On Practicing Guitar

My search for Robert Johnson goes on like all the rest of us. It started years ago when I was in my early teens. I read a Johnny Winter interview where he said, “If you want to play rock and roll, you’ve got to listen to some Robert Johnson, B.B. King, and Jimi Hendrix.” I went down to the local record store which was called Disco Disc – I don’t think disco had even begun to suck yet – and I asked the clerk if he could order me a Robert Johnson album. He said he’d get back to me.

When he did, he told me that they (the record company, I presumed) only had The Best Of Vol II. I said OK and in a few weeks I had the album. I must say, though, that I didn’t totally get it. The cover was really cool, but the scratchy old record vibe and the likes of “I’m a Steady Rollin’ Man” and “Drunken Hearted Man” didn’t blow me away. But most of all, I couldn’t figure out what it had to do with Jimi Hendrix. It didn’t help that a lot of Bob’s best stuff was on Volume I. I copied my first primitive attempts at “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues” from Exile On Main Street.

 Back in the fold with the Anodyne Blues Band…

I started to put it together almost twenty years later when I got the first Robert Johnson boxed set on CD. But I was far from the finish line, still am, it seems. In the intervening years, I got a hold of Volume I on vinyl but rarely played that set. The real prized purchase was The New Transcriptions by Hal Leonard about four years ago. I started bustin’ my brains out on those, making slow progress even though I had learned Mississippi John Hurt by ear all those years ago. I would say, Mr. Johnson is a little more difficult.

Recently, I picked up Dave Rubin’s Guitar Transcriptions & Detailed Lessons for 29 Songs, which is one of the things that inspired me to write this post. I don’t pull the trigger easily when making purchases online and not knowing what was inside of this book initially dissuaded me from buying it. But I’m happy to say that I recommend it. Almost any thoughtfully rendered piece on Robert Johnson is worth something, but Rubin’s commentary and focus on smaller spots in Johnson’s songs make for an excellent practice companion. Don’t listen to the naysayers on Amazon – just get it!

Another source that I recently snagged was the Sixth Edition of Mystery Train, by Greil Marcus. It has an excellent chapter devoted to Robert Johnson. One thing that Marcus helped me with was his love of and admiration for the Stones version of "Stop Breaking Down." I have always loved the song and spent loads of time playing it and transcribing and learning Mick Taylor’s awesome solos (much of which were inspired by Brian Jones’ small but significant attempts at expanding on Muddy’s “I Can’t Be Satisfied"). But when I read the 33 &1/3 book on Exile, I was dismayed by Bill Janovitz's comment, opining that the song was filler. Ha!

It's nice to be validated. Now, I just wish I could get some validation for my version of “Malted Milk,” which I’m about to record with my group, Saints & Sinners. It includes some stretched bars that result from an elongation of the melody. The beat is up tempo, the style much more rock and roll. It is decidedly ‘happier.’ It is ‘transformational,’ if I do say so myself. It doesn’t seem to generate much notice, however, but I’m not about to give up on it.

At The Shrine with Christof Knoche harp, David Gerstein bass, Mark Feldman drums and Christian Botta guitar/vox

One last note has to come from the awesome Honey Boy Edwards autobiography. Personally, it can take me forever to get out of my apartment at times. But to paraphrase Honey Boy, ‘Robert just had to hear a train whistle or something and even if he was sleeping, he’d be up and ready to go.’ Another quality to aspire to! -Chris Botta