These videos and audio files are bonus content related to the March 2015 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now or at the Guitar World Online Store.
When going to an open jam, it’s important to be prepared to improvise over any one of the dozens of standard blues-type songs that are routinely played at jams all over the world.
Along with the typical 12-bar and eight-bar blues forms, there are a few specific songs that feature their own distinct patterns and forms.
One of these tunes is the Albert King classic, “Born Under a Bad Sign,” a track covered brilliantly by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker on the essential Cream album, Wheels of Fire.
Cream played the song in the key of G, but it was originally recorded by King in the key of C#. The following examples are played in the song’s original key of C#.
All things that are truly great only become greater with the passing of time, an attribute that can certainly be applied to the incredible music of the legendary Jimi Hendrix.
The power, passion, individuality and influence of Jimi’s instantly recognizable style are more apparent now than ever and his legacy will continue to grow as the years pass.
This month, I’d like to explore the intricacies of Hendrix’s soloing style with specific attention on phrasing, melodic content and groove.
One of the earmarks of Jimi’s 1969/1970 Band of Gypsys period was a focus on fat, funky grooves, provided by one of the rock’s greatest rhythm sections—drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox.
The line-up of Jimi, Buddy and Billy occurred in order to fulfill a contractual obligation for an album, and the three musicians subsequently recorded the truly revolutionary Band of Gypsys album live, on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1969. Throughout each track, Miles and Cox lay down a rock-solid foundation while Hendrix soars above, delivering consistently iconic performances.
The album’s opening track, “Who Knows,” consists of a repetitive three-chord progression played over a churning groove. FIGURES 1 and 2 are played over a “Who Knows”-type feel, offered here in the key of C# and built from a chord progression starting on the four chord, F#7, moving to the flat-three, E7, then to the one, C#7. The majority of the soloing in these examples is based on the C# minor pentatonic scale (C# E F# G# B), with brief reference to C# major pentatonic (C# D# E# G# A#), via the inclusion of the major sixth, A#.
A key element to capturing the Hendrix vibe is to seamlessly shift between phrases built from even, or “straight,” 16th notes to phrases played with a triplet feel, either through the use of steady 16th-note triplets or leaning on the swing feel of an eighth- note/16th-note figure within a triplet bracket.
Bars 1-4 of FIGURE 1 are played in ninth and seventh positions and rhythmically phrased with an emphasis on straight 16th notes, with 16th-note triplets adding rhythmic push to the line. Jimi’s crystal-clear sense of melody is emulated here; blazing speed and acrobatic technique are not part of the equation.
Bar 5 begins with a shift down to second position after which I work my way back up to ninth position. When playing these lines, strive above all else for rhythmic accuracy and clear note definition.
FIGURE 2 begins with the signature Hendrix technique of bending two strings at once under a single fretting finger: I start with a whole-step bend at the 12th fret on the high E string, and while this string is bent, I catch the B string under the fingertip so that it is pre-bent up a whole step, after which the bend is picked and released; this is then replicated on the B and G strings. Most of this example places the emphasis on a triplet feel, but at the end of bar 4 into bar 5, I switch to straight 16ths, offering contrast to the swinging feel of the bass and drums.
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Last month, we examined the guitar genius of the great Duane Allman, who, as founder of the Allman Brothers Band, rose to prominence as one of the greatest and universally heralded blues-rock guitarists of all time.
In honor of the expansive new box set from Rounder Records, Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective, we focused on his single-note soloing on classic Allman Brothers’ cuts like “Stormy Monday” and “Whipping Post.” This month’s column is dedicated to Duane’s mastery of the art of slide guitar.
Duane possessed an instantly recognizable sound on electric slide, earmarked by masterful phrasing and smooth, “singing” vibrato.
Great examples of his slide guitar prowess include “Trouble No More” and “Dreams” from the band’s debut release, The Allman Brothers Band; “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’,” from Idlewild South; “Statesboro Blues” and “Done Somebody Wrong” from At Fillmore East; and “One Way Out” from Eat a Peach.
He also lent inspired slide work to the title track and many others on the Derek and the Dominoes album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
Incredibly, Duane had been playing slide guitar for only about a year at the time of the band’s debut release. He recalled, “I heard Ry Cooder playing slide on Taj Mahal’s debut album, and I said, ‘Man, that’s for me.’ ” Brother Gregg Allman concurs. “He just picked it up and started burnin’. He was a natural.”
For slide playing, Duane wore a small glass Coricidin bottle (Coricidin was a cold medication) on his ring finger. He usually played slide in open tunings, most often open E (low to high, E B E G# B E) and occasionally open A (E A E A C# E). He also played slide in standard tuning on songs such as “Dreams” and “Mountain Jam.”
