This Ain't The Blues---Speedy West

[Roger Shackelton]

SPEEDY WEST – INTERVIEW – GRITS RADIO BLOG – CIRCA 1979 – INSPIRATION FROM CARTOONS
I heard Woody Woodpecker – or I may have been sittin’ in a movie, I can’t remember – but the idea come for this (sings Woody Woodpecker theme) Doodly Dah Ho, Doodly Da Ho. That Woody Woodpecker thing? I thought, “There ought to be a way I can write an instrumental around that”. It took off from there and that’s how I got the idea for Woody Woodpecker’s ride in "This Ain’t The Blues".

Can someone post the tune:"This Ain't The Blues"?

[Mitch Drumm]

one minute into this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDRAuGCTICg

[J D Sauser]

Here is one covered by Russ Hicks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuHikVBZNsI

Tough to find as it is labeled "Going West" instead of "This ain't the blues". Sadly, as most who covered Speedy West tunes, it does not include much of the wild WILD stuff Speedy was so much known for.
C6th also seems a bit "thick" sounding for that style... Speedy played the theme part on his fairly basic E9th and the rest on his E13th (aka. F#9th).
If you lower your 2nd E9th string from D# to C# you'll have much of BOTH his tunings E9th and E13th (F#9th if you ad the B-to-Bb lever).

Scotty has a DVD out with late videos of Speedy playing that and other tunes at the ISGC just before and after his stroke. The song is also being discussed (specially the bar-chatter runup) in a later interview/seminar type discussion.

Speedy told me that he was just toying around doing the Woody Woodpecker "laughter" on his steel when Jimmy Briant just joined it... and a new song was song was born.




WE NEED SOME MORE Speedy West Videos posted on YouTube, btw!

... J-D.