Pickley Wickley - Herb Ellis

[edh]

Did Charlie C. use his thumb only ala Wes?

[pubylakeg]

.
I know! I've looked for it again lately but haven't been able to find it. In anyone does, please holler! ;o)

Huge credit to CampusFive J. Stout, who has links to archive versions of both CC sites, provided from his own blog.


Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five, featuring Hilary Alexander - Swing Guitar Blog - The Internet Archive saves Charlie Christian sites!

[MarkRhodes]

Did Charlie C. use his thumb only ala Wes?

No! Charlie played with a pick. (The shot of him using his thumb was a publicity shot, not one taken during a performance.)
According to Barney Kessel (-who spent time with Charlie and watched him play), Charlie used a large pick (-one of those triangle-shaped ones, maybe?) that was thick and he played mostly downstrokes.

[MarkRhodes]

Huge credit to CampusFive J. Stout, who has links to archive versions of both CC sites, provided from his own blog.


Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five, featuring Hilary Alexander - Swing Guitar Blog - The Internet Archive saves Charlie Christian*sites!

Yay! Jonathan is a great resource in his own right. I need to visit his blog more often.

[MarkRhodes]

Correct me if I'm totally wrong here but isn't this what's usually called a "Spanish (or "Andalusian") cadence"?

Apparently so. I was unfamiliar with the term. This wikipedia list of popular tunes including it contains "Stray Cat Strut" "Hit the Road, Jack" and many others (-including "Sultans of Swing," the Dire Straits hit that knocked me out when I first heard it.)

List of popular music songs featuring Andalusian cadences - Wikipedia

From another wikipedia article on this subject:
>>>The Andalusian cadence may be notated vi - V - IV - III (if in a major key) or i – ?VII – ?VI – v in a minor key. This ?VII note and chord is called the subtonic. ^[4][2] In the final chord (III or V, depending on key signature) the leading note replaces the subtonic in order to lead back into the minor chord that begins the sequence<<<<

In C major that would be: Am G (7) F Em. In Bb minor it would be: Bbm, Ab Gb Fm.

I think the chords Kessel uses for "Salute" are "Bb minor Bb/Ab Gb6 and F7....

Might as well throw in "Sultans of Swing". Though not a jazz tune per se, it is about a jazz band and Knopfler's solos are killer. (And the dude plays with his fingers, no pick, which always amazed me.)

[fep]

Here's my pdf's of Topsy and Salute to Charlie Christian.

https://app.box.com/s/pwle223n4heumxwa4yvxrnohsmnq9qsa

https://app.box.com/s/kminsgkuvqyviwhsl26o9cib2ktqq37j

Here I'm playing Topsy. Showing this so gggomez can see how I play the chords. Good tune for us beginners.

[pubylakeg]

From 1969, the Newport All-Stars version of "Topsy" feat. T Farlow & B. Kessel as the soloists.

[MarkRhodes]

A short video of me showing how I play the bridge of Kessel's "Salute To Charlie Christian" (-which, like "Pickley Wickly", is based on the "Topsy" changes.) Might as well learn both tunes, right? ;o)

Chords: Bb7 / Bb7 / Eb7 / Eb7 / Ab7 / Ab7 / Db / Cm7b5 F7

[gggomez]

This has been great guys, level 1 done.

How about we take this to the next 3 levels:

2. transcribe Herb's solo (I will aim to have the first 16 bars done on weekend, just working on getting the rhythm of those slides to Bb up to tempo)
3. comping (our own and the piano has some nice ideas in there)
4. our own improv

Cheers

[MarkRhodes]

This has been great guys, level 1 done.

How about we take this to the next 3 levels:

2. transcribe Herb's solo (I will aim to have the first 16 bars done on weekend, just working on getting the rhythm of those slides to Bb up to tempo)

I know the solo, though those slides give me trouble too, but the main thing I struggle with on this is the bends, getting the timing just right. It's a tasty solo---like a stew with everything in it!

[gggomez]

Wow this was two years ago!

Looking back through the posts there is so much tasty learning in this thread. Tremendous.

I am back on this tune with I think much better ears.