When I first heard Gary Clark, Jr., I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. The hype surrounding his playing, his acting gigs, the perfect image and awesome singing voice made me wonder about his gasp, authenticity as a player, but the truth is that what I heard in terms of his guitar playing did not impress me. The new Hendrix or (even) Stevie Ray? It’s tough to live up to that! But I stand corrected. A student of mine turned me onto this fine live recording from Glastonbury, England, and I admit now that I’m a convert (see video below).
“When My Train Pulls In” is a minor blues in Em in a twelve bar form. GCJr deftly blends in notes from the natural minor scale (E – F# – G – A – B – C – D). It’s not always easy to use the flat sixth, in this case the note C, as it can sound a too little Medieval, a little, well, really flat and sad. But GCJr does a great job with it, his lick in the first chorus, over the IV chord, Am is a perfect example. The major second of the scale, F# is much easier to use in a blues but Gary does more than just use it as a passing tone, highlighting it with vibrato and then a Bm arpeggio over the V chord, you guessed it – Bm (line 3).
A tab for the first solo is below. The video is very helpful but at times there are parts where I’ve just used my educated guesses and understanding of the modes involved. Your fingering and fret choices could certainly differ. Gary plays most of the solo using the twelfth fret, form I blues scale. Interestingly, he bends down a whole step towards the end of the solo and it makes you wonder if he’s doing it elsewhere. The solo certainly provides a workout in terms of a bending extravaganza. The construction is so nice that one wonders if it were composed beforehand.
GCJ plays one of my favorite guitars on this performance, a ’61 Gibson Les Paul/SG given to him by the Foo Fighters. He’s getting a really fat sound with two Fender Vibro King amps with three ten inch speakers. He mainly uses .011s and medium picks. Kudos also to the great band, especially rhythm guitarist King Zapata, who as a great sound to go with his tough image. Drummer Johnny Radelat and bassist Johnny Bradley also contribute to the big, original sound that the band gets. And let's not forget one important thing - it's a great song! -Christian Botta