The Seekers.
Availability
Album: Jeg Vil Tro. Triola TNLP 37. 28 October 1970.
End Notes
1. Norwegian Wikipedia. "Arne Bendiksen."
2. "Gospel (3) - Jeg Vil Tro." Discogs website.
Once performers have become familiar with a seminal version of a song they may innovate within its boundaries. The simplest form is a substitution of one voice or instrument for another. This modification requires at least one member of a group be able to do transpositions of keys.
The Gospel recorded a version of "Kumbaya" in Oslo, Norway, in 1970 that vocally copied The Seekers with a soprano lead. Except for the first verse, she said the final Lord on one note like Judith Durham with no other ornamentation. On the second verse the group used a call-response form, but after that the group joined the soloist like the men in The Seekers had done with Durham.
The innovations were in the instrumentation. Instead of two guitars and a string bass playing the melody through once before the singing commenced, a pennywhistle was used with the bass. By then, the idea of using African drums had been introduced and one began when the soprano started singing. Since this was 1970, it probably was a bongo.
Instead of the group repeating the last line between sung verses, as The Seekers had done, the instruments played it. The most unusual was a trumpet which began in the third verse and began to add its own flourishes in the final iteration.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: soprano
Vocal Group: men and women
Vocal Director: not identified
Instrumental Accompaniment: pennywhistle, keyboard, trumpet
Rhythm Accompaniment: string bass, triangle, bongo
Credits
© 1970 Arne Bendiksen Records AS
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: Com bye yah
Verses: kumbaya, crying, praying, singing,
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: four-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate; last note sustained
Basic Structure: alternate sung verses with instrumental interludes; key changed between second and third verses
Singing Style: one syllable to one note; unison
Solo-Group Dynamics: verse 1 soloist only, verse 2 solo statement and group refrain, verses 3 and 4 soloist and group in unison
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: pennywhistle and string bass play the introduction. Bongo drum replace bass with verse 1 and keyboard replace pennywhistle on 2. Trumpet added with verse 3 that become louder and more ornamented in verse 4.
Vocal-Rhythm Dynamics: bongo drum constant from verse 2
Notes on Performers
No information was provided on the group. The album containing "Kumbaya" was recorded in Arne Bendiksen’s studios. He was a popular singer in the 1960s, who took over a recording company in 1964. He was interested in promoting melodic music in the years when the Beatles and Rolling Stones were ascendent. [1]
One side of the Jeg Vil Tro album was in Norwegian and the other in English. [2] It included American religious songs like "Just a Closer Walk with Thee." "All My Sorrows" was popularized by Joan Baez, while "This Train" was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and by The Seekers.
Availability
Album: Jeg Vil Tro. Triola TNLP 37. 28 October 1970.
End Notes
1. Norwegian Wikipedia. "Arne Bendiksen."
2. "Gospel (3) - Jeg Vil Tro." Discogs website.
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Orfeó Enric Morera - Kumbaya (Come By Here, Lord)
Topic: Seminal Influences - Tribute
The immediate impact of seminal arrangements of songs is imitation. Later, once artists have absorbed their innovations and created their own styles, they pay tribute to those who influenced them. In 1967 the Orfeó Enric Morera recorded some songs popularized by Joan Baez.
Manuel Oltra’s a capella arrangement of "Kumbaya" alternated a burden sung by the entire group with verses sung by a soprano accompanied by the group. During the first verse, the group hummed while a few men sang a rhythm. In the second verse, the tenors took over the melody and the women sang another part. In the final stanza the group sang a counter melody with "oh oh" to the female solo. The burdens relied upon parallel harmony that diverged toward the ends of each line.
Baez’s influence was less in the way the song was sung, than in the mere fact it was sung at all. Catalonia had been invaded by Francisco Franco’s troops toward the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939. After the war, "thousands of Republicans were imprisoned and at least 30,000 executed." Others fled to France or Chile. [1]
The chorale group was organized in a small town near Barcelona in 1951. Leonardo Balada remembered:
"I was a member with my friends, a group of idealistic individuals, of an amateur chorus, the Orfeó Enric Morera, where classical music and folk-inspired Catalan compositions were sung. Belonging to that choral group was also for us a defiant expression against the repressive regime of the dictator Francisco Franco, who had prohibited any free press or liberal expression. Franco, a shrewd politician, did not forbid the existence of those musical organizations which were harmless to his regime and worked as a release valve to minimise political upheaval." [2]
The other three songs on the Baez album included a joyous "Battle Hymn of the Republic," disguised as a traditional Irish "Himne" or hymn. [3] The Child ballad "Geordie" narrated a woman’s failure to save her lover from being hung for poaching the king’s deer, while "Once I Had a Sweetheart," translated as "Un Amor Tenía," was a lament for a lover who never returned.
