TOMMY TEDESCO, "TEA FOR TWO"

I've been listening all week to Tommy Tedesco's gut-string playing on the old "50 Guitars" albums, then I found this gem (in a totally different vein) from Tommy's "Twangin' 12 Great Hits" album. Back when I was trying to figure out how the guitar should be played, I'd be listening to Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery, and other jazz cats, but I also never got tired of the twang--

Twang could mean surf, or country, or rockabilly, or Les Paul, or any number of interrelated guitar styles. After a while, I realized that a lot of the playing on TV shows, movies, and albums from that era was these anonymous session guys, and a lot of the twangy playing that had a little more jazz sophistication was by Tommy.
There were others, too, of course, and probably many excelent pickers I haven't heard of, but Tommy shows up a lot once you start looking for him. I would guess this album was another one Tedesco didn't think too much of, but I'm happy to hear Tommy in a twangy vein any day. I'm sure that Tedesco was a major influence on my attempts at mixing twang with sophistication. Maybe it can't be done, and if it can be done, maybe I'm not the best guy to do it, but it still feels like a noble experiment to me. I'll keep working at it!
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WALTER HAYNES, "PICK ME UP ON YOUR WAY DOWN," WITH CHARLIE WALKER

Please excuse my ignorance, but can anyone identify this steel player?
(thanks to Dave Van Allen for determining that the mystery man was
Walter Haynes. Now I need to find more Walter
Haynes.)

(thanks to Bob Adamcik for turning me on to both this song and Charlie Walker.)
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BILLY BYRD W/ ERNEST TUBB, "THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING IN TEXAS"

I couldn't find a clip of Leon playing this song, but here's an older one with Billy Byrd. Unfortunately, Byrd doesn't play a lot on this tune, and you don't get tons of shots of him as in some of the best clips, but what little you get is characteristically fine.

I just did a transcription of Leon's live 1965 version, and thought I'd put this Byrd version up for comparison.

memo to Alex-- do you know of a video clip of Leon playing this song with Tubb?
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STEVE CROPPER W/ BOOKER T. AND THE MG'S, "GREEN ONIONS"

Here's Steve Cropper with the immortal "Green Onions." Not enough Cropper, of course, but can you ever really have enough Steve Cropper? Cropper remains the standard example of how to burn on guitar and still be understated.
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MICK GREEN WITH BILLY J. KRAMER, "I CALL YOUR NAME"

Here's a textbook example of how guitar players can benefit from listening to also-ran recordings. Briefly, I'm talking about the phenomenon of lesser recordings containing stellar guitar playing. Many would probably dismiss or ignore this Billy J. Kramer clip, since it's a weaker version of the Beatles song "I Call Your Name." Okay, Billy J. is no John Lennon, but I'll let others engage in that debate elsewhere. We Tele pickers are concerned with Mick Green's A+ playing. I love George Harrison, but whereas George was a little-engine-that-could type of instrumentalist, working harder than many contemporaries to develop technique that didn't come naturally to him, Mick Green is one of the technical greats of British rock. Ignored in this country, like Hank Marvin, Peter Green, etc., Mick Green kills on cut after cut. I'm slowly working my way through these youtube clips, looking for classic Mick Green playing. There are tons of clips of Green with the Pirates, a solid and in fact pretty intense hard rock band, but these Dakotas clips are a different animal. In a less rocking setting, Green does what James Burton, Nokie Edwards, Jimmy Page, George Barnes et al do so well-- he brings some raunch to a pop session. This kind of approach gives me an almost religious feeling when I hear it.

I'm in the process of putting together some videos where I demonstrate some playing inspired by Green, Burton, and others in that elite group. Look for these to show up soon, knock on wood. (I suppose that wood should ideally be alder, or swamp ash.)
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GUITAR INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

I'm in the process of learning how to make guitar instructional videos. Most likely I'll begin with some short ones, and eventually move on to longer ones with more detail. Please feel free to comment here with any suggestions about what you'd like to see. I'll have a fair amount of free ones up here and elsewhere, and I'll be trying to figure out how to make money from them. My current plan is to post the shorter "teaser" videos for free, and make more in-depth lessons available for sale.

