Week 2: Stump Blues



Big Bill Broonzy

The Man

Big Bill Broonzy was born Lee Conley Bradley between 1893 and 1903 in either Scott, Mississippi or Jefferson County, Arkansas. One of 17 children of share croppers, Big Bill was a prolific musician and became an international star, touring Europe and The UK. He pioneered the Chicago blues sounds which in turn spawned rock and roll. With a powerful, sweet voice and a perfect technique on an acoustic guitar, Bill is a true legend of the blues. He started playing a fiddle made from an old cigar box at the age of 10, playing with a friend with a home-made guitar at segregated dances. Married at 17 and working as a share cropper, Bill quit music to become a preacher. Drafted into the army, he served 2 years in Europe during the First World War. On returning to the States he moved around for a year and settled in Chicago in 1920. In Chicago he swapped the fiddle for the guitar, and honed his skills through parties and bars. He started recording his own tunes in 1927, and although his first efforts didn’t do so well, he produced a steady stream of records until his death. He played on other local musicians records – including his half brother Washboard Sam – and his reputation and influence over the Chicago scene grew bigger every year. The death of Robert Johnson in 1938 created an opportunity for Broonzy to fill in and perform at the prestigious Carnegie Hall. This lead to more gigs with Jazz legends Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong. The 40s saw Bills fame and influence continue to rise, and his style moved away from the country blues he grew up with to a more urban sound, including using electric guitars. In the 50s he toured Europe and influenced all the future Brit Wave guitarists like Clapton, Beck, Page, Bert Jansch and Ronnie Wood. Big Bill returned to a more traditional style in the later half of the 50s, living well off his fame and earnings, and continuing to write and record music. He died of throat cancer on August 14 or 15, 1958. Big Bill Broonzy was one of the very first group of bluesmen inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.



The Song



Bill recorded different versions of Stump Blues at least 3 times in his career. The first two were from Paris on September 21 1951, and in London on September 24 1951 (under the name Chicago Bill). it was the B side to “Keep Your Hands Off”, released on a 78 in the UK only. The version in the recording I used was from 1957 from the last session Bill recorded before he died. Here’s a video of him playing 3 tunes from the same time – Stump Blues is the first one. Like a lot of the early guys, Big Bill doesn’t adhere strictly to time in this song. Some bars have extra beats, some measures have extra bars. He also varies the rhythm he’s using constantly, no two bars are exactly the same. This makes for a dynamic accompaniment to his voice, but it’s almost impossible to replicate note for note. He plays mainly just the thumb and index finger, and his thumb work is ridiculous good, he always hits the beat with the thumb, sometimes just the one string sometimes strumming across three or four. He sometimes hit off beats with the thumb on the upstroke. Concentrate on what your thumb is doing, if you get that down the melody looks after its self. I tend to play it with the thumb looking after the E A and D strings, and the fingers the other 3 as a guide, but include full strums with the thumb as emphasis. Experiment with it, but always make sure you hit the one two three four with the thumb.



The Lyrics

E Yes, I'm sitting on this old stump babe, got a worried mind A E Yes, I'm sitting on this stump baby, I've got a worried mind B7 C#7 E Yeah I'm gunna find my baby, Lord I lose my life for trying Yeah I shot five dollars, caught a point black nine Yes, I shot five dollars, even caught a point black nine Yeah I stopped that six bar baby, and that tre come flying Yeah, I hear my hamstring a-popping and my collar crying Lord, I hear my hamstring a-popping and I hear my collar crying Now I can not stay a-happy, Lord, when my baby's down the line Yeah, you never get to do me like you did my buddy Shine No, you'll never get to do me like you done my buddy Shine You know you worked him down the levee until he went real stone blind