If "Kumbaya" contained any political connotations, they must have come from the association of the song with the Civil Rights and peace movements in the United States. The verses were sung in Catalan with senyor for Lord. [4] I’m fairly sure the last verse was "cántame" or "sing to me." Another may have been "I sing of God" or "Canto de Déu." The other may also have begun with the word "sing." They were not straight translations of Baez’s "crying" and "praying."
Performers
Vocal Soloists: soprano and group of tenors
Vocal Group: Orfeó Enric Morera
Vocal Director: Antoni Coll
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
(C) 1967 Picap [5]
Cant Espiritual Negre
Arrangement: Manuel Oltra [6]
Notes on Lyrics
Language: Catalan
Term for Deity: senyor
Basic Form: verse-burden
Verse Repetition Pattern: AxAxAxA
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: alternated strophic repetitions of the burden with harmonic variations in the verses.
Singing Style: simple harmony with no ornamentation; when a syllable was sung on several notes it was sung by the entire group.
Notes on Performers
The chorale group was organized in Sant Just Desvern and named for Enric Morera i Viura, a friend of one of the organizers. [7] Morera was born in Barcelona in 1865 and became "prominent in the movement Catalan Musical Modernism." [8]
Antoni Coll i Cruells, the director when the recording was made, came from the Catalan village of Centelles. He studied in Barcelona and Rome, before becoming a music teacher. Simultaneously, he directed several choral groups.[9]
The album’s chorale arranger was born in Valencia to parents who moved to Barcelona when he was young. Manuel Oltra i Ferrer became a professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatori Superior de Música. He also was active in folklore organizations and "developed a remarkable work in which popular influence predominates, in the form of harmonization of traditional songs (interpreted by most Catalan choral formations)." [10]
Leonardo Balada Ibáñez studied piano at the Conservatori Superior de Música, before immigrating to the United States in 1956. He now teaches at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Balada wrote Guernica for orchestra in 1966, and since has combined folk dance rhythms and folk harmonies with atonality. [11]
As mentioned in the post for 9 October 2017, Baez did not perform in Barcelona until after Franco died in 1975.
Availability
EP 45: Els Èxits De Joan Baez. Edigsa CM 182. 1967. [12]
YouTube: uploaded by Altafonte Music Distribution S.L. on 23 June 2015.
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Spanish Civil War." Quotation from Giles Tremlett. "Spain Torn on Tribute to Victims of Franco." The Guardian, 1 December 2003.
2. Leonardo Balada. Note on a recording of "No-res" and "Ebony Fantasies." Translated by Susannah Howe. Naxos Records website.
3. "Orfeó Enric Morera - Els Èxits De Joan Baez." Discogs website.
4. Catalan spelling and translations from Google Translate.
5. YouTube notes.
6. Discogs.
7. "Orfeó Enric Morera." Sant Just website.
8. Wikipedia. "Enric Morera i Viura."
9. "Antoni Coll i Cruells." Sant Just website.
10. "Manuel Oltra i Ferrer." Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana website. Quotation translated by Google Translate.
11. Wikipedia. "Leonardo Balada."
12. Discogs.
The immediate impact of seminal arrangements of songs is imitation. Later, once artists have absorbed their innovations and created their own styles, they pay tribute to those who influenced them. In 1967 the Orfeó Enric Morera recorded some songs popularized by Joan Baez.
Manuel Oltra’s a capella arrangement of "Kumbaya" alternated a burden sung by the entire group with verses sung by a soprano accompanied by the group. During the first verse, the group hummed while a few men sang a rhythm. In the second verse, the tenors took over the melody and the women sang another part. In the final stanza the group sang a counter melody with "oh oh" to the female solo. The burdens relied upon parallel harmony that diverged toward the ends of each line.