I've found that few people want to pay for tablature and transcription, and those who are willing to pay don't want to pay very much. Given that putting notation and tab together takes a huge amount of time, I'm refocusing my efforts on videos rather than notation. I'm gambling that instructional videos will be more enticing-- we'll see!

Now is a good time to send me suggestions, because in the short term there's a good chance I'll be available to make a video available for free that incorporates whatever you're looking for. Here's an incomplete list of things I'm considering.

VIDEOS FOCUSING ON SPECIFIC PLAYERS
DON RICH
FREDDIE KING
JAMES BURTON
ROY NICHOLS
CLARENCE WHITE
BILLY BYRD/LEON RHODES

VIDEOS FOCUSING ON SPECIFIC SONGS OR PROGRESSIONS
UNDER THE DOUBLE EAGLE
I IV V
my song "TONIGHT"
MY BABE (open E swampy/bluesy a la Burton, Fogerty, Mick Green, Little Walter, etc.)

VIDEOS FOCUSING ON MY APPROACH to PUTTING LINES TOGETHER
my style is a blend of country, rock, blues, and jazz

VIDEOS FOCUSING ON LEARNING THE WHOLE NECK
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ORDERING INFO FOR TRANSCRIPTIONS

ORDERING INFO FOR TRANSCRIPTIONS

To order, please send an email to Karl Straub, address karlstraub@hotmail.com. List the items you're interested in, or request anything not on list. After I get your email, I'll give you a total so you can mail in payment. (please note-- I can no longer do transcription work for people without receiving payment up front. After I receive your payment, I will send transcription, if it's one I already have done, or I will begin the work and send on completion.
Please send checks to
Karl Straub
406 Cloverway Drive
Alexandria, Va 22314
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STEVE MORSE W/ THE DREGS, WABASH CANNONBALL ETC.

Okay, I'll admit, lickety-split fusion-type playing isn't my favorite thing. It's nice to hear it done very well, though, and who does it better than Steve Morse? Mixing in some country doesn't hurt, either. Great execution here; a lot of stuff worth stealing for those who have plenty of time to kill.

They play a medley of Wabash Cannonball and another polka-esque fiddle tune whose name escapes me. Hey, do I have to do all the work around here?
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MICK GREEN WITH BILLY J. KRAMER, "MY BABE"

Here's Mick Green with Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas. Billy J. and his group are one of the many also-ran British groups that popped up in the wake of the Beatles-- pretty limp, but any Mick Green sighting is important. Green is better known for his intense work with Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, but even in this more subdued setting he plays some good stuff. The second solo is a little more raw, the first a little less exciting, but there's good playing throughout. Little Walter's "My Babe," much like Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning," and Dale Hawkins/James Burton's "Susie Q," is ground zero for open E bluesy/swampy licks. You don't have to play this stuff on a Tele, but it helps.

Thanks to Bob Craver for posting this on facebook.
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LEON RHODES AND BUDDY EMMONS, "JAMMIN' WITH JIMMY"

Here are Leon and Buddy (version one) doing Speedy and Jimmy.

Thanks to Howard Parker for sending this along.
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DANNY GATTON, "REMINGTON RIDE"

More vintage Gatton, this time with Herb Remington's steel guitar classic "Remington Ride," which turns into one of Gatton's crazy medleys.
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JAMES BURTON w/RICKY NELSON, "STRING ALONG"

My colleague Alex McCullough says this is his favorite Burton solo.
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MARC RIBOT

It seems to me that most of what Ribot does here is pretty basic or standard rock vocabulary, but with unusual approach to time, staccato phrasing, etc. I think this shows that just thinking about time and phrasing in a slightly different way, you can immediately get away from rock territory. (With some exceptions, rock is mostly pretty conservative about use of rhythm and time.) Ribot seems to be drifting into some odder territory at the end, but sadly the clip is cut off.

