Track Notes for Atlanta Rag Recordings

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SONG 1 - ATLANTA RAG - Actual Key is F if tuned to standard. Likely I had to capo up with the 12 string since it's tuned a little lower than a standard guitar. I play this song two different ways that sound almost identical in the end result. If you want to sound more like me in the recording then play the rag in F meaning your chord shapes will be mainly the F and C7 shapes laid down on the fretboard at the right locations to give you this chord sequence of F, D7, G, C7 back to F again for the main verses. Then at the break I slide the F shape up to A position to begin the "way down home" line. That sequence is A, A sharp, A sharp minor by sliding the F shape up then right into the F at first position again with a walkdown right back into the first sequence. Now if you want to play this the way I play live at shows you need to play all the same relationships but in the C system instead of F. If you've ever had my guitar seminar or BIG C rag lessons you know the C, A, D, G pattern. HISTORY OF THIS SONG This is my original work but nothing contained in this song is completely original. The lyrics are about people living and playing in Atlanta and many past legends that inspired me to play blues and stay with it and more importantly just be myself. Blind Willie McTell was one of the greatest bluesmen and overall musicians to ever live and he was best friends with Curley Weaver. Together they forged the Atlanta blues sound of a modern era and were way ahead of their time. McTell always bought a new 12 string at a music store in Decatur every year or two and in 1939 he purchased a Harmony Roy Smeck Pro 12 shown in the photo and confirmed by interviews with his wife. This was the nicest Harmony guitar series ever made and had replaced the previous Stella line in which he was known for playing. I started to sell this guitar in a time of need and then found out it was considered one of the most important and amazing finds in Neil Harpe's career and he send me a detailed letter describing how rare and special the guitar was. I used it for track one along with my vocals to make the foundation of the song. I then added my Donmo steel body tricone resonator guitar to track two using my (redhouse) diamond bottleneck slide for the fills. I believe I was using Open G tuning but lowered a step to match the song in the key of F. An old kazoo left here by my friend SteveO filled out the song and allowed me to add this wonderful element inspired by the great Joe "PigIron" Shifalo a great Atlanta blues musician and producer of the Good Morning Blues show for decades. Topping the song off with simple washtub bass quarter notes on one track and then rub board on the other. The song takes a tour of the Atlanta Blues scene as I saw it in the late 1980s and through the 90s. The scene has been in constant turnover since the 1920s. 

SONG 2 - BLUES AT MIDNIGHT - Key is D. Straight blues. The first guitar is a 1930s Gibson L-00 in standard tuning but lowered one step so that E blues sounds like D. The second guitar is a 1934 era National Trojan wood body single cone resonator in open D with a Diamond Bottleneck slide which is almost exclusively what I use. I played a straight ahead dead thumb style of blues in E on the Gibson to go along with the vocals then played the National bottleneck to fill in the holes but I wanted to leave a lot of open space and air in this song and not fill every space with a note. The washtub bass and rub board only hold a tight solid groove and nothing else. Main reason I put this song together at the last moment was to bring the CD back on track after opening with the bouncy rag tune.

SONG 3 - CARWASH BLUES - I admit this one is a little more like a rhythm and blues song you'd hear a full band playing but the song lyrics and theme just begged for it. I wrote this for my friend and bluesman Tony Bryant and he might begin performing it one day. The first guitar track is mostly rhythm flatpicking on a 1940s Gibson J-45 and I use the same guitar to play the lead parts. Track 3 and 4 are the washtub bass and rub board. I think it's pretty amazing how much sound you can get out of only a handful of acoustic instruments and do what usually requires a whole band. You can play along with the simple C7 chord shape and feel free to work the bass note around a little to string 6. Then go into the F major shape using the full bar chord or just a part. Then use a G maj sliding back down to an F to end the verse and start over. Simple song lots of groove.

SONG 4 - DIVA'S DREAM - This song came along at a time of many deaths among friends and our family. It was written with many people in mind but the name Diva's Dream stuck in mind. If you loose a beloved friend and especially a woman this song might soothe your pain. Track one is a 1926 Gibson L-0 flat top the first of it's kind ever marketed by Gibson with a lush beautiful fingerstyle sound. The next guitar track are some light fills with a Greven Prairie State jumbo but the highlight of this instrumental is guitar number 3 which is a 1930s Kay Kraft with 14 frets and a double venetian cutaway. The same guitar shown in old photos with blues master Curley Weaver and an utterly amazing bottleneck slide sound. This song was completely recorded in less that a half hour with zero overdubbing or studio tricks. I played completely by ear and captured something I love and enjoy. The first guitar is drop D and I play the song in the key of D. I follow that with the slide guitar in open D or  D-A-D-F#-A-D.