In the early days, Duane would retune his gold-top Gibson Les Paul between songs in order to play slide. Later, co-guitarist Dickey Betts gave Duane a two-pickup 1961 Gibson SG/Les Paul Standard that was used solely for slide playing. The design of the SG, with its double-cutaway body, is well suited to slide work, allowing easy access to the upper regions of the fretboard.
Duane chose to wear the SG high on his body to facilitate navigating the board overall. The musical examples in this column focus on the use of open E tuning for slide. FIGURE 1 illustrates how to tune to open E: the sixth, second and first strings are tuned normally (E, B and E); the fifth and fourth strings are tuned one whole step higher (A to B and D to E); and the third string is tuned one half step higher (G to G#). The resulting tuning is, low to high, E B E G# B E. Strumming across all of the open strings sounds an E major chord.
The same is true when barring or placing the slide across all of the strings at the 12th fret. Likewise, barring a finger or placing the slide across all of the strings at any given fret will form a major chord, as shown in FIGURE 2. A great majority of slide licks in open E tuning are formed by moving back and forth between a two-fret span of the fretboard.
FIGURE 3 illustrates one such pattern, which forms an E hybrid scale, one that combines elements of E minor pentatonic (E G A B D) and E major pentatonic (E F# G# B C#). Two notes are sounded on each string at either the 10th or 12th fret, and three notes are sounded on
the fifth string with the inclusion of Gs, at the ninth fret.
Practice this pattern by first fretting normally, and then play it using the slide. Some basic rules for slide playing: For proper intonation, you’ll want to, in most cases, position the slide directly over and parallel to the fret wire. Apply only enough pressure against the string to sound a note clearly; do not allow the slide to “bang” into the frets. Also, lightly lay unused fret-hand fingers across the strings behind the slide to help suppress unwanted overtones and ghost notes.
When playing slide, Duane fingerpicked exclusively, using his thumb, index and middle fingers to pick the strings. A major element in the uniqueness of his sound was his pick-hand muting techniques: while one finger picked a string, the other two were used for muting.
For example, when he picked a string with his thumb, his index and middle fingers would rest lightly on the higher strings, muting them; when he picked a string with his index finger, his thumb would mute the lower strings; and when he picked with his middle finger, he would mute the string with his thumb and index fingers. This technique afforded Duane’s slide playing unparalleled clarity and precision. An essential slide exercise involves sliding back and forth between notes of the E hybrid scale, with careful attention paid to playing “in tune.”
FIGURES 4 and 5 offer two different ways one can practice sliding to and from each note in this position. One of the most common vehicles for slide soloing in blues and rock is the 12-bar blues shuffle. FIGURE 6 illustrates a basic shuffle rhythm part played in the key of E using open E tuning. Use only conventional fretting (no slide) to perform this part. FIGURE 7 offers an example of how to play a slide solo over this rhythm part: repeatedly moving the slide back and forth (higher and lower) on the fretboard creates the sound of a slide vibrato.
The “width” of this movement, as well as the speed, is every player’s choice; strive to keep the center of the vibrato movement over the fret for proper intonation. The aforementioned “Statesboro Blues” and “One Way Out” are celebrated slide guitar masterpieces. FIGURE 8 illustrates a “Statesboro Blues”-like solo, and FIGURE 9 offers a solo in the style of “One Way Out.”
Work through each example carefully, and for inspiration, listen to the recordings and pay strict attention to every detail in Duane’s articulation.
Randy Rhoads, one of rock’s most brilliant and original guitarists, made his name on the strength of his spectacular playing on Ozzy Osbourne’s first solo efforts, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman.
In this edition of In Deep, we’ll take a look at the live version of the Ozzy/Randy classic “I Don’t Know,” included with the 30th anniversary remaster of Blizzard.
Let’s begin with a quick rundown of Randy’s gear. On Blizzard of Ozz, Randy tuned his guitar to concert pitch (A=440) and used a standard .009–.042 string set.
For Diary, he tuned down one half step and switched to a set of .010–.046 strings. His main guitars during his time with Ozzy were his 1970 white Les Paul Custom, his custom-made Karl Sandoval polka-dot Flying V and his custom-made Jackson Flying V guitars: one black, and one white, which he christened the Concorde.
Randy’s primary amplifiers were Marshall model 1959 100-watt heads, most likely early Seventies versions with metal fronts, and he used a variety of MXR effect pedals, such as the Distortion +, Stereo Chorus, Flanger and 10-Band Graphic Equalizer, along with a Vox Cry Baby wah.
