SOLVED: ca 1930s-1940s acoustic guitar song with bent blue note

Thread: SOLVED: ca 1930s-1940s acoustic guitar song with bent blue note

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  1. simnia said:

    Default SOLVED: ca 1930s-1940s acoustic guitar song with bent blue note

    I just posted myself playing this song fragment on YouTube:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf5rX5Ndz28

    Here is the description I posted there:

    ----------

    I'm posting this unknown song fragment in the hope that somebody can identify it.
    If you have any information about it, even if uncertain, please post it in the comments section.

    This is a song my father often played on acoustic guitar.
    I am playing the guitar in this video version, to the best of my recollection of how the guitar parts went. (2-28-12)

    ----------

    TECHNICAL INFORMATION

    meter: 4/4
    key: C
    (notes and) chords:

    (F G G# A) F7
    (F G A Bb) B6
    (F G G# A) F7
    ...
    C

    The key is unknown but I believe this key chosen is close, ending on the key note/chord C, with this part leading up to the end with F7 and B6 chords.
    I chose F7 and Bb6 chords here because the ascending bass notes leading into the chords were low as you hear here.
    I believe the melody notes at the chords were supposed to be the top notes of those chords as played: Eb while on the F7 chord, G while on the B6 chord.

    This is only one part of the song in the middle, though it doesn't have the sound of a bridge but rather more like part of a verse,
    and I don't remember anything about the other part of the song, other than that only this part was memorable.

    That bent note is the b3 (Eb) of the C chord--a "blue" note. The song pauses there as that note is slowly bent upwards slightly.

    Sorry my playing is a little sloppy here, but it's good enough to clearly convey the sound of this song.

    genre: possibly Old Time, or Western Music
    likely era of popularity: pre-1960s, probably pre-1950s, likely 1930s-1940s
    Last edited by simnia; 05-23-2015 at 07:52 PM.
     
  2. simnia said:

    Default Solved: ca 1930s-1940s acoustic guitar song with bent blue note

    Bump and news... I found it!

    I found this song recently by going through many, many bluegrass videos on YouTube and borrowed similar CDs from the library.

    It's called "Steeling the Mood" and I found out about two versions, though I've heard only the first version:

    Steeling the Mood (Shot Jackson, 2008, "Steelin It: The Steel Guitar Story" album (4-22-2008), author ?, length 2:40)
    Steeling the Mood (Webb Pierce & His Southern Valley Boys, "The Unavailable Sides, 1950 - 1951" album (11-9-2014), length 2:39)

    I didn't even know it was the bluegrass genre: I simply guessed. The mention of 1950 in the second reference suggests it was released long before 1950.
    I dismantled the YouTube link about with a recreated, approximate recording of it.
     
  3. atmaestro's Avatar

    atmaestro said:

    Default

    Glad you found it!
    Them that can, do; them that can't... memorize Artist and Title