Personal Favorites

What you’ll find here are information about some of my favorite songs or artists. It’s not only EC, it’s not even only Blues. Sometimes it’s just a special lick which sounds great, sometimes it’s an artist I like to listen to. The only thing they have in common is that there’s a guitar on it.

Song/artist list:

  1. John Lee Hooker: The Boogie Man
  2. EC: Double Trouble (from Just One Night)
  3. EC + Kate Bush: And So Is Love
  4. Fleetwood Mac: Never Going Back Again
  5. EC: Don’t Think Twice (Bobfest)
  6. Cream: Outside Woman Blues

John Lee Hooker – Blues the Healer

You can’t get too much Hooker!

“I look for a deep, gutty feeling. I don’t use picks, so I can get that deep gut feeling. People ask, “How do you get that?” It’s just there. A lot of people try to play real fast chords — da da da da da — that’s not the blues. It’s synthetic. It ain’t the hard, solid blues. It’s a lot of speed and everything. It has no feeling to it. You’ve got to sit down and play some whispers funky, funky guitar. Take your time! Don’t rush it. Just let it come flowing through you. I can play guitar so funky, until it brings teardrops to your eyes. It has that funky, funky tone. I’m just me.”
John Lee Hooker, interview 1992

“JLH (1917 – 2001) passed away peacefully in his sleep in the morning of June 21, 2001 at his home in the San Francisco Bay area, at the age of 83.”

Where should I start? JLH was unique. His voice, his foot tapping, his guitar playing was unique. While many guitarists tried and try to copy BB King or Muddy Waters, no one tried to play and sound like JLH. There are hundreds of websites about his biography and discography, so I’ll tell a little bit about his guitar style, along with a few licks. EC played with him “Boogie Chillun” on “Best Of Friends”, his 1998 album. JLH brought me to the Blues with his album “The Healer”.

John Lee played usually open tunings, mostly open A and open G. Boogie Chillun and Tease Me Baby for example, he played in open A with the capo at the 2nd fret (which creates the sound of an open B tuning). But not his tuning, his timing is what makes it so hard to play. He left the Blues form, played one chord over and over, made long breaks and all this without getting boring. He just didn’t care much about the 12 bar Blues form.

My Stepdaddy taught me, “Do it this way or no way. This is my way and this is the blues. Don’t come to no fancy chords; Don’t come to no fast playing.” And he was right.
– JL Hooker

He didn’t use a pick, played with his thumb, middle and index finger instead. And he really picked the strings hard, using the guitar for percussion, too. Most times he played Gibson semi-acoustic guitars, a Les Paul Goldtop, ES-335 or ES-345 and later also the Epiphone Sheraton I+II.

The following examples are from JLH’s 1998 album “Best of Friends“, and it’s just a little help to play some gems. All notation and tips are as always for standard tuning!

It starts with Boogie Chillun, EC on lead guitar. A Blues in A, use the A minor Blues scale around the 5th fret and you’ll soon have the licks. The song belongs to JLH’s first recordings starting in 1948, it’s derived from the old folk song “Mama Don’t Allow Me To Stay Out All Night Long” and JLH has recorded it dozens of times, also with “Canned Heat”.

I was working in a plant as a janitor when Boogie Chillen became a tremendous big hit. Everywhere you went, that was all you’d hear coming out of windows and stores an the neighbor’s houses. I said, “I don’t need this broom. I can make it on my own”
– JL Hooker

Next one, This is Hip, a duet with slide genius Ry Cooder is a bit tricky – it’s a Blues in E#, key note to groove is the D-string on the 3rd fret. To play it, use all you know about the E Blues scale, but play one fret higher (1st fret).

A highlight is hearing JLH and Carlos Santana playing together “The Healer”. Although the styles are so different, from deep low down Blues to a kind of “Latin Blues”, it sounds really great. The lead guitar is from Santana, another favorite of mine. I didn’t find any tabs on the net up to now, so here are some snippets. We’ll continue with JLH licks later. Enjoy the perfect fusion of John’s voice and Carlos’ guitar! Play using the D minor Blues scale – D is the key note to play around.

