So there’s a great tune by Otis Rush called Three Times A Fool. I actually came across the tune because I heard Joe Bonamassa do it… but then I stumbled upon something kind of fun and it points out something cool for you.
First, listen to the tune… or at least the first minute or 2 of it (though it’s a great song in it’s original form)
OK… now that you got that, check out Magic Slim & The Teardrops doing “You Got To Pay”… you only need to hear the intro to get where we’re going with this (but the whole tune is cool)
Got that in your brain? Good… now listen to Joe Bonamassa do it… notice it’s basically the Magic Slim type of groove and intro (even plays the same lick from the top) with the melody and lyrics from Otis Rush. Joe added the breaks, which is a nice addition, but this is just such a great example of how you can “cut and paste” a blues tune from so many different pieces.
Admittedly, that idea isn’t Magic Slim’s either… he got it from Elmore James fair and square. So it’s been around a while 🙂
I always like to say that the blues is often nothing more than deciding which of the many “standard” ideas you want to put together to form something new and in your own voice. Joe seems to have done it really well here and it’s unusual to be able to find the original sources of a tune like this.
So I hope you enjoy the listening and maybe think about how you could take a song you already know and play one way, but then turn it into another song by changing out the lyrics and melody and maybe adding in some breaks or something you know from a different song.
70 replies to "Three Times A Fool"
What a great example of this stick and paste method. I love this kind of lesson I can’t wait to try this technique out.
Thank you Griff.
Griff,
Fantastic videos. This is a keeper.
Nice to hear the originals, and then hear the modern master play it too.
Hope you are doing well and survived Texas.
Norm
It’s amazing just what one can pick up by listening carefully Griff. My son also played trombone whilst at school and later was in the Army where he became head of his year and later took a bandmaster’s course also played in back-up sessions and got a 1st degree honours at uni’ also. Does a little composing and has been teaching in schools since leaving the services. Still plays trombone at music festivals. Wishing your son every success for the future.
Laurence
Great stuff! Thanks for the Sunday Listens. Good luck to Kyle and the Hamlin’s at UNT! My nephew just got a job as the assistant coach with the women’s basketball team. Go Mean Green!
Griff, I really, really enjoyed this presentation. Nice. Some of the licks will be incorporated into my repertoire. Thanks so much.
Nice,thanks😎
Hey Griff, I love learning about the way they as you say cut and paste to create new ideas to blues songs. I believe it is really good to just stop and listen to learn blues concepts can’t wait for the next one. Thanks Griff.
Alexander
No matter what genre/s you like playing the best ear training is to simply listen to as much of it as you can, different players with differing styles and approaches.
Hey Griff,
Seems I heard these before but now that I am more advanced I can appreciate the 3 different approaches here with similar intros. M Slim plays around Box 1 if I am not wrong, but I think that Joe B has a much wider version and fills in a better groove with his Tempo and most of all his singing.
Thanks for sharing and have a good trip to Dallas.
Michael- Sydney- Australia 21st July 2019
Great song and school choice. I went to UNT, albeit not in its’ heralded school of music.. I hope your son gets as much as I did from it. I wish him well… and thanks man.
Knowing the provenance of a piece with varying arrangements is an excellent way to develop new ideas… this lesson was timely for me. You’ve done this on a number of occasions. How do you do that? Thank you, Griff.
Joe B is real good at the mix and match thing, he has a song where he takes a groove from an old Free tune but with a different melody and lyrics
I first found the internet at the age of 59 I’m now 62 my guitar teacher before that was my younger brother who plays in a band he taught me the basics and that was it maybe a few songs and I could play a little bit. But then I found Griff and bgu everything came together the money was right the sale was on so I bought it was the greatest thing I ever did I think I’ve said this before. I was with my brother the other day and he complained that he didn’t think he would ever learn to play lead guitar which was kind of strange to me because he plays in a band. I told him he needs to watch all the CDs from bgu 2.0. I believe my brother is a good guitar memorizar, and I also believe I’ve learned to play a little better than him because I want to be a guitar player not a memorizar that’s where Griff comes in! I have now become the teacher instead of the student thanks to be gu. Thanks again Griff you’re a wonderful teacher very articulate easily gets the point of cross don’t ever quit teaching it’s what you were meant to do love you man Rock on 🙂
Thanks again awesome jams!
Thanks again Griff. We need to be reminded again every now and then. Love every one of those tunes.
Cant better any of the comments except the Blues are the Blues no matter who or how it is regurgitated, churned up and spit back out.Choice of voicing tempo, and speed is what it is all about. As from the videos it is not how many times you play the same notes or cord its how you make it groove in time or out of time.
Thanks Griff
Griff – I’m gonna say it again and again. You are on your own as the best teacher of the blues I’ve ever come across. Thank you so much
Kevin O’Sullivan
I’m working on adapting the main riff from Hotrod Lincoln to a blues shuffle. 🙂
Pretty hard not to love all of them.
Makes a person feel so good inside.
Love otis rush version
Hey Griff,
Great stuff. I hope I will graduate to near this level one day.
Thanks
Michael-Sydney Australia
Awww…they yanked the JB vid off youtube.
