John Miller: Atlanta Blues Guitar

Atlanta, in the period 1920-1940, rivaled Memphis, St. Louis, Jackson and Chicago in the strength and vitality of its blues scene. It was home to a unique school of 12-string guitarists that included Blind Willie McTell, Barbecue Bob, Charlie Lincoln, Willie Baker and George Carter.

Also on hand were the slick slide guitarist Fred McMullen, the accompaniment king, Curley Weaver and the spectacular up-and-comer, Buddy Moss. The scene was rounded out by an earlier generation of players, Peg Leg Howell foremost among them, who kept alive musical traditions that were in the eclipse.

Included on this DVD are transcriptions and teaching of recorded performances from the youthful Buddy Moss, a player who influenced generations of East Coast players that followed him, George Carter, a mysterious 12-string guitarist who recorded only four titles, Curley Weaver, a player's player, widely acknowledged to be among the finest accompanists in the blues, Julius Daniels, who came down from North Carolina to Atlanta to record early on and Peg Leg Howell, a bootlegger-turned musician who busked in the streets of Atlanta both as a soloist and in a trio with the fiddler Eddie Anthony and guitarist Henry Williams.The songs presented in the lesson will expand both your right hand techniques and your knowledge of the neck, with one song employing the almost never encountered Open B flat tuning.

A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD, and contains all of the songs' lyrics as well as transcriptions of the Guitar parts. Also included are the original source recordings from which the transcriptions taught in the lesson were taken.

Titles include Curley Weaver: Ticket Agent | George Carter: Rising River Blues | Buddy Moss: New Lovin? Blues and Oh Lordy Mama | Julius Daniels: 99 Year Blues | Peg Leg Howell: Turtle Dove Blues and Low-Down Rounder Blues