Seeking 2 Eddie Lang Transcriptions

**oldsouth** · 03-02-2011, 02:34 PM

I am compiling a collection of Eddie Lang Transcriptions. He was, perhaps, the most important figure in jazz guitar history but very little is available - a few tunes in Masters of the Plectrum Guitar and a few in Ivor Miarants Great Guitarists (which appears to have gone out of print?). The only book I've come across dedicated to transcribing his work was by Dave Berend (who also did books on his style, which are available at DjangoBooks.com) publishe din 1934 - it is long out of print and nearly impossible to find.

Thanks to help from friends in the US, France and Canada, I should soon have a collection of about 10 tunes. Once compiled, I'll gladly provide these to the good folks here.

I still need "Eddie's Twister", "Wild Dog" and "Wild Cat" to cover the basics.

Can anyone help?

**Banksia** · 03-02-2011, 02:40 PM

I could attempt Eddie's Twister. If I can't get it all I'll pass it on to someone better at transcribing.

**oldsouth** · 03-02-2011, 05:14 PM

That is terrific. I think we can put together a great resource!

**brad4d8** · 03-02-2011, 05:47 PM

I'll look, but I may have the original sheet music for Eddie's Twister. I know I have Pickin' My Way and one other, not sure which one. There was also a version of it in Fingerstyle Guitar issue number 51, although I don't know if it is a direct transcription. I'll look for it, I have it somewhere.
Brad

**oldsouth** · 03-02-2011, 06:22 PM

As of now, it looks like we have

Feelin' My Way
Pickin' My Way
April Kisses
Handfull of Riffs
In De Ruff
Stringin' the Blues
Rainbow's End
Sunshine
Rachmaninoff Prelude in Em
Guitar Blues
I'm Coming Virginia
Singin' the Blues 'til My Daddy Comes Home
Someday Sweetheart
Three Blind Mice

Add to that Eddie's Twister and we've got a great start. I'll probably post all of these on a blog that we can all access, or put them all in a .pdf file and we can pass it around like a real book.

**oldsouth** · 03-03-2011, 12:25 AM

If you are wondering why I think Wild Cat and Wild Dog are essential, check out these chords:

Holy cow! Eddie was super human! Consider that his action was about an inch off the fretboard and his strings were as heavy as fence wire! If that wasn't enough, he invented this style of guitar... the base of the style we all play, or at least aspire to. Would there even be an archtop guitar designed by Loyd Loar without Eddie Lang?

**Eddie Lang** · 03-03-2011, 11:11 AM

I do not have any transcription, but needless to say, I'D LOVE to have access to such a resource. Great initiative! Thank you oldsouth.

Originally Posted by oldsouth

Would there even be an archtop guitar designed by Loyd Loar without Eddie Lang?

Well, despite Lang's importance, he didn't have anything to do with it. Loar started working at Gibson in 1919, when Eddie had just about started his professional career. He left the company in 1924, but most of his ideas, designs and innovations had been developed by 1922. Moreover, he concentrated on instruments of the mandolin family, but the concepts were also applied to the guitar. Lastly, Lang didn't play an L-5 (Loar's instruments are the Master Series -- F-5, H-5, L-5) until about 1928. Before that, he played an L-4.

Still, Lang may not have influenced Loar at all, but he sure invented jazz guitar and for that, I think he is to the music (at least) what Lloyd Loar is to the instrument itself.

**oldsouth** · 03-03-2011, 12:02 PM

Thanks for clearing that up - I wasn't sure of the timeline. Did Nick Lucas play the L-4 as well? I know Gibson made a guitar for him, which I think was kind of a signature model. He was a hell of a guitarist as well - too often overlooked.

**Eddie Lang** · 03-03-2011, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by oldsouth

Did Nick Lucas play the L-4 as well? I know Gibson made a guitar for him, which I think was kind of a signature model. He was a hell of a guitarist as well - too often overlooked.