I hope I'm not giving anyone the impression I didn't like his playing here! It's got some Beefheart, some Ennio Morricone, some "Ghost Riders in the Sky"-- what's not to like? I like it a lot, actually-- but it's certainly a lesson in how to avoid cliche without working too hard. Or, another take on it-- he shows how you can use cliched material, but in a slightly different way, and it changes it for the listener.
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NEW FREDDY KING TRANSCRIPTION NOW AVAILABLE, "NICKEL-PLATED"

I just finished a new transcription-- one of Freddie King's great blues instrumentals. Excerpt at right, the whole thing is six pages. See the catalog for ordering info--

straubcountryguitar.blogspot.com/2010/01/catalog-of-available-transcriptions.html

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EVAN JOHNS, "MADHOUSE"

This vintage clip of Evan provided "another piece of the puzzle" for me, to use Jim Stephanson's phrase. Years ago, around the time of this video, I used to go watch Evan play. An Evan show at the old 9:30 club in D.C. was a real experience-- dark atmosphere, plus a whole lot of trash and twang for a couple hours.

Evan used to do a lot of this kind of playing, especially in the key of E, where he'd get a raunchy howling effect by holding notes. At the time, I had no idea how he did this-- but it crawled into my DNA somehow. Now I can see that he focuses this kind of solo around certain bends that can give you an intensity in your playing. I believe this is what Robbie Robertson referred to as "that stinger thing" he got from Roy Buchanan. (Whether Evan was influenced by Roy, I don't know for sure, but it certainly seems likely. These three players, Evan, Roy, and Robbie, are all related to my ear because they rely more on intensity of expression than flash.) Sometimes Evan attacks a note with an extreme right-hand pick-dragging technique-- this technique enables him to get a similar "stinger" effect without bending.

It's hard to see a lot of either hand in this clip, unfortunately, but look for Evan
using positions where he can bend 4 to 5, and b7 to tonic. The G string gets a lot of bending, and E positions both low and high are used. This jumping between low E open position and the high one 12 frets up is a crude but effective gimmick. Easy to do, it perfectly illustrates the different emotional and coloristic effects of the two registers. Low, you can get snarling and guttural-- up high it's more of a screaming effect. When Evan uses the pick-drag technique without bending, it's often the b7 or b3 blue note, with a little vibrato.
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ROBBIE ROBERTSON WITH BOB DYLAN AND THE BAND, "LAY, LADY, LAY"

www.wolfgangsvault.com/

From the fabulous live music site Wolfgang's Vault, here are three different versions of this arrangement. Each one has lots of Robertson fills, plus a solo. I believe the first is the released version from 1974's "Before the Flood," but Robertson fans will find a few new ideas on the other versions here. Robertson gets a lot of mileage out of the high G position, but even though it's basically all pentatonic he never sounds stale, and he doesn't really sound like anyone else. (Aficionados will hear a little Roy Buchanan in Robbie's pinched harmonics, but the phrasing is his own.)
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WAYLON, TELE, AND PHASE SHIFTER, "CAN'T YOU SEE"

Here's some phase shifter, for Marty Lynds and anyone else who digs it. Nice Ralph Mooney solos, and nice chunky gloopy Waylon breaks too. It was country guitar in the 1970s, when twangy met gloopy--
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JEFF BECK, "CAUSE WE'VE ENDED AS LOVERS"

This Stevie Wonder tune is the vehicle for some of Beck's best ballad playing. I'll admit there are aspects of this performance that I don't love-- while Beck has always used crazy excess as an element of his playing, arguably there's more of that here than necessary. I'd also make the generalization that the crazy excess was used in shorter bursts in his earlier work, and with more humor. But regardless of whether you agree with me on that, a few things remain clear about Beck's playing, from any period. He consistently demonstrates a large number of virtuoso techniques, enabling him to mix unusual sounds with unusual phrasing and articulation.

In his more contemplative moments, some of his idiosyncracies lead to very beautiful and expressive playing. There are some of those here if you listen for them.