  D5
I-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I---6--6/8---6--6/8---------6--6/8-8--------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------repeat-------I
I---7--7/9---7--7/9------0--7--7/9---3b(5)rb3-0---0-------------0---0----until--------I
I-------------8------0-3------------------------3-----------0-3---3------rhythm start-I
I-------------------------------------------------------0-3---------------------------I
 0:00                                0:07

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------6---------------5-6-----------------------------------I
I---------5-7-5-7-----5-7-5--5--------5-7-5-7------5h7-7-5---------------------------I
I----7-7----------7-7-------------7-7-----------------------7p5-3-3h5-3h5-3----------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
  0:55

I---------------------------------------------------8p5------------------------------I
I----------------6-8-(10)rb8p6-8-6---8b(10)-8b(10)------8b(10)-8-6-8p6--8b(10)-------I
I-------5-7-5-7----------------------------------------------------------------------I
I--7-7-------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I

I---------------------------------13---------------------------12b(13)rb12b(13)------I
I-------13-15-13-15-----13-15-15------------13-15-13-15--13-15-----------------------I
I---14---------------14---------------14-14------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I

I------------------------------------------13----13-15-(17)rb15p13-15-13\--17tr20...-I
I--15/17-15--------------------------13-15----15-------------------------------------I
I------------12b(13)-12-10-----14-14-------------------------------------------------I
I--------------------------12--------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
                                                                            1:27

OK, a bit more than I thought of, but it’s so great to play… and not so hard to find out.

The next one, “I Cover The Waterfront”, is a duet with JLH’s long time friend Van Morrison. It’s a slow kind of Blues in C. Play the chords (C-F-G, a bit Am, you know it…) as arpeggios and you got it.

The next song, Boom Boom, is JLH’s signature song – the one he also sang in the first Blues Brothers film (but it’s not on the movie soundtrack CD!), also covered by the Yardbirds (with a relatively unkown guitarist at that time). It’s a moderately fast Blues in E (chords E7-A7-B7…) and the opening riff is a Blues classic (tab in standard tuning…):

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------3-----------------------------------------------------3-----------------------I
I---/4----4p2p0------------0-2-------3p2p0-----------0-2-------4p2p0-----------1-2---I
I----------------2-0-2---2-----2---2-------2-0-2---2-----2-----------2-0-2---2-----2-I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
  0:00                                                         0:06

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I-------3p2p0-----------0-2----------------------------------------------------------I
I--0h2---------2-0-2--2-----2---Boom Boom Boom Boom,  (repeat intro)-----------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I

You can also play the chords E – G – A – E for the second part of the riff. The solo on this album is played mainly by Jimmy Vaughan, Stevie Ray’s older brother. Jimmy did a good job on this and comes very close to JLH’s sound. Like JLH Jimmy played without a pick. Most of the solos is played using the first two patterns of the E minor Blues scale. To get started some notes from the beginning of the solo:

I-------------------------------------I
I----------3-3/5-3/5-3-0-----------3--I
I----0-2-4---------------2---0-2/4----I
I--2-----------------------2----------I
I-------------------------------------I
I-------------------------------------I

The next song (I’m In The Mood), a duet with Blues lady Bonnie Raitt, is an old Hooker classic. First recorded in 1953, he played it in many different versions. He got his first Grammy ever for this song, two years later he was introduced into the “Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame”. Bonnie’s slide guitar fits pretty good into the song, but if you try to play you’ll soon notice that it’s impossible to get the sound with standard tuning – you have to tune down all strings a semitone to get the key of Eb. The other way is to get an old Hooker record with the “standard” version, it’s played in E. The following intro is tabbed using either a tuned-down guitar or the original version. The versions differ a bit, but the main licks are the same. For the solo you can also jam around with the first Blues fingering pattern starting at the 11th fret (Eb). Here we go:

I---0-0-0-0-0-0---------0-0-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3--0-0-0-0------------------------3b-0-----I
I--/5-5-5-5-5-5--repeat 5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--5-5-5-5-3-0--------------0-3-0------3-0-I
I--------------------------------------------------------2b(3)rb2p0------------------I
I-------------------------------------------------------------------2----------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I--additionally bass note can be played here 0-0-0-----------------------------------I
   0:00

