Frank Stokes grew up playing the Blues before WWI, when it was just an obscure local folk music from the north of the Mississippi Delta. His tremendous voice and skillful guitar work helped to popularize the Blues as he toured all over the South in Doc Watts Medicine Show, provided entertainment at parties and fish-fries where he was invited to play, and 'busking' in the streets for spare change. Before recording or broadcasting, wandering players like Frank were the only way the Blues could be heard outside its home environment, and when he did get a chance to make records, the quality of his work shone through.

Frank played in Jack Kelly's Jug Busters, as the Jug Band craze took hold in the 1920s. Together with Dan Sane they became known as 'The Beale Street Sheiks', sometimes adding Will Betts on fiddle, and often being invited to play for white audiences. He recorded 38 sides for Paramount and Victor, including his blend of blues, ragtime, minstrel tunes, and popular songs which made his repertoire one of the most interesting of its time. He possessed a remarkable voice and was an skillful guitarist. His recordings influenced guitarists and blues singers across the South. With the arrival of the Great Depression and the decrease in recording opportunities, Stokes and Sane went back to playing street corners, occasional circuses, and traveling shows. He passed away September 12, 1955.

In this lesson Tom Feldmann teaches the ins and outs of 10 classic Frank Stokes arrangements in C, D, A, G and E positions. This a great lesson for players of all levels looking to build a repertoire of blues and good-time tunes.

A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. In addition the original recordings of all the tunes are included.

Titles include:Take Me Back, Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do, I Got Mine, How Long, Mr. Crump Don't Like It, Stomp That Thing, Memphis Rounders Blues, Bedtime Blues, Sweet To Mama, Mistreatin' Blues

83 minutes - Level 2 - Detailed tab/music PDF file on the DVD

Review: For being the crowned "Creator of Memphis Blues," Frank Stokes never really gets his rightful ovation. His fame is not of the everybody-knows-your-name kind. Nevertheless, he was dutifully there, already hustling on the city's streets and back-country fish fries not long after the 1900s dawned. Then helping Doc Watts Medicine Show whoop it up, and eventually beating the Mississippi Sheiks onto record, by three years, with his own Beale Street Sheiks, the fruitful partnership with second guitarist Dan Sane. That was all prior to 1930. Having died by 1955, however, meant missing out on any firsthand chances to fire up folks during the blues revival, to be a comeback darling of the 1960s festival circuits, much as did the subsequently more recognized Furry Lewis. Fortunately though, Tom Feldmann studiously caught Stokes Fever. And it's such an easy one to catch - given the music's straightforwardness, easily managed chord progressions and overall goodtime contagiousness - that you and he breeze through "Stomp That Thing,""Mr. Crump Don't Like It," and eight other zoomers. And zoomers they are: Stokes' lively approach typically relies upon three chords and a cloud of dust. Even stuffed to the brim with creatively aching lyrics, no amount of emotional burden is going to derail their sweeping sense of linear motion. So let "Mistreatin' Blues" coil its worrying grip. Allow "Take Me Back" to desperately plead away. Because beneath, pick and pluck campaigns rally so undeterred that you're shielded by strings that zip and hop along without a hint of worry. - Dennis Rozanski/Blues Rag

Review: "One of the great things about learning Frank Stokes's music" says Tom Feldman in his introduction, "is that once you've learned the first verse and the intro, then you've pretty much got the song well learned." Ten songs are taught in this 83-minute DVD , including Take Me Back, Stomp That Thing, Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do, Memphis Rounders Blues and (surprising recent McDonalds advert soundtrack) I Got Mine. Standard tuning is deployed throughout, with frequent use of a capo in the C, D, G, A and E fingering positions. Stokes's music, while relatively simple, has an inherent swing and bounce that Feldman captures and transmits perfectly. The Frank Stokes DVD is eminently suitable for all ability levels. The DVD features the usual Guitar Workshop high-standard split-screen camera angles and includes a PDF booklet of the tablature and notation, plus bonus audio sections with all the original recordings. - Steve Hunt/fRoots

Review: This Tom Feldman DVD furthers the cause featuring the guitar work of Frank Stokes, whose songs with The Beale Street Sheiks qualify as Jug Band style material too. They were just a two guitar duo, and Tom is teaching Frank's parts, I guess Dan Sane would be another lesson, and not so many guys are trying to learn second guitar. Feldman is a really good teacher! Stokes' playing reminds me of Mississippi John Hurt's, but maybe a little simpler, at least on the first song taught, "Take Me Back." One of Frank's tunes taught here, "I Got Mine," is a stone classic top of the line Country Blues/Ragtime piece. Actually, he may have others, it's usually a mistake to assume a guy only had one really good song in him! In fact Geoff Muldaur remodeled another of his pieces (not taught here), "Downtown Blues," and recorded it at least a couple times, once with the Kweskin Jug Band. The same pattern is followed as all the others we've reviewed by Tom Feldman. This time I went and listened to the original Beale Street Sheiks tracks first - Tom encourages folks to go listen to them before getting to his split screen slow play of the songs, so they could aim for the feel on the original track in their own playing. If you're learning to play Country Blues, you really should have already picked up one of Tom Feldman's DVDs, or others from the Guitar Workshop! Never too late to start, if you haven't! On this one you can learn licks in 5 different keys - C, D, A, G and E. It bears repeating that this DVD also includes a PDF file with the tablature for the guitar parts, and the lyrics to all the songs. Another of the songs, "Mr. Crump Don't Like It," is really ripe for a contemporary rewrite with the name of a certain Republican Presidential candidate. Considering he owns (or did own) a Casino, it needs new words. You'd think someone would have attempted this already, but I haven't heard it. Check this stuff out! - Marc Bristol/Blue Suede News

