Stefan Grossman A Retrospective 1971-1995

8/10/2019 Stefan Grossman A Retrospective 1971-1995

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Stefan Gr ossm anA R etr ospectiv e 1971-1995

In a sense, we have his father’s aversion to the saxophoneto thank for Stefan Grossman’s lifelong engagement with theacoustic guitar. It entered his life as his brother Karl, threeyears Stefan’s senior, took up the saxophone. After a fewsquawk-filled weeks, Herbert Grossman wasn’t happy. “Hewould have him practice in the closet because it was too

loud,” Stefan recalls. Like all kid brothers, Stefan wanted toimitate Karl, but wasn’t keen on practicing in a closet. Aquieter instrument – a guitar, for instance – would be lessgrating on paternal nerves. “My father got a guitar from aGoodwill Shop,“ Stefan recalls, “an old Epiphone.” The yearwas 1954. Stefan Grossman was nine.

Forty-two years later, Stefan’s name has become synony-mous with most aspects of the acoustic guitar experience.He’s a performer in varied styles who has always been pas-sionately engaged in teaching. In the thirty years since his How to Play Blues Guitar appeared on vinyl, Stefan has used all

available media—books, cassettes, Lps, CDs, videos—in dis-seminating information to guitarists of all levels. “That’swhat life is all about,” he says, “getting information.” Alongwith playing and teaching, he has been active in recordingand championing a host of gifted guitarists worldwide. Andhis role as archivist of phenomenal filmed and videotapedguitar performances is evident in his Vestapol Video series

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and Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop. Stefan’s tirelessengagement with a range of guitar-related enterprises andexplorations has taken him a long way from the BrooklynGoodwill shop which supplied his first instrument. And the

world of guitar lovers is a far richer place for his father’saversion to saxophones.Stefan was born April 16, 1945 to Herbert and Ruth

Grossman. (He and a sax-playing cousin, Steve Grossman,who once worked with Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, were both named for the same grandmother, Stephanie.) He was born in Brooklyn but raised in Queens, New York in anenvironment he describes as “middle-middle-class” in afamily which valued education and the arts. For a brief time,he tried to accompany Karl playing what he calls “1940soldies but goodies.” But he soon chafed at the songs of his

parents’ era and the formality of reading pop chestnuts fromstaff notation. “I was learning proper music notation from books,“ he recalls, “which is rather dry. To a kid of 10 or 11,learning how to play `Autumn Leaves’ doesn’t mean any-thing.”

Playing three-walled handball, however, was anothermatter entirely. For nearly four years, Stefan neglected theguitar while attending the all-male Brooklyn Technical HighSchool. Then, as he turned 15, the guitar once more raised itsvoice. “I started to play guitar again,” Stefan recalls, “first

because it was the thing for a social event – you’d go to a partyand play a guitar and meet girls – and, second, because I reallyliked the guitar.” It was during this time Stefan happenedonto the Washington Square Park `hoots’ which were in fullcry in 1960. They provided Stefan his initial connection withthe burgeoning folk revival. At the same time, his curiosityabout the music’s sources was piqued. “I’d got some old-timecountry records as well as recordings by Woody Guthrie andBig Bill Broonzy on the suggestion of my brother,” he recalls.“My parents thought the old-time music was very strange.They said it had been heavily sponsored in the 1920s and

1930s by Henry Ford, meaning that it was very right-wingmusic, and my parents were very leftist. The Woody Guthrieand Big Bill Broonzy music were politically alright for them.The politics meant nothing whatever to me but the musicreally moved me.” Stefan's preference was for Broonzy’srecordings. “I liked the sound of instruments,” he says. “I wasstruck by Broonzy’s rhythmic, driving, phenomenal guitar. It



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was always the blackmusicians that inter-ested me most.” Andthe one who had the

most profound im-pact on him wasabout to enter hislife. “I started goingout with some girlsfrom Brooklyn Col-lege,” Stefan recalls,“and one of theirfriends, Bob Fox,said, ̀ You should go

see the Rev. GaryDavis,’ and I didn’teven know who Rev.Gary Davis was – Ihad no idea. Thatsame week I went tothe Folklore Centeron Bleecker Streetand Jack Prelutskywas there playing a

tune, ‘I Belong to theBand.’ I said,`What’s that?’ He said, `That’s a Gary Davis piece.’ I said,`Oh,’ and things clicked. Someone had just told me to seeGary Davis and there was this piece I liked.”

Stefan got Davis’s address on Park Avenue in the Bronxand casually informed his parents he was going there forlessons. “My father was really scared because of this littlewhite kid, this white Jewish kid afoot in the worst crime areain the whole of America,” Stefan recalls. “My Dad drove methere for that first lesson on the pretense that he wanted to

buy shoes at a shop nearby! Once you got to the address youhad to go down an alleyway to a little tenement shack at the back which was Rev. Davis's home. You could see rats danc-ing in the shadows. I knocked on the door and this manopened up and said, ̀ You bring your money, honey?’ One eyewas totally missing and the other was bulbous with a cataract.He didn’t have his glasses on, he just had his long johns on.”

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Despite this off-putting introduction, Stefan remembersfeeling “totally charmed” by Rev. Davis. “I mean, he was anincredible genius as a teacher,” he says. “He was great if youwere a good student. Musically, we really hit it. Emotionally,

I’d never had met my grandfathers as they died before I was born and Rev. Davis very much substituted for them. I wentout there every Saturday, also every Friday, Sunday, andevery school holiday that I could. I’d stay up there for 12hours at a time. Rev. Davis was a patient, exacting teacher. Hewould go over everything and help you with the accenting,the notes and variations. Man, he was always practicing! Healways said he wanted to keep one or two steps ahead of hisstudents, and he always did.”

While learning all he could of Davis’s vast repertoire of secular and sacred tunes, Stefan continued to hang out where

he had first heard a Davis tune, the Folklore Center, warmlyremembered as “a place where you could always get togetherand pick. You’d go down there and see Bob Dylan and DocWatson just sitting and casually playing music. It was a greatatmosphere to get started in music.” Then, too, there wasWashington Square, where, Stefan recalls, “Everything washappening on Saturdays. After the park closed, you’d go toone of the kid’s houses in Brooklyn to pick. You’d meetpeople, some of them bluegrass people, some blues andragtime people...we got to be friends and would play.” With

his friends Steve Katz and Eric Kaz, Stefan played blues as theshort-lived Gramercy Park Sheiks. He continued his tutelagefrom Rev. Davis, who, by 1962 had upgraded his digs with acolor TV (won in a church raffle) and a `No Smoking’ signvisible through the omnipresent White Owl cigar haze. Stefan

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was also absorbing more vintage roots music via 78 collec-tors. “They were very hip to turn you on to music,” saysStefan. “It would take six months, but they would gently leadyou from the Memphis Jug Band to Charley Patton.” The

infectiously funky jug band sound was naturally appealing tothe Washington Square ‘hoot’ crowd. 1963 was the year inwhich the Rooftop Singers scored a number one hit with anupdate of Cannon’s Jug Stompers 1929 waxing, “Walk RightIn.” Stefan’s stab at jug band stardom came as an organizer of the Even Dozen Jug Band, a loose ensemble which at timeshad as many as fourteen members, among them John Sebastian(“an incredible harmonica player,” says Stefan), Steve Katz,Peter Siegel, David Grisman, Joshua Rifkin, and MariaMuldaur. A scaled-down incarnation of the group made onealbum (Even Dozen Jug Band, Elektra EKS 724, 1964), but

wrangling over its direction, coupled with college schedules,made it a short-lived burst of youthful energy. During this time Stefan was attending Cooper UnionArchitectural School, though his aims weren’t entirely aca-demic. “I was going to school basically to get meet girls,” herecalls, “and to stay out of the draft, like thousands of otherpeople.” While achieving those goals, Stefan witnessed theastonishing appearance of blues rediscoveries — Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Skip James, Bukka White — menknown from rare 78s seemingly rescued from a time warp. He