Baez’s influence was less in the way the song was sung, than in the mere fact it was sung at all. Catalonia had been invaded by Francisco Franco’s troops toward the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939. After the war, "thousands of Republicans were imprisoned and at least 30,000 executed." Others fled to France or Chile. [1]
The chorale group was organized in a small town near Barcelona in 1951. Leonardo Balada remembered:
"I was a member with my friends, a group of idealistic individuals, of an amateur chorus, the Orfeó Enric Morera, where classical music and folk-inspired Catalan compositions were sung. Belonging to that choral group was also for us a defiant expression against the repressive regime of the dictator Francisco Franco, who had prohibited any free press or liberal expression. Franco, a shrewd politician, did not forbid the existence of those musical organizations which were harmless to his regime and worked as a release valve to minimise political upheaval." [2]
The other three songs on the Baez album included a joyous "Battle Hymn of the Republic," disguised as a traditional Irish "Himne" or hymn. [3] The Child ballad "Geordie" narrated a woman’s failure to save her lover from being hung for poaching the king’s deer, while "Once I Had a Sweetheart," translated as "Un Amor Tenía," was a lament for a lover who never returned.
If "Kumbaya" contained any political connotations, they must have come from the association of the song with the Civil Rights and peace movements in the United States. The verses were sung in Catalan with senyor for Lord. [4] I’m fairly sure the last verse was "cántame" or "sing to me." Another may have been "I sing of God" or "Canto de Déu." The other may also have begun with the word "sing." They were not straight translations of Baez’s "crying" and "praying."
Performers
Vocal Soloists: soprano and group of tenors
Vocal Group: Orfeó Enric Morera
Vocal Director: Antoni Coll
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
(C) 1967 Picap [5]
Cant Espiritual Negre
Arrangement: Manuel Oltra [6]
Notes on Lyrics
Language: Catalan
Term for Deity: senyor
Basic Form: verse-burden
Verse Repetition Pattern: AxAxAxA
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: alternated strophic repetitions of the burden with harmonic variations in the verses.
Singing Style: simple harmony with no ornamentation; when a syllable was sung on several notes it was sung by the entire group.
Notes on Performers
The chorale group was organized in Sant Just Desvern and named for Enric Morera i Viura, a friend of one of the organizers. [7] Morera was born in Barcelona in 1865 and became "prominent in the movement Catalan Musical Modernism." [8]
Antoni Coll i Cruells, the director when the recording was made, came from the Catalan village of Centelles. He studied in Barcelona and Rome, before becoming a music teacher. Simultaneously, he directed several choral groups.[9]
The album’s chorale arranger was born in Valencia to parents who moved to Barcelona when he was young. Manuel Oltra i Ferrer became a professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatori Superior de Música. He also was active in folklore organizations and "developed a remarkable work in which popular influence predominates, in the form of harmonization of traditional songs (interpreted by most Catalan choral formations)." [10]
Leonardo Balada Ibáñez studied piano at the Conservatori Superior de Música, before immigrating to the United States in 1956. He now teaches at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Balada wrote Guernica for orchestra in 1966, and since has combined folk dance rhythms and folk harmonies with atonality. [11]
As mentioned in the post for 9 October 2017, Baez did not perform in Barcelona until after Franco died in 1975.
Availability
EP 45: Els Èxits De Joan Baez. Edigsa CM 182. 1967. [12]
YouTube: uploaded by Altafonte Music Distribution S.L. on 23 June 2015.
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Spanish Civil War." Quotation from Giles Tremlett. "Spain Torn on Tribute to Victims of Franco." The Guardian, 1 December 2003.
2. Leonardo Balada. Note on a recording of "No-res" and "Ebony Fantasies." Translated by Susannah Howe. Naxos Records website.
3. "Orfeó Enric Morera - Els Èxits De Joan Baez." Discogs website.
4. Catalan spelling and translations from Google Translate.
5. YouTube notes.
6. Discogs.
7. "Orfeó Enric Morera." Sant Just website.
8. Wikipedia. "Enric Morera i Viura."
9. "Antoni Coll i Cruells." Sant Just website.
10. "Manuel Oltra i Ferrer." Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana website. Quotation translated by Google Translate.
11. Wikipedia. "Leonardo Balada."
12. Discogs.
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
The Revival Band - Kumbaya
Topic: Seminal Influences - Imitation
Individuals and groups often learned "Kumbaya" from Joan Baez or The Seekers without being influenced by the way each sang it. After all, if one didn’t have Baez’s vocal range, all one could do was sing the words and melody. The same held for The Seekers if one was not part of a vocal group.