Nick was more a crooner (one of the first ones) than a jazzman, but he was a very important guitarist. His popularity played a role in the ascendance of guitar over banjo in the 1920's. "Pickin' The Guitar" and "Teasin' The Frets", recorded in 1922, were the first solo jazz guitar instrumentals recorded. It was said that he was influential in Eddie Lang's switch from banjo to guitar, so if Eddie Lang is the father of jazz guitar, this makes Nick Lucas sort of the grandfather.

Early in his career, he played a Galliano guitar until Gibson offered him an endorsement and built a guitar to his specifications. It was a flat top similar to a L-00, but with a deeper body and with fancier appointments. The Nick Lucas Special was available from 1928 to 1941 and the specs varied over the years: body shape, bracing (H or A style bracing early on, then X-braces), 12-fret, 13-fret or 14-fret necks, different tone woods, mahogany, rosewood, maple.

1928 Gibson Nick Lucas Special
Smaller 13-1/2" rounded shape body
12 fret - Mahogany back and sides
(© Buffalobrosguitars.com)

1930 Gibson Nick Lucas Special
Larger 14-3/4" body
13 fret clear of the body/elevated fingerboard/tailpiece and floating bridge
(© Folkwaymusic.com)

1932 Gibson Nick Lucas Special
13 fret - Rosewood back and sides
Converted from trapeze and floating bridge to pin bridge
(© Folkwaymusic.com)

1934 Gibson Nick Lucas Special
14 fret - Maple back and sides
(© Folkwaymusic.com)

**bahama** · 03-03-2011, 01:31 PM

I too am a big Lang fan. I for sure would buy a transcription book of his works.

**Eddie Lang** · 03-03-2011, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by oldsouth

As of now, it looks like we have

Feelin' My Way
Pickin' My Way
April Kisses
Handfull of Riffs
In De Ruff
Stringin' the Blues
Rainbow's End
Sunshine
Rachmaninoff Prelude in Em
Guitar Blues
I'm Coming Virginia
Singin' the Blues 'til My Daddy Comes Home
Someday Sweetheart
Three Blind Mice

Add to that Eddie's Twister and we've got a great start. I'll probably post all of these on a blog that we can all access, or put them all in a .pdf file and we can pass it around like a real book.

Rainbow's End. I don't know that one. Did you mean Rainbow Dreams or is it a different song? I never heard Rainbow's End and Three Blind Mice.

**oldsouth** · 03-03-2011, 03:22 PM

Man, those are gorgeous guitars! Maybe once the Eddie Lang project is done, I'll do the same for Nick Lucas. I have a couple of cds of his recordings - most from the 20s, but also the album Painting the Clouds with Sunshine. His chordal style was very sophisticated. His voice sounds more like an Irish tenor than anything Italian, but the songs are so nice, so pleasant, that he really grows on you. Also, he was in Busby's Gold Diggers and several other movies, which makes him a pretty iconic roaring 20's guy.

**oldsouth** · 03-03-2011, 03:28 PM

I'm not sure yet about "Rainbow's End". That is the way it was titled in the Dave Berend book, but I haven't played through it yet to see.

Three Blind Mice and a couple of others are from the Ivor Mairants book. I am still trying to find out if it is going out of print - that will dictate how those tunes are used if I do a blog. His book is selling new, on Amazon, for about a buck, which usually means that it has gone out of print and sent to the discount bin - like the old cut out albums (which was usually where you found the best music).

**Jazzyteach65** · 03-03-2011, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by oldsouth

I am compiling a collection of Eddie Lang Transcriptions. He was, perhaps, the most important figure in jazz guitar history but very little is available - a few tunes in Masters of the Plectrum Guitar and a few in Ivor Miarants Great Guitarists (which appears to have gone out of print?). The only book I've come across dedicated to transcribing his work was by Dave Berend (who also did books on his style, which are available at DjangoBooks.com) publishe din 1934 - it is long out of print and nearly impossible to find.

Thanks to help from friends in the US, France and Canada, I should soon have a collection of about 10 tunes. Once compiled, I'll gladly provide these to the good folks here.

I still need "Eddie's Twister", "Wild Dog" and "Wild Cat" to cover the basics.

