Away Down In The Alley - Acoustic Blues - Lonnie Johnson

Lonnie Johnson (1894-1970) occupies a unique place in the history of American music. He was the most versatile and sophisticated blues guitarist of the 1920s and 1930s. His uncanny dexterity and sense of harmony enabled him to transcendend stylistic barriers to record classic jazz with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, groundbreaking guitar duets with Eddy Lang, lowdown blues with Texas Alexander, and plenty of blues, ballads and mawkish pop under his own name.
One could consider him as the Jimi Hendrix of his generation. Both founding fathers of the electric guitar, T-Bone Walker and BB King cited him as a major influence.

This piece is a virtuoso improvisation in his favorite key of D major and in the tuning he mostly used between 1925-32 DGDGBE (low to high). His broad range of guitar techniques and musical ideas elevated him way above other solo improvisors of the day. His favorite bend, second string 5th fret is very prominent; the bass notes that he played followed no discernible pattern, and might repeat, alternate or be left out entirely.
More about his style and tab for this piece you'll find in the Stefan Grossman book "Masters of Country Blues Guitar - featuring Lonnie Johnson"

His 1925-32 recordings, on which he plays fingerstyle (he changed his style completely in 1937 and flatpicked from then on) are available from Document records. Contemporary guitarist that know how to play in his style are Ari Eisinger (cd "That will never happen no more") or Gordon Smith (cd "Out of the Bottleneck" out of print sadly).

I've never been able to play this piece "perfectly" so this will have to do, I've also added some licks belonging to other Lonnie Johnson songs.
I'm capoed on the second fret and in DGDGBE (low to high); guitar is a OO made by John Gréven.

There are a few nice examples of Lonnie Johnson on youtube but all are in his more modern flatpick style.

Here's the link to another great Lonnie Johnson instrumental "Blues In My Fingers"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vJw-B41tXA
TABLATURE AVAILABLE (see the description of the vid for more info)
check out my new cd on Youtune Records
http://www.youtunerecords.com/daddystovepipe.html

Category:

Music

Tags:

• lonnie
• johnson
• accoustic
• guitar
• blues
• instrumental
• fingerpicking
• greven
• oo
• daddystovepipe

[ConversationPanic]

dude what brand is your guitar? it's amazing... so is your playing!

[daddystovepipe]

@ConversationPanic

google Gréven Guitars; it's a OO model

[someasianguy911]

How is your greven guitar? Have you tried any of John's dreadnoughts and if you have how are those?

[daddystovepipe]

Very nice. Never tried a D, too big to my taste.

[someasianguy911]

I've heard that they have some structural problems, is this true?

[daddystovepipe]

Not that I know of and my oldest Gréven dates from 1987...

[borntofly4321]

Wow, absolutely amazing!

[seasharpdeflat]

nice!

[songschreiber93]

lovely playing

[stringpiano]

This must be the ultimate Lonnie J revival, I´m must be dreamin´ ....

Thanks`, Stovepipe. Nothing compares to your interpretations, renditions, improvisations....knowing the ol´guys, keeping ultimately your own style an´way of expressing...

[jsebsteelguitar]

Very interesting to learn this tune of Lonnie Johnson, and beautyful playing!

Thank you for the vid!

[springerblues]

Simply superb!

[HondaSuperSport1100]

that soud is so clean its a perfect 10

[b5b9]

Excellent. This sound had haunted me since I first heard it off an old 78, fifty years ago. It is nice to hear it done so well.