For the live version of “I Don’t Know,” Randy added a subtle twist to the song’s intro. As shown in FIGURE 1, after sliding down from the 17th-fret A root note on the sixth string, he plays a sequence of power chords—A5, B5/A and C5/A—against a palm-muted open A-string pedal tone, followed by G5-D5 and then a restatement of the opening theme.
In bar 8, he performs a series of pull-offs across all the strings except for the high E. For the first three C-B pull-offs on the B string, use a hard pick attack and your thumb graze the string to create the squealing “pinch harmonics” (P.H.), as Randy does.
On the studio version of the song, Randy played a simpler version of this pull-off lick, as illustrated in FIGURE 2a. In every version of “I Don’t Know,” Randy played something slightly different in this spot, which comes right before the verse vocal enters. Another signature variation is to play fast pull-offs on the G string from different fretted notes, as Randy often did at the end of the first chorus. An example of this is shown in FIGURE 2b.
The primary riff appears many times throughout the song, and Randy always spun variations on it, such as adding artificial and natural harmonics in different spots. FIGURE 3a includes a pinch harmonic on A in bar 1 and natural harmonics (N.H.) over both the G and D chords in bar 4. A natural harmonic is sounded by lightly laying a fret-hand finger directly above a specific fret as you pick the string. FIGURE 3b offers a string-bending variation that Randy would use across bars 3 and 4 of the riff.
Another great variation is the “neck-bending” trick shown in FIGURE 4. After sounding a natural harmonic at the G string’s fifth fret, secure the body of the guitar while pushing against the back of the headstock, which will cause the note to drop in pitch.
Exercise caution, however—Slash once cracked the neck on his favorite Les Paul by pushing just a little too hard. Randy’s adventurous nature inspired him to creatively interpret each section of the song, as he often did during the pre-chorus as well. FIGURE 5 illustrates his approach to the first pre-chorus on the new live version. Notice the ways in which he approaches the figures over F/G in bars 2, 4 and 6.
The bridge of “I Don’t Know” shifts to half time, and here Randy arpeggiates most of the chords in the progression by picking each note individually in succession and allowing them to sustain. See FIGURE 6. Randy’s live guitar solo includes a few subtle differences from the one he plays in the studio version.
The first four bars, based on the G blues scale (G Bb C C# D F) in 15th position, are shown in FIGURE 7. FIGURE 8 illustrates the next four bars, wherein Randy bends the B string while tapping onto the fretboard three frets higher with the edge of the pick, then trills between the open G string and Bf at the third fret while pushing on the string behind the nut, raising the pitch.
FIGURE 9 shows the end of the solo, with bars 1 and 2 based on a melodic “shape” that chromatically descends the fretboard, moving into a classic G blues scale/Aeolian (G A Bb C D Eb F) lick in bar 3.
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This video is bonus content related to the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, look for the July 2011 issue of Guitar World on newsstands now! In this series of videos, Guitar World's Andy Aledort will break down everything you need to know to play the newly released live version of Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know," featuring the otherworldly guitar playing of the late Randy Rhoads. The full transcription of the song, along with detailed notes can be found in the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. Figures 2-4
This video is bonus content related to the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, look for the July 2011 issue of Guitar World on newsstands now! In this series of videos, Guitar World's Andy Aledort will break down everything you need to know to play the newly released live version of Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know," featuring the otherworldly guitar playing of the late Randy Rhoads. The full transcription of the song, along with detailed notes can be found in the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. Figures 5-6
This video is bonus content related to the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, look for the July 2011 issue of Guitar World on newsstands now! In this series of videos, Guitar World's Andy Aledort will break down everything you need to know to play the newly released live version of Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know," featuring the otherworldly guitar playing of the late Randy Rhoads. The full transcription of the song, along with detailed notes can be found in the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. Figure 7
This video is bonus content related to the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, look for the July 2011 issue of Guitar World on newsstands now! In this series of videos, Guitar World's Andy Aledort will break down everything you need to know to play the newly released live version of Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know," featuring the otherworldly guitar playing of the late Randy Rhoads. The full transcription of the song, along with detailed notes can be found in the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. Figure 8
This video is bonus content related to the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. For full print reviews, lesson tabs and more, look for the July 2011 issue of Guitar World on newsstands now! In this series of videos, Guitar World's Andy Aledort will break down everything you need to know to play the newly released live version of Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know," featuring the otherworldly guitar playing of the late Randy Rhoads. The full transcription of the song, along with detailed notes can be found in the July 2011 issue of Guitar World. Figure 9
These videos and audio files are bonus content related to the April 2015 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now or at the Guitar World Online Store.