It's also important to note that Beck's basic approach here is taken from Roy Buchanan-- the use of volume knob to create a variety of "faded-in" attacks was the main ingredient in Buchanan's soulful sound, and Beck incorporated this approach into his own sound after hearing Roy. Beck often plays a Strat, and heavy whammy-bar use colors his tone much of the time. Here you can see him working to get some of the same effects without the bar. It's interesting to hear the different tone he gets on a Tele.
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KEITH RICHARDS BRAINS FAN WITH TELE, (BLACK PICKGUARD)

Classic moment.
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DANNY GATTON, "SLEEPWALK"

I'll be avoiding my computer for a bit, trying to get some "work" done.

Here's a Gatton clip to tide you over.
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JOE MAPHIS WITH TOMMY DUNCAN, "MAKES NO DIFFERENCE NOW"

Here's a Joe Maphis solo behind Tommy Duncan, western swing's greatest singer. It's from the Ranch Party tv show in the 50's. Tex Ritter does the introduction.

It's nice to hear Maphis in this mid-tempo bouncy setting, rather than the lickety-split tempo he's known for.
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ROY NICHOLS, WITH MERLE HAGGARD, 1978 "WORKING MAN'S BLUES"

I haven't posted any Roy Nichols for a while, so here's 1978 Austin clip. Roy takes a nice solo (with a little bit of grit along with the twang), then Merle plays one later in the clip.
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MIKE BLOOMFIELD WITH BOB DYLAN, "MAGGIE'S FARM"

Bloomfield burns here, at the infamous "Dylan goes electric" Newport performance in 1965. Lots of fills around the vocals, and a few short breaks. You can hear the booing at the end-- it's historically interesting, of course, but these days I'm less interested in all that than in the opportunity to hear Mike Bloomfield on a Telecaster.

(note-- the article mentioned below suggests that Bloomfield is the key element that caused all the loud volume, booing, etc.
Sounds reasonable to me-- I like the concept that a loud Telecaster helped change rock history.)

Peggy from www.mikebloomfield.com/ forwarded this link to an in-depth article about Bloomfield's experiences on the weekend of Newport 1965. It's very interesting and detailed-- that's where I found the picture above with the Butterfield Blues Band. THANKS, PEGGY!
www.mikebloomfieldamericanmusic.com/newport.htm
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NORMA JEAN, "TRUCK DRIVING WOMAN"

There's some nice sessionman pickin' on this song by the unjustly overlooked Norma Jean.
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BUCK TRENT, WITH DOLLY PARTON, "DUMB BLONDE"

There's a whole lotta Mosrite on here, as Buck Trent plays double stop Don Rich licks, single note lines, a little taste of "Memphis," etc. Plus, it's always great to catch some early Dolly.
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KEITH RICHARDS, WITH ROLLING STONES, "HANG FIRE"

As any Stones fan knows, there's an awfully large pile of studio and live recordings of this band. Keith's playing is variable in quality. Here's a choice example of him playing a really solid solo, with that raunchy-yet-twangy quality that Telecasters can get better than any other guitar.
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PHIL BAUGH, WITH BUDDY EMMONS, FIDDLIN' FRENCHIE BURKE, "CAJUN FIDDLE"

Here's more Phil Baugh with Frenchie and Buddy. On this tune, Phil is in more of a Nashville mode than a "fiddle tune" single note mode, with double stops, "banjo rolls," and bends using his foot-operated bending gizmo.
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PHIL BAUGH, WITH BUDDY EMMONS, FIDDLIN' FRENCHIE BURKE, "BIG MAMOU"

More Phil Baugh, with some good coverage of his right hand picking technique on this cajun fiddle number. Phil takes a couple breaks here, as well as playing some fills-- with Emmons as a bonus. (It's always valuable to see what top-notch pickers do with two chords, and it's also always interesting to see hot Nashville cats playing more traditional material.)

thanks to Charlie McCardell for sending me this clip.
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GEORGE JONES, "THE RACE IS ON," UNKNOWN TELE PICKER

Here's another unknown picker, with a great Tele tone. If anyone knows who this guitarist is, please let me know!
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GLEN CAMPBELL, LARRY COLLINS, ETC., "FIVE DOLLARS AND IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT"

At 1:38, Glen Campbell (with Jazzmaster) and Larry Collins (Mosrite doubleneck) play some hip harmonized lines. (There are some fills elsewhere as well.) Plus, Faron Young, Lorrie Collins--- probably more that I'm forgetting.

