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Charles was playing a duet here, backing up a mandolin with no other
instrumentation, his back-up is very straight with the generous use
of bass notes and runs. It is reminiscent of the guitar back-up used
by the old “brother duets” from the 1920s and 1930s. It
is a great study in the use of bass runs in the key of C.
If you’d like to hear a short clip of this tune, the first mandolin
solo is provided on Rossbach’s website. Go to: http://www.johnrossbach.com/mp3/CRCD102/02.mp3
and you can hear Charles’ back-up. You will not be able to hear
Charles’ solo on this clip, however, you can get a feel for the
melody of the tune, if you don’t already know it, and get an idea
about what tempo they played the tune on the recording. If you’d
like to hear Charles play this solo, I recommend that you buy the CD
from John’s site.
Charles’ timing on his lead breaks can be a little tricky, however,
if you listen to the short clip of the tune on the web and then work
through the solo slowly with a metonome, you will be able to get it.
If you try for a while and can’t understand it, send me an email
dan@flatpick.com with the subject
line “Sawtelle Tune” and I’ll email you an mp3 of
me playing the solo at a slow tempo. It won’t be like hearing
it from Charles, but hopefully it will help you get an idea about note
placement and timing if you can’t figure it out from the tab.
Shortly before leukemia took Charles Sawtelle’s life Flatpicking
Guitar Magazine published the book The
Bluegrass Guitar Style of Charles Sawtelle.
If you like what you see here, check
out the book, buy some Hot Rize CDs, and expand your guitar player
through the study of one of the true heroes of bluegrass guitar.
Charles Sawtelle was one of the most interesting and innovative guitar
players in the history of bluegrass music. His use of his syncopated,
sparse, blues inspired solos caught and held the listener’s ear.
He was one of the most highly regarded bluegrass band players of all
time. In that regard, he is considered one of the best rhythm guitar
players that bluegrass has seen.
Here we present Charles’ lead solo and his rhythm accompaniment
to the song “Tennessee Wagoner.” Although Charles spent
the majority of his career performing and recording with Hot Rize, this
cut comes from John Rossbach’s CD Never
Was Plugged.
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