Robert Johnson – Walkin’ Blues (Howlett Version)

A while back I decided to stop paying attention to the news. I must say, I’m a whole lot better for it. Anyhoo, I just found out there’s a second great depression now and absolutely everyone is eating their shoes to stay alive. So, to keep up the doom and gloom, I thought I’d have a week dedicated to one of the great musicians from the last Great Depression. A man so po’ he couldn’t afford a ‘g’ to put at the end of walking. Robert Johnson.

For the first post in the series, I’ve written up tab for luthier Pete Howlett‘s ukulele version of Walkin’ Blues. Most of it is clearly explained in the video, but the F7 sections are a bit tricky – he plays it differently each time he goes through it. So my tab is kind of a mesh of the ideas.

Another section which threw me a little is when the main riff comes in after the F7. It sounds the same as before but it’s shifted forward a beat. What was the fourth beat is now the first beat. The first beat is now the second. And you get the idea with that one. It can be a bit disorientating, so watch out for it.