The Intro

http://www.52weeksofblues.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Audio-recording-2014-12-09-12-51-03.wav The intro I’ve tabbed here is a combination of the intro he uses in the recording and the one he plays in the video. In the recording he doesn’t play the B section at all, in the video the A section doesn’t use the quick hammerons and pulloffs. The intro I’ve tabbed here is a combination of the intro he uses in the recording and the one he plays in the video. In the recording he doesn’t play the B section at all, in the video the A section doesn’t use the quick hammerons and pulloffs. The open low E in the A section is deliberate and a very effective technique to use – it adds momentum leading in to the next passage. He also changes form hitting every beat to hitting every second beat in the A section – this adds space for that low E to sound even more effective. I struggle with the timing there. The song features a main riff repeated all throughout. It’s the first two bars of the intro (minus a few notes – bars three and four have it in full). It changes slightly all the time, but the open low E/open high E/B on the second beat is the number 1 feature of the song. It’s got to hit like a bell, louder than everything else and that high E has to ring out over the next beat. It is played after every line he sings, and brings the guitar back in hard. He palm mutes the low E to get that ‘chugg’ sound. The 0 – 1 G string hammeron pull off I’ve tabbed in the main riff is a bit tricky to pull off. I think he’s actually doing a ‘trill’ most of the time with a really quick hammer/pulloff/hammer combination – 0 – 1 – 0 – 1, but the tab plug in I use spreads that out to much and makes reading the tab pretty hard. Try the 0 – 1 – 0 – 1 really quickly in a Hendrix style trill. Sometimes Bill just plays the standard hammeron 0 – 1, and sometimes it’s 0 – 1 – 0. Mix it up. $6.0.$1.0 $6.0.$1.0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 0 0.$3.2 $5.0.$3.2 | $5.0.$4.2 $5.0.$4.2.$1.3 $5.0.$4.2.$1.2 $2 5 | $5.0.$4.2.$1.3 2 $2 5 $5.0.$4.2.$1.2h3p2 $6.0.$2.5 | $5.0.$4.2 $1 3 $5.0.$4.2.$1.2 $2 5 | $5.0.$4.2.$1.3 2 $2 5 $5.0.$4.2.$1.2h3p2 $6.0.$2.5 | $6.0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$1.0 $6 0 $5 0/1/2 | $1 0 $4.2.$1.2 $4.3.$1.3 $4.4.$1.4 | 0 $3.0.$2.0.$1.0 $3./4.$2./3.$1./4 $3.4.$2.3.$1.4 | $3.4.$2.3.$1.4 $3.4.$2.3.$1.4 $3./4.$2./3.$1./4 $3./4.$2./3.$1./4 $3./0.$2./0.$1./0 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 |

The Progression

http://www.52weeksofblues.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Audio-recording-2014-12-08-17-36-14.wav Big Bill had a really strong voice, and to maximise this he quietens the guitar parts down so low that they are almost inaudible when he sings. The progression is in E, A, B7 and a C#7 instead of the A in the turnaround, with the main riff coming back in loud after each line he sings. He usually drops off the first beat of the first E bar after singing each line – the “boom” of the low E/high E/B is the first you hear when the guitar kicks back in.

Bar lengths change every verse to fit in the lyrics. and he usually plays a bar of just the low E to lead into the A and B. Big Bill had a really strong voice, and to maximise this he quietens the guitar parts down so low that they are almost inaudible when he sings. The progression is in E, A, B7 and a C#7 instead of the A in the turnaround, with the main riff coming back in loud after each line he sings. He usually drops off the first beat of the first E bar after singing each line – the “boom” of the low E/high E/B is the first you hear when the guitar kicks back in.Bar lengths change every verse to fit in the lyrics. and he usually plays a bar of just the low E to lead into the A and B. In the recording and video, he plays the E main riff 2 or 3 times, plus the one bar of straight E(5 or 7 bars) between singing lines, in other recordings he does it 4 times. He strums a “one – two and three – four and” shuffle with his thumb when not playing the main riff. Down strokes on the beat and upstrokes on the off beat. Down, down up, down, down up etc. He walks the bass note in the A section using the root, 4th and 5th, but again this changes every time. In the B and C# section he strums the full chords in between thumbing the bass notes. Towards the end of each verse, in B and C#, he tends to do a straight one and two and strum. Use the tab as a guide, as long as you hit that thumb on the beat, and the one – two and strum you can pretty much do whatever you like in the chords. E / / / / E / / / / $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 | $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 | $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 | $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 | $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 | $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 | $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 | $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2.$3.0h1 $6.0.$5.2.$4.2 $6.0.$5.2 | E / / / / $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 | A / / / / A / / / / $5.0.$4.2 $5.0.$4.2 $5.0.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 | $4.2.$3.2 $4.2.$3.2 $4.2.$3.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 | $5.0.$4.2 $5.0.$4.2 $5.0.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 | $4.2.$3.2 $4.2.$3.2 $4.2.$3.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 | $5.0.$4.2 $5.0.$4.2 $5.0.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 | $4.2.$3.2 $4.2.$3.2 $4.2.$3.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 | $5.0.$4.2 $5.0.$4.2 $5.0.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 | $4.2.$3.2 $4.2.$3.2 $4.2.$3.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 $5.4.$4.2 | E / / / / $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 $6.0.$5.2 | B7 / / / / C#7 / / / / $5.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 | $5.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 | $5.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 | $5.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 $5.2.$3.2.$1.2 | $5./4.$3./4.$1./4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 | $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 | $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 | $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 | C#7 / / / / E / / / / $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 | $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 | $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 | $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 $5.4.$3.4.$1.4 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 | $6 0 $6.0.$2.0.$1.0 $6 0 $1 0 $6.0 $1 0 | $6.0.$2.2 $6.0.$2.0 $6 0.$3.0h1 $6.0.$4.2 |

The Outro

http://www.52weeksofblues.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Audio-recording-2014-12-08-17-42-37.wav Not so much an outro as an ending.

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Biography More about Big Bill Broonzy