Part of my role as a member of former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts’ band, Great Southern (along with his son, guitarist Duane Betts), is to provide improvised rhythm guitar parts to songs that oftentimes develop into long jams with many instrumental solos.
In this type of musical environment, it’s essential for the rhythm guitars to keep the accompaniment interesting and moving forward while also laying down a solid groove for the soloists to play over.
Many of these songs—like “Blue Sky,” “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “No One Left to Run With”—feature soloing sections built upon repeating chord vamps.
In this endeavor, I have developed a rhythm guitar approach that I can use in any of these jamming-type situations, which is to explore small chord voicings that connect to one another via voice leading techniques, such as close voicing.
These videos and audio files are bonus content related to the May 2015 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now or at the Guitar World Online Store.
When Joan Jett recorded the title track to I Love Rock ’N’ Roll, which was a cover version of a song originally released in 1975 by the British band the Arrows, little did she know that this pagan battle cry would in time earn her status as one of rock’s most iconic figures.
Upon its release in 1982, the song stayed at Number One on the Top 100 chart for seven weeks and has since been named Billboard’s 56th greatest rock song of all time.
Now, more than three decades later, Joan is still rockin’ hard, and rock and roll is still alive and well. In this extended edition of In Deep, we’ll examine the roots of true rock and roll guitar and its essential, foundational elements that were chiseled into stone by the style’s founding father—the immortal Chuck Berry—the man whose playing would inspire and inform many of the world’s greatest rock bands, from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to AC/DC.
One of the small handful of records regarded as the “first” rock and roll song is “Rocket 88,” recorded in March 1951 by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. Brenston was actually a horn player and singer in guitarist/keyboardist Ike Turner’s band, the Kings of Rhythm, and he is credited with writing “Rocket 88.”
roduced by Sam Phillips in Memphis and released on the Chess label, “Rocket 88” went straight to Number One and it’s incredible success enabled Phillips to launch Sun Records.
The eternally great Eric Clapton—sometimes known as “God” in certain circles—turned 70 this year, and is set to celebrate this milestone with a pair of spring concerts at New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden.
What better time than to examine his effortlessly beautiful and seamlessly flowing soloing technique, first heard in full bloom on his timeless recordings with Cream, featuring the late, great Jack Bruce on bass and Ginger Baker on drums.
When it comes to spontaneous, improvised phrasing, there is perhaps no better blues-rock guitarist than Eric, especially when heard within the context of the many extended jams he performed with Cream and Blind Faith.
He has the innate ability to move smoothly from one great, imminently melodic phrase into the next while also both riding the groove and pushing it along. When improvising, Clapton will subtly mix up the rhythms of his lines to create clearly defined syncopations that serve to strengthen the melodic quality of his solos.
FIGURE 1 presents an extended solo that moves through an entire 12-bar blues progression in the key of D, the three chords being D7, G7 and A7. The tempo is a fairly slow 80 beats per minute, which allows for the steady articulation of 16th-note rhythms that employ subtle phrasing variations. In bars 1–3, I stick with the notes from the D minor pentatonic scale (D F G A C). At the end of bar 3, I transition to sliding sixth intervals by sounding pairs of notes that are six scale degrees apart within the D Mixolydian mode (D E F# G A B C), with all of the notes played on the D and B strings.
This sets up the move to the four chord, G7, in bar 5, and here I play a simple melody based on G minor pentatonic (G Bb C D F), returning to D minor pentatonic in bar 6 to anticipate the change back to the one chord, D7, in bar 7.
On beat three of bar 7, I make very brief reference to the parallel D major pentatonic scale (D E F# A B), used to add some brightness and warmth to the melody and also as a transition to get back into D minor pentatonic in 10th position. Alternating between parallel minor and major pentatonic scales is a standard technique used by all blues guitar greats, such as T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and many others, and Clapton learned this technique from his intense study of the recordings of all of these masters and made it one of the hallmarks of his unique style.
Bar 9 moves to the five chord, A7, and bar 10 shifts to the four chord, G7, and for each of these chords I base my lines on the associated minor pentatonic scales (A minor pentatonic: A C D E G). At the return to the tonic in bars 11 and 12, I revert to D minor pentatonic and move freely between third and fifth positions.
When playing these melodic shapes and ideas, strive for smooth articulation and, as always, listen closely to the many great live recordings of Cream—and the studio recordings of Blind Faith—to hear priceless examples of Clapton’s stellar soloing. FIGURES 2 and 3 illustrate extended patterns for D minor pentatonic and D major pentatonic, so be sure to study these too.
Jimi Hendrix Playing Secrets, Guitar World's exclusive new lesson series, is now available through the Guitar World Lessons App and Webstore. It joins the ranks of the hundreds of lessons already available through Guitar World Lessons.