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contemporaries, both in New York and Washington, D.C.,where he acquired his ‘Kid Future’ nickname (from beingable to play Willie Brown's arrangement of ‘Future Blues’).Later in California, he encountered John Fahey, Ry Cooderand Steve Mann. “If you could play guitar,” says Stefan, “youwere accepted anywhere. I found that out. The first time Iwent to California and met all the good pickers there, I startedplaying the classic rags and fiddle tunes with counterpoint.As soon as they heard those arrangements I would have a

place to sleep that night.”In 1965, Stefan and former girlfriend Rory Block (akaSunshine Kate) delivered How to Play Blues Guitar to Elektra.Along with the music, Stefan supplied tablature and notesabout blues musicians for the booklet. This pioneering in-structional recording led to an acoustic band venture on theWest Coast with Janis Joplin, Taj Mahal, and Steve Mannwhich, due to contractual conflicts, never got beyond therehearsal stage. Back in New York, Stefan spent a miserablefour months (September-December 1966) playing electricguitar with the legendary shock-rock band, the Fugs. (Stefan

got the gig when head Fug Ed Sanders asked, “Are youcrazy?” and he replied in the affirmative). Early in 1967,Stefan found more convivial company playing in the rockgroup Chicago Loop. Mike Bloomfield and Barry Goldbergwere good friends of the group and after four months, theytold him: “You’re a fantastic and unique acoustic guitarplayer and you should stick to that.” Jobless, Stefan said to

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himself: “I’ve been kicked out of school; I’m out of the draft.(With some difficulty, he got a 4F deferment). I’m going toEurope.” Before leaving, Stefan finished three books for OakPublications, Country Blues Guitar, Delta Blues Guitar and

Contemporary Ragtime Guitar. With detailed tablature, lyr-ics, and commentary on the musicians, these books werelandmarks in their field. “Grossman’s books were unique,”wrote Dale Miller nearly three decades later. “The conceptsand scope of his vision were much more ambitious than otherone-shot method books, and his tablature, though idiosyn-cratic, was extremely accurate. In addition, he explained howto capture the tone of the original work, advising that to playa Gary Davis tune one should wear a thumbpick andfingerpicks on two fingers just like Davis, to play a Missis-sippi John Hurt tune one should use the bare thumb and two

bare fingers just like Hurt...and so on.”In June 1967, Stefan arrived in England with a list of

contacts provided by his friend, Marc Silber. “Just after I gotto London I went up to the Cambridge Folk Festival and Ifaced a big dilemma whether to enter a folk contest as anamateur or not,” Stefan recalls. “I was an amateur but theysaid I was too good an amateur. I met the High Level Rantersat the festival and I went up to Northumberland and I hung

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out there. One of the big shocks of coming to England is thateveryone sings a lot, and it doesn’t make any difference, goodvoice or bad voice. So I did start to sing, and I went througha phase of writing songs because everyone else was going

through it, and then suddenly I found myself in what I do best, which is to play the guitar with the occasional song. ButI play the guitar best, whether it’s my own or other people’scompositions.”

Stefan found a ‘parallel universe’ of sorts to the Americanfolk revival thriving in England. “The Young Tradition werefriends of Marc Silber,” Stefan recalls, “and they were livingin the same house as John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. Theywere really open-armed. I arrived when there was a realvacuum and people were thirsty for a new sound and I hadit....I just had this capacity to be able to play all these fancy

ragtime tunes and other stuff – Mance Lipscomb, Skip James,Fred McDowell, Rev. Davis, Son House – you name it, every black musician, I could play their styles to a T because I’dstudy it like a college professor and could play it...”

Folk Roots editor Ian Anderson remembers Stefan’s ar-rival on the British folk scene as akin to that of an aggressiveYank storming a beachhead: “He didn’t, to be blunt, set out inentirely the best fashion, “Anderson writes, “trumpeting hisarrival here with a Melody Maker interview which, basically,said that whilst these British guitar chappies of the Jansch/

Renbourn ilk were jolly talented, they couldn’t play ‘real’ blues. Thus he had come here to show us a trick or two.”Show ̀ em Stefan did, and his performances on the British folkclub circuit led to a recording contract with Fontana, then oneof Britain’s leading folk labels. His debut album, Aunt MollyMurray’s Farm, rated a `record of the month’ kudo from Melody Maker in 1969, and his follow-up, Gramercy ParkSheik, appeared later the same year. The success of theserecordings cemented Stefan’s expatriate status and made hima unique fixture of the British and European folk scene. RobinDenselow, writing in The Electric Muse: The Story of Folk

into Rock, writes that Stefan “carried out the ideals andpromise of the folk blues revival with greater success thananyone else...What Stefan achieved with the blues is a musi-cal ideal that other folk musicians, working in different fields,might have followed if they’d had the skill or theimagination...He’s written everything from children’s songsto bleak, surreal ballads, and a whole variety of instrumen-



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tals. He moves from the traditional to the experimental, and back again, in a way that British traditionalists, with only oneor two exceptions, find quite unthinkable.” While absorbingtraces of a British musical accent via contact with Jansch,Renbourn, and Eric Clapton (who he had toured with whileplaying with the Chicago Loop) , whom he credits withteaching him the vibrato technique, Stefan found himself

sought after by Paul Simon. “I didn’t even know who PaulSimon was,” he recalls, “though of course I’d heard Simonand Garfunkel – this was 1969, and they were at their peak.Anyway, Paul was about to leave Art and was thinking aboutforming a band. He got in touch with me in October, and inDecember I met him in New York – he was staying in a housewhich belonged to Segovia’s former mistress. Paul gave upon the band idea, but over the next year we recorded fourtimes together. ‘Paranoia Blues’ appears on his first soloalbum with me playing slide guitar.” Ever restless, Stefan moved to Rome in 1969, continuing

to tour not only the Great Britain but the rest of Europe aswell. Stefan’s impact on European guitarists in the late 1960swas prodigious: “To this day the woods of Europe are full of Stefan’s heirs,” says Dave Van Ronk. But Stefan’s love forinstruction and the `cause’ of exceptional acoustic guitaristswas about to lead him to forums beyond concert halls and folkclubs.

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In the early 1970s, responding to many requests, Stefan’sparents began marketing a series of their son’s audio instruc-tion tapes in the U.S. This was the onset of Stefan Grossman’sGuitar Workshop. At the same time, Stefan was seeking

American distribution of his Transatlantic label albums.“Transatlantic was never able to get a deal for me in America,”Stefan recalls. “I was really frustrated because I’m an Ameri-can and I knew my records could sell here.” Stefan contactedhis collector friend Nick Perls, who reissued the Yazoo bluesseries, but Perls wasn’t interested. John Fahey at Takomadidn’t even reply to Stefan’s query. Finally, ED Denson,Fahey’s Takoma label cofounder, expressed an interest inStefan’s work and they jointly founded the Kicking Mulelabel, Denson manning the American operation and Stefanholding forth in Europe. “All during the years my instruc-

tional books had kept going,” Stefan recalls. “My parents hadrun that operation and had amassed a large mailing list andthat was the first 3000 names that we used for Kicking Mule.So there was a lot of mailorder and we started to sell in storesand we started to have some success.”

Though Kicking Mule’s initial raison d’etre was Americandistribution of an ambitious expatriate’s recordings, it quickly became a haven for a wide range of talented guitarists whomight otherwise have gone unrecorded. (Not all KickingMule acts were guitarists — Stefan vows the label’s finest

album and the first released was by banjoist Art Rosenbaum.)For Stefan, his isolation in Italy was a further catalyst forproducing records of other guitarists: “I would go to therecord store in Rome and there was no record there that Icould learn from,” he says. For a man to whom “gettinginformation is what life’s all about,” this was untenable. If therecords weren’t there, Stefan would set about producingthem.

