15 min
Poor Boy Exploration of Harry Smith's Anthology
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- Music
“Poor Boy Blues” is one of those Blues songs/lyrics that are so popular that most Blues players seemed to have a version of it. The poor boy, long ways from home, was more often than not, the rambling Blues musician himself. It was usually a piece played on the guitar out of an open-tuning called Vestapol (open D) and using a slide or bottleneck to play the melody on the high strings.
I’ve selected a few versions that I love, mostly from black Blues players but the Kentucky banjo player Buell Kazee and the “American Primitive” guitar player John Fahey make an apparition as well.
“Poor Boy Blues” is one of those Blues songs/lyrics that are so popular that most Blues players seemed to have a version of it. The poor boy, long ways from home, was more often than not, the rambling Blues musician himself. It was usually a piece played on the guitar out of an open-tuning called Vestapol (open D) and using a slide or bottleneck to play the melody on the high strings.
I’ve selected a few versions that I love, mostly from black Blues players but the Kentucky banjo player Buell Kazee and the “American Primitive” guitar player John Fahey make an apparition as well.
15 min