Jules' B11 Intro to "Old Plantation" on Echoes of Hawaii

Nic Neufeld · From: Kansas City, Missouri

There's a really nice album from 1956 called "Echoes of Hawaii". Benny Kalama gets top billing as he likely is the bandleader and arranger, but there are no vocals, and it's a Jules Ah See showcase. Sadly I don't think much of it is available online (I got my copy on Discogs and digitized it).
https://www.discogs.com/master/1766633-Benny-Kalama-Echoes-Of-Hawaii

Here's a sample of a tune on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH1-T8LIw5w

Anyway, the second track is Old Plantation (Ku'u Home), a really pretty song. Most of the song it is fairly obvious that Jules was playing in C13, you hear his usual voicings and the introduction of the low b7 in spots. However, the intro is different. It took me a while to pin it down to B11, and when I did, it kind of fell in place pretty easily. The open string 2, fret 2, and open string 1 at fret 1 (converting a 9th to a 7th, and resolving the 11th to a 3rd, respectively) are tricks Jules used in Sand, as well.

Anyway, I'm working on the rest of the tune and not trying to mimic him note for note, but the intro is quick and lush and so I think I'll keep what he has. Note that he lets the pull-off on string 1 keep ringing as the bar slides up on the remaining strings...sounds almost like 2 steel guitars at first. Could be 8 string too, but the important stuff is on the top strings... But this'll be a fun song for when I get the C13/B11 Magnatone D8 out!

Joe Burke · From: Toronto, Canada

Such a great album. Lucky for us it's on iTunes. I'll give your B11 tab a try. Thanks!

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/echoes-of-hawaii/1160793117

David Matzenik · From: Cairns, on the Coral Sea

Nice find, Joe. Very Happy

_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother.

Duane Becker · From: Elk,Wa 99009 USA

Thanks Nic! Jules is one of my favorites!

David Matzenik · From: Cairns, on the Coral Sea

Nic, you have obviously studied this recording in detail. I've just been messing around with it, using your intro tab for starters. However, when I play along with the record, all the tones seem readily available in B11th tuning. Would Jules have needed to shift to C13th?
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother.

Nic Neufeld · From: Kansas City, Missouri

Good question David! I could always be wrong, so here is my thought process...

First, I kind of started with the assumption of C13, because it sounded like it to me in a vague, general sense. Not very scientific...but that's why I initially was trying to figure out the intro in C13 and only later realized it was B11 instead. So the rest of the song felt very natural in C13 still. So less a reason that it was in C13, more a reason why I had initially assumed, C13.

Second reason...when Jules plays in B11, he doesn't "hide" the B11...he uses all those 9th chords (and sometimes the 11th extension). Eg on Sand, he plays the melody mostly in the top "A6" section of B11 but after every vocal line he's playing 9th chords, backing himself. So I didn't hear the tell tale 9th chords being used heavily. I'll have to listen to it again. I play a few 9th chords on the song but they are split bar (1st, 2nd, 4th string).

So, relistening to it. At around 30 seconds in (since I dubbed from vinyl start and stop won't be exact) the "i ka" notes of the line "I ka wai hu'ihu'i aniani", you hear the 6th used in that classic C6, C13 way where the strum is down from below, 1, 3, 5, 6. Often used with the low b7 of C13, though I didn't hear it there. You can't really get that easily in B11, because the 6th is only there in the top four "A6" strings...with start with the low 6th and move up eg 6, 1, 3, 5.

Counter argument! Around 55 seconds, the harmonic run 5, 1, 3, 5, 3...I was initially thinking, this would be a lot easier with a "5th on top" tuning like B11/A6. However, B11 doesn't have the low 5th that starts it out. So he would have had to move the bar to get that initial 5th. Or in C13, get the high 5th by moving the right hand up to get the different harmonic on the high E string. I'll call this one "inconclusive" on account of inscrutable Jules magic. Smile

Harmonic run at 1:20...simple on C13 (fret 10 top 3 strings harmonic at fret 22), but also on B11 (fret 14, strings 2,3,4 harmonic an octave up).

Immediately following is the main melody...Old Plantation, nani 'oe...what's noticeable here is the three part harmony of the first four notes. Low fifth, then root, then the main melody on the high third. Now, I'm not saying this shape, which is classic C6, is impossible on B11...I'm just saying, it's not very natural. You could get it VERY high on the neck with the low strings (5,6,7), or if you did something goofy like a split bar reverse slant on 2,3,5. But the sound of it doesn't sound like heavy gauge strings fretted very high, and I think Jules, crazy master though he was, wouldn't have done the reverse split slant to get something in B11 that lays out naturally in C13, most likely he would have just done two part harmony (which would be better than the slightly out of tune three part with a split bar reverse slant), especially for the critical part of the song.

And what clinches it for me...he finally gives it the b7 of the C13 at the second syllable of 'oe in that line. Strum goes b7, 1, 3, 5. That's classic C13, and if you can do that on B11 in a quick, light little strum, it isn't easy I'm sure!

The last line with the 1,3,5,1,3 that slides up to the root with that shape...and the audible reverse pinky stroke of the last chord seemingly containing a 6th in there too (edit..doublechecked by slowing it down in Audacity, definitely a downward 3,1,6,5). Shape doesn't really exist in a B11 (other than roots and 5ths, you don't have repeated notes in a straight bar).

So I'm still team B11 intro, C13 main song! Of course I could be wrong and making incorrect assumptions...but this was fun. I enjoy doing "Jules forensics" Smile

_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me

David Matzenik · From: Cairns, on the Coral Sea

Thanks Nic, I will have to go through your examples step by step. That might take a little while. Very Happy

_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother.

David Matzenik · From: Cairns, on the Coral Sea

Hi Nic, I thought I'd let you know I followed through your logic and I have to agree with you. The harmonics are awkward in B11. That being said, I can still make a fair "fist" of the arrangement in B11, and short of buying a double-neck guitar, I'll probably stick with it. Cheers, DM
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother.

Nic Neufeld · From: Kansas City, Missouri

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