Thus began a decade of recordings with a dual musical-instructional focus. While anyone could enjoy the music, theKicking Mule Lp packages included booklets with tablature

from which aspiring guitarists could glean knowledge andattempt to replicate the recording. The Kicking Mule stable of artists included several exponents of guitar adaptations of ‘classic’ piano rags (Dave Laibman, Ton Van Bergeyk), Celticrevivalists (Dave Evans), leading lights of British folk guitar(John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, Davey Graham), and artistswho adroitly wandered the stylistic map (Duck Baker, Peter



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Finger and Leo Wijnkamp Jr.). The guitarists were an interna-tional cast – English, American, Dutch, German, Welsh – whoevinced individuality while sharing a common love of theacoustic guitar, usually steel strung and played solo. “Stefanwas the focal point for bringing together a whole lot of musicians – guitar players primarily – and giving them achance to interact with each other,” says Duck Baker.

Extensive interaction took place on the Kicking Muletours Stefan organized for his label’s acts. It was an excitingtime, says Stefan, of “cross-fertilization. We all learned from

each other...” European wunderkinds like Leo Wijnkamp Jr.and veterans like Dave Van Ronk could be seen and heardtogether picking guitar rags in a way which bespoke acontinuity of tradition.

Like almost every renaissance, that of the fingerstyleguitar celebrated by Kicking Mule was short-lived. By 1983,Stefan and Denson were undergoing a “friendly divorce”effectively dissolving Kicking Mule as a haven for acousticguitarists. “We’re very good friends still,” says Stefan, “butED got involved in doing other types of music, not guitarmusic, which did not interest me at all....” In the late 1970s,

Stefan toured and recorded extensively with John Renbourn,with whom he had first recorded in 1976 for Kicking Mule.New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden praised their “ex-ceptional rapport...matched by their understated virtuosity.”Of his duets with Renbourn, Stefan said simply, “It workswell because we’re friends, and because we really work on it.”

By the mid-1980s, Stefan had been working on the road

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for nearly two decades and was weary. Sidelined by a herni-ated disc, Stefan, based again in Rome, Italy, took stock of hislife and decided it was time to come home especially asShanachie Records had made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

He had been back frequently to perform, but he returned tolive in the States in 1987, 20 years since departing at age 22.His work at Shanachie Records involved CD reissues of

the Yazoo catalogue, Shanachie’s acclaimed Guitar Artistryseries, which incorporated some Kicking Mule material, andthe vintage performance videos which were precursors of Stefan’s current Vestapol Video line. “When I hear him de-scribe the lengths he has to go to get this stuff,” Duck Bakeronce remarked of Stefan’s film footage sleuthing, “I realizethat if anybody else but Stefan was doing it, it just wouldn’thappen.”

After five years at Shanachie, Stefan left to devote him-self full-time to the varied enterprises presently occurringunder the umbrella of Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop.These include production of learning materials in all media– print, audio, and video. Aside from instructional books,cassettes and videos by Stefan and a host of other fine guitar-ists, there are the acclaimed Vestapol Videos of vintage andcontemporary blues, jazz, folk, and country guitar perfor-mances. All this activity leaves Stefan precious little time forperformances, though he professes not to miss them. He still

does the occasional gig and recording (Pepsi called him for acommercial last year), but Stefan, the product of what he calls

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“a typical Jewish family, believing that the mind is verysacred and very holy,” believes what he’s doing through hisWorkshop is of far greater importance. Besides, he had twodecades of performing under his belt before the latest phase

of his career began. Now Stefan’s doing for other guitaristswhat Rev. Gary Davis did for him, only one needn’t brave aBronx tenement for his instruction. Nothing more formidablethan a VCR is required.

Thirty years have passed since How to Play Blues Guitarpointed the way towards a lifetime of passionate involve-ment with the preservation and perpetuation of guitarmusic, to paraphrase Malcom X, “by any means necessary.”Those who know Stefan unanimously vouch for his tenacityand intensity, qualities which have served him well in hissingle-minded pursuit of sounds as exciting as those emitted

by Big Bill Broonzy’s “rhythmic, driving, phenomenal gui-tar,” a sound he first encountered when Eisenhower wasPresident and Stefan’s English counterparts were bangingaway in skiffle bands. The world has much changed sincethen, but one suspects Stefan’s drive to get at the sounds hewants and share them with the like-minded has not. It’s a rareknack, but then some guys will go to extraordinary lengths toavoid being locked in a closet with a saxophone.

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Th e Per for m ancesThis retrospective of Stefan’s career begins with two

performances from Denmark in 1971. “Roll & Tumble Blues”is the archetypal Delta bottleneck blues first recorded by

Hambone Willie Newbern in 1929. Robert Johnson revampedit in 1936 as “If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day,” and in1950 “Rollin’ and Tumblin’ Pt. 1 & 2” became Muddy Waters’final release on the Aristocrat label prior to its rechristeningas Chess. Stefan’s performance of this Spanish tuning (openG) showpiece with a jagged bottleneck suggests his directapproach to the sometimes arcane business of wresting thenecks from wine bottles. For him, a solid whack at a curbsidewith an empty gave him what he wanted. “I remember inDenver I was almost arrested one night in the back alley of the

Folklore Center breaking bottles,” he recalls, “and I couldn’texplain to the policeman that what I was doing was a validexercise!”

“High Society” is an archetype of another sort. Based onSnooks Eaglin’s Folkways recording, this spritely guitar show-piece likely dates to the turn of the century, when guitarswere just becoming widely popular folk instruments andpiano ragtime was still in vogue. Just as a ragtime pianistmight imitate the sundry sections of a band, a guitarist,setting out from the favorite ragtime key, C, might readilyrecreate a pianistic imitation of the brass bands which were

then a fixture of American public life and thus enjoyed bysociety both high and low.

The next five performances occurred in Sweden in 1972.“Shake Sugaree” comes from the repertoire of ElizabethCotten. Cotten’s music came from a time and place when blues was emerging but ragtime was still prevalent. What sherecalled from her childhood was a piquant blend. “ShakeSugaree,” like all her work, is sure but seldom showy. Thefancy picking Stefan adds towards the tune’s end suggestsother Southeastern guitarists more than Cotten.

“God Moves On the Water” is a Vestapol (open D) tuning bottleneck tour de force taken from the 1929 recording of thegreat guitar evangelist, Blind Willie Johnson. The song con-cerns the sinking of the Titanic, a theme used in several folksongs to illustrate God’s punishment for man’s hubris. ManceLipscomb’s version, also based on Johnson’s, appears in TexasBlues Guitar (Vestapol 13041).



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“Dallas Rag” comes from the Dallas String Band by wayof Dave Laibman, from whom Stefan learned this jaw-drop-ping arrangement. He remembers this as the ragtime show-piece which separated the men from the boys in the fraternityof early 1960s New York fingerstyle hot-shots.

“Friends Forever” is an original which almost – a fewchord progressions excepted – sounds traditional. “LenaAnne” is another original which shows the impact his contact

with English guitarists, especially Bert Jansch, had on Stefan’scompositions.The next two performances were made in England in

1974. “Hot Dogs” is Blind Lemon Jefferson’s rather uncharac-teristic contribution to the ragtime guitar idiom mixed withRev. Gary Davis’s “Cincinnati Flow Rag” and some of Stefan’sown ragtime touches.

“Memphis Jelly Roll” is an original Spanish tuning slideworkout which pits a Stella 12-string against a blues formatincorporating some unconventional (by strict blue standards)chord changes.

The next two performances are from Italy, 1977. This wasnear the apex of the Kicking Mule era, when a lot of freshideas and players were challenging young veterans likeStefan. “Bermuda Triangle Exit” is a logical result, a blues- based tune with some wry, whimsical twists which likelywouldn’t have seemed `right’ to Stefan a decade prior. Butthey were perfect for that moment in 1977.

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“Danish Drone” epitomizes the best of the Kicking Mulestylistic symbiosis as Stefan is joined by Duck Baker in a fieryforay through fingerstyle funk. It was a heady hour foracoustic guitar adventurers.

The next half dozen performances come from a 1982American concert. If the previous Italian outings show Stefanpushing his generic envelope, here he returns to his roots.“Satisfied” is from the repertoire of Mississippi John Hurt,whom Stefan recalls as “the ideal elderly person...he came ingently, he left gently.” Hurt’s apparent innocence belied therisque edge of songs like this.

