An Introduction to America’s Music

348 PART 3 | FROM WORLD WAR I THROUGH WORLD WAR II

songwriter: traditional

date: recorded April 15, 1940, in Saginaw, Texas

performers: Bob Wills, vocal, fi ddle, and leader;

Leon McAuliffe, steel guitar; Eldon Shamblin,

lead guitar; Herman Arnspriger and Johnnie Lee

Wills, rhythm guitars; Jesse Ashlock and Louie

Tierney, fi ddles; Al Stricklin, piano; Son Lansford,

bass; Smoky Dacus, drums

genre: Western swing

meter: duple

form: strophic blues

Listening Guide 14.3 “Corrine, Corrina” BOB WILLS AND HIS TEXAS PLAYBOYS

timing section

featured voice

or instrument(s) comments

0:00 chorus 1 fi ddle section Three fi ddles play the melody in close harmony, with short

chords in the steel guitar, a texture analogous to the sax and

brass sections, respectively, of a big band.

0:15 chorus 2 vocal Wills sings the melody straightforwardly, then adds more blue

notes as he goes. Steel guitar comps (plays accompanying

chords) in the background.

0:33 chorus 3 steel guitar solo Jazz infl uence: blue notes, bent pitches, syncopation, and fl uid

phrasing.

0:47 chorus 4 vocal Fiddle fi lls behind the vocal.

1:05 chorus 5 fi ddle solo Solo in jazzy mood (although perhaps not improvised).

1:20 chorus 6 vocal Piano comps behind the vocal.

1:39 chorus 7 piano solo Stride style, with prominent, rhythmically driving left hand

beneath right-hand melodies and chords.

1:54 chorus 8 vocal Lead guitar and fi ddle comp lightly behind the vocal.

2:13 chorus 9 fi ddle section Like opening chorus.

2:29 chorus 10 vocal Light comping from both steel guitar and fi ddle hint at the

collective improvisation of New Orleans jazz.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

• use of country-style string instruments in
  the role of big-band wind


• use of electric guitar and electric steel guitar


• alternation of vocal choruses with jazz-like
  instrumental solos

CD 2.19

Listen & Refl ect

1. In choruses 1 and 9, which bars have an extra beat?


2. The record’s format—opening and closing sections for the full ensemble, with a series of solos in
   the middle—resembles jazz records like West End Blues and Lester Leaps In (chapter 15). What
   similarities and differences do you hear between those recordings and “Corrine, Corrina”?

172028_14_332-360_r3_ko.indd 348 23/01/13 8:38 PM