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I--3-0---------------------0---------------------------------------------------------I
I------2b(3)rb2p0------0-2-----------------------------------------------------------I
I-----------------2--2-------2--2-0-1-2----------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I---------------------------------------0-0-0----I'm in the mood....-----------------I
                             00:14

“Burning Hell” is another Blues boogie with Ben Harper on guitar and Charlie Musselwhite on harp. It’s in E and that’s the main note played all over the song…

With “Tupelo” we have a typical JLH “unplugged and alone” song. The man and his guitar telling a story, stumping the rhythm with his foot. Tupelo is a story about a small town in Mississippi, where the “big rain both night and day” caused a high water resulting in a big flood. Lord have mercy. No one else can tell that story like JLH, although it’s based on a Charlie Patton song (High Water Everywhere). JLH recorded this masterpiece first in 1959.

It’s in A, and in standard tuning played we don’t get the deep D. So here’s a play-around using a higher D. You can play it also using the first fingering pattern of the A scale around the 5th fret, but the bass is missing. It’s easier with open tuning. Anyway, the main theme throughout the song goes like:

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------3-------------------------------------3---------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I-------------------0-------repeat---------------------------0-----------------------I
I------3-----3---------------------3h5-3h5-3h5-3h5-3---------------------------------I
I--3h5---3h5----3-1-(-1)-----------------------------4h5-3-1-------------------------I
0:00

Baby Lee from the album The Healer is a duet with Blues great Robert Cray. It’s a Blues in E with a short Robert Cray solo. If you have the main riff it’s easy:

   E7                       E7                       A7         B7
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------0---0-------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I--0h1---2---0---repeat--------------------------------------------------------------I
I--2---------2--------------The main bass figure------------2-0-------------4-2------I
I----------------------------------2-0---------------0--3h4-----3-0--2--5h6-----5-2--I
I---------------------------0--3h4-----3--0--repeat----------------------------------I
 0:00                       0:08

At 1:50 Robert’s solo starts. He uses the E Blues scale, so can find it out by yourself. To get started, here’s the beginning:

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I--/5~~--3-----------------------------------------0h3-3h5~~--/5-3-------------------I
I-----------2b(3)rb2p0-2-0---2-0-----------------------------------4-3-2-0---....----I
I--------------------------2-----2-2p0---2-2p0---------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
 1:50                                     1:55

Dimples, another boogie Blues in E from the album “Don’t Look Back”, is another classic Hooker song. The beginning sounds a bit like Boom Boom, in fact you can play almost the same notes. The bass notes E – G – A is nearly all you need, there’s no real guitar solo on it. But a really cool groove to jam to!

With Chill Out we have another duet with Carlos Santana, and again their playing and singing fits perfectly together. This time we play in G, the main theme is changing between Cm and G. Some licks from the intro:

  Cm              G     Cm
I-----3-3---------3------------------------------------------------------------------I
I-------4-----4---3----------------15-16-15----15-16-15-16-15-------------13---------I
I-------5---5-----4-------------17----------17----------------17--15b(17)----15------I
I-----5-----------5----17~~--17------------------------------------------------------I
I--3------3-------5------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
 0:00                  0:09

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I----13------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I-12----15-12------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I--------------15b(17)-15-13----13-15-13--15-/17~~~~---------------------------------I
I----------------------------15------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
                                              0:20

Big Legs Tight Shirt, with Ry Cooder and Ike Turner, is another Blues in E. Ry played slide as always, and the solo you can play using the standard E Blues scale, 12th fret. Nice to play around, Ry’s slide is worth an extra page…

The last song of this album is Don’t Look Back, played again with Van Morrison. A slow Blues ballad living from John’s great voice. The guitar is not difficult to play, is mostly picking arpeggios around the chords of the C major scale like C – Am – Dm – G7.

