Mississippi Fred McDowell plays "Louise"

[randyyoung21]

I saw him in '62 (or '63) opening for Chuck Berry!! Audience was anxious for Chuck to come out (of course) but paid Fred proper respect. He appreciated it.

[maewest079]

Left hand has a home made glass bottle top slide but he made it short and he is also using the fingertip, that's cool. Right hand looks like two home made finger pickers but like the slide he has it looks like he is using the one on his thumb as a mini slide as well and as a strumming tool. I'd love to know what he used to make the finger picks with. Never seen anyone quite like this mans style either, way cool!

[1000RYL]

WHAT IS HE USING ON HIS FINGERS. LOOKS LIKE A BROKEN PIECE FROM THE TOP OF A GLASS BOTTLE ON THE RIGHT FINGER. WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER TWO FINGERS.

[Junktime789]

I saw Fred McDowell play at Goddard College in Vermont in the early '70's. My friends and I had never heard his music before and went to the concert sceptical about what we would hear. Fred began to play and we were entranced. He was supposed to play untial 11:00 PM. The audience was so into what he was playing that he played far longer saying "You are the ones that got to go to school in the morning." He was a great musicion. I later saw him play with Bonnie Rhaitt.

[wallyjumblatdadsdog]

@Junktime789 I'm entranced just checking out the video, never heard of this guy before, just discovering the blues at the moment, what a class act.

[peace2thegods]

What tunings is this song?

[zapwai]

@peace2thegods

I think the tuning is open E (Just tune to open D - DADF#AD, and put a capo on the second fret)

[13asdediamantes]

...makes my noose bleed...

[TheZyAzZ]

quand on a la chaire de poule, c'est que c'est bon !!!

magique, simple, beau, Oh man j'ai le blues!!!!

[chariotdrvr14]

What lameass dipshit superficial buttbrains voted 'thumbs down' on this classic blues performance? I hope they die slowly of rectal infections.

[gageman70]

@chariotdrvr14 If I were going to hope something I'd hope that their eyes be opened to this beautiful music.

[peterpterodactyl]

Fred's Gibson Trini Lopez is interchangeable with his voice

[noblesiner]

Love Mississippi Fred Mcdowell

[leejohnson79]

Guitar, amp and the blues.

[busessuck1]

@leejohnson79 you should hear his accoustic stuff

[TheVigilanteMan]

Her name was Louise, and you know she aied to please.

[misterd699]

words cant express just how good this is!! its so wonderful!

[Zarkoon]

Good god! This was one of the gods walking the earth.

[yardbirdsweet]

Is that a Gibson Trini Lopez model?

[robinseedah]

Sit next to Fred. Sip a little. Whittle and spit.

What the hell man..........this is IT.

[theRADteepee]

WHERE CAN I FIND A RECORDING OF THIS?

[skankingrhythmics]

Good... bad... let's just enjoy this without being an arrogant hipster-douchebag.

Who cares that your preference regarding music has more depth than your average joe?

exactly nobody.

I find this a pretty good song and I don't care what you guys listen or like, yet I'm going to vote this down to piss off the hipsters on jews'tube.

[kmacdowe]

Oh ya. From one MacDowell (sorry about the "a" to another) good soul.

[charming568]

Justin who?

[caferive]

Tell me please whats better than this...wonderful....

[sambobla]

great video, never seen this before! thank you for sharing this!

[DailyShout]

Don't be dissing other genres of music, if you don't like it don't listen to it... I'm sure when blues came out to the mainstream people didn't like it.

[jazzrockblues95]

thats one rare guitar!!!

[FIRECRACKER392]

McDowell was North Mississippi Hills Blues,,,

Defenitly NOT DELTA as described above !

[AllenADappmann]

@FIRECRACKER392 true that

[19CACTUS51]

@FIRECRACKER392 there are no mountains in Mississsippi...

[FIRECRACKER392]

@19CACTUS51 ,

Sorry friend, But i dont believe i mentioned anything at all about mountains .... :)

[19CACTUS51]

@FIRECRACKER392 Your correct, you didn’t mention mountains but you did mention north Mississippi hills, not any of those either. Mississippi is, for the most part, very flat… Any way no big deal..