“Mississippi Blues” was learned from a Library of Con-gress recording by Willie Brown. “It’s the first time you reallyhear a blues guitar player doing a piano transcription,” saysStefan. “He does a Leroy Carr type of piano lick on that tune.

It was a very sophisticated approach for 1942.” We also hearStefan quote Robert Johnson following his mention of 1930sguitar players.

“Cocaine Blues” learned from Gary Davis, was one of several songs on the topic which probably date from the turnof the century, when cocaine was readily ingested via patentmedicine nostrums. The reference to the doping of race horsesalso occurs in Leadbelly’s “Take a Whiff On Me.” Davislearned this song in 1905, the year prior to the elimination,thanks to the Pure Food and Drug Act, of cocaine from its

namesake, Coca-Cola.The sweetly melancholy “Pretty Girl Milking a Cow” is apiece Stefan has introduced on stage as “a stunning melodyand a title quite absurd.” It was composed by the 18th centuryIrish harpist, Turlough O’Carolan. Stefan learned it from theplaying of Duck Baker.

“Tightrope” is as musically ambitious as any of the origi-nal compositions in this collection. Stefan’s impressionisticevocation of a Herculean hangover turns fresh stones but is,like most of his music, deeply rooted in the blues. Astute earswill even notice passing quotes from the blues guitarist Ste-

fan calls “the governor,” Lonnie Johnson.“Vestapol/That’s No Way to Get Along”is an ebullient

train trip on the open D express. ̀ Vestapol’ is a corruption of Sebastapol, the siege of which during the Napoleonic Warswas celebrated in a 19th century guitar piece in open D. Theopen tunings used extensively by early 20th century bluesguitarists seem to have come from popular `parlor guitar’



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pieces of the previous century. “That’s No Way to Get Along”is the Robert Wilkins blues later revamped as “The ProdigalSon.”

The final two entries in this video retrospective return toSweden in 1988. There we find Stefan in the company of JohnRenbourn, with whom he had then been performing for the better part of a decade. “Spirit Levels” is a chunky, funky duetwhich New York Times reviewer Robert Palmer called “alovely, jazz-tinged ballad...with subtle string bending anddelicate embroidery...” As an exception to the rule, Stefan

does his stitching here with a flatpick. He says this staple of Grossman-Renbourn performances was “different every time.We were always improvising.”

The closing duet selection, “Looper’s Corner,” is a lightchaser of a tune which refers back to the ragtime roots sharedvariously by Stefan and John. No matter where their musictook them, they always brought along sweetly accessiblesouvenirs from home.

The last two tracks come from a 1995 performance at theFreight and Salvage in Berkeley, California. Stefan combinedtwo night of concerts with daytime recording sessions with

John Fahey and Pat Donohue. — Mark Humphrey

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Discogr aphy & Bibl iogr aphy The following compact discs, books and videos are all

available. Detailed information regarding them can be ob-tained by writing Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop, PO

Box 802, Sparta, NJ 07871.Com pact Discs

Love Devils & The Blues (Shanachie 97001)

Guitar Landscapes (Shanachie 97010)

Yazoo Basin Boogie (Shanachie 97013)

Shining Shadows (Shanachie 97020)

How To Play Blues Guitar (Shanachie 98001)

Black Melodies On A Clear Afternoon (Shanachie 98011)

Instruct ional VideosFingerpicking Guitar Techniques (GW 901)

Bottleneck Blues Guitar (GW 902)How To Play Blues Guitar (GW 903)

Country Blues Guitar Part One (GW 904)

Country Blues Guitar Part Two (GW 905)

Country Blues Guitar Part Three (GW 906)

Hot Fingerpicking Guitar Solos (GW 912)

More Hot Fingerpicking Guitar Solos (GW 913)

Advanced Fingerpicking Guitar/Blues Guitar (GW 928)

Advanced Fingerpicking Guitar/Ragtime Blues Guitar (GW 929)

Advanced Fingerpicking Guitar/Hot Fiddle Tunes (GW 930)

Fingerpicking Country Blues Guitar (GW 931)

Instr uct ional Book sMasters Of Country Blues Guitar Series:

Anthology Of Country Blues GuitarRev. Gary DavisBlind Boy FullerLonnie Johnson

Mississippi John HurtBlind Blake

Complete Country Blues Guitar BookComplete Ragtime Guitar Book

Complete Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar Book

Fingerstyle Guitar/New Dimensions & ExplorationsThe Guitar Of John Fahey

The Classic Rags Of Scott JoplinComplete Fingerstyle Guitar Book

Deluxe Anthology Of O'Carolan Music For Fingerstyle GuitarComplete Fingerstyle Guitar Exercises & Hot Licks

Legends Of Country Blues Guitar



21

The Roots Of Robert JohnsonFingerpicking Jazz Guitar Workshop

Beginner's Fingerpicking Guitar WorkshopPlay Ragtime Guitar

Play Country Blues GuitarCountry Blues Songbook

The Holy Blues/Rev. Gary DavisAnthology Of Blues Guitar:

Country Blues GuitarDelta Blues Guitar

Ragtime BluesRev. Gary Davis/Blues Guitar

Texas Blues GuitarGuitar Workshop Book Series:

Folk, Blues, Jazz & BeyondFingerpicking Blues Guitar Solos

Art Of Fingerstyle GuitarFingerpicking Guitar Solos

Classic Ragtime Guitar SolosBritish Fingerpicking GuitarBottleneck Slide Blues Guitar

Celtic Airs, Jigs, Hornpipes & AirsMasters Of Fingerpicking Guitar

Guitar Duets Of Stefan Grossman & John RenbournFingerstyle Guitar Solos In Open Tunings

J o h n S e b a s t i a n , S t e f a n & D a v i d G r i s m a n



23

& #

44VERSE

G

œ. j

œ jœ œ j

œœ œ œ œy ‚ y ‚ ‚y ‚ y ¤

jœ œ . ‰ œ .œ œ œ œ‚ ‚y ‚ ¤ ‚

& # œ . jœ jœ œ jœœ œ œ œy ‚ y ‚ ‚y ‚ y ¤

jœ œ . ‰ œ .œ œ œ œ‚ ‚y ‚ ¤ ‚

& # C œ œœ œœœœœ Œ

œœœœœ

œ œ œ œ

1H‚2H3H‚ u

‚y⁄¤‚ 2H‚ u‚y⁄¤‚

∑œ . œ œ œ œ

P0¤ y ‚ y& # Œ

œœœœœ œ

œœœœ Óœ œ œ œ

2H‚ u‚y⁄¤‚ i‚y⁄¤‚ ¤ ‚

Œœœœœœ Œ

œœœœœœ œ

y u‚y⁄¤‚ y u‚y⁄¤‚

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô

Standard Tuning

SH A K E SU G A R E E



24

& #

˙ œ œœ œ œ ‰ œ Jœ‚ ‚ ⁄y ‚ ⁄ y ¤

˙ jœ# œ .œ œ œ œy › ‚y ‚ › ‚

&

# ‰ œ . jœ œ .

œœ œ Œ œ‚ ‚ y

y y ‚ ‚

Œ œ

Œ œœ œ œ œ

‚ ‚y ¤ y ¤

& # G jœ# œ jœ jœ œ .

œ œ

œ œ

y ‚ y ‚y ‚ y ‚

D

œ . jœ jœ œ .

œ œ

œ œ

¤ ‚ ¤¤ ‚ ¤ ‚

& # G

˙ ‰ œ jœœ œ œ œ

‚ y ‚y ‚ y ‚

wœ œ œ œ

yy ‚ y ‚

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



25

& # j

œ# œ

j

œ

j

œ œ .

