© Bluestronomical Publishing Inc. 2007

By Jackie Don Loe

~ Poor Man Blues ~

Originally written in 1964 by Charlie Singleton, the song "Help the Poor" was recorded by BB King and is a true blues classic. The form is a simple 16 bar minor blues that has room to explore various chord substitutions. I had the chance to improvise on it at a recent blues jam. The band played the basic progression like the one shown in example one. Later on that night, I remembered that Robben Ford also cut a version with slightly different chord voicings that allowed the song to breathe a little more. In example two, you can see a few changes to the song that add a bit of complexity. By substituting A7 #5 #9 for A7 in bar 8 and Bb13 for Gm7 in bar 12, you can really take the tune outside. Check out this hip arrangement and cool chords to help jazz up your blues!

* The numbers following the chord letter are where you fret your fingers on the string. If there is a "0" then the string is open, if there is an "x" then no note is played.

Enjoy, and always keep your ears open.

     - Jackie Don Loe -

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