[thezook33per]

@19CACTUS51 There are hills in northern Mississippi. That is where Mississippi Hill Country blues comes from. People like R.L. Burnside and Jr. Kimbrough.

[Alkali64]

that aches so good...

[bmarsh1]

What a treat, one of the greats and thanks for posting! The Gibson Trini Lopez model was nice, easy to string and tune with the firebird style headstock. They never had "F" holes but those long diamond shaped holes. Bigsby was an option.

[mtwallet]

do you know who wrote that song? I thought it was a John Lee Hooker original...

[DottyWang]

There's another recording of him singing this song, with acoustic guitar - and it's even better.

[sirvidia]

where can i get that shirt?

[MyManDan]

Ladies and gentleman: a lesson in music

[osvelhos]

See: Os Velhos da Montanha

[casu3]

its data a mojo bag around his neck??????

[0325JAMES]

This is some classic, down home blues! Great music.

[claytonsmymiddlename]

what does emo bullshit have to do with coldplay?

[casu3]

@claytonsmymiddlename they both bullshit

[williambdupree1981]

Love him he learned to play slide with a hollowed out ham bone

[jteshuwah]

the real deal! beautiful! we all better go see t-model ford, little freddie king and cedell davis while we still have a chance - closest we're gonna get to this. still, this stuff gives me CHILLS! can i get an AMEN! why isn't SOMEBODY under 80 making this stuff anymore. if you know of anybody, let me know.

[davidewetube]

@jteshuwah

Bob Log III is worth checking out.

Mr. Log cites Fred McDowell as a major influence.

[backstageblues]

@jteshuwah Terry "Harmonica" Bean is around 50. He's lived in Mississippi his whole life, and he's the last of the guys playing real rural Mississippi hill country music. Live in performance (don't watch video, but catch him LIVE) doing his one-man band deal, he puts on one hell of a show that's unbeatable!

[h4mburg3r]

@jteshuwah

/watch?v=P2rCkAnhql8&feature=r­elated

it's not even close but still the best blues-band germany has still to offer imo

[stevemonkey78]

@jteshuwah Check out Chris Dollimore hes ace

[xptwillie]

There is a extensive chapter on Alan Lomax meeting Fred McDowell in the 1959 in "The Land Where The Blues Began." Excellent book.

[Guitarchaeologist]

Amend to my comment below it's not F, it is E!

[woodhd]

this man is the rosetta stone for modern music

[Guitarchaeologist]

Stunning he is wearing a short bottle on his third finger enabling him to fret notes with that digit as well. Tuned to an open F chord!

[ema19e87]

he play with open chords "E"?

[MrDlang93]

Yeah I don't know how much you know about him but his son was Jimmy Lee and that is my grandfather on my mom's side. Never got to meet him but my granma has like so of his guitars and stuff.

[ThePauly1]

well pick those guitars up boy and start playing!! =)

[sirfredcampbell]

Met him very briefly when he was playing a folk club in a London pub back in the late sixties, He listened very politely while a bunch of white middle class kids played the blues, then sat down and showed us all how to do it properly. But he showed as much respect as he was given, and I thought he was a real gentleman.

[sunhouserecords]

@sirfredcampbel.... Blimey ...you must 'ave been 12

[MrDlang93]

This is my great great grandfather.

[kurtcarbain]

Are you serious? He is actually Your Great Great Grandfater? That is so cool if so.

[gitfiddlejim]

He was a great talent, and such a dignified guy.

Up there with the best bluesmen from any time,

G

[paulwhitberg]

that is something to be proud of:) I would have loved to have met him.

[Nikos35mk]

any idea when this was filmed????? seems like the 50's or 60's

[jaydoc420]

well he died in 1972 so....cant be far off

[banjochris]

Mid-to-late '60s at the University of Washington, if memory serves.

[theatomicrats]

This is what it's all about, great, pure music.