Learn all of Jimi Hendrix’s essential rhythm and lead guitar techniques, including his go-to soloing patterns, extended pentatonic and blues-scale positions, signature phrasing and articulations, string bending, vibrato and whammy bar usage, strummed octaves, thumb fretting and chord embellishments, plus essential gear and how to recreate Jimi’s tone!
Right now, you can get 13 Jimi Hendrix Playing Secrets lessons for only $14.99!
Some of you might know Andy Aledort as the guy from hundreds of Guitar World lesson videos and the writer of countless GW lessons and features.
But he's also the author of more than 200 guitar instruction books; he performs and records with Dickey Betts & Great Southern, not to mention Double Trouble (Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon) and appears on the Experience Hendrix DVD with Buddy Guy, Mick Taylor and other guitar legends.
Today, Aledort is demoing the new John Page Classic Ashburn guitar.
Designed by John Page, co-founder of the Fender Custom Shop, the Ashburn is a production guitar ($1,499 MSRP) with all the features in the high-end custom guitars Page builds himself. It’s produced to spec in a state-of-the-art workshop in Japan, then set up in the U.S. by authorized John Page Classic techs.
Page has created guitars for artists including Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Elliot Easton and Cesar Rosas. He has designed guitars in conjunction with Harley Davidson, Playboy and Jaguar. Page is featured in The Dream Factory: Fender Custom Shop by Tom Wheeler (Hal Leonard, 2011) and other books on Fender and the Fender Custom Shop.
Though rarely mentioned in the pantheon of great rock guitarists, Mountain’s Leslie West is unquestionably one of the most influential and original players to emerge from the burgeoning late-Sixties rock scene.
West, a native New Yorker, first gained national exposure at the age of 21 via his scorching cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect,” released in 1966 while a member of the Vagrants.
The band’s producer, Felix Pappalardi, began producing Cream in 1967 (starting with Disraeli Gears) and in 1969 joined forces with West on the guitarist’s breakthrough solo debut, Mountain, which includes the seminal classics, “Blood of the Sun,” “Long Red,” “Baby I’m Down” and the immortal masterpiece, “Dreams of Milk and Honey.”
Their alliance soon adopted the moniker Mountain as the group’s name, and the classic lineup of West, Pappalardi on bass, drummer Corky Laing and keyboardist Steve Knight were described by Rolling Stone as “a louder version of Cream.” The group’s fourth show ever was in front of 400,00 people at Woodstock on August 16, 1969. The band achieved worldwide success on the release of their breakthrough smash single, “Mississippi Queen,” in March 1970.
Leslie’s signature soloing style is characterized by smooth, melodic phrasing, an exquisitely slow, wide vibrato and a dense, heavy guitar tone. Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Warren Haynes, Joe Bonamassa and many other rock guitar gods have hailed West as a primary influence.
Like most blues and rock players, the majority of his improvisations are based on pentatonic scales, and, akin to his influences Albert, B.B. and Freddie King, as well as Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, West often alternates freely between parallel minor and major pentatonic phrases in his improvised solos.
FIGURE 1 illustrates the E minor pentatonic scale (E G A B D) played in a highly useful extended pattern that begins with the open low E string and moves diagonally up and across the neck. FIGURE 2 shows E major pentatonic (E F# G# B C#) played in a similarly diagonal pattern. Be sure to memorize both shapes, and then try transposing them to different keys and areas of the fretboard.
FIGURE 3 is a 12-bar solo played in Leslie’s style. In bar 1 into the first half of bar 2, the lines are based on E major pentatonic, starting with an oblique bend on the top two strings. On beat two of bar 2, I bring a high G note into the phrase, alluding to E minor pentatonic and stick with this scale through the end of bar 6. In bars 7–9, I utilize notes from both scales, leaning a little more heavily on the E major pentatonic sound, then close out the last three bars with lines firmly based on E minor pentatonic.
When studying this solo, notice the attention paid to melodic phrasing, and strive for proper bend intonation and to produce a wide, even vocal-like vibrato, all essential elements in replicating West’s trademark guitar voice.
Blues guitarist and noted instructor Andy Aledort pays tribute to the late, great B.B. King in the all-new August 2015 issue of Guitar World.
Below, he breaks down the legendary guitarist's 10 greatest guitar moments.
Be sure to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below or on Facebook!
10. “Why I Sing the Blues” B.B. King & Friends—A Blues Session
In 1987, B.B. assembled the top blues, R&B and rock musicians of the day for a Showtime television special that was released soon after on VHS and later reissued on DVD under various titles.