œ œ œ œy ‚ y ‚y ‚ y ‚

œ . j

œ jœ œ .œ œ œ œ

¤ ‚ ¤¤ ‚ ¤ ‚

& # ˙ ‰ œ jœœ œ œ œ‚ y ‚y ‚ y ‚

w

œ œ œ œyy ‚ y ‚

& #

BREAK

œ œ œ œ œ#

œ œ

œ œ

y ‚ y ‚ yy ‚ y ‚

œ œ# œ œ jœ œ jœ

œ œ

œ œ

‚ y ‚ ‚ y ‚y ‚ y ‚

& # œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ

y ‚ y ‚ yy ‚ y ‚

œ œ# œ œ jœ œ .œ œ œ œ

‚ y ‚ ‚ yy ‚ y ‚

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



26

& # C

‰ œ# œ

œ œ

œ œ

œ œ œ œ› ‚ › ‚ › ‚y ¤ y ¤

C

‰ œ# œ

œ œ

œ œ

œ œ œ œ› ‚ › ‚ › ‚y ¤ y ¤

& # GŒ œ œ œ

œ œ œ œy ‚ yy ‚ y ‚

jœ# œ jœ jœ œ .

œ œ œ œy ‚ ‚ yy ‚ y ‚

& # D9‰ œ . jœ œ .

œ

œ œ Œ œ

‚ ‚ ⁄¤ ⁄ ¤ ‚

‰ œ . jœ œ .

œ

œ œ Œ œ

‚ ‚ ⁄¤ ⁄ ¤ ‚

& # GŒ G7œ C œœ Eb7œœ#œ œn œ œb

y ⁄y ¤yy y ¤ ⁄

G

˙̇˙˙˙̇̇̇˙

‚y uyy¤‚‚‚‚

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



27

& ## 44 jœn

jœ œ

jœ

jœ jœ œ .nœ œ œ œ

–5y Y –5 — 3y‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

jœn

jœ œ

jœ

jœ jœ œ .nœ œ œ œ

–5y Y –5 — 3y‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

& ##

jœn jœ œ jœ jœ jœ œn jœœ œ œ œ–5y Y –5 — 3y ‚‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

jœ wnœ œ œ œ

– 3¤‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

& ## jœn jœ œ jœ jœ jœ œ .n

œ œ œ œ–5y Y –5 — 3y‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

jœ jœ œ jœ œjœn œ

œ œ œ œ–7– 5Y ‚ ⁄ – 12‚‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

& ## 46jœn œ jœ œ œ jœn œ œn œ jœ jœ œ .

œ œ

œ œ

œ œ

⁄ – 12‚ ⁄ – 12‚ ‚ –5 — 3y ‚ – 3¤‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô

Open D Tuning: DADF#AD

God Mov es On T h e Water



28

& ## 44

jœn ˙ ‰

jœ œn

œ œ œ œ– 5y 3H‚‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

jœ œn jœ ˙ .œ œ œ œ– 3¤ – 3¤‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

&

## jœ ˙ ‰jœn œ

œ œ œ œ– 7Y ⁄ – 12‚‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

jœ œ œ œ œ jœ œn

œ œ œ œ⁄ –12–10‚ ‚ – 3¤‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

& ## jœn ˙ Ó

œ œ

Jœ œn

Jœ

– 5y‚ ‚ ‚ y ‚

∑Jœ œn œ Jœ œ œ œ Jœ œ œ

– 3¤ ‚ – 3¤ ‚ – 3¤ ‚

& ## ∑Jœn œ œ œ Jœ œn œ

– 7y Y ‚ – 3¤ ‚

∑Jœn œ œ

œ

œ

– 5y ‚ ‚ ‚

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



29

& 44A

jœ

‚

G7

œ œ# œ œ# œ œn œ œœ œ œn œ

⁄ ¤ y ‚ y ⁄ ‚y y y yœ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ⁄ ‚ ⁄ y ‚ yy y ‚ ¤

&

C

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

œ œ œ œ⁄ › ⁄ y ‚ y ‚y ¤ y ¤

‰ œ jœ jœ œ .Jœ œ œ œ œY Y ‡

– 7y Y ‡ Y

&G7‰ œ# œ œ jœ œ jœ

œ œ œ œ

⁄⁄ ‡ ⁄⁄ ‡ ° ⁄⁄⁄‚ ⁄‚ ⁄‚ ⁄‚

œ œ# œ œ ˙œ œ œ œ

‡ ⁄⁄ ‡ °⁄‚ ⁄‚ ⁄‚ ⁄‚

&(C) œ# œ œ œ

œ

⁄⁄ ⁄¤ ‡ °°

œ œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ

y Y y › ‚ ⁄ ¤ ‚

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô

Standard Tuning

Dallas R ag



30

&

G7

œ œ# œ œ# œ œn œ œ

œ œ œn œ⁄ ¤ y ‚ y ⁄ ‚y y y y

œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ⁄ ‚ ⁄ y ‚ y

y y ‚ ¤&

C œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

œ œ œ œ⁄ › ⁄ y ‚ y ‚y ¤ y ¤

‰ œ jœ jœ œ .

Jœ œ œ

œ œ

Y Y ‡– 7y Y ‡ Y

&F6 œ œ œ œ jœ œ .

œ œ œ œ

° ‡ ° ⁄‚ ° ⁄‚° ‡ ° ‡

C œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œb

y ‚ y Y ° ‚Y › ‡ fl

&G

œ œ# œ œ# œ œn œœ œ œ œ

‚ ⁄ ¤ y ‚ y ‚Y y ¤ ‚

C œ œ œ œ#œ œ œb œ

⁄ ‚ ⁄ ¤y ¤ ⁄ ‚

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



31

&B

G7Œ œ j

œ œ .œ œ œ œy ‚ yy y y y

‰ œ œ œ

j

œ œ .

œ œ œ œP0y y ‚ y

y y y y

&

C œ œ jœ œ .œ œ œ œy y ‚ ⁄y ¤ y ¤

Œ œ œ œ#

œ œ œb œ‚ ⁄ ¤y ¤ ⁄ ‚

&G7Œ œ jœ œ .

œ

œ

œ

œ

y ‚ yy y y y

‰ œ œ œ jœ œ .

œ

œ

œ

œ

P0y y ‚ yy y y y

&jœ(C) œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œb

– 8y Y ° ‚ ⁄ ¤ ‚ ⁄œ œ œ œb œ œ œ œ#

‚ y ¤ ⁄ ‚ ‚ ⁄ ¤

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



32

&G7Œ œ j

œ œ .œ œ œ œy ‚ yy y y y

‰ œ œ œ

j

œ œ .

œ œ œ œP0y y ‚ y

y y y y

&

C œ œ jœ œ .œ œ œ œy y ‚ ⁄y ¤ y ¤

Œ œ œ œbœ œ œ# œ⁄ ‚ yy ‚ ⁄ ¤

&F

œ . jœ jœ œ jœ

œ

œ

œ

œ

¤ 1H‚ ¤ ⁄⁄ y ⁄ y

C œ œ# œ œ(A)œ œ œ œœ

œ œ œ

‚ › ‚ Y y ‚ ‚y ¤ ‚ ‚

&G7

œ œ# œ œ# œ œ œ œœ œ œn œ

⁄ ¤ y ‚ y ‚ ⁄y y y y

C œœ œ ˙

y y y

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



33

& ### 128 œ jœ#Jœ œ .

› Y‚œ

j

œœn œ

œ jœ œœ

jœœ œ# œ œ

œ

œ . œ . œ . œ .

fl °‡ fl ‡Y YY Y fl °‡‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

& ### œœ j

œ œœ jœœ œœ j

œ œ# j

œœ . œ . œ . œ .fl ‡Y YY › Y fl‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

œ

jœœn œœ jœœ . œ .

°‡ fl‚ ‚& ### œœ jœœ œ# œ œœ

œ . œ .‡Y YY Y fl °‡‚ ‚

œœ jœ œœ jœœ œœ j

œ œ#

jœœ . œ . œ Jœn œ# Jœfl ‡Y YY ¤ y ›‚ ‚ ‚ y › Y

& ### œn œ œ œ œ œ D6

œ jœ œ# jœ

œ.

œ .n œ Jœ œ# JœY Y Y › y › ¤ ¤ y ›Y y ¤ y › Y

œn œ œ œ œ œ

œ.

œ .nY Y Y › y ›Y y

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô

Regular Tuning

Mississip pi B lu es



34

& ### D6

œ . œ jœ#œ Jœ œ .