[CiscoNast]

ouuuuuuu this is DOPE

[GREGLUHOWY]

I wish this sort of Video was around when I was a kid. The sound is lacking. Oh Well, Fred is always an inspiration along with Sam aka "Lightnin'" Hopkins. Always much to be learned. Definitely

[bebenavole]

what amp is that?

[jelemann]

dy no mite....

[FaustyFob]

i wonder what tuning he's in..

[guitarded71]

Open E tuning tuned a half-step flat (from low to high: Eflat-Bflat-Eflat-G-Bflat-Efla­t).

[i10519195]

looks like a teisco check mate of some sort

[srvvaughan93]

what amp used in this videos?

[pikeking1]

forget about the amp,just gimme that badass gibson! ;-)

[fuxgood]

A player in MO. has Freds Gibson.

[2009framat]

I like that one. Not only the music but the film and its atmosphere. The colors is also fantastic. Though I like McDowell my favourite version of LOUISE is done by Robert Pete Williams.

I made an animated short film to honor Jimmy Reed. If you click on my name you can watch it. Comments&Ratings are always welcome.

Bye from Germany

[lennybruce8]

yeah robert pete william's 'louise' is really spectacular.

[luciferdzhugashvili]

Hello all you Mississippi Fred McDowell lovers. I have a question for anybody who's really versed in his discography - I'm trying to find The Blues Collection Vol 45: Mississippi Blues. I found in on pirate bay but it sounds like it was taken off a CD with the last song ("Goin' Down To Louisiana") skipping. Does anybody know where else to find this record, or that one song? I think it's his best collection of songs, especially that last one. I will appreciate any constructive input. Thanks.

[Sergiussssssssssssss]

yeah, the last song is great, more faster each time, simple and effective melody and pleasure, just fred. I think you can achieve it in several p2p networks...

[stareman]

For the guitar fans out there, Gibson recently reissued two Trini Lopez model guitars (without the Bigsby vibratos). They are not exactly like the originals, but they are close. Originally, they were ES-335-type bodies with Firebird necks. However, the sound here is mostly in Mississippi Fred McDowel's hands.

[johnbernays]

Trini Lopez Signature Model, They's made bank in Mid '60's. I was gifted in '66 with a Gibson ES-330 TDC custom (For Me-Bisgby, Small Neck..I was 16 Year) These Guys were ESAY to see, I Lived near Little Rock/Hot Springs, In them days I played Juke-Joints (Blues) & Honkey Tonks (Hillbelly)

[ElmoLewiss]

that is a very very kickass guitar, i wish i had her for myself. id call her louise ya dig...that guitar on todays market probably $50,000 easy.

[bensmith3200]

I can dig it. I'd have a grand old time with Louise myself.

[Loouiiseeh]

HAHA I AM LOUISE :) !

[bensmith3200]

I ain't had no loving since you been gone, baby.

[Loouiiseeh]

Haha

[bootlegpreacher]

i must assert, this is not Delta Blues, He's from the Hill Country and there is a difference

...just one of my pet peeves...

[thedudekatman]

amazin' haunting blues this guy is a legend,read stanley booth's article 'bout him in the 60's

[kinkycassy]

what about muddy waters that man invented electric blues

[Stumblestrum]

Just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy. In fact only a few people in history have managed to play like this. Every guitarist should be forced to watch this.

[Riff4hard]

One of the greatest! His Gibson is terrific, too!

[edcerc]

only fred mcdowell and jlh play the electric blues the right way

[LJMcCain]

anybody know what tuning this is?

[thefringthing]

I would guess Open G.

[banjochris]

Open D (or E).

[eduardsam]

mississippi fred mcdowell said:i do not play no rock n roll

[specialk3123]

is that a custom 335?

[Bluefinger]

Acually, it's a Gibson Trini Lopez Model. It's very similar apart from the headstock and the diamond shaped "f" holes

[serialmosher]

this what good music sounds like god damitt!! lol FUCK coldplay and all dis emo mchipster bullshit dis is the real shit :)

[rjlrules]

Emo Blows

[midgy]

Besides the Coldplay comment, I must agree with you.

[dime6664ever]

@serialmosher you damn straight brother!!!! this is the real shit...