Along with consistently powerful playing and singing from B.B. on many of his classic songs such as “The Thrill Is Gone” and “Let the Good Times Roll,” the event featured inspired performances by luminaries such as Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, Paul Butterfield, Dr. John, Etta James and Gladys Knight, along with Phil Collins, Chaka Chan and Billy Ocean.
On this track, we get to see the once-in-a-lifetime collaboration of Eric, Stevie, Albert, Paul and B.B. trading licks and tearing it up, pushing each other to play their absolute best. Upon its release, this show was dedicated to Paul Butterfield, founder of the hugely influential Paul Butterfield Blues Band, who sadly passed away on May 4, 1987.
9. “You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now” My Kind of Blues
As the opening track on B.B.’s sixth studio album, 1961’s My Kind of Blues, B.B. gets things moving with a free-time chorus of brilliant unaccompanied guitar during which he reveals his incorporation of the jazz influence of Lonnie Johnson and Johnny Moore, the brother of Nat King Cole guitarist Oscar Moore, combined with his own distinct approach to single-string soloing that is purely his own.
After another half chorus of guitar and voice, the band drops in with a slow, hard-swinging feel over which he effortlessly floats expertly executed and deeply emotional solo blues guitar lines.
8. “Everyday I Have the Blues” B.B. King and Bobby Bland: Together Again…Live
Blues titans B.B. King and Bobby “Blue” Bland, touring compatriots throughout the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, joined forces to release the stellar set Together for the First Time…Live in 1974.
As a genre, blues music was experiencing the beginnings of a long decline at the time, but strong releases such as this, and its equally powerful follow-up, 1976’s Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again…Live, helped to keep both artists relevant and successful.
“Everyday I Have the Blues” was an old blues nugget when Memphis Slim released his hugely successful version of the song in 1949, and a little later in 1955, B.B. King recorded his version, replete with a swinging horn arrangement built from B.B.’s guitar lines, and he soon viewed it as his theme song. This slightly slower hard-swinging version places Bland as the featured vocalist as B.B. is free to add his signature stinging guitar lines throughout. This is live big-band style blues at its finest.
7. “Ain’t That Just Like a Woman” Spotlight on Lucille (and The Best of B.B. King Vol. 1)
Over B.B.’s long and illustrious career, there have been many compilation albums released on a variety of labels with recordings dating from virtually every era. With his move to ABC Records in 1962 and subsequent artistic success, many of his previous Modern/Kent recordings were released or re-released in a variety of “best of” type packages.
Today, these compilations offer listeners the chance to hear B.B. in many different settings, and Spotlight on Lucille compiles a dozen great instrumentals, many of which are played in a swinging jazz-like style, of which this is a perfect example.
“Ain’t That Just Like a Woman,” originally recorded as a vocal tune in 1946 by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, was a huge hit upon its release, reaching Number One on the R&B charts and Number 17 on the pop charts. When B.B. first cut it in 1960, he presented it as a barn-burning instrumental; his unaccompanied intro solo clearly illustrates his mastery as a player and dedication to the swing-style guitar of T-Bone Walker and Charlie Christian. B.B. revisited the tune, complete with vocals, for his 1999 Let the Good Times Roll album.
6. “King’s Special” Indianola Mississippi Seeds
In 1969, B.B. joined forces with rock record producer Bill Szymczyk (the Eagles, Joe Walsh, Elvin Bishop) and the fruits of their collaboration were immediate, first with the incendiary Live & Well, and followed by Completely Well, which included the hit track, “The Thrill Is Gone.”
This, their third collaboration and released in October 1970, pushed B.B.’s sound in more of a rock direction and placed him in the company of such notable musicians as Leon Russell, Joe Walsh, Carole King, Jerry Jemmott, Hugh McCrackin and Russ Kunkel (drummer for Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Jackson Browne, among others). Indianola Mississippi Seeds is often included with Live at the Regal and Singin’ the Blues as among the top three B.B. King albums of all time.
“King’s Special” is a five-minute instrumental played with a very “early Seventies” mid-tempo funk/blues/rock feel, over which B.B. stretches out with great range stylistically and emotionally.
5. “Worry, Worry, Worry” Live in Cook County Jail
Even as B.B.’s blossoming success with studio albums and singles was on the steady incline, he continued his grueling road schedule, performing an average of an incredible 200–250 dates a year (in 1956 alone, B.B. performed 342 one-nighters).
A great passion of his was to perform for prison inmates; by 1990 he had played at over 50 different prisons across the country. This set, recorded at Cook County Jail in Chicago in 1971, was his first such performance to be recorded and released, and he delivers an incredible set overflowing with deep emotional power, the centerpiece of which is the nearly 10-minute “Worry, Worry, Worry,” replete with chorus after chorus of some of the greatest soloing B.B. ever recorded.
