Redwoods bloom and sand bass bite!

Howdy From Oklahoma! This time of year, the Red Buds are blooming and our pear tree is full of blossoms. My neighbor has started a garden, when he distinctly told me he was not going to make one. I will be successful, this spring, if I can get the Roto Tiller running again. I need to clean out the carburator, empty the gas, and put on a new throttle, and, of course, do other mundane things to the Troy Built, like adjust the new throttle, change the oil, and put in new gas.

Red Bud blossoms mean that the white, sand bass are biting at Fort Cobb Lake, and the walleye have moved into the rip-rap areas of the dam to spawn, feed, and move to the surface, around sundown. I've been fishing once, this year, but it is my goal to get over there and do some bait fishing.

I have been married to Marcella a long time. We have 5 kids who are all grown, 3 grand kids, not including a foster daughter and grandaughter, and two informally adopted grand children, who otherwise would not have grand parents. My daughter, Holli, is a Nationally Certified Music Educator, with a degree in Performance Piano, and has her own business in Lawton, Holli Hill Piano Studio, while Nathan plays the guitar and the bass, as he goes to Wesleyan Seminary, in Washington, DC. He is a free-lance writer and is considered a staff writer for DisciplesWorld Magazine. He has two books published and writes and performs music in Washington, DC at "open mic" venues in the area.

My oldest son, Darrin and his wife, Jill, both are interested in music and musical wordsmyths. Darrin works for the Oklahoma Wildlife Division of our state government, and Jill teaches Social Studies in the Edmond School System. Our youngest daughter, Drema, is an Oklahoma Certified Beauty Operator. She is breastfeeding, successfully, her baby, Seth, and works inside of one of the local WalMarts, cutting the hair of Army men and women from Ft. Sill, the US's artillery range.

I am a 34 year retired teacher. Marcella works at a hospital and is an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She spent one year at Ozark Bible College and then received her Licensed Practical Nursing degree from Emporia, Kansas Vo-Tech.

I graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1968 and received my masters degree in 1976, from Fort Hayes University in Hayes, Kansas. While we were in Kansas, we lost our first child and then had a boy and a girl. So we have 3 Sooners and 2 Jay Hawkers. You can find out all about me by going to www.dalehill.us. You can also hit my web page by putting "googlezapp" (c) 2004, or "zelaxx" in google. A googlezapp is a word put in google's search machine, that leads to one web site and one only. I have a copyright on the name "googlezapp." In the United States, the instant you write something for publication or non-publication, it is instantly copyrighted. I want to dwell on that topic as we delve into the musical heritage of Oklahoma, which is diverse and significant, when it comes to the genre of Americana Music History.

Woody Guthrie migrated from Okeema, Oklahoma in the '30s and '40s, to protest work-place abuses, and supported worker causes. Just finished watching a movie about him. He caught trains to move from one place to the other. Back then, train-hoppers were called "Hobos." Jimmy Rogers, a prolific writer, who was from Mississippi, and was influenced by Guthrie as well; and Rogers' significant contribution to Americana music was, Country Blues. I sing a lot of Jimmy Rogers' songs and couldn't live without pulling much from his influence in my life.

Looky yonder coming, coming down that railroad track.
I said, "Lookie yonder coming, coming down that railroad track.
See the black smoke roling, roling out that old smoke stack.

If you don't love me baby, then I just don't need you.
If you don't love me baby, then I surely don't need you.
I'll just pull out my ax, and sing the hobo blues.
Yo De La De Lo De Lady O De Looo.

Merle Haggard's parents moved from Oklahoma to California in the 30's, and Hag grew up to be a petty thief and spent time in Folsom Prison, where he heard Johnny Cash, who came from this part of the country, Dias, Arkansas. "The Hag's" influence on Country Music is unquestioned, as a great singer, song writer, guitar player, and fiddle player. We will spend one blog topic on The Hag and possibly more, whose one song, "Okie From Muskogee," put him in the Country Music history book.

"If I were to die," said Merle. "I would want to be remembered as a great fiddler."