The Seekers’ version was distinguished by the three men repeating the last line during the pause between verses sung by Judith Durham. Durham often sang "Lord" in the third line on a high pitch, and always used only one note in the last line. In addition she went high on the final "yah" of "kumbaya." [1]
Baez used the minor melody in the second line every time, while the Seekers only used it with the kumbaya verse. She sometimes ornamented "bye" in the third line, went higher on the minor line in the later repetitions in 1962, and also went high on the final "yah." [2]
The Revival Band performed The Seekers’ version at their tenth anniversary concert in Budapest in 1994. They are the only group I’ve observed on YouTube who sang only The Seekers’ version with no bits borrowed from Baez.
Two men played guitars and a third played string bass while a woman sang the lead part. The video camera did not pick up the men as well as the woman, so it was hard to tell if they copied the introduction or played something less ambitious. They did repeat the final line as an interverse interlude.
The woman sang the verses in the same order The Seekers used in their 1993 concerts. The
She always sang the final Lord on one note and sang the word on a higher note in the third lines. Her second line became more minor with each repetition.
The group’s only divergence from The Seekers was tempo. They performed it faster.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: female
Vocal Group: three men
Instrumental Accompaniment: two guitars
Rhythm Accompaniment: string bass
Credits
None given.
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: koom BYE yah
Verses: kumbaya, praying, crying, singing
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: three-verse song framed by repetitions of kumbaya
Verse Repetition Pattern: AxxxAA
Ending: repeated last verse
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: fast; last line slow
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: dominant female soloist with men singing some lines with her.
Notes on Performance
Occasion: tenth anniversary concert, 1994.
Location: Kispesti Vigadó, a community center in Budapest
Microphones: she held a hand mike; floor mikes were set in front of the men near their mouths, not their instruments.
Clothing: the woman wore a long denim skirt, white blouse, and narrow black scarf; she had long brown hair. The men wore light colored slacks and shirt-sleeved white shirts without ties.
Notes on Movement
They stood several feet apart from one another and looked at the audience. One man bent his knees to keep time and the women used her left hand to mark time in the last two iterations of kumbaya when the tempo was faster.
Notes on Audience
Applause at the end.
Notes on Performers
I could find nothing on the group or the person who uploaded the video, since both names were common.
The other songs uploaded from the 1994 concerts had been recorded by artists like Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, and the Carter Family. Béla Várkonyi also had created play lists for The Seekers, Peter, Paul and Mary, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
If the group began performing in 1984, they had then spent their entire lives under the communist rule of János Kádár. He had introduced some liberal reforms after the suppression of the 1956 revolt. Living standards were better in Hungary than elsewhere in eastern Europe. The economy began to deteriorate after they began performing, and was in recession by the end of communist rule in 1991. At the time of their concert, the country was still suffering from austerity measures imposed by the neo-liberal government. [3]
Availability
YouTube: uploaded by Béla Várkonyi on 30 August 2013.
End Notes
1. Joan Baez’s version was described in the post for 9 October 2017.
2. The Seekers’ version was described in entries posted 29 January 2018, 31 January 2018, and 2 February 2018.
3. Wikipedia. "Hungary."
Individuals and groups often learned "Kumbaya" from Joan Baez or The Seekers without being influenced by the way each sang it. After all, if one didn’t have Baez’s vocal range, all one could do was sing the words and melody. The same held for The Seekers if one was not part of a vocal group.
The Seekers’ version was distinguished by the three men repeating the last line during the pause between verses sung by Judith Durham. Durham often sang "Lord" in the third line on a high pitch, and always used only one note in the last line. In addition she went high on the final "yah" of "kumbaya." [1]
Baez used the minor melody in the second line every time, while the Seekers only used it with the kumbaya verse. She sometimes ornamented "bye" in the third line, went higher on the minor line in the later repetitions in 1962, and also went high on the final "yah." [2]
The Revival Band performed The Seekers’ version at their tenth anniversary concert in Budapest in 1994. They are the only group I’ve observed on YouTube who sang only The Seekers’ version with no bits borrowed from Baez.
Two men played guitars and a third played string bass while a woman sang the lead part. The video camera did not pick up the men as well as the woman, so it was hard to tell if they copied the introduction or played something less ambitious. They did repeat the final line as an interverse interlude.