At this point, people like "RockinGator" www.youtube.com/user/RockinGator

are posting twangy clips faster than I can watch 'em, much less post 'em and write about 'em. Thanks, RockinGator!
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HANK GARLAND, WITH FLOYD TILLMAN, "SLIPPIN' AROUND"

Hank plays a nice solo around 1:13.
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ROY BUCHANAN, WITH MUNDELL LOWE, "MISTY"

Here's an excerpt from the 1970s PBS special on Roy.
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JUNIOR BARNARD WITH BOB WILLS, "GOODBYE LIZA JANE"

Here's a Junior clip with Wills; I don't think I've seen any other footage of him. He takes a solo around 1:05.

Many Junior transcriptions now available--

straubcountryguitar.blogspot.com/2010/01/catalog-of-available-transcriptions.html
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UNKNOWN EPIPHONE PICKER SHOWS US HOW TO TWANG WITHOUT A FENDER

I love Tammy, but most of her music doesn't have this much guitar. This mystery guitarist plays a lot of cool stuff around the vocal-- I suspect if he had ever been on a Billy Sherrill session, he would have been advised to scale it back. Anyway, what difference does it make? We'll always have the immortal studio version-- but now you can enjoy this different kind of take on the song-- with even a little taste of "Chicken Reel" in there!

What I like about 60's country guitar is that a lot of pickers from that time retained elements from the earlier era (western swing, fiddle-tune idioms, etc.) while adding the new Bakersfield/Burton thing into the mix. I like to think of my style as growing out of this transitional approach that mixes swing and twang. (When I'm not adding Beck's Yardbirds fuzz licks into the equation, that is.)
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THUMBS CARLILLE WITH AUNT FANNY, "CRAWDAD HOLE"

Thumbs Carlille plays a great solo here on "Crawdad Hole." (I poached this one from Deke Dickerson's youtube site, www.youtube.com/user/KoolKlipsFromDeke)
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GRADY MARTIN WITH RED FOLEY, "CRAWDAD HOLE"

Here's another great clip, unearthed by Deke Dickerson for his site, www.youtube.com/user/KoolKlipsFromDeke

Grady Martin takes a solo here with his Bigsby doubleneck.
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DON RICH WITH BUCK OWENS, "MY HEART SKIPS A BEAT," "FOOLIN' AROUND," AND "LOVE'S GONNA LIVE HERE AGAIN"

This clip from the Jimmy Dean show has three songs, not including a short dollop of "Bud's Bounce." Don has solos on "Heart" and "Love's Gonna Live Here." (Don's solo on the last tune is pretty different from the version I've transcribed. My transcription is from the Buck TV show, where Don plays a hotter solo. I'll put up this clip in another post.)

Check out the moment where, referring to the Buckaroos' Nudie suits, Dean says to Buck, "Not only do you sing good, but you just might glisten 'em to death."

Thanks to Stephen Worth for posting this, and Henry Kaiser for sending me the link.

Original link to boingboing site here--

boingboing.net/2010/01/23/adventure-02-bakersf.html
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TED GREENE, "AUTUMN LEAVES"

Watching Ted play this tune, I'm realizing "Autumn Leaves" has a chord progression that moves an awful lot like Bach's progressions. Here you've got jazz and Bach, together with French pop (which is where the song originated), all at the same time, and all played on a Telecaster.