Can anyone help?

I would love to link your page/website to my Global Music/Ethnomusicology page.

**oldsouth** · 03-03-2011, 04:14 PM

I'll let you know as soon as it is up - I should have a start on it this weekend.

Thanks!

**oldsouth** · 03-03-2011, 05:23 PM

Okay... turns out that "Rainbow's End" came exclusively from Mel Bay's Masters of the Plectrum Guitar. That changes things a bit. Mel Bay is protective of its copyrights. What I may have to do is learn the song, then write my own tab, with at least one obvious "error" so that it won't infringe on their copyright. I'll keep y'all updated.

**Eddie Lang** · 03-03-2011, 05:28 PM

Thanks! Looking forward.

**brad4d8** · 03-03-2011, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by Eddie Lang

The Nick Lucas Special was available from 1928 to 1941 and the specs varied over the years: body shape, bracing (H or A style bracing early on, then X-braces), 12-fret, 13-fret or 14-fret necks, different tone woods, mahogany, rosewood, maple.

I think Bob Dylan played a 13 fret Nick Lucas for a while, probably in the 70s.
Brad

**Jazzyteach65** · 03-03-2011, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by oldsouth

I'll let you know as soon as it is up - I should have a start on it this weekend.

Thanks!

Coiol. What program do you use for notation? I have use Music Score but have yet to figur5e out how to load my transcriptions and Ethnic scales for guitar tab/notation. My pc buddy who helps me out is too busy to help me this week, so I could use advice-thanks

**oldsouth** · 03-03-2011, 06:32 PM

I don't have any software to make tabs! I usually just use the following format:

-12-11-10-------------
-------------10-9-----
-------------------9-7
----------------
----------------
----------------

And so on. I'll have to try out some programs and see which one is easiest to use.

For the "error", I'm considering the opening bar or two of "Smoke on the Water" by the old 70s rock band, Deep Purple - LOL! I think most folks would recognize that it didn't belong!

**Eddie Lang** · 03-03-2011, 06:49 PM

I have used Finale for years now. It is good, but it is a bit expensive at $600. I get the educational price at $350 and the school is paying for it anyway. In the last few months, I have started using GuitarPro. I recommend the latter, it is straightforward, it works well and fast, it does both notation and tabs and it's cheap, only $60.

**oldsouth** · 03-03-2011, 07:20 PM

I'm a fairly broke grad student, so the $60 version definitely sounds better! If anyone more qualified than me wants to do the tabs, I can send you the sheet music I have so far. That should satisfy all copyright issues. If not, no problem - I'll figure it out.

**oldsouth** · 03-03-2011, 07:27 PM

PS I looked it up and Bob Dylan did play the Nick Lucas model. It turns out he was good friends with Tiny Tim, who was (of course) a major Nick Lucas fan. Tim turned him on to the Nick Lucas legacy. Personally, I think Nick Lucas' reputation may have been better were it not for Tiny Tim. I remember him as a pale, stringy haired, weird guy who married a very young girl and sang in a freaky falsetto. But then, I never thought I'd dig Nick Lucas before I checked him out, so maybe I should go dig up some Tiny Tim records?

**Krenwin** · 03-06-2011, 04:04 AM

http://beemp3.com/download.php?file=1983007&song=Eddie%27s+Twister

Originally Posted by oldsouth

I am compiling a collection of Eddie Lang Transcriptions. He was, perhaps, the most important figure in jazz guitar history but very little is available - a few tunes in Masters of the Plectrum Guitar and a few in Ivor Miarants Great Guitarists (which appears to have gone out of print?). The only book I've come across dedicated to transcribing his work was by Dave Berend (who also did books on his style, which are available at DjangoBooks.com) publishe din 1934 - it is long out of print and nearly impossible to find.

Thanks to help from friends in the US, France and Canada, I should soon have a collection of about 10 tunes. Once compiled, I'll gladly provide these to the good folks here.

I still need "Eddie's Twister", "Wild Dog" and "Wild Cat" to cover the basics.

Can anyone help?