The woman sang the verses in the same order The Seekers used in their 1993 concerts. The
She always sang the final Lord on one note and sang the word on a higher note in the third lines. Her second line became more minor with each repetition.
The group’s only divergence from The Seekers was tempo. They performed it faster.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: female
Vocal Group: three men
Instrumental Accompaniment: two guitars
Rhythm Accompaniment: string bass
Credits
None given.
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: koom BYE yah
Verses: kumbaya, praying, crying, singing
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: three-verse song framed by repetitions of kumbaya
Verse Repetition Pattern: AxxxAA
Ending: repeated last verse
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: fast; last line slow
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: dominant female soloist with men singing some lines with her.
Notes on Performance
Occasion: tenth anniversary concert, 1994.
Location: Kispesti Vigadó, a community center in Budapest
Microphones: she held a hand mike; floor mikes were set in front of the men near their mouths, not their instruments.
Clothing: the woman wore a long denim skirt, white blouse, and narrow black scarf; she had long brown hair. The men wore light colored slacks and shirt-sleeved white shirts without ties.
Notes on Movement
They stood several feet apart from one another and looked at the audience. One man bent his knees to keep time and the women used her left hand to mark time in the last two iterations of kumbaya when the tempo was faster.
Notes on Audience
Applause at the end.
Notes on Performers
I could find nothing on the group or the person who uploaded the video, since both names were common.
The other songs uploaded from the 1994 concerts had been recorded by artists like Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, and the Carter Family. Béla Várkonyi also had created play lists for The Seekers, Peter, Paul and Mary, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
If the group began performing in 1984, they had then spent their entire lives under the communist rule of János Kádár. He had introduced some liberal reforms after the suppression of the 1956 revolt. Living standards were better in Hungary than elsewhere in eastern Europe. The economy began to deteriorate after they began performing, and was in recession by the end of communist rule in 1991. At the time of their concert, the country was still suffering from austerity measures imposed by the neo-liberal government. [3]
Availability
YouTube: uploaded by Béla Várkonyi on 30 August 2013.
End Notes
1. Joan Baez’s version was described in the post for 9 October 2017.
2. The Seekers’ version was described in entries posted 29 January 2018, 31 January 2018, and 2 February 2018.
3. Wikipedia. "Hungary."
Sunday, February 4, 2018
Daddy Stovepipe - Needed Time
Topic: Seminal Influences - Imitation
The influence of a seminal recording of "Come by Here" or "Kumbaya" can be seen in several ways. In the most obvious, a musician simply copies a performance note by note. This, after all, is how one learns the craft. All that’s changed in the last century is technology: Lightnin’ Hopkins was able to watch Blind Lemon Jefferson play in Texas, while those who learned after Hopkins and Jefferson died could only listen to their recordings. [1]
Later, musicians who had absorbed older performances, transcribed them. Their tablatures used six lines to represent the six strings on a guitar with numbers of the frets to indicate which chords were used. Other symbols were added to indicate rhythm and musical attributes, much like they were on musical staffs. Tyros still needed to hear a recording to grasp the style.
YouTube has restored the visual dimension that existed when one was watching a performer or had an instructor. Carl Bludts probably learned to play guitar from recordings, but now, using the name Daddy Stovepipe, he sells his tab books and uploads videos that illustrate the more difficult parts.
His two videos of "Needed Time" assumed a student already had studied his tab book. In the first one he played a line, then replayed part of it to illustrate how to hammer a string or slide a finger between chords. At the end, he replayed the first section slowly while singing a verse so the viewer could coordinate the two.
The second video was devoted to the instrumental break. At one point he repeated a section so the student could see how he damped the strings with his right hand. In another, he showed how he quickly moved his left rapidly between a chord high on the neck and one lower down.
Bludts’ pedagogical skill becomes obvious when his tab is compared with one produced by Eric Gombart. The latter’s rendition of Eric Bibb’s version added a transcription of the notes on the G-clef and the images of the chords. While this was useful information, it made the tab itself harder to read by a beginner. [2]
Bibb’s accompanying DVD had two videos of "Needed Time." One showed both hands playing the guitar, and the other used a split screen with close-ups of each hand. Again this was very good, but with no comments on technique it was up to the viewer to recognize things like hammering and damping.