It's interesting to compare this version with Barney Kessel's trio version, over here on the city slicker cousin of this blog.

karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/2009/11/barney-kessel-autumn-leaves.html
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CATALOG OF AVAILABLE TRANSCRIPTIONS

AVAILABLE TRANSCRIPTIONS
(All my transcriptions include standard notation as well as guitar tablature.)
NOW ACCEPTING PAYPAL! INTERNATIONAL ORDERS WELCOME.
I sell most of these for $5.00. If no price is given, it's $5.00.
A few are more expensive, due to length or complexity. Prices for these are listed with item. (I can email the files for you to print out. If I mail it using traditional mail, postage and handling fee is $5.00.)
INFO ABOUT PURCHASING TRANSCRIPTIONS IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST. YOU CAN ALSO CLICK HERE--

karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/2010/06/ordering-info-for-transcriptions.html


Oscar Moore with Nat "King" Cole.
These are solos from Nat Cole records.
"Straighten Up and Fly Right"
"Route 66"
"Paper Moon" (this includes solo and a "composite" of some riffing he did with Cole. This riffing composite is not an exact transcription; it's an attempt to take elements from Cole's and Moore's twin lines and turn it into a single line for guitar.)

Grant Green.
"The Honeydripper." This is only 12 bars with Jack McDuff, but 12 bars of Grant Green playing bluesy jazz could keep you busy for a while.

Charlie Christian, with Benny Goodman.
"Honeysuckle Rose" (this is from a rare aircheck, I believe.)

Peter Green, with early Fleetwood Mac. Burning blues guitar.
"Jumpin' at Shadows"

Freddie King
"Nickel-plated," instrumental. complete track, key of G. Lots of great licks in several positions and registers. $10.00

"Freddie King sampler"
This is a bunch of excerpts from different solos, "Lonesome Whistle Blues," "I'm Tore Down"

"Manhole" this is not the whole track, but some hot excerpts. Tom Heyman showed me these licks many years ago.

B.B. King
"Let's Do the Boogie" (early B.B. recording)

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
"Gate's Salty Blues" intro

Mick Ronson w/David Bowie.
"Eight Line Poem." Not one of the more famous Bowie tracks, but nice twangy string-bending intro from Ronson. It's interesting to see Ronson's string-bending technique with the Marshall stack sound removed. Recommended!

Zal Yanovsky, with the Lovin' Spoonful.
underrated, overlooked guitarist. Yanovsky was one of the few "country-rock" guitarists who used time like a real country picker.

"Nashville Cats" fills. If your country playing sounds too much like a rock guy, these fills could really help. They helped me years ago!

George Barnes.
"Hot Guitar Rag," from the super-rare "Country Jazz" lp.
www.karlstraubmusic.com/07 HOT GUITAR RAG.mp3
FINALLY ADDED! another transcription from Country Jazz album, "Chicken in the Rough," based on traditional fiddle tune "Chicken Reel," which is heard in tons of cartoons, esp. Foghorn Leghorn. ANY TRAN
D.C. picker Jim Stephanson told me that Danny Gatton learned every lick from this album. I sell this for $15.00, because it's 3 minutes of all guitar. A guitar lesson in every bar. (for the uninitiated-- Barnes is one of the most prodigiously gifted electric guitarists of the 20th century. He's virtually unheard-of, even in the guitar world, but rarely did a guitarist have more technique and command of the fingerboard. On top of that, he was a beautiful lyrical player. I appreciate his technique, but his invention and creativity are the real reasons to listen to him.)
This track is a fascinating blend of country and jazz guitar, and Barnes was pretty comfortable with all of it.

Phil Spector, with the Drifters.
"On Broadway." Spector was just hanging out at the session when they asked him to play the guitar solo. Classic!

George Benson, with Jack McDuff.
"Rock Candy," excerpt from solo.

Lou Reed, with the Velvet Underground.
"Sunday Morning"
excellent melodic early Reed solo, from the "banana" album.


Ike Turner
"Tore Up" intro. Very crazy playing--
Because of the notorious vagaries of his personal life, people tend to forget that Ike Turner was a great guitarist. Before Hendrix, this was as wild as anyone ever got with a Stratocaster.


Don Rich, with Buck Owens

"Love's Gonna Live Here" on the Buck Owens Ranch TV show.
"Love's Gonna Live Here" from Carnegie Hall album. (very different solo-- classic!)
I've heard rumors that there is a lot of demand for Don Rich instructional material. If you're a big Don Rich fan, let me know-- if I get a lot of feedback about it, I'd love to do more Don transcriptions and maybe even a video lesson.

