We don’t got no piano

[lfmn16]

My band is essentially a guitar/bass/drums unit with a trumpet playing lead singer who is the band leader. Said band leader suggested this tune with me singing it:



The guitar player is not going to know what to do with such a piano centric tune and he’s not familiar enough with the blues/jazz idiom to make something up. Can anyone suggest a similar song with more or less that progression and feel with vocals performed by a guitar/bass/drums band. It doesn’t have to be an upright bass (which I don’t own) and it doesn’t have to be quite so loungy either. I want to give the guitar player a primer on playing that 2/5 turnaround with some more interesting chords and rhythmic ideas thrown in beyond just strumming away waiting for his solo.

Am I making any sense? I’m such an ignorant old hack and I can’t tell him what to do. I was thinking maybe Duke Robillard or Ronnie Earl, but I can’t find a song that fits the bill.

If your guitar player doesn't know what to do with Stormy Monday, I'd get a new guitar player. That's like not knowing what to do with Mustang Sally.

 

[Reedt2000]

I think what @Father Gino is trying to get at is the Lou Rawls version of Stormy Monday is being done in a jazz-blues style, not a traditional blues. I think he's looking for a similar version W/O piano and with guitar as the main comping instrument (which I can't find). There are a bunch of jazz-blues tunes but they are instrumentals and he's says they want vocals for their band.

I think the best way to go about this (if I'm understanding things correctly) is to pick any blues song and arrange it the way Lou Rawls has done with Stormy Monday. Give the guitar player instrumental examples to help cop the right style, then just add the vocal part.

Maybe videos like these could help

 

[Rabidhamster]

My band is essentially a guitar/bass/drums unit with a trumpet playing lead singer who is the band leader. Said band leader suggested this tune with me singing it:



The guitar player is not going to know what to do with such a piano centric tune and he’s not familiar enough with the blues/jazz idiom to make something up. Can anyone suggest a similar song with more or less that progression and feel with vocals performed by a guitar/bass/drums band. It doesn’t have to be an upright bass (which I don’t own) and it doesn’t have to be quite so loungy either. I want to give the guitar player a primer on playing that 2/5 turnaround with some more interesting chords and rhythmic ideas thrown in beyond just strumming away waiting for his solo.

Am I making any sense? I’m such an ignorant old hack and I can’t tell him what to do. I was thinking maybe Duke Robillard or Ronnie Earl, but I can’t find a song that fits the bill.

If he can’t handle Stormy Monday, Tuesdays just as bad.

 

[Stewie]

The problem with doing any song that the Allman Brothers covered is that some drunken moron is going to want to fight you for not playing it the way "The Allmans wrote it"

 

[micguy]

No, no, no. Not the feel of a slow blues.

I want to hear a guitar/bass/drums trio play any song with the feel of the Lou Rawls song. I don’t even want it to be Stormy Monday.

That's Sunny Tuesday. Totally different song.

 

[bassliner50]

Lemme tell you, there ain't nothing like playing with a real pianist. *If you can find one*. Anyway that tune should be doable with a guitarist who knows how to comp in that style. Have him listen to it until it internalizes and he feels the groove. He can practice with a metronome if need be. BTW, Lou Rawls kicks ass.

 

[RocknRay]

So...how is your drummer with the slow blues/jazz swing feel? That will help. I have heard Stormy Monday played choppy and fast too many times.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

maybe try " Not my cross to bear" by the Allman bothers.
Similar feel.

 

[Michedelic]

Hmm, whatever happened to the OP?

 

[Killing Floor]

Solved. Next?

 

[obimark]

Ok, I’m not getting my point across here. I don’t care that the song is Stormy Monday which to my mind is an iconic blues standard (written by TBone Walker.) I know we could play the song. I know the guitar player could play the proper chords. I’m not so crazy about this rendition either.
What I want is to hear a guitar/bass/drums trio play that kind of feel. There are many, many tunes like that but I can’t think of a one that has no keyboard in it. Seems I always gravitate towards keyboard driven songs but end up in a band with only guitars.

So just write your own song. Problem solved.

 

[DirtDog]

Go right back to the T-Bone Walker version. It’s got piano, but it’s also got tasty rhythm guitar backing. I picked that out and arranged a completely acoustic guitar version that I play around the campfire on occasion. Should be easy for your guitarist to work something up. That tune is not rocket science.