At the end some licks in the style of John Lee Hooker, all in E:

I------------------------------------0h3p0---0---------------------------------------I
I--------------------------------0h3-------3---/5-------------------3----------------I
I---------------------------------------------------2p0---------------4p2p0----------I
I--0h2-0h2-0h2-0h2-0----------2-------------------------2p0h2-0tr2----------2p0h2----I
I--------------------2-1-0-----------------------------------------------------------I
I---------------------------3b-------------------------------------------------------I

I’m one of the greatest blues singers in the world, but I don’t think of myself as that. I never dreamed I would become this famous. But I knew I would do a lot of good music and that I wouldn’t have to work in a factory. I think of myself as just a guy that’s got something to give.
– JL Hooker

Double Trouble

“Double Trouble”, a song from Otis Rush, was the highlight of the 1980 double album “Just One Night”. It was recorded during a concert EC gave in Dec. 1979 at the Budokan Theater in Tokyo.

It’s a slow minor Blues in Cm (Cm/Fm/Gm and minor seventh chords, G7), we start using the first C Blues fingering pattern at the 8th fret. The intro is a variation of the standard Blues intro – we start with ascending notes from the Cm chord and bend two times into the root note C. Then we walk an octave down the scale, again into the root note. I added some comments because this song covers many great EC slow Blues licks. You can learn a lot when playing to this song. Here is the intro and some licks from the many solos – have fun!

I------------------------------I
I------------------------------I
I---8--------------------------I
I-----8h10~~~------------------I
I------------------------------I
I------------------------------I
  The main background theme....

 Inro
 Cm7
I------------8------------------8----------------------------------------------------I
I----------8---11b(13)rb11b(13)---11-8-11-8----8-------------------------------------I
I--10b(12)----------------------------------10---10b(11)rb10p8-----------------------I
I--------------bend into root----------------------------------10--------------------I
I-----------------------------------------------------------------(10-9-8)-----------I
I--------------------------------------------------------------root------------------I
  0:06

 Fm7
I---11b(13)-11b(13)-11b(13)-11~~--8h11p8----8---------8-8~~--------------------------I
I----------------------------------------11---11b(13)--------------------------------I
I-------------------------------------------------------------vocals...--------------I
I---bend into F(IV)------------------------------------------------------------------I
I-----------------------------------------------------root---------------------------I
I-----------------------------------------------------note---------------------------I
0:12
I----------8-8-8-8-8---------8---------18b(20)-18-15-18----15------------------------I
I--11b(13)-----------11-8-11---11-8~~-------------------18----16-18----16----16------I
I-------------------------------------------------------------------17----17----17~~-I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
  1:09

I--------------------------11b(12)---11p8---11p8-repeat-8----8----8------------------I
I--8-------------------------------8------8---------------11---11---11-8-11----------I
I----10-8p10----8-10----------------------------------------------------------10b-10-I
I------------10----------------------------------------------------------------------I
I---smooth---------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
 1:19                                                     1:28

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I---------------------------------all along these notes------------------------------I
I--10b-10-10b--8h10----8-------------------------------------------------------------I
I-------------------10---10-8-10-----------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I

– snip: solo time –

    (Cm7)
I-----8------------15-15--13-13--11-11-----------------------------------------------I
I-----8------------18-18--15-15--13-13--13-13~~--11----11----------------------------I
I-----8---------------------------------------------12----12-10-8----8---------------I
I----10-----------------------------------------------------------10---10-8-10\------I
I----heavy---------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I----strumming-----------------------------------------------------------------------I
 3:02             3:08

I----------15-18---------15-18-----------------------11----------------13-15-13------I
I--18b(20)-------18b(20)-------18b(20)hb(20)~~~---13----13-13-13~~--16---------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
  3:13

I----13-15-13---------------------------8--------------------------------------------I
I-16----------16-13-13-13-13\---11b(13)---11-8h11p8----8------------------8----8-----I
I---------------------------------------------------10---10b(11)-(11)rb10---10---10--I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
 3:18

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I--8---------------------------------------8-11-8h11p8----8--------------------------I
I----11(rb)10-8----10----8----8-10-10b(12)-------------10---(11)rb10-8-10-8----------I
I---------------10----10---10-----------------------------------------------10-10----I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
 3:24

I---11b--8---11p8----11p8----------8----8--------------------------------------------I
I---10-----8------8-------8-repeat---11---11b(12)rb11-----8----8---------8-----------I
I------------------------------------------------------10---10---10-8-10---10--------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
  3:27

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I--10b(12)rb10p8----10----8----------------------------------------------------------I
I----------------10----10---10--8----8--------keep on...-----------------------------I
I---------------------------------10---10\-------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------8~~---------------------------------------I
 3:32