B.B. told me in an interview that the experience of playing for prison inmates was, “Mixed, somewhat, because each time you play, you look at the faces of these people, and you know that’s it’s very possible that you could have been there yourself.”
A year after this recording, in 1972, B.B. founded FAIRR (The Foundation for the Advancement of Inmate Rehabilitation and Recreation) with legendary criminal defense attorney F. Lee Bailey, designed to improve the quality of life of inmates everywhere.
4. “Three O’ Clock Blues” Singin’ the Blues
Also known as “3 O’Clock Blues,” this song was written by blues guitarist/singer Lowell Fulson and upon its original release in 1948 kicked off a highly successful career for Fulson.
B.B. King covered the song for one of his earliest singles, released in 1951 by RPM Records, and it too became a smash hit, effectively serving to launch B.B.’s career as a new blues guitar/vocal star. Recorded on sub-standard equipment at a Memphis YMCA, the track nonetheless garnered nationwide acclaim on the strength of the interplay between B.B.’s impassioned vocals and beautifully emotive improvised guitar work.
As is his standard approach, B.B. sings a lyric of the song and then answers his vocal with a counter-balanced guitar lick, utilizing a technique soon recognized as “call and response.” B.B.’s version is played in the key of Bb, with a vocal and guitar style not unlike that of one of his greatest influences, T-Bone Walker, albeit with greater rhythmic freedom and his signature vibrato in evidence.
3. “Rock Me Baby” The Best of B.B. King Vol. 2
Upon its release in 1964, B.B.’s original studio recording of “Rock Me Baby” was an immediate hit, earning recognition as his first Top 40 hit and in short order becoming a blues standard. It is one of the most covered blues songs of all time, reworked to brilliant effect by the Jimi Hendrix Experience for their timeless 1967 Monterey Pop Festival performance. Based originally on Lil’ Son Jackson’s 1950 single, “Rockin’ and Rollin’,” the song’s deep roots can be traced back to Curtis Jones (1939’s “Roll Me Mama”), Big Bill Broonzy (1940’s “Rocking Chair Blues”), Arthur Crudup (1944’s “Rock Me Mama”) and Muddy Waters (1956’s “Rock Me”).
Most likely recorded for Kent Records in the late Fifties/early Sixties, the track is earmarked by a taught, rock-solid piano-driven arrangement with brilliantly succinct solo lines added by B.B.; one listen and the influence of this track on the soloing styles of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix is obvious.
King later re-recorded the song with Clapton for his excellent 1997 Deuces Wild album, and other notable artists who effectively covered the song include Otis Redding, the Animals, the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Deep Purple, the Rolling Stones, Slim Harpo, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Johnny Winter, Robin Trower and Jeff Beck.
2. “The Thrill Is Gone” Completely Well
Originally released in 1951 and a Top 10 single for the song’s composer, Roy Hawkins, “The Thrill Is Gone” is widely regarded as B.B. King’s most recognized signature song.
When B.B. recorded his version in late 1969 for his Bluesway/ABC Records album Completely Well (a follow-up to the hugely successful Live & Well album), it represented a marked departure from his past recordings via the pop-style high production values and inclusion of a lush string arrangement.
An instant smash, the song shot to Number Three on the R&B chart and Number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, and in 1970 earned him a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. It remained a staple of B.B.’s live performances throughout his long career; stellar live versions of the song can be found on Live at Cook County Jail, Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again…Live and Live at San Quentin.
At five and a half minutes, the song is nearly twice as long as the typical singles of the day. As a performance, B.B.’s vocals and guitar lines are nothing less than absolute perfection. In the first two bars alone—roughly 10 seconds—B.B. says more musically and evokes more emotion than most guitarists do in a lifetime. His phrasing, vibrato, melodic sense and impassioned delivery combine to present a stunning musicality that is undeniable. For the last two minutes of the recording, B.B. offers a master class in blues soloing of the highest order.
1. “Sweet Little Angel” Live at the Regal
For those unfamiliar with the work of B.B. King, Live at the Regal is a pure classic, an absolute gem and an essential cornerstone in the history of the blues.
Over the course of his nearly 70-year recording career that began with the 1949 single, “Miss Martha King” b/w “Got the Blues,” the Mississippi-born guitarist released over 80 studio albums and an incredible 150 singles. But the one album mentioned more often than any other in King’s canon is 1965’s Live at the Regal, recorded on November 21, 1964, at the Regal Theater in Chicago. This 35-minute powerhouse live set kicks off with possibly the greatest live medley ever recorded, as B.B. segues through the hard-driving, horn-infused opener, “Everyday I Have the Blues,” to “Sweet Little Angel,” “It’s My Own Fault” and “How Blue Can You Get?”