But the point of blog remains true.
Learn a lick/phrase and try it with differnet rhythmic nuances.
I hope to be able to play the blues like those guys with the help of bug someday
Great journey digging into the roots and up. Doing the Masters Solo thing too. The video of Otis Rush helps put it in context. Thanks again Griff.
Good stuff, more for the toolbox
Yeah me too…recorded all tracks using the ol Freemake never lets me down..great friggin blues..cheers Griff..
Every once in a great while a lesson you’ve been getting at finally sinks in to my stone-hard head. I went through this lesson, had the tunes in my ears, and started playing around on the strings using blues scale-box 1 and, lo and behold, what I was playing actually sounded bluesey. I made up some patterns, and the notes sounded right together. I never had that happen before! Thanks as always Griff.
GREAT GIFF………MANY THANKS
Great thoughts, as usual. I think I actually saved this one for the music though. Thanks Griff.
Way coolio my brother. rockin blues and bluesy jazz are my favorites. I started as a base player in the as ‘outts sights” in 65’. Played a little over the years and am now studying smooth jazz.
Beyond cool. Really enjoyed the music and the lesson. Thanks.
Thanks Teach ! I get the idea. Take some basic parts, mix them up, change some timings and such, and create your own tune. Awesome!!! Thanks 🙂
WOW Joe Bonamassa has unbelievable crisp blues tones.
I’d say he’s the man now.
Hi Griff, Thanks very much,its interesting to hear the guys playing blues from a past time.They used guitars and amps that nowadays would not cut the mustard.Very interesting,keep up the great work,Griff. Len.
All great rockin Blues tunes , l noticed Magic Slims into also reminded me of ZZTOPs version of “Dust my Broom” , by Elmore James .
Griff…also there’s a young lady in the Atlanta area…name of Liz Melendez. She tends to do a lot of SRV and Allman stuffed….but if you get her CD-SWEET SOUTHERN SOUL…
I think you will see where I am going here but she blends in so many little influences….I think her CD is on Amazon….anyway thanks for all your hard a work
Rich Hughes
Very interesting Griff…..I heard the Elmore James way and liked them all….Joe B seems to have mastered the cut and paste idea too. He plays with a lot more Clapt o n influence since the Royal Albert gig. Thanks again for putting that up
Rich Hughes
I love music of all sorts, you name a genre’ and i like it. Guitar and brass are really my choice. I play guitar but not brass. I have started trying to learn the pipes with a nice wood canter. But, you brain must be jam-packed with a blues library to rival the library of congress. In all the years I have been following you I don’t recall a duplicate post.
Anyway, thanks bro. I need to music. When I was in Korea and Vietnam there was always someone with a guitar. In Korea we could get those cheap Hong Kong made guitars for next to nothing. Sound wasn’t Gibson but sitting in a home made entirely of sand bags, it was the best. thanks for continuing to share with all of us. We all need music.
Mark
Thanks Griff Funny that you sent this as I been listening to Magic slim breaking the bar cd since my sister set it . Haven’t taken it out of the truck and listen every day .I realy enjoy this cd & hope to play some of the songs on it. All in all I like joes version as it sounds some much clearer .
Thanks Griff & don’t ever stop teaching
Michel
I NEVER SEEN THIS GUY. HE’S ASSUME. I HAVE TO ADMIT, THAT I DON’T LISTEN TO MUSIC THAT MUCH ANYMORE. SUNDAYS, I LISTEN TO KJAZ 88.1 IN CALIFORNIA. THEY PAY THE BLUES ALL DAY FOR 12 HOURS. THE ONLY BLUES SONGS I KNOW ARE FROM BB KING AND DRIVING ON THE ROAD WITH ERIC CLAPTON AND BB. I WRITE MY OWN BLUES SONGS. IT’SEEM MOST BLUES SONGS ALL HAVE THE SAME FORM OF CHORDS THAT GET USED ALOT. LIKE A SHUFFEL, OR SWING I HAVE A SONG CALLED CANDY WRAPPER. YOU GO AND SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY ON A NICE LOOKING WOMEN AND AT THE END OF THE NIGHT ALL YOU GET IS THE WAPPER. AND A LOT MORE. THANKS FOR THE NEW BLUES PLAYER GRIFF.
Thank you Griff; As always I get so much VALUABLE knowledge from your E-mails that I don’t get time to get to my B.G.U. courses. Anyway I am so happy that you used the late Magic Slim to illustrate a point. I got to see him play 3 times and met him once. It is that style of blues that I hope to eventually be able to play. So,
when one of my semi-obscure blues heroes is used as a reference point I know I am learning in the right place. Thanx again for making my day and my morning cup of Joe a pleasant experience.
HI GRIFF
WOW—–HAVING PLAYED M.O.R.FOR MOST OF MY CARREER , THIS STUFF IS BLOWING ME AWAY AND TO THINK & WAS THE ANSWER, I SUDDENLEY REALIZE I CAN-NOT CALL MYSELF A GUIRST ANY MORE.
YES I CAN STILL MAKE GOOD MONEY , BUT THANK GOD I AM ALSO A FRONT MAN .