¤ › Y¤ ‚œ

jœœn œœ jœ œœ jœœ

œ# œ œœ

œ . œ . œ . œ .fl °‡ fl ‡Y YY Y fl °‡‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

& ### œœ jœ œœ jœœ œœ jœœ œœ

jœœn#

œ . œ . œ . œ .fl ‡Y YY ¤‚ y¤ ›y‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

œœ jœ œ jœœ . œ .

Y› ‚ y ‚fl ›

& ### œE7 jœœ œœ ..œ .

œ Jœ#⁄ y‚¤ ‚ ⁄

D6œn œ œ œ œ œ œb jœ œn j

œœ . œ .

˙ .⁄ ¤ ‚ ¤ ⁄ ¤ ⁄ ‚Wy ‚¤ ‚ ¤

& ### A

œjœœ œœ jœ

Dœ Fjœn œn œ œœ . œ .n œ . œ .n

¤¤ › y y ⁄ ¤ ‚‚ y ¤ ⁄

A

œ . E7

œ œ œ œœ

Jœ œ . œ

¤ y ‚‚ ‚ ¤ ¤

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



36

& ### jœ œ

œ

œ œ

œ

œ œ jœ œ jœ

œ Jœ œ Jœ œ Jœ œ Jœ– 9Y ‚ · · ‚ · · · · ·‚ ‚ · · ‡ ‡ · ·

œ

œ

œ œ jœ

œ Jœ œ Jœ· ‚ · · ·‡ ‡ · ·& ### œ jœ œ

œ œ

œ Jœ œ Jœ· · · ‚ ·‡ ‡ · ·

jœ œ jœ œ œ# œ œn jœ œ œ# œJœ œ .

œ .œ .

œ .– 4¤ › ‚ › ‚ y ‚ y › ‚– 4¤ ‚ › ‚

& ### D6œn œ œ œ œ œ œb jœ œn j

œœ . œ .

˙ .⁄ ¤ ‚ ¤ ⁄ ¤ ⁄ ‚Wy ‚¤ ‚ ¤

A

œ

jœœ œœ jœ

œ . œ .n¤¤ ›‚ y& ### Dœ Fjœn œn œ œ

œ . œ .n

y y ⁄ ¤ ‚¤ ⁄

A

œ . E7

œ œ œ œœ

Jœ œ . œ

¤ y ‚‚ ‚ ¤ ¤

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



37

& 44A

œ

y

F

‰ œ

jœ ˙

Jœ œ œ œ œ

fl °– 8y ‡ ° ‡

..

..

Ejœ œ jœ ˙œ œ# œ œ‡ Y ‚‡ fl ‡ fl

&

D‰ œ

jœ ˙œ œ# œ œy Y

Y › Y ›

C jœ œ

jœ jœ œ .œ œ œ œy ⁄ ‚ ‚y ¤ y ¤

..

..

&F‰ œ jœ jœ œ jœ

œ œ œ œ¤ y ‚ y⁄ y ⁄ y

jœ œ jœ ˙œ œ œ œ‚ y ¤⁄ y ⁄ y

&G7‰ œ jœ jœ œ .

œ

œ

œ

œ

‚ ‚ ‚y y y y

‰ œ œ œ jœ œ

œ

œ

œ

œ

1H‚ ‚ ‚ ‚y y y y

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô

Standard Tuning

Fr ien ds For ev er



38

&B

A m‰ œ

jœ jœ œ

jœœ œ œ œ

¤ ‚ ⁄ ‚‚ ¤ ‚ ¤

E/G# jœ œ

jœ ˙œ# œ œn œ‚ ‚ ¤› ¤ y ¤

&D/ F#‰ œ jœ jœ œ jœ

œ# œ œ œ¤ y ‚ y¤ ‚ ¤ ‚

jœ œ jœ# jœ œ .

œ# œ œ œY y ¤ ‚¤ ‚ ¤ ‚

&F

œœ ‰ œ œ œ

œn

œ

œ

œ

¿

œœ

œ

œ

¤⁄ 2H‚ ‚⁄ uX

‚⁄⁄y¤ ⁄ y

‰ œ œ œ ˙

œ

œ

œ

œ

P1y ¤⁄ y ⁄ y

&G7‰ œ jœ jœ œ .œ œ œ œ

‚ ‚ ‚y y y y

‰ œ jœ jœ œ .œ œ œ œ

‚ ‚ ‚y y y y

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



39

&C

C ‰ œ

jœ jœ œ jœJœ œ œ œ œ

Y Y ° Y– 5¤ Y Y Y

‰ œ jœ jœ œ .œ œ œ œ‡ Y Y YY Y Y Y

& F / DŒ œœ Ó

œ œ

œ œ

flY‚ Y ‚ Y

‰ œ jœ ˙

œ œ

œ œ

Y y‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

&( )G7 ‰ œ jœ jœ œ .œ œ œ œ

y ⁄ yy ‚ y ‚

C ‰ œ jœ jœ œ .œ œ œ œ

⁄ y ‚¤ ‚ ¤ ‚

&F‰ œ jœ jœ œ jœœ œ œ œ

¤ y ‚ y⁄ y ⁄ y

jœ œ jœ ˙œ œ œ œ

‚ y ¤⁄ y ⁄ y

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



40

&

G7‰œ

jœ jœ œ .œ œ œ œ

‚ ‚ ‚y y y y

‰ œ œ œ

jœ œ

jœœ œ œ œ

1H‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ⁄y y y y

&C˙ ‰ œ œ œœ œ œ œ

2H P0‚y ¤ y ‚

wœ œ œ œ⁄y ¤ y ¤

&VARIATION

Cmaj7‰ œ jœ ˙œ œ œ

œ

‚ ‚y ¤ y ¤

C ‰ œjœ jœ œ .œ œ œ

œ

‚ ‚ ‚y ¤ y ¤

&Cmaj7+5‰ œ# jœ ˙œ œ œ œ

⁄ ‚y ¤ y ¤

‰ œ jœ jœ

To B

œ .#œ œ œ œ

‚ ‚ ‚ ⁄y ¤ y ¤

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



41

& ### 44A

ggE

œœ œ œ œ œB

œ œ œ œ˙ ˙#

· 9H P7‡ · ‡ P0‡ ‚ ‚· °œ œ œb

A

œ œ œ œ œœ . Jœ ˙

P0‡ fl P0Y ‚ ‚‡ fl

& ### œ œ

œ œ œ œ œ

œ œ œ˙ ˙P2› ‚ ‚ 4HP2P0¤ ‚ ‚› ¤

E jœ œ

jœ œ œ œœ ˙ ‰ Jœ#‚ ‚ Y ‡ · ‚ °⁄ fl

&

### Eœ œ œ œ œBœ œ œ œ˙ ˙#

9H P7‡ · ‡ P0‡ ‚ ‚· °

œ œ œb A

œ œ œ œ œœ .

Jœ ˙

P0‡ fl P0Y ‚ ‚‡ fl

& ### 43œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ˙ ˙

P2› ‚ ‚ 4HP2P0¤ ‚ ‚› ¤

E ˙ .œ

œ œ‚ ¤ ‚⁄

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô

Standard TuningLena A nn e



42

& ###44B

jœ#

A

œ œ Œ Œ 3

œ œ œJœ œ œn œ œ œ œn– 2– 2⁄ ›

P0y ¤ ‚ P0¤ ¤⁄ y& ###

œ

œ œ œ C

œœn A 7

œœ#˙ œn œ# œ

› P0Y y YY ¤¤Y y › ‚œ

œ œ œ C œœn A 7

œœ#˙ œn œ# œ

P0Y y YY ¤¤‚ y › ‚& ### ‰ œœ œœn# œœn ≈ A m

œœn ≈ Em7

œœ A 7

œœ#

œ. œ . œ .n œ

œ8H9H‡‡ ‡‡ YY ‡Y flY‚ ‡ Y Y ‚

& ### 45 A‰ œ# œ œ Œ Œ 3

œ œ œJœ Jœ œ œn œ œ œ œn

– 2– 2⁄ ›

P0y ¤ ‚ P0¤ ¤‚ ⁄ y

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



43

& ###44 œ

œ œ œ

C

œœn

A 7

œœ#˙ œn œ# œ

›P0Y y YY ¤¤Y y › ‚

œœ œ œ

C

œœn

A 7

œœ#˙ œn œ# œP0Y y YY ¤¤‚ y › ‚

&

### ‰ œœ œœn# œœn ≈ A m

œœn ≈ Em7

œœ A 7

œœ#œ .