– snip: harmonics –

I--11-13-13b(15)-11-13-13b(15)hb(15)--hb(15)rb13-----11-13-13b(15)-repeat------------I
I----------------------hold bend------release bend-----------------------------------I
I----------------------and pick-------and pick---------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I--pick near bridge and mute string -------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
 4:51

– snip: the end –

I----------8-8-11-8-11b(13)-11-13-8--------------------------------------------------I
I--11b(13)--------------------------10-8-10-(13)rb11----8----8---------8----11-------I
I----------------------------------------------------10---10---10-8-10---10---repeat-I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
 7:43

and -hard to follow- something fast down the scale to the deep C. Yeah, that’s it.

EC + Kate Bush: And So Is Love

On Kate’s 1993 album “The Red Shoes” there’s a song with EC on guitar, and it’s a great addition to her voice. (BTW, other guests on this album are Jeff Beck and Nigel Kennedy…)

The most recent was Kate Bush because I had no idea what she wanted from me really. And I adore her music. And for me, in my fantasy head I could see a way of doing it. I can see how it can be done in here! in my head, but you give me the guitar and then lay down the track and tell me just do what I feel is right, then I’ve no idea. I really had to hand it over to her to tell me what to do really. And I was surprised by the outcome. So it is really risky sometimes, it can be very frustrating.
– EC interview Oct. 1991 (before the album was released!)

During the song “And So Is Love” EC plays a lick with everything in it – only a few notes, different attacks, pure feeling played around the D note and the Gm chord. It starts at 2:46:

I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I-13b(15)~~-13b(15)hb(15)(15)...-(15)rb13-13~~-(15)rb13p11-13-11-13-13b(15)--13b(15)-I
I---------------------hold-bend------------------------------------------------------I
I---------------------and repeat-----------------------------------------------------I
I---------------------picking--------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
  2:46                                                                           2:56

Fleetwood Mac – Never Going Back Again

A short course in fingerpickin’…

The next song is from Fleetwoods Mac’s mega-selling album from 1977, “Rumours”. This short song, only two minutes, was played by Lindsey Buckingham. Fleetwood Mac was searching a guitar player, when Lindsay joined them together with Stevie Nicks. Their first album, “Fleetwood Mac” (1975) was great (56 weeks in the billboard charts), but Rumours was incredible. They left the Blues long before, but now they had 3 excellent songwriters, singers, wonderful songs and a band history with many ups and downs. Peter Green had left the band 7 years ago, the musicians had changed frequently.

Back to the song. I needed some time to find out how to play it. As long as you’re an average player with average fingers, you’ll need a “capodastro” (capo) to play it right. A capodastro is a kind of 6th barre finger, very useful to change the key without changing the picking patterns. Is this case we put it on the 4th fret (short before 4th fret to get a good sound) and play as if we play in D, although we really play in F# (4 semitones above D). You’ll notice that your guitar also gets another sound. (Blues players use a capo for this reason. EC played “Motherless Child” (from FTC) with a capo on the 7th fret, although it’s possible to play it without.)

But this isn’t the only thing to do. To play the steady bass line we have to tune down the bass E-string two semitones to get a D (simply tune the E-string pressed down at the 7th fret to the pitch of the A string, control it with the open D string. This one’s called “dropped D tuning”.).
You can also pick the D string instead of the tuned down E string and leave out the picking notes on that string, but you don’t get the deep bass sound.

Now let’s try picking. Start with the bass line using the open (but with capo at 4th fret) E string (now D, with capo F#…) and the A string alternating and fill the room between with the “D chord”, which is correctly speaking F#. Although I noted it using the real position, it may be easier to understand if you think you play around the D and A chord. Keep the bass line steady going at first, then add the rest. Play around with the timing until you get it right. Don’t proceed with the song until you really have the correct timing at the beginning.