 

[fhm555]

Ok, I’m not getting my point across here. I don’t care that the song is Stormy Monday which to my mind is an iconic blues standard (written by TBone Walker.) I know we could play the song. I know the guitar player could play the proper chords. I’m not so crazy about this rendition either.
What I want is to hear a guitar/bass/drums trio play that kind of feel. There are many, many tunes like that but I can’t think of a one that has no keyboard in it. Seems I always gravitate towards keyboard driven songs but end up in a band with only guitars.

I play in a 2 guitar, drums, bass, vocalist band and we play Stormy Monday kinda like the ABB and do it without a keyboard and it is always well received.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

My band is essentially a guitar/bass/drums unit with a trumpet playing lead singer who is the band leader. Said band leader suggested this tune with me singing it:



The guitar player is not going to know what to do with such a piano centric tune and he’s not familiar enough with the blues/jazz idiom to make something up. Can anyone suggest a similar song with more or less that progression and feel with vocals performed by a guitar/bass/drums band. It doesn’t have to be an upright bass (which I don’t own) and it doesn’t have to be quite so loungy either. I want to give the guitar player a primer on playing that 2/5 turnaround with some more interesting chords and rhythmic ideas thrown in beyond just strumming away waiting for his solo.

Am I making any sense? I’m such an ignorant old hack and I can’t tell him what to do. I was thinking maybe Duke Robillard or Ronnie Earl, but I can’t find a song that fits the bill.

That Lou Rawls version really sounds weird to me. It's really a Blues song and IMHO should be played like one. I play in a 3-pc Blues/Rock trio and we do that song. As long as you have a good guitarist, you can pull that off with a trio. You need to listen to the version that the Allman Bothers do. Emulate that and you'll be fine. Play two leads on it; give the trumpet one of the leads; and your BL and audience should be happy.

My opinion of the Lou Rawls version is that it just swings too much and loses its Blues roots. T-bone Walker wrote it and he certainly did swing it, but it stilled sounded like the blues. That Lou Rawls version has great musicians and a great bass line on a stand up, but it's a big band sound and without at least a piano..."that ain't gonna happen".

 

[LowActionHero]

Our band added Stormy Monday awhile band (Allman Bros ish version)
I was a little surprised, and it took a little while to dial it in.
Sounds good now!
I say go for it

I believe that was one where I wrote down the chords and texted them to everyone to memorize (including myself)

 

[Father Gino]

I think what @Father Gino is trying to get at is the Lou Rawls version of Stormy Monday is being done in a jazz-blues style, not a traditional blues. I think he's looking for a similar version W/O piano and with guitar as the main comping instrument (which I can't find). There are a bunch of jazz-blues tunes but they are instrumentals and he's says they want vocals for their band.

You’ve won the prize for figuring out what I’m talking about! I love that jazz/blues swingy kind of feel and the guitar player is always bitching that I suggest these tunes by big bands almost always having a keyboard. I could not find a song like that done with a guitar/bass/drums (only) band. Maybe it’s never been done. Maybe for a good reason.
Check out this tune. It’s obviously faster but listen to the Snooks’ rhythm guitar parts. Sounds almost more like horn lines than just strumming along. Granted, this song has a lot of other instruments. What would it sound like if you took everyone else out except him, the bass and the drums? A real good jazz guitarist might be able to add a lot of chord variations in such a scenario but it’s the rhythmic approach that I really find appealing.

 

[Father Gino]

The only jazz guitar/bass/drums tunes I could find are instrumentals where the guitar plays single note solos almost exclusively.

 

[Reedt2000]

You’ve won the prize for figuring out what I’m talking about! I love that jazz/blues swingy kind of feel and the guitar player is always bitching that I suggest these tunes by big bands almost always having a keyboard. I could not find a song like that done with a guitar/bass/drums (only) band. Maybe it’s never been done. Maybe for a good reason.
Check out this tune. It’s obviously faster but listen to the Snooks’ rhythm guitar parts. Sounds almost more like horn lines than just strumming along. Granted, this song has a lot of other instruments. What would it sound like if you took everyone else out except him, the bass and the drums? A real good jazz guitarist might be able to add a lot of chord variations in such a scenario but it’s the rhythmic approach that I really find appealing.

Maybe check out the stray cats and the Brian Setzer orchestra

 

[Father Gino]

Maybe check out the stray cats and the Brian Setzer orchestra

Good point. I’d forgotten about him

 

[Michedelic]

Good point. I’d forgotten about him

Did you check out that Little Charlie track?
Even that early TYA bit, that’s a Basie tune, I believe.