Jimmy Bryant
"Bryant's Shuffle"
(head only, but great! A medium difficulty intro to Bryant's style.)
"Cotton Picking"
(this one's in progress at this point. If anyone's interested, let me know and I'll get back to work on it.)

Bob Wills guitarists Eldon Shamblin and Junior Barnard.

(These are solos from Bob Wills's legendary Tiffany Transcription recordings. The best western swing I've ever heard.)

Eldon Shamblin
"C-Jam Blues"
"Tea for Two"

I also have a transcription of a three-part arrangement by Eldon from "Brain Cloudy Blues." This includes an essay about Eldon's arranging method. For anyone wanting to learn how to arrange in the Bob Wills style, this is a bargain at $30.00.
(PLEASE NOTE-- this transcription/lesson about Eldon's arranging is not ready to sell at this time-- I need to do a fair amount of editing on it. I'm putting it in here and encouraging any interested parties to email me or leave a comment. If I get a lot of inquiries about it, I'll put other work aside and bang it out. It's gonna be pretty great when it's done-- but right now a lot of it is in my head!)

Junior Barnard
"Blues for Dixie"
"Bring it on Down"
"Ding Dong Daddy"
"Faded Love"
"Girl I Left Behind Me"
"A Good Man is Hard to Find"
"What's the Matter with the Mill"
"Sweet Georgia Brown"
"Keep A'Knockin'"
"Nancy Jane"
"Sentimental Journey"
"My Window Faces the South"
"San Antonio Rose"
"Steel Guitar Rag"
"South"
"Sweet Kind of Love"
"Texarkana Baby"
"Take Me Back to Tulsa"
"Texas Playboy Rag"
"Worried Mind"


Zoot Horn Rollo/Antennae Jimmy Semens (Bill Harkleroad and Jeff Cotton)
This is an electric guitar duet from Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" lp.

"Dali's Car"
$15.00.
A nice window into the Beefheart world of sound, a unique blend of Bo Diddley, rhythm and blues, "avant-garde" jazz and chamber music, etc. etc. Not for the squeamish, but highly recommended to fans of weirdness. It's important to clarify that, in an era where a lot of people in different genres (psychedelia, free jazz, etc) were improvising some pretty strange music, Don Van Vliet and his cohorts were actually writing this stuff down! Tom Waits pilfered a lot from this music, and he wasn't the only one.

CUSTOMER REQUEST LIST
(these are recordings people have requested. please feel free to add your own requests in a comment below, and I'll put them on the list.)
"Roly Poly" and "Barnard Blues," solos by Junior Barnard with Bob Wills.
"Nickel-Plated" by Freddie King.
(A NOTE ABOUT THE REQUEST LIST-- at this point, I am taking on fewer transcription request jobs. There are two reasons for this.
The first is that I can't afford to do a transcribing job for peanuts, and people often balk at my rates. I keep the catalog prices low, but sometimes a transcribing job done to order can take me as many as ten hours, or even more. This is because I try to get every articulation nuance in there, and I try to pin down where on the neck the parts were played. With players like Peter Green or Freddie King, the timing and articulation details take a lot of work to pin down.
The second issue is that people sometimes misunderstand my occasional use of "composite" transcribing. This method comes into play when I'm transcribing instrumentals, where certain licks are played multiple times. It's pretty common for a player like Freddie King to play a repeated line with variations each time, and these variations are often incredibly subtle. To save time, I sometimes just transcribe one variation, or write a composite that uses ideas from different variations. In these cases, I'll usually provide some suggestions about how to use the transcription along with the recording so that you can play the music as close to accurate as you desire. Sometimes when I explain this to customers, they think I'm doing a half-assed job. My goal is to provide a transcription that will be as accurate as possible with important subtle details, but slightly less accurate with regard to repeated lines. The finished product should be satisfactory to virtually everyone. I'd describe my transcriptions as 95% accurate, and much better than the bulk of available material.

