Lion
Added 2020-01-01 18:00:26 +0000 UTCHello Patrons. This months post will cover John Fahey's recording of "Lion" as played on the Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick record. Here is a link if you don't have it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZKg2EFfxHA
Fahey once referred to "Lion" as the great Walter "Buddy Boy" Hawkins medley, or something along those lines. The main theme of "Lion" is inspired by a lick from Hawkins' 1929 recording of "A Rag Blues" on Paramount records. You can hear it at 1:45 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14EUKuFtK2k
From the main theme Fahey transitions to his own arrangement of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot." Most of the melody is played using parallel strings (1st and 3rd), but it is important to notice that he only uses the first string for the last iteration of the theme. Fahey interrupts "Swing Low" with another theme inspired by a different recording by Hawkins. In interview, Fahey couldn't remember which exact recording it was but said it occurred in a number of different recordings by Hawkins. I hear it first at about 26 seconds into Hawkins' 1927 recording of "Jailhouse Fire Blues." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDedk8wNK9g
I think the most challenging aspect to capture in this piece is Fahey's rhythm in the "Swing Low" portion of the recording. He uses some rubato, and the rhythms flow in and out of straight eighths, swung eighths, triplets, sixteenth notes, and dotted eighth/sixteenth. It was a challenge to put on paper but I think we got it.
The studio recording that will most closely match Fahey's performance on the live "Oil Slick" record is "The Yellow Princess" (1968). Being the earliest recording, it is slightly simplified and has one fewer section than the version recorded in the later 70s. The transcription is attached below!
The video is now live on YouTube. https://youtu.be/T-C1JHK6R4E
Comments
There are only 7 "likes" (and I just added #7) on this youtube video. Thanks for the transcription Andrew!
Jeffrey Sprague
2025-02-24 18:03:48 +0000 UTCHi Jonathan. Unfortunately the lesson videos didn’t become a regular perk until a few months after this beginning with broonzys shuffle rag
Andrew Lardner
2024-07-16 18:16:11 +0000 UTCOutstanding work on Lion. Just wondering if there’s a lesson video to go with this?
Jonathan Rice
2024-07-16 18:00:55 +0000 UTCGood question John. I can see many arguments for how to write the middle section. The real decision is should it be simple or compound meter (4/4 or 12/8, 2/4 or 6/8). Fahey flows back and forth between beats that feel divided in two and beats that feel divided in three. When this happens I feel like it is easiest from a typesetters point of view to keep the notation in simple meter (4/4) and write in triplets when necessary, rather than write it in compound meter (12/8) and qualify beats as 2:3 (two in the space of three). On the topic of the sextuplets, they should be felt as a straight division of six notes, I don't think there is a smaller pulse to be felt within the six, but if there is it would be felt more in groups of twos than threes. You can count these measures any way that make sense to you. Measure 61 marks what can be considered a new section, and I could have had a strong argument for writing this in 12/8 since it contains all triplet rhythms. If written in 12/8 you can lose all the triplet modifiers under the beams, each beat is divided into threes and if further divided as in the case of sixteenth notes we feel the small divisions in three groups of two, not two groups of three. Holy smokes does that make sense? Lets say I count m61 One two three, Two two three, Three two three, Four two three, I would count m63 One - three, Two two three, Three two three, Four and two and three and
Andrew Lardner
2020-02-03 23:02:09 +0000 UTCI'm really enjoying Lion! I hadn’t previously paid as much attention to this song as other Fahey songs, but now I’m a big fan of it. Thanks for that. Can you please say a few words about the sextuplets? I've never encountered them before and although I've been googling and reading up on the internet, I'd like to hear from you on this. For example, does the fact that you have a 3 (and not a 6) underneath the notes mean it should be a triplet feel (continuing the triplet feel of much of this section)? Should I look at it as 2 groups of 3 or 3 groups of 2? Or just 6 straight notes with no subdivision? And, importantly, how do you count it? (One YouTuber suggested bid-a-lee did-a-lee or even borrowing from Konnakol (Indian vocal percussion) Ta ki ta Ta ki ta, or Da ga da Da ga da).
John Good
2020-02-03 16:46:57 +0000 UTCThat's just what I was thinking Andy. Thanks!
mark blomquist
2020-02-01 22:29:09 +0000 UTCI see what you are talking about now Mark. Fahey plays both measures as written, but one might ask themselves whether the way he played it in 132 was a mistake. Consider that he only used a 5-string bar, and the piece is in open g, so the root of each chord is always on the 5th string when barred, seems unlikely he would actually want to hear the open sixth against the 2nd fret bar. I’m with you, I would play both measures as written in 41.
Andrew Lardner
2020-01-29 13:38:21 +0000 UTCHey Andy. Thanks for getting back to me. The bar in measure 41, the first beat you have the second fret for both the 4th and 5th strings played but in measure 132, first beat, you have an open 6th string played along with the fretted 5th string. Just wondering. I play it the way you have written it in measure 41. Thanks again!
mark blomquist
2020-01-29 05:33:33 +0000 UTCHey Mark. The transcription corresponds to Fahey’s recording, not necessarily my playing. I usually get close but there may be small variations here or there. I’m not sure what you mean about 132, both it and m41 are the same, with a bar on beat one and move to the D7 on beat 3
Andrew Lardner
2020-01-27 22:49:53 +0000 UTCHi Andy. Couple of questions on Lion. Can play it through now. Seems like in the video on the second beat in measure 63 you continue to play three strings, the open 5th and the open 2nd and 5th fret on the first while the tab shows the triplet with just the first string 5th fret. Also in measure 132 on the third beat the open 6th string in shown in the tab but you look like you're playing the bar chord the same as you do in measure 41. Really enjoying the song! Many thanks!!!!
mark blomquist
2020-01-27 22:30:03 +0000 UTCHi Andy! Successfully joined and downloaded Lion. I will get to work on it and look forward to our next lesson. Thanks!
mark blomquist
2020-01-25 18:35:39 +0000 UTCAwesome Nick. I feel like the sheet music for this one is very straightforward but I’m always here to respond to questions.
Andrew Lardner
2020-01-06 03:20:56 +0000 UTCHi Andrew, thanks for this fantastic transcription! I’ve just started going through it and it already sounds fantastic and the fingerings feel right.
Nick Pagoulatos
2020-01-05 22:08:02 +0000 UTC