Now play the F# chord using the index finger as barre over the four melody strings at the 6th fret:

F#                               C#7 F#                C#6
IE--------------9----9------------------9-----9--------6-----6-----6-----6-----6-----I
IB---7----6h7-----7----7------7---9--7----7-----7--------9-----9-----9-----9-----9---I
IG---6----6-------------(6)---6---6--6------------6--------6-----6-----6-----6-------I
ID---8----6h8---4-------------8---9--8-----------------------------------------------I
IA------4-----------4-----------4-----------4----------4-------4-------4-------4-----I
ID-4----------4-------------4--------4-----------------------------------------------I

     F#    C#7     F#                  F#    C#     F#
I--6---------------------9---------I-----14----13---14-------14-------14-------------I
I----7-----9\11--9-7---------------I-------------------14-------14-------14----------I
I----6-------------6--------start--I-----11----13---------11-------11---------repeat-I
I----8--4--9\11--9-8--------vocal--I-------------------------------------------------I
I------------4---------4-----------I---------4---------------------------------------I
I----4-------------4---------------I---4------------4------------4-----------4-------I
                            0:10     0:32

 D#m    C#  D#m
I------------------9---------I
I----7---6--7--------7-6h7---I
I----8---6----8--------6h8---I
I----8---6------8------------I
I--6-------------------------I
I------8----8----------------I
 0:41

That’s all to go through the whole song.

Alternate Version

If you don’t want to play with the original song and also don’t like to change the guitar tuning, here’s another, easy way to play it. It’s also great as a short, nice acoustic song for warmup. Of course you can vary it, add hammer-ons or slides, or change the bass line.

I-----2---2--2-5-----5-------2---2--2-5-----5-------2------2------2------2-----2-----2--------2--5------I
I-----3---2--3---3-----3-----3---2--3---3-----3-------5------5------5------5-----5---3-5/7--5-3----3----I
I-----2---2--2-----------2---2---2--2-----------2-------2------2------2------2-----2-2--------2------2--I
I---0--------0-----0-------0--------0-----0---------0-----------------0--------------0-5/7--5-0---------I
I-------0----------------------0-----------------------------0-----------------0------------0-----------I
I-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I

I---10-9-10------10------10------10-9-10------10------10--------------------5---------------------------I
I---7--6----10------10------10----7-6----10------10------10-----3---3-3-------3-------------------------I
I-7------------7-------7-------7------------7-------7-----------4---3-4---------2--repeat...------------I
I-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I-------------------------------------------------------------2---2---2--2------------------------------I
I-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I

Don’t Think Twice (Bobfest)

“Eric Clapton shrugs off his diffident manner to deliver one of the most electrifying performances of his life in Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right — each guitar lick and vocal cuts angrily to the bone”
All Music Guide (http://www.allmusic.com)

After the tragic death of his son in 1991, it took a while until EC started to play life again. He toured with George Harrison through Japan, he recorded the legendary Unplugged album and gave his usual 12 RAH concerts. He also made a tour with Elton John, playing together “Runaway Train” from his soundtrack for “Lethal Weapon 3” and finally fired nearly all his musicians in 1992.

But before the short Cream Reunion because of the introduction into the R’n R Hall Of Fame (Jan. 1993) and achieving his 6 Grammies (Feb 1993) he joined a big song festival – Bob Dylan’s anniversary concert (30 years on stage) on Oct. 16th, 1992. It was an all-star meeting, from Johnny Winter to Willie Nelson, from Tom Petty to the George Harrison – and Bob himself. Band on stage were Booker T. and the M.G.’s. EC played two songs and joined the all-star band for the final two songs. The concert is available on various CD’s, it was also broadcasted several times.

“Love Minus Zero – No Limit” was his opener. Already beautiful guitar solos and a great voice, but with “Don’t Think Twice” he blew everyone away. A song played 1000 times at 1000 campfires by nearly everyone who can hold a guitar got a completely new powerful sound.

We play in F, mainly using the first Blues fingering pattern at the 13th fret, adding some major notes as usual. Before starting, let’s first analyze key and chords. The original Bob Dylan song (and I think Joan Baez played it that way) was written in G, EC played it a full tone below, so we get the key of F (major). Back to the basics we remember the notes:

F(I)-G(ii)-A(iii)-Bb(IV)-C(V)-D(vi)-E(vii)-F(VIII)

The chord sequence for this song is

F (the root) – C – Dm – Bb – F – C7
F (the root) – C – Dm – G7 – C – C7
F (the root) – F7 – Bb – G7 – F – Dm – Bb – C7 – F

Play it before starting the solo guitar to get better into the song. The G7 chord does not strictly belong to the scale, but resolves to the subdominant C and gives a strong sound.

