The Bass Fiddle...

In the blues world, often times the only bass fiddler that people know of is the great Willie Dixon. I suppose this is a bit of a tangent, but I've read more than a few comments on Youtube of people proclaiming that Willie invented, or at least started the idea, of slap bass :|

Well, to that I'd say, check out this video of the great Milt Hinton demonstrating the technique. Milt came from a different musical background than Willie but interestingly would incorporate the same slap technique. This is to say, that bass fiddle slapping was probably prevalent all over the place, way back when...

Lead Belly Footage

For some reason, it's widely believed that there exists only one video of Lead Belly...this is, thankfully, not the case. As far as I know, there are four in circulation. One being the newsreel clip of Lead Belly re-enacting his meeting with Alan Lomax, and also these three demonstrating the master in action. I've been searching for the latter two clips in this video for ages!

Lead Belly...the greatest folk musician ever...

Sandy Bull's Music

Someone unfortunately unknown to me until today is a musician by the name of Sandy Bull. His take on instrumental music, almost like a psychedelic version of Basho at times, epitomizes the meaning of the word 'chill'. Other descriptors that come to mind might be thought-provoking, explorative, Jerry-Garcia-like, and so on.

As you can see by the album cover, his talent drew him to several instruments. From my very superficial experience with his music, thus far, it seems like each instrument exposes a very different facet of his musical concept. The banjo - a very folksie, old time sound, the electric guitar - a Grateful Dead kind of idea, etc. Good stuff...

Jelly Roll Morton and Make Me A Pallet On the Floor

The great old, old tune Make Me A Pallet On the Floor...among my favorite versions are John Hurt's, Willie Brown's, and Sam Chatmon's. I'm thinking that many of you have heard those renditions but have not yet heard Jelly Roll Morton's - the self-proclaimed, contentiously so, inventor of jazz. Whatever his credentials in that regard truly are, there's no doubt that he was a key figure in the history of jazz and also played a key-role (much like Lead Belly) in accounting for the aural history of black American music from before the recording era.

Honestly, the lyrics that he puts onto this monumentally long version are, to me, amusing in a "did he actually just say that?" way...just cuz it's Jelly Roll Morton and I have a shameful sense of humor (which I blame on my internet generation). You'll see what I mean...I've never had to say this, but please use discretion in choosing to listen to this if vulgarity does not jive with you...btw, Mr Lomax recorded this.

Lead Belly Movie

This is a fun little clip from the 1976 Lead Belly film...it depicts a young Lead Belly at some speakeasy challenging another guitarist to a little cutting contest.

For the guitar parts, the director chose Dick Rosmini for all 12-string parts...it's too bad he didn't record more - he was a great player. Artie Traum dubs for the 6-string parts which are also fantastic.

A great little film that you can stream online if you look hard enough!

Lesson on Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)

This is one that I've been meaning to make for a while...see if this helps you get started on this tune. If there's a song that just cannot be replicated, it's this one. But, it's an exciting tune to try and play...you'll feel a weird vibe inside you once you get it going and really dig into it - an amazing song.

Here's a lesson on Blind Willie Johnson's most renowned recording:

Requesting Tunes for Lessons...

Prior to recent times, I made video lessons based on email suggestions. That was great and the enthusiasm was, and is, very much appreciated! The thing is that, starting around a little over a month ago, the pace of suggestions being sent in started increasing to the point where it kinda became impossible make all the videos. I guess, having to take the time to listen to the tunes, learn the parts, film and edit the video, then upload the content - it's just a lot to do.

So now, and I hope you don't mind, I'll make the request videos for a little charge of $20...kinda like a private lesson, in a way. If you just shoot me an email of the artist and tune, I'll let you know if it's viable (most likely it will be) and we'll go from there.

Thanks for your consideration...I'll still be making videos - this is just regarding requests!