52 weeks of blues

Pistol Slapper Blues is a blues classic, recorded by Fuller in 1938. It is a fairly upbeat 8 bar in the key of A flat. It’s played in standard tuning with a capo on the first fret.
The song has 3 parts – an 8 bar progression that is pretty similar each time (but speeds up through
out the song, ending a quite a fast pace), a brief solo and a ‘bridge’ section. The entire song is a mix of strumming with the thumb and picking out notes with the fingers. The main feature are the lead in notes that fuller uses in the bass-lines.
Fuller is a little under appreciated as a technical guitarist, but he really had a very tight attack on the axe. This song is no exception – you’ll pick up the chords in 5 minutes but will really have to get your right hand working to give it the same pop and drive that Fuller gives it. He mixes up full strums – down with the thumb, up with the fingers, with cleanly picked single string notes. This is a lot harder to do than it sounds, especially at fuller’s pace.
The turnaround I find really difficult, especially bar the start of bar 8. He plays the low G (A flat) note in the bass as the ‘and’ beat of beat 1, while you are expecting it to hit on beat 2. The good news is that, despite Fuller’s exacting performance, this song suits being played a bit rough around the edges. Focus on getting the drive and that slight sense of fun into it, and let the fingering take care of itself.

G                   D7
I can tell my dog,
G                   C7
Anywhere I hear him bark.
G                  D7
I can tell my rider,
G
If I feel her in the dark.

You's a cold, blooded murderer,
When you want me out your way
Says that's alright mama,
You gonna need my help someday.

And you say, you gonna put me
Woman, down in my lonesome grave
Girl you must remember
I once had been your slave

Solo

Well, I feel like slapping,
My pistol in your face.
Let some brown skinned woman,
Be here to take your place.

Hey hey, hey-eah
Mmmm-mmmm
Let some brown skinned woman,
Be here to take your place.

You know you didn't want me,
When you lied down cross my bed.
Drinkin' moonshine whisky,
And talking all outta your head.

Bridge
G
Now gimme the money baby
I'll catch that train and go.
You don't have to kill me
Cos you don't want me no more

C7               D7            C7            G
Hey hey Cos you don't want me no more
D7
You give me the money baby
D7            C7            G
And I'll catch that train and go

Now if you see my rider
Tell her I said bring it home
I ain't had no loving
Since my girl been gone

There's two kinda people,
In this world that I can't stand.
That's a lying woman,
And a monkey man.

The intro introduces us to the main progression at a nice leisurely pace. Note the mix of strumming and single picked notes, and the use of lead in notes in the bass.

Not much improvisation in the verses, just a steady build up in tempo.

The solo is all chord shapes and note choice – the first half is a D and A shape up the neck, before returning to the verse progression in bar 5. It starts on beat 4 of the last bar of the previous progression, sliding the D shape up to the 7th fret (from the capo).

A bit of a change up that can be really hard to go into smoothly. Practice not only the riff itself, but going into it from the flow you’ve set in the verses.

Same as the progression, with a little G7 shape to take us out.