The El Paso Waltz

  1. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    Here's a great James Bryan/Dave Richardson tune recorded by Norman and Nancy Blake on their "Rising Fawn Gathering" CD with the Boys of the Lough. It's definitely a fiddle tune so it's been a struggle to translate it to the mandolin. Here's what I've come up with. Excuse the excessive hippie swaying.



    Played on a Gilchrist Model 1.
  2. Grommet
    Grommet
    That's a sweet tune Don!

    Scott
  3. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    I love the rhythm of waltzes, and this one is beautiful. You know, Don, I received the Mandolin in the Cow Camp CDs for Christmas, and I was struck by how much your playing style resembles the old time sound of Skip Goreman. I really love that sound.
  4. polymerchm
    polymerchm
    Oh someone please tab this!!! Its marvelous. If , not, I'll give it a whirl!!!
  5. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    Marcelyn,

    Thanks!! That's a high compliment! I love Skip Gorman's playing. I can listen to that Mando in the Cow Camp over and over and never get tired of it. Great music. Lately I've been on a Norman Blake kick--listening to his playing and learning some of his tunes. Great stuff there too.

    polymerchm, I've got it notation but not tab. Let me see if I can figure out how to post it.
  6. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    This should get you to the notation.

    http://www.hillbillychambermusic.com...lpasowaltz.pdf
  7. Tosh Marshall
    Tosh Marshall
    Don, that is great and thanks for posting. I'll check out that Norman & Nancy cd. I should have more of their stuff, only got a couple. Don't worry about the swaying, adds to the atmosphere and it's better than looking like a cardboard cut-out!!!!!
  8. Loretta Callahan
    Loretta Callahan
    Really, really lovely and soulful. I love the rhythm and your tremolo.
  9. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    A belated Happy New Year to all SAW mandolin players. I started the new year with some TEXMEX:
  10. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Good tune to start the new year with, Christian. Great tremolo as usual.

    The 2011 recording of Don is awesome too. Thanks for the notation, Don.
  11. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    There is a slightly different transcription of this waltz on The Session.
    Without the double stops Don played so well.
  12. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Wow, the version by Don is amazing! Really nice. NOW I’m motivated to learn this style.


    And thanks CC lots of feeling in yours too. Onto the list...
    (and tell us more about your mandolin, the colours are lovely warm too)
  13. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    Christian, nice job. Glad to see some more interest in this beautiful tune.
  14. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Left a comment ton YT, CC. Nice to see someone getting warm weather. And nicely played, I enjoyed that.
  15. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Thanks folks. I had the sheet music in my mandolin folder for a very long time, and now, with Lockdown number two, I finally found the time to record it.
    And Simon, the orange mandolin you can see in the picture show is an Old Wave from the classifieds. It was built in Caballo, New Mexico, not too far from El Paso.
  16. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    I am really enjoying your mandolin/guitar recordings, Christian. Good blend and balance to my ears.
  17. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Two very nice renditions -- great double stops in Don's 2011 version, and lovely smooth tremolo and elegant waltz rhythm in Christian's. I thought this might be the old Marty Robbins song (which is on my list for a re-record of my very old 2011 take here), but I don't think this waltz is any relation.

    Martin
  18. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Martin, you have just conjured up a memory I have of a vinyl LP by Marty Robbins called "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs". The El Paso Marty sings begins "Down in the West Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican maid..." I love that album and I think I still have it in a cupboard somewhere. Thanks for reviving the memory. The El Paso in this thread is indeed a different tune.
  19. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Here are the tracks, some of them seem quite good for improv on mandolin.
    https://youtu.be/zzICMIu5zFY
    Lovely Mexican flavor to them.
  20. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    John/Simon: "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" is a great album, and El Paso was the big hit from it (and arguably the career-defining Marty Robbins track). Nothing to do with this waltz, so if you're trying for a version of it, I suggest you post to the old discussion thread here. Because it's such a fast-moving tune with a different note on each staccato syllable, it works very well on mandolin.

    Martin
  21. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    I've now managed to record this lovely waltz, using the chords posted at thesession.org. Thanks again to Don for alerting us to this tune (and his great recording) and to Christian for reviving this old thread (and his great recording). My version is a bit faster than Christian's.

    Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar



    Martin
  22. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Great version Martin, I really like the faster tempo.
  23. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, Christian -- it's a fun tune, but it took a while for me to figure out the phrasing.

    Martin
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