[harleyspringer1]

@serialmosher - Amen to that Bro !

[jazzrockblues95]

@serialmosher if you mention music, you must think of it as a whole. every band or muscician that expresses himself through music deserves some respect. I understand your point, I too dislike some contemporary bands, but they are music too.

cheers.

[kiloch]

@serialmosher Says the guy with a Coldplay song in his favourated videos list

[DangerBird]

american pop is a mile wide and an inch deep..if ya want the real deal ya gotta walk upstream where the water is sweetest.Wen ya get to AliFarke Toure's house,have a sit and look back downstream...u can just barely make out Muddys house

[Viktorcz]

All new to me, these geezers really have soul. When you hear middle class crap like Keane and Coldplay all day it really puts a spring back in your step that such simple beauty exists and comes from suffering

[JimiHendrix574]

I hear you man.

[acidcasual07]

You would think the working class of today would have a voice like the days gone by. Seems nothing last forever. I drowned my sorrows in music like this every minute of the day. My friends think im nuts but god only knows why I listen to it.

[FredrickNielson]

Blues guys like Mississippi Fred McDowell and John Lee Hooker show that it's not what you lay on the guitar, or how well, but it's how you play. And you either have or you don't, you can't learn to play blues like this if it's not in your heart.

[planchik]

you said it man. this is like no other. i feel like i'm alive again when i listen to this stuff.

[k00patr00pa1]

@Viktorcz sounds like your over analyzing to me dont surround yourself with middle class crap and crappy middle class people get out of the house and go make some "real" music with "real" people. BTW im not sure what any of this has to do with class either i dont think your income bracket dictates what genre of music you most appreciate. PPS whats so bad about coldplay, yes they suck but i can think of many worse bands out there.

[LittleBrotherBlues]

Man he sure has a style. I love how he works that tuning and the one chord. He gets a great vibrato too. Master at work! 5 stars

[46858542]

alta guitarra!!!!

[PAI93]

what the hell, can anyone tell what the name of that gibson is, i've never seen it before

[piptaylor99]

It is a Gibson Triny Lopez, (a kind of 335) In fact it is the same model that Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters currently uses albiet without the Bigsby. ATB

[1LHPrincess]

Its really sad the Blues is becoming a lost art form if we don't keep it alive in the next 20years it'll only be a myth! Keep BLUES alive!

[BanaanTV]

yeah I absolutely agree. A good way to keep the blues alive is just send a link to a blues video, or send some stuff by email. There are a lot of people we never listened to blues, but after they have heard some stuff they were really enthousiast.

[divernathan]

Another good way to keep it alive is to play it.

[azabattle]

I agree - stuff like this is amazing - but the problem is loads of blues more easily available is boring middle aged smug fret wankery - which probably puts a lot of people off.

[BanaanTV]

I think there is more cool blues, I really like the Allman Brothers Band, and SRV. It's different blues, but still, it is real blues.

[demented20]

Don't worry so much. I was sitting in the parking lot of a Home Depot listening to Muddy Waters, and a little kid broke away from his mother to come to my window and ask me who that was that I was listening to. The kid couldn't have been more than 10. Of course I told him, and I think the Blues just captured another one.

[1LHPrincess]

GREAT! The mom would have called the Police on me!! I would have snatched him up in my car and took him to a Summer Blues Fest and left him there! LOL joking but thats great! Just Great!

[AaronGlenn1]

that was fuckin badass! Fred McDowell is a pimp... haha

[dayfornight176]

Love that Trini Lopez model Gibson!

[silvershogun]

great singer and song.... i much prefer this to the album version

[waffen2]

is he in open d or g?

[drinksmcgee]

it sounds like a D.

[kinghendrixx]

thanx for sharing that. it's great !

[NapalmWeed]

the greatest music put on this Earth...the blues accept no substitutes

[Espeliowski]

Halas for the music, death for emo's and techno's pussyshits,

[fngrpckr]

The real deal!Thank's for sharing this and in colour too!

[buckelastard]

Another great blues LEGEND! Great stuff GtrWorkShp! Have mercy!

Big R