Country Blues suggested Bloudts’ importance by noting his website was viewed 3,000 times a day. [3] A more important measure is the videos posted by individuals who indicated they had learned "Needed Time" from him.
In one, a young man who called himself bostonteabagger had mastered most of Bludts’ arrangement but still had problems with small sections which he played a tad slower as he concentrated on them. Sometimes the tension in his left hand or a furrow in his brow indicated he still wasn’t completely sure of himself.
In another a teenager calling himself oggendoggen admitted he’s still learning, but "it’s getting better." He turned his head from side to side as he concentrated on one hand or the other, but only betrayed his difficult passages with facial grimaces.
Both were able to maintained the rhythm, but neither attempted to sing as he played.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: Carl Bludts
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: Carl Bludts, acoustic guitar
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Tab book: Lightnin’ Hopkins arranged by DaddyStovePipe.
Notes on Lyrics
In the first video, Bludts sang one verse with the lines "needed time" and "Jesus will you come by here."
Notes on Music
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: quarter note = 116 beats per minute
Tuning: standard
Key Signature: E
Guitar Chords: E-A-B7
Basic Structure: verse and break
Notes on Performance
Occasion: the camera was aimed at his hands, and showed nothing more. One reviewer noted "videos are professionally produced, with good lighting and clear sound." [4]
Clothing: tan slacks and ivory-colored mock turtle-neck shirt, with brown overshirt.
Notes on Movement
His left hand was on the neck of the guitar and his right over the sound hole, with the instrument resting on his right thigh. In the first lesson, his left knee moved up and down to mark the rhythm.
Audience Perceptions
Bludts must have monitored the comments he received on YouTube. One person wrote:
"One note: i was a little confused at first because flor some reason your your fret marker is on the 10th fret instead of the 9th ...you might want to mention this." [5]
The second video now appears with an added display box that says:
"I’m playing an old Supertone from the 1920ies. It has a FRETMARKER ON THE 10th FRET instead of the more current place, the 9th fret."
Notes on Performers
These two videos and his website provided no information about Bludts. A website it linked to indicated he was a "retired shopkeeper in Belgium," and more specifically that he was Flemish. [6]
His nom de plume was used by Johnny Watson who played guitar in a number of styles, from mariachi to cajun. Wikipedia said the Mobile-born African American "may have been the earliest-born blues performer to record." [7]
Availability
Daddy Stovepipe
Tab book: Lesson Pack TABS Volume 1, Part 1. PDF sold by his website.
YouTube: Guitar Lesson 1. Uploaded by daddystovepipe on 3 January 2008.
YouTube: Guitar Lesson 2. Uploaded by daddystovepipe on 3 January 2008.
Adolescent Student
YouTube: uploaded by oggendoggen2 on 29 January 2009.
Young Male Student
YouTube: uploaded by bostonteabagger71739 on 25 October 2009.
End Notes
1. Lightnin’ Hopkins version was discussed in the posts for 21 August 2017 and 23 August 2017.
2. Eric Bibb. Guitar Tab Songbook, Volume 1. Tab and standard notations by Eric Gombart. DixieFrog DFGCD8778. 2015.
3. "Carl Bludts (daddystovepipe)". The Country Blues website.
4. Country Blues.
5. Joseph LeBlanc. Comment posted to Lesson 2 in 2012.
6. Country Blues.
7. Wikipedia. "Daddy Stovepipe."
The influence of a seminal recording of "Come by Here" or "Kumbaya" can be seen in several ways. In the most obvious, a musician simply copies a performance note by note. This, after all, is how one learns the craft. All that’s changed in the last century is technology: Lightnin’ Hopkins was able to watch Blind Lemon Jefferson play in Texas, while those who learned after Hopkins and Jefferson died could only listen to their recordings. [1]
Later, musicians who had absorbed older performances, transcribed them. Their tablatures used six lines to represent the six strings on a guitar with numbers of the frets to indicate which chords were used. Other symbols were added to indicate rhythm and musical attributes, much like they were on musical staffs. Tyros still needed to hear a recording to grasp the style.
YouTube has restored the visual dimension that existed when one was watching a performer or had an instructor. Carl Bludts probably learned to play guitar from recordings, but now, using the name Daddy Stovepipe, he sells his tab books and uploads videos that illustrate the more difficult parts.