Please contact me with requests only if the above sounds reasonable to you. I don't mind giving a customer a price quote, even if they decide they can't afford it, as long as they agree not to respond with rudeness. I'm happy to add songs and solos to my request list, and wait until I get a lot of interest in a specific request to do the work. Then I can sell it for my usual catalog rates. I no longer have time available for haggling over my rates and work with people who have special requests, but who don't understand that transcription is serious work. In my view, these transcriptions are like taking a long guitar lesson from a serious teacher. I welcome requests from people who also see it that way.)

A NOTE ABOUT ACCURACY OF TRANSCRIPTION
Aside from human error, and the difficulty of hearing a recording 100% correctly, there is another issue to consider. Our notation system is limited in many ways, but esp. regarding bends. The timing of a bend is difficult to notate correctly, and the "between-the-cracks" notes are indicated by the mismomer "quarter step bend." This term implies a note lying exactly halfway between two adjacent notes like B and C. In reality, there are several notes in there for those that can hear them. I'll confess that I have trouble hearing them precisely-- although I've been studying them for many years. Players like Freddie King (and his white American and British disciples Clapton, Green, Bloomfield, etc.) can mix and match timing and bend subtleties that are essentially unnotatable. I do my best, but there are limits. I basically believe that any notation will be limited by the ear of the reader, anyway, but in the interest of honesty I like to point this out. I suggest that you use your ear along with the transcriptions, and the more your ear develops, the closer you'll get to the sound of masters like Freddie.

To order, please send an email to Karl Straub, address karlstraub@hotmail.com. List the items you're interested in, or request anything not on list. After I get your email, I'll give you a total so you can PAY WITH PAYPAL or mail in payment. (please note-- I can no longer do transcription work for people without receiving payment up front. After I receive your payment, I will send transcription, if it's one I already have done, or I will begin the work and send on completion.
Please send checks to
Karl Straub
406 Cloverway Drive
Alexandria, Va 22314
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RICHARD THOMPSON, "SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS"

This excellent performance is from Elvis Costello's Spectacle TV show. I've never heard Thompson on a Tele before, but not surprisingly, he sounds great. (Interestingly, he gets a pretty similar sound to his usual Strat tone. More evidence that it's the way you play rather than your guitar that determines your sound?)
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CURLY CHALKER AND JIMMY CAPPS ON THE WILBURN BROS. SHOW

Here are five different performances crammed onto one youtube clip; it's Curly Chalker on steel, with his blend of country and jazz, and Jimmy Capps on guitar. Howard Parker forwarded me this because he knows I'm a Curly fan, but as a bonus veteran session picker Capps is now on my radar. These performances are really Curly's show, but Capps gets some hot playing in too.
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EDDIE BIEBEL WITH WAYNE HANCOCK, "JOHNNY LAW"

Eddie Biebel is one of many guitarists keeping the older styles alive and fresh. You'll hear some rockabilly, some country, some western swing, and some jump blues in his two long solos here.
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"BROTHER" PAUL BUSKIRK AND HIS HARVEY DOUBLENECK

from the KoolKlipsFromDeke youtube channel. Charlie McCardell sent me this. You can get to Deke's youtube channel here--
www.youtube.com/user/KoolKlipsFromDeke

Here's Deke's description from youtube.

""Brother" Paul Buskirk was one of the greatest musicians to ever come from the state of Texas. Originally from West Virginia, Paul Buskirk lived most of his life in the Houston, Texas area, where he was revered and loved. Buskirk was instrumental in getting Willie Nelson's career off the ground, and in fact Willie's first recording of "Night Life" was released on a 45 as "Night Life--by Paul Buskirk and his Little Men, featuring Hugh Nelson, vocals." This is a series of clips showing Paul Buskirk playing his incredible 1956 custom-made Jim Harvey doubleneck. The first two clips are vintage film clips from a low-budget film shot in Texas in the late 1950's. The last clip is from the 1990's where Paul demonstrates his incredible ability on the mandola neck. Thanks to Huey Wilkinson--"Brother" Paul Buskirk's legacy lives on. The Harvey doubleneck has recently been restored and there will be an article in one of the major guitar magazines soon. RIP Brother Paul!"
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