Here's one that is a real great blues standard ... a 'classic' blues tune by Tommy Johnson. I learned this tune note for note from K.C. Douglas:
K.C. Douglas, b. 11/21/13, Sharon, MS - d. 10/18/75, Berkeley, CA

K.C. was born and raised in Mississippi and learned this tune directly from his friend, Tommy Johnson, with whom he performed in jukes in Mississippi. Years later, K.C. moved out to the West Coast, and worked for the City of Berkeley, CA in the Public Works Dept. ... he remained active in blues music and performed in the local clubs and at blues festivals ... and he recorded for Arhoolie Records.

K.C.'s most famous original tune was/is, "Mercury Blues (Boogie)," which was a huge rock hit when covered by The Steve Miller Band ... and again when sung by C&W star Alan Jackson in Ford Motor Co. television commercials in the 1990s to promote the Mercury automobile.

K.C. played "Big Road Blues" closer to Tommy Johnson than anyone I ever heard ... and I was lucky and grateful to have learned the song from him, pretty much note for note ... way back around 1970 ... I was living in Berkeley, and K.C. was kind enough to share his time and knowledge with me.

The song is in dropped D tuning ... D-A-D-G-B-E (low to high strings).

I'm not giving you the 'fingering' for the odd G and G7 chords ... you can figure it out easy enough ... they're cool ... and you might end up using those two chords shapes in more situations than just this song.

I love this song ... and I recorded it on my first album ..."Everyday Living" (1986) ... but rather than play it 'like' Tommy Johnson/K.C. Douglas on my album, (or when I play it live in performance) ... I use Tommy Johnson's signature bass line, and then build the song in open D tuning using a slide (D-A-D-F#-A-D) ... for me ... learning to 'replicate' a song is the starting point, not end. I like to learn from the 'masters' ... and add my own little twist wherever/whenever I can find room to express my own ... self. To me ... that's the 'blues tradition' ... find your own 'voice' by building on the past.

You can hear my version of the song at:
http://www.soundclick.com/michaelhawkeyeherman

Like always ... play it slow ... get down on it ... "take your time and play it right." Once you've got it, pick up the speed a bit. Most of all ... have fun with this great tune.

Cheers,

Hawkeye





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... and here's part 2 of "Big Road Blues."

How about a little added challenge for you ... listen to Tommy Johnson's version ... and see if you can figure out the end tag for the song. Here's a hint ... start out by moving the first position D chord up to the fifth fret ... and walk it down.

Hope to see ya on that big blues road someday ... after all ... I ain't goin' by myself.

Cheers,

Hawkeye

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doh!!! ooooops ... please note ... in measures 5 and 6 ... the 'cool' G chord I referred to above should be fingered by fretting the A string on the second fret and the B string on the THIRD fret ... (not the second fret, as it appears in the chord diagram) ... the notation is correct ... the diagram is wrong ... I apologize for this error ... ... the G7 chord is notated and diagramed correctly.
Your humble(d) blues servant,
Hawkeye

... and of course you should make the same G chord diagram correction in the measure following the A7 chord.

Hawkeye

slow down a little hawkeye, i am still learning the fred mc dowell piece, and having great fun doing so, looks like i will have to print off this lesson, and it will have to wait awhile. really looking forward to seeing whats coming up next.

jaycee,

Thanks again for the message ... I'm posting a number of these now ... so that folks can work on them over time ... and because beginning in May my touring schedule gets pretty heavy, and even though I have a laptop with me on the blues highway ... my online time is more limited to checking my email and the BBF for current news and messages ... but not much else. So ... I'lll put up a few more ... and that should keep everyone busy over the months ahead.

By the way ... if you have a music notation program like Sibelius, Finale, or Tabledit... you can copy my notation note for note into a music program document ... and it will play the tune for you ... just be sure to pay attention to the key signature, tuning, and tempo setting ... the advantage of doing this is that you can hear how the tune is supposed to sound (if you copy the notattion/tab properly) and you can sloooow the tune way down so that you can 'hear' it better.

There's no 'rush' in learning these tunes ... but I am a bit short on time to post enough lessons to keep you busy through the summer and into the fall ... while I'm on the road.

I want to keep as many folks pickin' and grinnin' as possible.

Enjoy,

Hawkeye