SONG 5 - THE ONLY ONE - Recorded this song with a Gibson J-45 a while back and added a lead acoustic guitar track and loved the groove and feel this version took on but I wanted something more and Paul Linden a master harmonica player was kind enough to stop by one morning after playing in clubs all night and lay down a track. I had no money so I paid him with some old vintage harmonica I had found years earlier. He listened to this one one single time then laid down his track and I took the first take. I then asked him to lay down just a solo on top of everything else and accepted that single take. Added washtub bass and rub board and lightly mixed it for the final result. Simple tune using the C7 shape as the one and then sliding that up. Most of the lead parts straight forward blues scales.

SONG 6 - HUSH LITTLE BABY - First guitar recorded with 1940s Kay Jumbo flat top and followed on track 2 with Donmo steel tricone resonator and bottleneck. Finish off with rub board and wash tub. Heavily influenced by older Ga blues cuts but also some of the more contemporary stuff we've done. I also perform this song with a number of styles and grooves.  Guitars tuned in standard and then open G for the slide work. I sometimes capo this up to A but it's all the same thing.

SONG 7 - LIVE BY THE SWORD - Original tune of mine in E minor key but I've tuned the guitar down a step so it sounds like key of Dm to get a more slack and slinky sound. The guitar track one is the main part I usually play and track 2 is added solo notes. Recorded with a 1930s Kalamazoo KG-14 guitar which is a ladder braced version of the Gibson L-00. I left space in this song on purpose.

SONG 8 - MY LUNCH PAIL - This quirky little song turns out to be one of my favorites for many reasons. The recording was all done in single takes and no overdub and I had a perfect run. The timing and dynamics are there and although the lyrics are a little dark the song leaves you singing the tune for the rest of the day. Track one was a 1920s Oscar Schmidt Stella 13.5" inch ladder braced guitar.  The other track is the Donmo again showing it's phenomenal slide tone in open tuning. The first guitar is drop D but standard tuning could work equally well. Starting with the D to the A chord, the G and off you go.

SONG 9 - FISHIN' TIME - I often play this song with the lyrics of Fishin' Clothes but decided to make it an instrumental on this CD with a new name. I used the old 1940s Kay Jumbo that I often describe as the Lightnin' Hopkins style Kay guitar. I then used an old 30's Kay Kraft Deluxe for the bottleneck slide track and added bass and rub board as usual and she was in the can. I kick the tempo up at least two times in this tune and it was all recording in single passes with no overdubbing. I was able to inject a lot of emotion into the song even if it lacks some studio polish. I think one will override the need for the other. 

SONG 10 - DEAL GOES DOWN -  My original tribute to Atlanta Musicians and a song that has been used on a couple other albums and by other recording artists. I always thought of this as my best song and originally composed in order to add a Ray Charles and Gospel-Blues-Georgia style song to my set list. Track one guitar was fingerpicked in standard tuning using an early Gibson J-35 for some bone jarring bass and throaty feel and the slide resonator track was the tricone resonator guitar again with Diamond slide. First guitar is in key of G and reso in open G tuning. Added the washtub bass and rub board. Avoided overdubbing or taking more passes on the guitars or vocals because had a good feel.  

THE RHYTHM SECTION - Here's the washtub bass I used to record all of these tracks. It's the second one I made and has a more leaned back neck angle, longer scale and a thinner uncoated aircraft cable (braided) as a string with a short piece of heatshrink where my fingers pick the string. I tune the string to the first, fourth or fifth note in the scale of the song being played giving me a couple of options when I approach a tune. The best way is to just experiment with a tune until the pattern for each chord falls into place. It's a very crude and simple way to play bass yet very pure and elegant in another sense. I can relax and just let my ear control my hand position more like an effortless vocal cord rather than a rigid fretted guitar. In fact the more you think about how to play it the worse you begin to sound.

My washboard setup is simple. A 1900 era brass washboard made by National company and metal brass fingerpicks on my right thumb and two fingers and the old tomato can containing a few ounces of rounded pebbles in my left hand slapping my leg, shaking in the air and knocking the rim of the can on the wood frame of the rub board. The strap allows me to hang it over my neck if I want to. I keep the can and the picks in the purple crown royal bag when I travel.  I love how these instruments sound better over time as my skill improves. I can play rhythm and add a lot to the musical jam without covering up and competing with the other players. The bass can also give a wonderful experience in a house concert setting for the audience who can feel the sound as much as they hear it. The more subtle washboard style mimicks one of my greatest mentors Donnie McCormick and I think allows the audience to hear it for a whole evening rather than for special effects in only a few tunes. Less is better in this case.

 I've been using Diamond Bottleneck slides almost exclusively for a number of years and they have helped my tone and my skill level increase. They have many different kinds but I love the redhouse family of slides and these new blue diamonds are also amazing and they work really well with my Donmo for added smoothness. Each player has their own needs but I use these mainly for the tone I get without added weight usually thought to be required to get sustain. I sometimes use a Dunlop brass slide for a more raw Son House type of tone.