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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LEON RHODES WITH ERNEST TUBB, "DRIVING NAILS IN MY COFFIN"

Typically great fills from Leon Rhodes, with solo around :57. Great Emmons solo too!
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LEON RHODES GUITAR SOLO TRANSCRIPTION from "MY WINDOW FACES THE SOUTH," WILLIE WITH THE TROUBADOURS

Here's a cool artifact-- Willie Nelson sings Bob Wills's "My Window Faces the South" with the Texas Troubadours. That's about as Texas as you can get. Check out Leon Rhodes burning throughout--- lots of fast eighth-note runs and nice chord stabs behind the vocal, then a real workout of a solo. Another great opportunity to watch the technique of a master.

I have this solo transcribed below-- click on "MORE" to get to it, and you can click on the music to enlarge.

Most of the time with Ernest Tubb you get Leon's version of the Billy Byrd style. Tubb was very generous in giving space to his sidemen to stretch out, though, and here's a fascinating example of Leon in a lickety-split western swing setting. He starts down in an open G position, with Jimmy Bryant-esque fiddle-tune runs (throwing in a cool whole-tone lick!) and works his way up three octaves. "Window" is a great tune for improvising, because you get eight bars of G before the chords start moving into "rhythm changes" territory. When this happens, the chords move mighty fast, and Leon shifts into arpeggio mode. This is a common technique in this kind of music.

Check the tablature carefully-- some of these position choices had me scratching my head at first, but I watched the video and tried to play the notes exactly where Leon did, and eventually it made sense. In fact, in several cases, Leon's choice of fingerings and positions made it easier to play these lines.

IMPORTANT TIP ABOUT PLAYING FAST! Whenever I study the work of fast players, I almost always find interesting fingerings, use of positions, shifting techniques, etc. I think most fast players have spent a lot of time finding out efficient ways to move around the fingerboard. Players trying to play faster often focus too much on the right hand, not realizing that you have to plan out your left-hand moves on the fingerboard so that you know where you can go. If you're burning down the road in your hot rod, you can't pull over to ask directions.

Check Leon's right hand picking angle too-- keeping wrist relaxed, and experimenting with the angle of pick to string is important, but it won't help you if you don't know where the notes are. Good luck!

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LEON RHODES WITH BUDDY EMMONS-- "WALKIN' THE FLOOR OVER YOU"

The Troubadours with Charleton and Rhodes are usually considered the hottest lineup Tubb had, but it must be said-- before Charleton came on board, this guy Emmons wasn't bad.
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BUDDY CHARLETON WITH LEON RHODES ON FLATTOP GUITAR, "COOL IT"

This is a feature for Charleton, with the bonus of Leon playing what Ernest Tubb refers to as the "grammar guitar." He's struggling to keep it near the mike, but playing great as usual. It's interesting to watch a guy who usually plays electric when he's playing single-note stuff on acoustic-- he doesn't really change his style much here. Pretty swinging, as usual.
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LEON RHODES WITH ERNEST TUBB, "I'LL TAKE A BACKSEAT FOR YOU"

It occurred to me that the Troubadours stuff I've been posting was more the "hot" kind of number than the typical Tubb style. Here's Leon Rhodes playing some lines in his modified Billy Byrd style. As on the Tubb live 65 album, (essential!) in this context you get more guitar than on a lot of the studio stuff. Tubb's studio recordings often used session players to augment his touring band. This means great playing by Nashville cats, but less Rhodes and Charleton. Live, those two guys played tons of great background fills along with the solos.

interesting detail-- Leon plays the original Tubb signature quarter note triplet on the intro, then for his solo he plays the modified Leon version with eighth note triplets.
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