KEEP UP YHE GOOD WORK MENTOR , WILL CHAT AGAIN .
YOURS TRULY
JIM HERMANSEN .
Exactly what I needed to explain to my young co-member what I was trying to tell him. A PERFECT tool and GREAT example.
THANKS GRIFF….you still R.O.C.K.
What a way to start my day. I can only hope that someday I can play the blues can’t wait to get the course and get started
Ahhh yes! Puttin’ it all together. Great songs. I just want to jam now! Thanks for this!
All the best,
DaveyJoe
Three tunes very similar vibes magic slim was kool lots of riffing I find myself trying to figure out what kind of guitar is being played by the sound as well and of course Joe is burning it up as usual great example and point taken thanks Griff !!!
These type of demos help us put it all to together. After seeing you live in Tacoma,
where I was very impressed with how you managed the show, would it be possible for you to show some vidio’s of your live performances if they are available?
Tacoma!?!?! When did I miss that?!
What can I say that hasn’t already been said, awesome listening to a cup o bold columbian Joe. Griff thanks for exampling the many avenues to learn to play the blues guitar. Whether listening or tappin a toe, its all beneficial towards the goal. Great Job.!! Happy Saturday 🙂
Thanks Griff and I agree with Walt’s comment about “When Love Comes To Town”. When BB King ‘passed away’ I asked lots of people, most of them not guitar players, to name their favourite BB King song. Every man and woman said “When Love Comes To Town”!
I sometimes like to listen to songs and count out the beat, 1-2-3-4, and take note of which beat they’re starting / ending their licks on and if they change it up and stuff like that. Makes a good “practice” when you don’t have a guitar in your hands.
Good learning and good songs.
A while back you played what I consider to be BB King’s most powerful performance which was a his live performance of “When Love Comes To Town”. My wife and I just traveled from Michigan via plane. And at the airport I picked up a copy of “Guitar Source” magazine that featured BB King in the cover.
One of the two main articles on BB was about what the author considers to be BB’s 10 greatest guitar moments and of course nowhere in the ten was the aforementioned “When Love Comes To Town”. Now to be fair the article was about what the author considers “guitar moments” which is not necessarily what BB may have been doing in the author’s opinion during that particular performance.
I realize that it’s all a matter of taste and conjecture ($25.00 word there baby!) but I find it difficult to believe that this performance isn’t on most top ten lists of the all time greatest by any blues artist!
It’s content like this that makes Griff’s emails the most important to read and why I always read them first. So nice to receive this kind of education and enlightenment on an almost daily basis, and for free no less. Love it! Thanks, Griff.
Thanks Griff you made my day.
To put it mildly this editin of your blog is “Fairly fantastic!” BUT! when you do this kind of stuff it always costs me money!!
Now I have to go to iTunes and sample these artists, find the exact songs you just put in, then if I can find the exact versions, sample the entire album and if I like it I go to Amazon and buy the CD. I never buy entire albums from iTunes because I was burned really badly by them when I lost a bunch of previous purchases and they were less than helpful in getting me music back. So now I always by CDs again.
Actually it’s great that you do this for your students! I’ve gained a lot of musical knowledge from you just by learning of artists I’d not listened to before ala Otis Rush, Magic Slim etc.
I’d heard of them but hadn’t heard them.
Thanks a million
Reminds me of the way you made “I Believe” from “Sweet Home Chicago” in your Blues Gig In A Box 😉
Thanks Griff. Very interesting.
Very cool, thanks
Griff,
How about including the complete chord and Tab gor this songs or please provide us with a link to purchase. This would be helpful to me as and intermediate guitar player with limited guitar time.
Thanks, enjoy your stuff and dedication.
Just Google it – three times a fool tab
I am just beginning my blues adventure and love the way Griff teaches… The example above is very much what I have been doing with my own music over the years, cutting and pasting it, whether that be lyrics, a riff or something else and that way trying to improve my material. My principle has been to try and hang onto whatever is good and reuse it somewhere suitable!
You are both a musician and a detective extraordinaire bringing this piece to the table not once but in three different forms. Very good they are too. Not in the least sure I could ever hope to emulate any of these giants of the guitar but enjoyed discovering with you the ways a single piece can take on different colours. Great work maestro, keep up the great work.
Alex.
sounds a little like a tune that Gary Moore did called Im tired . Did hear Bonamassa about 3 years ago borrowed a cd from my boss at the time for awhile i like his style . yeah its hard to pin down any particular artist for this example . c ya .
I like You Griff but seems that You re -hash and re-hash where is the fresh stuff. I think that going over the same is good to re-freash the brain. c ya.
Yup i get the just of the whole thing. Still over my head musically wise but still trying to get out of it as much as I can. Great stuff man.
Nice one Griff! That went down superbly well with my afternoon cup of Joe (it’s almost 3pm here in Saudi Arabia! I’ll be looking for opportunities to try this out as you suggest.
Many thanks and keep up the good work.
I think this is cool an play around it with my looper
Griff , what a great lesson this is to start the day. It is one that no other teacher can explain to a student. You are the best . Thanks for putting it all together . Mike Z.