Blues-rock titans such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mark Knopfler, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks have all pointed to Live at the Regal as an album so influential that it changed their lives. In a recent eulogy to B.B., Clapton stated, “If you are not familiar with his work, I would encourage you to go out and find an album called B.B. King: Live at the Regal, which is where it all really started for me as a young player.”
While discussing essential blues albums with Jeff Beck bassist Ronnie Wood back in 1968, Jimi Hendrix gave Ronnie a copy of Live at the Regal as a gift. Regarding this release, B.B. said, “It’s considered by some to be the best recording I’ve ever had. On that particular day in Chicago, everything came together.”
“Sweet Little Angel” [transcribed on page 122 of the August 2015 Guitar World] is played in the key of Db and begins with B.B.’s timeless guitar intro, built from a combination of Db minor and major pentatonic scales. As he solos through the intro, he rides the volume control of his guitar, transitioning brilliantly from a thin, biting tone to a fuller, sustaining sound, performing lines that owe as much to his guitar influences T-Bone Walker and Charlie Christian as they do to classic R&B horn figures.
His guitar solo, though only one chorus in length, is the epitome of blues perfection, as inspired improvised lines are exquisitely melodic, punctuated by his floating “butterfly” style vibrato.
Last month’s column was dedicated to the incredible and highly influential playing of Mountain’s Leslie West, whose beautifully melodic phrasing, signature slow, wide vibrato, and rich guitar tone set the standard for blues-rock–style guitar of the highest order in the late Sixties and early Seventies.
West’s many disciples include fellow guitar gods Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre, Pete Townshend, Warren Haynes and Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple. Blackmore has stated that Leslie’s phenomenal playing on “Mississippi Queen” redirected the course of Deep Purple’s music in an instant, ultimately resulting in the brutal power and hard rock intensity displayed on Deep Purple in Rock.
For Barre, Leslie’s gift to him of one of his late-Fifties Gibson Les Paul Junior guitars inspired the writing and playing on Jethro Tull’s most successful album in the band’s history, Aqualung. West was also instrumental in the development of the music recorded for the Who’s masterpiece, Who’s Next.
The band Mountain dominated rock radio in 1970 with their smash debut album, Climbing!, but true Leslie West fans know well that his solo debut, Mountain, preceded Climbing! by eight months, and was for many the introduction to his brilliant singing and guitar playing.
A solid effort throughout, the signature track from Mountain is the album’s side-two opener, “Dreams of Milk and Honey,” a song destined to become the centerpiece of every live Mountain show from 1970–72.
FIGURE 1 presents a 16-bar solo played in the style of “Dreams of Milk and Honey.” Akin to most blues and rock players, Leslie’s improvisations are based primarily on pentatonic scales, specifically alternating between E minor pentatonic (E G A B D) over bars 1–6 and 11–14, and A minor pentatonic (A C D E G) over bars 7-10 and 15–16. While playing his improvisations based on each of these scales, he remains rooted in standard “box” positions for each, using the 12th-position box of E minor pentatonic and the fifth-position box of A minor pentatonic.
My primary goal in crafting this tribute solo was to demonstrate Leslie’s solid melodic sense combined with his effortless but equally aggressive rhythmic drive. The lines all employ a combination of rhythms, featuring phrases formed by starting and ending with sustained notes, with steady 16th-note driven melodies placed in between, or lines that begin with a long stream of 16th notes that then culminate with heavily vibrato-ed quarter notes.
In both cases, be sure to lean into the beat when playing these lines, using a robust fret- and pick-hand attack, along with a heavily distorted guitar tone, in order to best replicate the power Leslie always generates in his solos.
Other guests include the LA Guitar Quartet, Steely Dan’s Jon Herington, Madeleine Peyroux, Lee Ritenour, David Grissom, Dweezil Zappa and many more.
The event, which takes place August 30 to September 6 at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork, Montana, draws guitar lovers from around the world.
What really makes the Crown Guitar Workshop & Festival unique is the opportunity to hang with top-notch artists during the day. Each Artist in Residence gives an afternoon clinic, which is open to all students. They are very generous with their time and provide valuable and interesting insights.
Artists in Residence also drop in on the daily three-hour Crown Guitar Workshop classes in rock, blues, jazz and songwriting, which are taught by the top-notch Crown Guitar faculty.
Sometimes, though, the most exciting moments occur by the fireplace in the Main Lodge, or on the grassy banks of Flathead Lake. That’s where guitarists do what they like to do most—sit around and trade licks.
