Bill’s breaks were delightful and stayed close to the melody, unlike the excursions into banjo noise practised by many of his successors, and they were played at breakneck knuckle-busting speed. He subsequently recorded it with the supergroup Muleskinner, in 1973. Notes: The first elegant melodic break to BB I heard was by Bill Keith on the Zap Records LP “Dobro and Fiddle,” by Kenny Haddock and Billy Baker (one of Monroe’s former fiddlers), released in 1967. Posted by corcoran, updated: - 2 Member Comments However, you can also listen to the recording of Earl and Paul Warren, posted on the Media section of my BHO page.
If I could play the fiddle I would have included the fiddle track instead. To put his backup in context, I have added a banjo track playing the melody, but it is muted so that you can hear the backup track more clearly. In the tablature I have tried to capture Earl’s backup, although I found it difficult to decipher his playing in the B Part. But it is vintage Scruggs-style backup and well worth listening to.
The chords in his backup were minimal: In contrast to the usual structure, his A Part included only G and D chords, and his B Part was only in E minor. Notes: Some years ago, in wandering around the internet I discovered and downloaded a file entitled “Flatt & Scruggs, Live Shows 1956 - 1959.” One track was a fiddle/banjo duet on Blackberry Blossom, with Earl Scruggs playing backup to the fiddle.
Genre: Bluegrass Style: Bluegrass (Scruggs) Key: G Tuning: Standard Open G (gDGBD) Difficulty: Expert You can find Keith's recording of it on his 1992 CD "Beating Around the Bush," which should be in every bluegrass banjo player's collection. The second break is reminiscent of Bill Keith's version and includes some neat ideas. The first break resembles the way Shelton played BTS, but it is not note-for-note. I have tabbed it so you can play it without D tuners, although I have indicated above the tab the proper moves if you have tuners. I read somewhere that he wrote it when he was a teenager, an indication of how talented he was. Bending the Strings is a clever original piece by Shelton, and one that involves the use of Keith/Scruggs tuners. It was a thrill to see him with Jim and Jesse at the University of Chicago Folk Festival in 1966, where he wowed the audience (and me) with his banjo prowess. Notes: Along with Earl Scruggs and Bill Keith, Allen Shelton was one of my major influences and inspirations when I was learning to play bluegrass banjo. Posted by corcoran, updated: - 5 Member Comments When I heard this in 1963 or 1964, I realized that Bill Keith had opened new horizons on the banjo. Compare Keith’s version to Scruggs’s in the tab, and you will get my drift. Keith took one of Scruggs’s standard licks, employing a forward-backward roll with a pull-off on the third string, and threw in a subtle twist by pulling off to the fifth string and pivoting to the open third. Here is one simple example that says it all, the first few measures of the first break in the song “Livin’ on the Mountain,” from Keith and Rooney’s album of the same name. Notes: In addition to creating melodic style, IMHO in parallel to and independently of Carroll Best and Bobby Thompson, Bill Keith introduced to basic Scruggs style layers of elegance, complexity, and subtlety that had not been heard before he appeared on the stage. Posted by corcoran, updated: - 3 Member Comments Genre: Bluegrass Style: Bluegrass (Scruggs) Key: G Tuning: Standard Open G (gDGBD) Difficulty: Intermediate
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