His two videos of "Needed Time" assumed a student already had studied his tab book. In the first one he played a line, then replayed part of it to illustrate how to hammer a string or slide a finger between chords. At the end, he replayed the first section slowly while singing a verse so the viewer could coordinate the two.
The second video was devoted to the instrumental break. At one point he repeated a section so the student could see how he damped the strings with his right hand. In another, he showed how he quickly moved his left rapidly between a chord high on the neck and one lower down.
Bludts’ pedagogical skill becomes obvious when his tab is compared with one produced by Eric Gombart. The latter’s rendition of Eric Bibb’s version added a transcription of the notes on the G-clef and the images of the chords. While this was useful information, it made the tab itself harder to read by a beginner. [2]
Bibb’s accompanying DVD had two videos of "Needed Time." One showed both hands playing the guitar, and the other used a split screen with close-ups of each hand. Again this was very good, but with no comments on technique it was up to the viewer to recognize things like hammering and damping.
Country Blues suggested Bloudts’ importance by noting his website was viewed 3,000 times a day. [3] A more important measure is the videos posted by individuals who indicated they had learned "Needed Time" from him.
In one, a young man who called himself bostonteabagger had mastered most of Bludts’ arrangement but still had problems with small sections which he played a tad slower as he concentrated on them. Sometimes the tension in his left hand or a furrow in his brow indicated he still wasn’t completely sure of himself.
In another a teenager calling himself oggendoggen admitted he’s still learning, but "it’s getting better." He turned his head from side to side as he concentrated on one hand or the other, but only betrayed his difficult passages with facial grimaces.
Both were able to maintained the rhythm, but neither attempted to sing as he played.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: Carl Bludts
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: Carl Bludts, acoustic guitar
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Tab book: Lightnin’ Hopkins arranged by DaddyStovePipe.
Notes on Lyrics
In the first video, Bludts sang one verse with the lines "needed time" and "Jesus will you come by here."
Notes on Music
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: quarter note = 116 beats per minute
Tuning: standard
Key Signature: E
Guitar Chords: E-A-B7
Basic Structure: verse and break
Notes on Performance
Occasion: the camera was aimed at his hands, and showed nothing more. One reviewer noted "videos are professionally produced, with good lighting and clear sound." [4]
Clothing: tan slacks and ivory-colored mock turtle-neck shirt, with brown overshirt.
Notes on Movement
His left hand was on the neck of the guitar and his right over the sound hole, with the instrument resting on his right thigh. In the first lesson, his left knee moved up and down to mark the rhythm.
Audience Perceptions
Bludts must have monitored the comments he received on YouTube. One person wrote:
"One note: i was a little confused at first because flor some reason your your fret marker is on the 10th fret instead of the 9th ...you might want to mention this." [5]
The second video now appears with an added display box that says:
"I’m playing an old Supertone from the 1920ies. It has a FRETMARKER ON THE 10th FRET instead of the more current place, the 9th fret."
Notes on Performers
These two videos and his website provided no information about Bludts. A website it linked to indicated he was a "retired shopkeeper in Belgium," and more specifically that he was Flemish. [6]
His nom de plume was used by Johnny Watson who played guitar in a number of styles, from mariachi to cajun. Wikipedia said the Mobile-born African American "may have been the earliest-born blues performer to record." [7]
Availability
Daddy Stovepipe
Tab book: Lesson Pack TABS Volume 1, Part 1. PDF sold by his website.
YouTube: Guitar Lesson 1. Uploaded by daddystovepipe on 3 January 2008.
YouTube: Guitar Lesson 2. Uploaded by daddystovepipe on 3 January 2008.
Adolescent Student
YouTube: uploaded by oggendoggen2 on 29 January 2009.
Young Male Student
YouTube: uploaded by bostonteabagger71739 on 25 October 2009.
End Notes
1. Lightnin’ Hopkins version was discussed in the posts for 21 August 2017 and 23 August 2017.
2. Eric Bibb. Guitar Tab Songbook, Volume 1. Tab and standard notations by Eric Gombart. DixieFrog DFGCD8778. 2015.
3. "Carl Bludts (daddystovepipe)". The Country Blues website.
4. Country Blues.
5. Joseph LeBlanc. Comment posted to Lesson 2 in 2012.
6. Country Blues.
7. Wikipedia. "Daddy Stovepipe."
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