Can anyone lead me to a TAB or .TEF file of The Mule Skinner Blues for mandolin? I've been looking without success
Thanks for your help,
Randy
Can anyone lead me to a TAB or .TEF file of The Mule Skinner Blues for mandolin? I've been looking without success
Thanks for your help,
Randy
is there a particular version you are after - I am somewhat fond of the Tony Rice version from "Cold on the Shoulder" - never tried to play it from notation or tab though.
Stormy Morning Orchestra
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"Mean Old Timer, He's got grey hair, Mean Old Timer he just don't care
Got no compassion, thinks its a sin
All he does is sit around an play the Mandolin"
Hardly "Monroe's original version." Bill Monroe neither wrote nor was the first to record Muleskinner Blues. Good luck with your query though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule_Skinner_Blues
Last edited by Ranald; Aug-09-2022 at 7:49pm.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
Big T...
But Amsterdam was always good for grieving
And London never fails to leave me blue
And Paris never was my kinda town
So I walked around with the Ft. Worth Blues
Thanks Fretbear, and what a Great Great record that is!
I a thinking that is Sam on mandolin on that cut.
I am hearing 1 4 5 in G
so G C D
i think riffing over the chord changes in pentatonic blues and hopefully working off the singer for "ornamentation" should work.
Stormy Morning Orchestra
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"Mean Old Timer, He's got grey hair, Mean Old Timer he just don't care
Got no compassion, thinks its a sin
All he does is sit around an play the Mandolin"
My favorites are Jimmy Rodgers, and Jerry Reed with Chet Atkins
Sorry, don’t have mandolin sheet for Bill Monroe’s version.
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Not sure what your skill level is but I recommend listening until you can hum it and try picking it out. It’s the best way to really make something yours.
If that doesn’t appeal to you then take a lesson with someone and thy’ll teach it to you. For Monroe style Christopher Henry, Casey Campbell, Mike Compton are but a few that can help you.
Northfield F5M #268, AT02 #7
Lotsa good versions, not necessarily bluegrass, but I like the Fendermen version best!
I like this one.
It's mighty fine; I really like this version by Hag as well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qYWbxyhp6U
But Amsterdam was always good for grieving
And London never fails to leave me blue
And Paris never was my kinda town
So I walked around with the Ft. Worth Blues
Back before Jimmy Rogers and George Vaughan wrote "Blue Yodel #8" (aka "Muleskinner Blues"), there was this song by the blues singer Tom Dickson, in which the Black muleskinner complains about his treatment by the boss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L0_...mDickson-Topic
It's, "Good morning, Captain", it says, "Good morning, Shine"
It's, "Good morning, Captain", said, "Good morning, Shine"
"'Tain't nothin' the matter, Captain, but I just ain't gwine."
I don't mind workin', Captain, from sun to sun
I don't mind workin', Captain, from sun to sun
But I wants my money, Captain, when payday comes
Worked me all this summer and you started on this fall
Worked me all this summer, started all this fall
Now I've got to take Christmas in my overhalls
If you good men want to keep her out of town at night
If you good men want to keep her out of town at night
Just feed her little pork chops, soothes her appetite
Now, there 'tain't no tellin' what a Mississippi gal'll do
Well, there 'tain't no tellin', a Mississippi gal'll do
She will get your money, then pull game at you
It's, "Go on, pretty mama, gonna need a friend again."
It's, "Go on, pretty mama, need a friend again
You gon' sit and sob when you wants me to be your friend."
SOLO
Hey, tell me, woman, where did you stay last night?
Hey, it's tell me, woman, where did you stay last night
Well, your shoes unfastened and your skirt don't fit you right
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
This explores some of what you may be looking for:
"Shine" is definitely offensive, and I'm sure it was offensive way back when. However, when Tom Dickson sings it, he's illustrating from a Black man's viewpoint how the white boss, "captain," talks to the Black labourer. Almost every white person, I've heard do "Muleskinner" sings "shine," though I suspect that not every singer knew the meaning (for years, I thought it the phrase was "good morning, son"). Interestingly, Bill Monroe doesn't use shine in "New Muleskinner Blues" (Post #10). According to the lyrics printed on Google, he was saying "Good morning foreman, good morning, boss," though it sounds to me like "good morning, boy" which isn't much better than the original. Still, I may be hearing wrong. Being of British/European extraction, I'd drop "Shine" if I were to sing either Muleskinner or Labor Blues.
Most twelve-bar blue songs contain "floating verses," which move around from song to song, so it's not surprising that similar verses appear in "Sittin' on Top of The World" and "In The Pines." This practice is also true of many traditional, non-blues, dance songs. If no story is being told, with many songs you can throw in whatever verse fits or make up a verse on the spot (see different versions of "Old Joe Clark," "Jubilee," "Turkey in the Straw," or "Angelina Baker"). Perhaps the opening lines of Muleskinner Blues were around before either Jimmy Rogers or Tom Dickson sang them, and both borrowed them from other singers. I have no complaint (other than the racist language) about how Jimmie Rogers and many others interpreted the song. I really enjoyed Monroe's New Muleskinner Blues (above). Thanks to everyone for posting different versions.
Apologies to the OP, sometimes threads develop subtopics.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
Someone, inevitably, is going to post this; might as well be me.
For me second only to Rodgers' original and definitive of Baker's perfection:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bill+monro...%3DtiRu03RgSWw
I'll see your Monroe/Baker and raise you a Dolly Parton
Stormy Morning Orchestra
My YouTube Channel
"Mean Old Timer, He's got grey hair, Mean Old Timer he just don't care
Got no compassion, thinks its a sin
All he does is sit around an play the Mandolin"
I'll see that & raise you a duo:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dolly+part...%3DTWh07XHVRdI
Dang there goes my new pair of shoes
Stormy Morning Orchestra
My YouTube Channel
"Mean Old Timer, He's got grey hair, Mean Old Timer he just don't care
Got no compassion, thinks its a sin
All he does is sit around an play the Mandolin"
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