œ . œ

.n œ œ

8H9H‡‡ ‡‡ YY ‡Y flY‚ ‡ Y Y ‚

& ### A‰ œ# œ œ Œ ŒJœ œ œn

œ œ œ– 2– 2⁄ ›

P0y ¤ ‚‚ ⁄

Dœ œ œ œ Fœ œ œ œœ

Œ

œn

ŒP0y ¤ ‚ P0⁄ ¤ ‚› y

& ### Cœœn œn œE7

œœ# œ œœnnœn . Jœ œ œ

YY y ‚ ‚y ‚ ‚⁄y ¤ ‚ ‚

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ˙n œ .

Jœn

‚ y ¤ y ‚ ‚ ¤y ¤ ⁄

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



44

& ### Bb

œœn œn œ Cmaj7

œœœn œn

œb . Jœn œn Œ

yy ⁄ ‚ YY› y⁄ y yggggg

C7

œœœbn œn œ œœn œœ

œ .n Jœn œ œ œ

YYy y ‚ fl‚ ··y ° ‡ ‡ ‚& ### 45

A‰ œ# œ œ

Œ Œ 3

œ œ œJœ œ

œn œ œ œ œn– 2– 2⁄ ›

P0y ¤ ‚ P0¤ ¤‚ ⁄ y& ### 44 œ

œ œ œ Cœœn A 7

œœ#

˙ œn œ#

œ›

P0Y y YY ¤¤Y y › ‚

œœ œ œ C œœn

A 7

œœ#

˙ œn œ#

œP0Y y YY ¤¤‚ y › ‚& ### 45 43

A‰ œ# œ œ Œ Œ 3

œ œ œJœ Jœ œ œn œ œ œ œn

– 2– 2⁄ ›

P0y ¤ ‚ P0¤ ¤‚ ⁄ y

œœ Œ

œ Œ œ

› YY ‚

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



45

& # 44INTRO.

3

œ œ œ3

œ œ œ o

3

œ o

œ

oœ Uœœ œ œ ‰ Jœ

YÔ ¤ ‚ ‡ Y ‚⁄ •¤⁄ •¤ ⁄ •¤–¤

FIRST SECTION

‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ˙Jœ ˙#‡ ° ‚ Y ‡ Y

–‚‡ fl..

..

& #

3

œ œ œ œ œ œ

jœ œ jœ˙ œ# œ

5H P3 P0Ô y y ‚ › ‚ ‚‚ › ¤œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ˙ ˙‚‚ P0¤ ‚ ¤ y ‚ yy ¤

& # 1.œ Em

œ

œ

œœœ

A œœ# G

œœœ . Jœ œ œ œ

Ô ‚u¤‚¤‚‚ ¤¤ ‚‚‚ ‚ y –¤

..

..

2.œ Em

œ

œ

œœœ

A œœ# G

œœœ . Jœ œ œ‚

u¤‚¤‚‚ ¤¤ ‚‚‚ ‚ y

& #SECOND SECTION

Bmœœ œ# œ œ jœAœ jœœ œ

œ

œ

P2Ô ›y y ‚ ¤ Y ‚¤ › ‚ ¤

..

..

Emœ œ œ ‰ œœ jœ

œ

œ

œ# œ œ

‚ y ‚ y¤ ‚‚ ¤– 2⁄ ‚

Ber m uda T r iangle E xit



46

& # œœ œ œ œ

œ œ œ œœ Œ œ# œÔ ‚‚ P0¤ ‚ ¤ Y ¤ ‚y › y

1.

œEm

œ

œœœœ A œœ# G

œœ

œ . Jœ œ œ¤ u¤‚¤‚‚ ¤¤ ‚‚‚ ‚ y

..

..

& # 2.

œ

Em

œ

œ

œœœ

A œœ#To Sec.1, then Sec.3

G

œœœ . Jœ œ œ œ

Ô ¤ u¤‚¤‚‚ ¤¤ ‚‚‚ ‚ y –¤

THIRD SECTION

A œœ œ#A m7

œœœœn Œ E m

œ

œœœ . Jœ œ̇

6HYY tYYYY t‡··Y – 7Y ‚& # œ œ œ œ ˙œ œ# œn

œP0Ô ¤ ¤ ‚ ¤Y › y ‚

jœ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œJœ ‰ œ œ œ

¤ ¤ ‚ ¤ ‚ ¤ ‚¤ ¤ ¤ ¤& #

œEm

œœœœœ

G

œœ œœœœ .

Jœ ˙

Ô ¤ u¤‚¤‚‚ ‚‚ t‚y‚‚ y

A œœ œ#A m7

œœœœn Œ Em

œœœœ . Jœ œ̇

6HYY tYYYY t‡··Y – 7Y ‚



47

& # œ œ œ œ ˙œ œ# œn œ

P0Ô ¤ ¤ ‚ ¤Y › y ‚

œœ œœ œ œ œ œ

œ#

œ

œ# œœ

œn⁄·‚ ⁄·‚ ‡ ° ‚ y· ‡

– 7fl ‚ y& #Emœ

œœœœœ

A œœ# œœœœ

œ . Jœ œ .

JœÔ ‚ u¤‚¤‚‚ ¤¤ t¤‚¤¤‚ ‚ ‚

Em

œ œ œœ A œœ#To 1st SectionŒ

œ . Jœ œ œ

‚‚ ¤¤2H‚ ‚ –¤

& #END TAG

œœ œ# œœœnjœ œ# œ œ œ

œ ‰ J

œ Jœ œ œ Jœ œ#

6HÔ YY tYYY – 9‡ ‡ YY – 9‡ ‡ 6HYœœ œ# œœœn

jœ# œ# œ œ œœ ‰ J

œ Jœ œ œ Jœ œ#

6H‡‡ t‡‡‡ – 11· · ‡‡ – 11· · 8H‡

& # 3

œ œ œ3

œ œ œ3

œ oœ oœ œœ œ oœ‰ Jœ

YÔ ¤ ‚ ‡ Y ‚ ⁄ •¤ ⁄ •¤ ⁄ •¤ ‡

rit.

œ œ œ Uœ

Œ .