He actually learned the fiddle later on in life. A fiddle and a violin are exactly the same instrument, except in Country Music and Blue Grass Music, the violin is called a "fiddle." The fiddle does not have frets - a fretless musical instrument, which it shares with the tall, upright bass. Again, a part of the Americana Music History.

I have played with many bands, but none on a regular basis. I consider myself as an entertainer, rather than part of a band. I have the most fun, though, when I am playing my harmonicas with a band. Few people in Oklahoma have mastered the harmonica, and right now, it is a big part of Gospel Music and Country Music. Bob Dylan used it as the bridge between the chorus and the verses, as well as a bridge between the full verses and at the end of each phrase. Of course, Dylan took Woodie's harp and put it to use in most of his songs, including "Like A Roling Stone." My grandpa played the harmonica, and I was influenced, certainly by him. Once I learned to play the harmonica, I moved on to learn to play the guitar. And, dig this, I didn't really learn to play the guitar until I had graduated from college.

Yes, I have used my guitar extensively, over the years, in the classroom settings. It means that you can pick up the guitar at any age, and learn to play it. You can't play basketball the rest of your life, but you can die, playing a musical instrument, which has happened to two of my friends. David, in the Old Testament played musical instruments and soothed King Saul when the king was overcome with depression. Playing a musical instruments, like writing, helps those of us who are depressed.

Walking through Sears a few weeks, ago, I spotted a Vinci ukulele, which was made in China, and bought it, and within two weeks, I would not be scared to get up and play it in front of a group. In fact, ... considering the time that it took me to learn to play it, I would suggest that a guitar player, might be better off learning the ukulele first and then graduate to a guitar later. I actually knew a guy that did just that at the University of Oklahoma.

While in college, I had little time to learn to play the guitar, and the guitar that I had was worthless. When buying a guitar, we need to look at the distance between the strings and the frets. The frets are the little pieces of steel that go across the neck of the guitar. The higher they are apart, the less likely a student would be able to play the guitar. I have taught hundreds of people to play the guitar, and my advice has always been, if you want to play the guitar, then invest a couple of hundred dollars on your first guitar. Why? Well, a 200 dollar guitar would be considered an intermediate level guitar, which has potential for a first timer, to learn to play on it. Secondly, ... if you spend 200 dollars or more on a guitar, then you have a significant investment in the guitar and will be more likely to learn to play it.

I have taught students, individually, but the main way I have taught guitar is in a group setting or class for adults at Caddo-Kiowa Vocational Technical Center. I taught for over 20 years, until my blood pressure forced me to say goodbye to doing anything in the evenings, when my pressure tends to creep up. It was fun, over the years, and I have made a lot friends doing just that. My son, Nathan, and his friend, John, both signed up for the class, and I paid their tuition. They were beyond motivated to play the guitar, and by the second semester in the 7th grade, after one semester's work, they formed their own band and played throughout high school. John is the only student from his entire family to get a college degree, Social Studies major and a minor in Music.

Now go back to the Jimmy Roger's style verses, listed above. The second verse is mine, and the song would be an example of 12 bar Blues*. It is virtually impossible to write a 12 bar Blues song and not engage in this traditional form of the song, and I do believe that a copyright for any song that adheres to this style is still possible, in the aura of the groove and the nature of the new words. If you listen closely, there is a relationship between the 12 bar Blues and Rock and Role Music.

You ain't nothing but a hound dog, crying all the time.
I said, You ain't nothing but a hound dog, crying all the time.
You ain't caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine.

Now, as we study this basic form of Blues, please note that each line receives its own line. This is the traditional method of pasting a song's word on paper or on the Internet. The words are not just jumbled together, but are published in a poetic form. Generally, too, the lines have two full spaces, with a space between each line. If you are interested in learning to play the guitar or Uke, then, on that blank line, we would place the chord above the chord changes. Virtually all songs written, start on one note and will end on that same note, with little exception.