I---------13-13--15b(17)rb15b(17)-15b(17)-15b(17)-15b(17)-15-13----13h15p13~~~\------I
I---13-15-------------------------------------------------------15-------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
0:07

I--16b(17)-16--16p13h16--------------------------------------------------------------I
I--------------------------13-------------------------------------13---16--13h16p13--I
I-----------------------15----15-13b----13----13----13-15-15b(17)--------------------I
I------------------------------------15----15----15----------------------------------I
I-----------------------fast and dirty!----------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
                                                                       0:17

I------------------------------------------0-----------------------------------------I
I----13------------------------------------1-----------------------------------------I
I-15----15--13b(14)------------------------3\--starting vocals...--------------------I
I-----------bend----15~~~\-----------------2\----------------------------------------I
I-----------into----root note F----1-2-3---3\----------------------------------------I
I-----------major!-------------------------------------------------------------------I

The vocals were filled with nice licks, the first one ending on the root note F goes like:

I------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------I
I------10-10~~-----------------------I
I--/12--------10h12-10---------------I
I----------------------12p10---------I
I----------------------------13~~~---I
  0:32

..snip..
Finally an excerpt from the middle of the solo. Again this is not something to learn note-for-note, but you’ll always find some interesting stuff:

I--18b(20)-18b(20)rb(19)----------16b(18)-----13-15-16-15-13----16-15-13----15-------I
I------------------------18-18-18----------15----------------15----------15----15----I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
 3:48

I--13h15p13----13-13\----------------------------------------------------------------I
I-----------15----------16-13h16p13----13--------------------------------------13----I
I-----------------------------------15----15b(17)-15-13----13----13-15-15b(17)-------I
I-------------------------------------------------------15----15---------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
                                                                       3:55

I--13----16b(17)-13----16b(17)-13----repeat...---------------------------------------I
I-----13------------13------------13-------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I

Cream – Outside Woman Blues

From Disraeli Gears – a Blues in E. Gibson/Marshall combo, tone control zero, volume control 100% (woman tone), E minor Blues pentatonic scale, base chord is E7#9 – not much more to say!

e7+9
       E7#9
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I-------8-------------------8--------------------------------------------------------I
I-------7-------------------7---repeat...--------------------12-14-15-14-12----12~---I
I-------6-------------------6-----------------------------14----------------14----14-I
I-------7------7-----5------7--------------------------------------------------------I
I--0-0-----7h9---5h7---0-0-----------------------------------------------------------I
0:00                                      If you ... mind 0:13

I------------12-------------------------------------------------------12-------------I
I---------12----15p12----------------------------------------------15----------------I
I-14b(16)-------------14b(16)-14-12-14----------12b(13)---14b(16)--------(16)rb14----I
I--------------------------------------14-14-14--------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
  Solo  1:28

I----------------------------------------------------------------12------------------I
I--------12--------------------------------------------15b(17)~~----15---------------I
I--12-14----14-12-14-12-----12-14-15-14-12----12-----------------------14b(16)-14----I
I------------------------14----------------14----14----------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
                         1:33

I-------------------------------------------12-----15b(17)-15b(17)-15-12-------------I
I----------------------------------------12-----12-----------------------12----------I
I-12-14-12-----------14----12----14b(16)------------------------------------14b(16)--I
I----------14-14-14-----14----14-----------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
                                                                            1:41

I------------------------------------------------17b(19)-17b(19)-19-17-19----17b(19)-I
I---------------------------------------------17--------------------------17---------I
I--14-12-14-12~~-----12-14-15-14-12----12--------------------------------------------I
I-----------------14----------------14----14-----------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
                                              1:44

I-17-19-17----15b(17)----------------------------------------------------------------I
I----------17---------15b(17)--------15p12----12-------------------------------------I
I-----------------------------16\14~~~-----14----14b(16)-16-12b(13)hb(13)------------I
I-------------------------------------------------------------------------14~~~------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
                                     1:48