After Elbow Guitar, we move on to Way Out On The Desert, originally played on piano by Roosevelt Thomas “Grey Ghost” Williams. It’s included in his collection Roots and Blues Fingerstyle Guitar, available right here, on the CDs and Books page
One of Steve’s most popular songs is Talco Girl. The unique lyric form and hypnotic guitar part are the foundation of a perfect hillbilly character study.
Here is the tablature in Steve’s careful hand and here’s the recording from his 1994 album American Primitive:
The above is a sample from “Blues/Roots Guitar: Intermediate Level Fingerpicking”
Steve James is known for his mastery of blues guitar styles, as well as his deep knowledge of the history of the great traditional players, from Piedmont to Delta. On this lesson, from Blues/Roots Guitar: Intermediate Level Fingerpicking”, he takes five pieces representative of different styles and teaches them in careful detail. Using guitars from his extensive collection (a 1936 National Trojan, a Collings C-10 and a National “O” style resophonic), he covers some of his favorite arrangements in different keys and tunings, highlighting techniques, chord theory, licks and other musical insights that will be useful in figuring out any other blues-based songs you’ll want to learn.
Order a DVD copy of “Blues/Roots Guitar” here.