I've sung or studied songs all my life, and both, rather intensely, since I was 24 years old. So, if you are interested in a specific song's "lyrics," and that is what they are called, and have purchased a Uke, I will do my best to post the chords for the song. But remember, virtually any song ever written, by now, can be found on the Internet. So to save me time, be sure to put the words of a song, as written, and paste them into google. You should find a hit with the words and the chords published somewhere. I will also spend some time on tablature.

Then, I would love it, if you would repaste that song onto your blog in the form it is posted in the manner that you found it. It should be fun.

The amazing thing about the Internet, now, is that there are sites everywhere that help you learn to play a stringed instrument. So, ... as we work through this examination of Americana Music and indigenous music of Oklahoma, here in the United States, we should have much fun. And, remember too, that the crafter of song writing uses his craft to write songs that can reach each of us in an inclusively, different way.

So, let us plow forward, as we have fun studying the Music of Americana. Remember, always give credit to the song writer, and not the singer, only. The song writer makes more than the singer, when it comes to the retail value of the CD.


OLD RIVERS
Walter Brennan
Words and music by Crofford (that's all I wrote at the time I transcribed
it -- years ago)

HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE I FIRST SEEN OLD RIVERS?
WHY, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN HE WEREN'T AROUND.
WELL, THAT OLD MAN DID A HEAP OF WORK;
SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE WALKING PLOWED GROUND.

HE HAD A ONE-ROOM SHACK NOT FAR FROM US,
AND WE WAS ABOUT AS POOR AS HIM.
HE HAD ONE OLD MULE HE CALLED "MIDNIGHT",
AND I'D TAG ALONG AFTER THEM.

HE'D PLOW THEM ROWS STRAIGHT AND DEEP
AND I'D TAG ALONG BEHIND,
BUSTIN' UP CLODS WITH MY OWN BARE FEET --
OLD RIVERS WAS A FRIEND OF MINE.

THAT SUN WOULD GET HIGH AND THAT MULE WOULD WORK
TILL OLD RIVERS'D SAY, "WHOA!"
THEN HE'D WIPE HIS BROW, LEAN BACK IN THE REINS,
AND TALK ABOUT A PLACE HE WAS GONNA GO.

(CHORUS)
SAY, ONE OF THESE DAYS I'M GONNA CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN;
WALK UP THERE AMONG THEM CLOUDS,
WHERE THE COTTON'S HIGH AND THE CORN'S A-GROWIN',
AND THERE AIN'T NO FIELDS TO PLOW.

I GOT A LETTER FROM BACK HOME THE OTHER DAY --
THEY'RE ALL FINE, AND THE CROPS IS HIGH --
AND DOWN AT THE END MY MAMA SAID,
"YOU KNOW, OLD RIVERS DIED."
I'M JUST SITTING HERE ON THIS NEW-PLOWED EARTH,
TRYIN' TO FIND ME A LITTLE SHADE.
AND WITH THE SUN BEATING DOWN, 'CROSS THE FIELD I SEE
THAT MULE, OLD RIVERS...AND ME

(repeat CHORUS) From: "Roy T. O'Conner"

Caddo County Harpman (ccharpman) google "googlezaapp"

NEWEST BLOG

http://okharpman.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_okharpman_archive.html
*

Understanding the 12-Bar Blues
The most common musical form of blues is the 12-bar blues. The term "12-bar" refers to the number of measures, or musical bars, used to express the theme of a typical blues song. Nearly all blues music is played to a 4/4 time signature, which means that there are four beats in every measure or bar and each quarter note is equal to one beat.

A 12-bar blues is divided into three four-bar segments. A standard blues progression, or sequence of notes, typically features three chords based on the first (written as I), fourth (IV), and fifth (V) notes of an eight-note scale. The I chord dominates the first four bars; the IV chord typically appears in the second four bars (although in the example below, Elmore James introduces it in the first four bars); and the V chord is played in the third four bars.

The lyrics of a 12-bar blues song often follow what's known as an AAB pattern. "A" refers to the first and second four-bar verse, and "B" is the third four-bar verse. In a 12-bar blues, the first and second lines are repeated, and the third line is a response to them—often with a twist.

(blues.com ... I think.)


(c) Dale Hill, 2006