Pre-War Blues Guitarists Who Used Vestapol Tuning
Pre-war blues music refers to blues songs recorded before the beginning of WWII in 1939. Much of modern day music’s roots can be traced back to those recordings. Many pre-war blues guitarists used Vestapol tuning, which includes Open D and Open E tuning. Let’s take a look at a few of these monumental artists.
1. Charley Patton
Charley Patton’s inimitable vocal stylings and wonderfully rhythmic guitar playing place him inarguably in everyone’s blues canon. He played mostly in Spanish and Standard tunings, but luckily left us with one tune in Vestapol, called “Spoonful Blues.” I’ll leave it to you to decide what the lyric might be about!
Born in Mississippi around 1891, Charley influenced many younger performers who lived in the same area as he did, including Robert Johnson and Howlin’ Wolf. Patton recorded the bulk of his songs in 1929, and the songs still live on today. Bob Dylan is a huge fan of Patton, having dedicated his song “High Water (For Charlie Patton)” to the artist. Dylan even adapted some lyrics from Patton’s song “Hang It On The Wall” to include in his tribute to the great blues artist.
2. Blind Willie McTell
Another towering figure in the history of American music, Blind Willie McTell is famous for his virtuosic 12-string guitar playing. I love the humor of his lyrics as well. He played in a few tunings, but has several songs in Vestapol, including the classic “Travelin’ Blues,” recorded in 1929.
Born in Georgia around 1898, he performed widely and is perhaps known best of all for his song “Statesboro Blues,” later covered by The Allman Brothers Band. Not surprisingly, Bob Dylan has taken inspiration from McTell throughout his career. In fact, one of Dylan’s best songs is simply titled “Blind Willie McTell.”
3. Blind Boy Fuller
Born in North Carolina in the first decade of the 1900s, Blind Boy Fuller recorded a few songs using Vestapol tuning. One of them is “Homesick And Lonesome Blues,” recored in 1935. The song also features lyrical verses used by later artists.
Fuller was one of the most popularly recorded Piedmont blues artists of his time, laying down well over 100 tracks during his career. He played a National resonator guitar. The Rolling Stones actually used the title of one of his recorded tunes, “Get Your Yas Yas Out,” for one of their album titles.
Other tunes Fuller recorded in Vestapol include “I Don’t Care How Long,” “I’m A Stranger Here,” and “Little Woman You’re So Sweet.”
4. Furry Lewis
Born in Mississippi at the tail end of the 1800s, Furry Lewis first recorded in 1927, and went on to live a long life. He took part in the Folk Blues revival of the 1960s, worked as a street cleaner in Memphis until 1966, and only passed away in 1981.
Furry played quite a few tunes in Vestapol tuning. “Falling Down Blues” is my favorite, and has some of the best blues lyrics you’ll hear. This song is in D major, and the sliding is concentrated between the 2nd and 4th frets on the high D string.
We tend to fall in love with the minor pentatonic scale when playing blues music, but many, many pre-war blues songs are actually based on the major scale.
5. Blind Willie Johnson
One of the best to ever do it, Blind Willie Johnson performed many songs in Vestapol tuning, including a lot of gospel songs. Perhaps the most famous is “John The Revelator,” recorded in Atlanta on April 20th, 1929.
In a previous article I wrote about Johnson’s masterpiece, “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground,” also performed in Vestapol tuning.
Johnson was born in Texas in 1897 and his gospel blues style is unparalleled. It’s thought that he used a penknife as a slide—I guess the best gear isn’t necessary to make the best music!
If you’re trying to play along with early blues recordings, keep in mind that the guitarists weren’t sticklers about tuning exactly to D, or E, or any particular note for that matter. Most of the recordings reveal that the guitar is tuned a bit sharp or flat.
As a final note, I should say that the term “pre-war blues” is merely indicative of a date, not a genre of blues. And actually, I haven’t been able to confirm whether pre-war blues ends the day WWII starts, or when The United States officially entered the war over two years later in December 1941, or some date in between. Let me know if you have an opinion on this!
Who are some of your favorite pre-war blues guitarists and blues songs in Vestapol tuning? Let us know in the comments. If you’re interested in improving your playing in open tuning, check out our three hour video course, music theory book, and private lesson opportunities. And stay tuned, more articles about Open D songs and artists are on the way!
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Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt should also be studied as influences on Fahey’s style.
Absolutely! Mississippi John Hurt is one of my favorites. Lonesome Valley, Spike Driver Blues…the best.
I would think the cut off point can be set in 1942, when there was a musicians strike and all commercial recording stopped and wasn t resumed until after the war. When recording iresumed the entourage was totally different, new talent, new styles, more amplification many, but far from all ,musicians that quit in the meantime and a lot of members ot a younger generation stepping up.
That’s a great point, thanks a lot Rein!
Great, thanks. Just subscribed.
Thanks Tim, glad you enjoyed it!