Jœ ˙

Y ‚ ¤ yy



48

& 44 ‰

œ

jœ jœ

œ

jœC

Verse œ œ œ œ œ œ3 3

0 02H0 2H0

3 3

œ œ œ œ œ

œ œ œ

œ œ œ œ0

3H1 12H0

2 0

3 3

& 46 44jœ œ jœ œ œ œ œ

F

œ œ

œ œ

1 3H12 2H0

3 3

1 1

œ œ œ œ œ œ .˙œ

œœ

œœ œ

03 1

23 3

1 1 0 1

& 44 ‰ œjœ ˙C

œ œ

œ œ

3

02 2

3 3

‰ jœ œ œ jœ œ jœG C

œ œ

œ œ

0 12H0 00 2

3 3

& ˙ ‰ œ jœ

œ œ œ3

œ œ œ

10

2 2H0

3 3

wœ œ œ œ

2 2

3 3

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô

C ocain e Blu es



49

& Ó ‰ jœ œ# œ

Chorus

œ 3

œ œ# œ œ œE

01H0

1H 2H0 2

0 0

.œ jœ# jœ .œ#œ œ œ œ

P021

2 2

0 0

& 46 44jœ œ jœ œ œ œ œ

F

œ

œ

œ

œ

1 3H12 2H0

3 3

1 1

œ œ œ œ œ œ .˙

œ

œ

œ

œ

œ œ0

P132

3 3

1 1 0 1

& 44 ‰ œjœ ˙C

œ œ

œ œ

3

02 2

3 3

‰ jœ œ œ jœ œ jœG C

œ œ

œ œ

0 12H0 00 2

3 3

& ˙ ‰ œ jœ

œ œ

œ 3

œ œ œ

10

2 2H0

3 3

w

œ œ

œ œ

2 2

3 3

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



50

&

Instrumental Break

‰ jœ œ œb jœ œ jœC‡

œ œ œ œ

1 P132H0 30 2

3 3

œ œb œ ‰ jœ œ# œnE

œ œ œ œ

0P03 1H02 2

3 0

& .œ jœ# jœ .œ#

œ

œ

œ

œ

P021

2 2

0 0

‰ œ jœ œ œ œ œF

œ œ œ œ

1 12 2H0

3 3

1 1

& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

œ

œ

œ œ0

P13H 32

3

1 0 1

‰ œjœ ˙C

œ

œ

œ

œ

3

02 2

3 3

& ‰ jœ œ œ jœ œ jœG C

œ œ

œ œ

0 12H0 00 2

3 3

˙ ‰ œ jœ

œ œ

œ 3

œ œ œ

10

2 2H0

3 3

w

œ œ

œ œ

2 2

3 3

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



51

& 44

Swing Rhythm:

qr = qce

œ œ œ#

0 1 2

G

Œ œ ‰D‡

œœ# ‰œ œ œ œ œ

3 21

02 0 2

3

G‡

˙N œ œœ œ œ œ

1 03

00 3

3

& jœ#Cœ œ ‰ œ jœ

Jœ œ œn œ œ8 7

–52 55 5

–52 5

jœ œjœ jœ œ .

œ œ œ œ5 7 5

55

5 5

0

&

GŒ œ ‰ D‡œœ# ‰

œ œ œ œ œ3 2

1

02 0 2

3

G‡˙N œ œœ œ œ œ1 0

30

0 3

3

& jœ#Cœ œ œ œ œ œn œ œ

Jœ œ

œ œ œ

8 5 3 0–52 1

2 0–52

œb œ œ œ

Ó

œb œ œ œ

1 0 1 03

0

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô

Cincinnat i F low R ag



52

&GŒ œ ‰ D‡œœ# ‰œ œ œ œ œ

3 21

02 0 2

3

G‡˙N œ œœ œ œ œ

1 03

00 3

3

& jœ#Cœ œ ‰ œ jœJœ œ œn œ œ

8 7–52 5

5 5–52 5

jœ œjœ jœ œ .

œ œ œ

œ5 7 5

55

5 5

0

&F‰ œœ ..

A¯‡‰ œ jœ

œ

œ

œb

œb œb

1 1 12 1

3 1

1 2

C œ Œ A‡‰ œœ# ‰œ œ œ œ

œ#32

23 2 0

2

&D‡‰ œœ# jœ

G‡ jœn œ jœœ œ

œ œ

2 1 01 0 1

20 0

3

C w

œ œ œ œ#

30 1 2

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



53


3 21

02 0 2

3


1 03

00 3

3

& jœ#Cœ œ ‰ œ jœJœ œ œn œ œ

8 7–52 5

5 5–52 5

jœ œjœ jœ œ .

œ œ œ

œ5 7 5

55

5 5

0

&GŒ œ ‰ D‡œœ# ‰

œ œ œ œ œ

3 21

02 0 2

3

G‡˙N œ œœ œ

œ œ

1 03

00 3

3


Jœ œ

œ œ œ

8 5 3 0–52 1

2 0–52

œb œ œ œÓ

œb œ œ œ

1 0 1 03

0

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



54


3 21

02 0 2

3


1 03

00 3

3


Jœ œ

œ œ œ

8 5 0–52 8 1

2 0–52

œb œ œ œÓ

œb œ œb œ œ œ

1 03 2 P01

3 0

&F‰ œœ ..

A¯‡‰ œ jœ

œ

œ

œb

œb œb

1 1 12 1

3 1

1 2

C œ Œ A‡‰ œœ# ‰œ œ œ œ

œ#32

23 2 0

2

&D‡‰ œœ# jœ

G‡ jœn œ jœœ œ

œ œ

2 1 01 0 1

20 0

3

into New York City Rag

C ˙ . Œ

œ œ œ

3 33

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



55

& 44

qr = qce

Swing Rhythm:

‰ œ . jœ œ .

G‡

œ œ œ œ œ1 1

0 02 0

3

‰ œ . jœ œ .œ œ œ œ œ

1 10 0

2 0

3

&

‰ œ . jœ œ .C

œ œ

œ œ œ0 0

1 12 0

3

‰ œ . jœ œ .œ

œ œ œ œ

0 01 1

2 0

3

& ‰ œ . jœ œ .G‡

œœ œ œ œ

1 10 0

2 0

3

‰ œ . jœ œ .

œœ œ œ œ

1 10 0

2 0

3

& ‰ œ . jœ œ .C

œ

œ œ œ œ

0 01 1

2 0

3

‰ œ . jœ œ .

œ

œ œ œ œ

0 01 1

2 0

3

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô

Hot Dogs



56

&F˙ jœ œ jœœ œ œ œ

1 3 1 — 53

3 3

1 1

C jœ œ jœ œ œ œœ œ œ œ

3 5 3 0

0 00 0

&G‡‰ œ jœ œ œœ œ œ œ

1 00 3

0 0

3 3

Cwœ

œ œ œ#

1

30 1 2

& ‰ œ . jœ œ .G‡

œ

œ œ œ œ

1 10 0

2 0

3

G‰ œ . G‡ jœ œ jœ

œ

œ œ œ œ#

3 10 0

21 2

3

& ‰ œ . jœ œ .C

œ

œ œ œ œ

0 01 1

2 0

3

‰ œ . jœ œ jœb œ

œ œ œ œ

0 01 1

22 1

3

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



57

&G‡‰ œ . jœ œ .œ œ œ œ œ

1 10 0

2 00

G‰ œ . G‡ jœ œ jœœœ œ œ œ#

3 10 0

21 2

3

& ‰ œ . jœ œ .C

œ œ œ œ œ

0 01 1

2 0

3

‰ œ . jœ œ .œ œ œ œ œ

0 01 1

20

3

&F˙ jœ œ jœ

œ

œ

œ

œ

1 3 1 — 53

3 3

1 1

C jœ œ jœ œ œ œœ œ œ œ

3 5 3 0

0 00 0

&G‡‰ œ jœ œ œ

œ œ

œ œ

1 00 3

0 0

3 3

C˙

œ œ

˙

˙

˙̇

1 102

3 33

Ô

Ô

Ô

Ô



Denmar k , 1971Roll & Tumble BluesHigh Society

Sw eden, 1972Shake SugareeGod Moves On The WaterDallas RagFriends ForeverLena Anne

En gland, 1974Hot DogsMemphis Jellyroll

Italy , 1977Bermuda Triangle ExitDanish Drone (w . Duck Baker)

U.S.A., 1981

SatisfiedMississippi BluesCocaine BluesPretty Girl Milking A CowTightropeMedley: Vestapol/ That's No Way To Get Along

Sw eden 1988Spirit Levels (w . John Renbo urn )

Looper's Corner (w . John Renbo urn )

U.S.A., 1995Strutt in’ RagBlues For The Mann

“Stefan Grossman ha s done ju st

abou t everything on e can do in the

field of mu sic. He has been, among

other thin gs, a perform er, a record-

ing a rt ist , a record company foun der,

a video produ cer, an A&R man , a

record pro du cer, a student, a teacher an d a m usic historian. But it is his

success in i l lum inat in g classic and contem pora ry country blues, rag t ime

and other f ingersty le gui tar techniques that ha s made h im, in the words

of guitarist Dave Van Ronk, ‘one of the most important people in f ingerp icking gu itar in the history of the ph enom enon .’” – Acoust ic Guitar

V estapol 13036Running Time: 75 minu tes • Color ISBN: 1 57940 975 X

Stefan Grossman A Retrospective 1971-1995

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Transcript of Stefan Grossman A Retrospective 1971-1995