"Tom Feldmann is an instrumentalist of the first degree, renowned among guitarists as an instructor and preservationist. No one can teach Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Skip James or Bukka White better than Feldmann, a master fingerpicker and slide guitarist." – Living Blues

"Robert Johnson is the most important blues musician who ever lived. I have never found anything more deeply soulful. His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice." - Eric Clapton

"Robert Johnson's music sent me reeling. I couldn't even imagine how someone could play the guitar the way he did and sing at the same time." - Bonnie Raitt

Robert Johnson is arguably the most well known figure in the history of the blues. Though the 29 songs Johnson recorded from 1936-1937 had little impact during his lifetime, a collection of his singles, entitled King of the Delta Blues Singers was released in 1961 and found widespread recognition. Then, 30 years later, The Complete Recordings of Robert Johnson was released selling over one million copies. The first blues recording to do so, winning a Grammy in the process.

Since that 1961 LP, players from all different musical backgrounds have sought to learn Robert Johnson's techniques and in this 3 DVD set, with over 5 hours and 52 minutes of instruction, Tom Feldmann covers every aspect of Johnson's playing. Each song is performed by Feldmann before he dissects the arrangement verse-by-verse and ends with a split screen segment where the song is played slowly with close up shots of both the left and right hands. This is the most expansive look into the guitar playing of Robert Johnson produced in video form.

DVD ONE: STANDARD TUNING: Kind Hearted Woman, Phonograph Blues, 32-20 Blues, A Blues Variations (Dead Shrimp Blues, Little Queen of Spades, Honeymoon Blues), I'm a Steady Rolling Man, Sweet Home Chicago, Love In Vain, From Four 'Til Late DROP D TUNING: Malted Milk CROSS NOTE TUNING: Hellhound on my Trail

DVD TWO: SPANISH TUNING: Stop Breakin' Down Blues, Walking Blues, Come On In My Kitchen, Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Stones In My Passway with Variations for Terraplane Blues and Milkcow Blues, Cross Road Blues, Traveling Riverside Blues

DVD THREE: SPANISH TUNING: If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day, VESTAPOL TUNING (OPEN E TUNING): Rambling on my Mind, I Believe I'll Dust My Broom, Preaching Blues, STANDARD TUNING: They're Red Hot

352 minutes - Level 3 - Detailed tab/music booklet PDF file included on each DVD

Review: Over the intervening decades since Robert Johnson cut his 29 monolithic sides in 1936 and 1937, countless manhours have been spent by countless guitarists hunched over spinning 78s, then LPs, then CDs, and now spinless MP3s, desperately trying to latch onto the mystical powers inherent in those songs - in that sound - which launched as many legions of rockers as of bluesmen. With Johnson's direct apostles below ground - Robert Lockwood, Honeyboy Edwards, Johnny Shines (who thrice returns, via bonus performance footage) - Tom Feldmann is your best possible instructor. The country blues junkie has put in those countless hours intensively detailing everything from the lemon squeezing "Traveling Riverside Blues" to the tamale-peddling "They're Red Hot" - so that you don't have to. He's got the complete canon down cold (come on, both takes of "Cross Road Blues" get dissected here). Right down to that spine-tingling 'howling wind' slide lick dripping down "Come On in My Kitchen." Even down to that momentary flash of wickedness in the fourth verse of "Walking Blues" when string bends actually snap. With calm coaching, you'll run the existential table from the Son House knockoff of "Preaching Blues" to "Hellhound on My Trail," with a "Malted Milk" break in between. Besides using the slo-mo split-screen, Feldmann makes learning easier by wisely corralling similar pieces, as when taking advantage of the structural relationship between "Terraplane Blues" and "Milkcow's Calf Blues" with "Stones in My Passway." Tremendous clout resides within three how-to DVDs, for herein lie both the kindling and the spark which lit the firestorm of modern blues and rock. So the calculus is simple: Six hours of one-on-one Robert Johnson instruction equals essential. - Dennis Rozanski/Blues Rag

Who hasn't been influenced by Mississippi Fred McDowell? Imitated by just about everyone that has picked up a slide, his impact has spread the world over. With so many trying to figure out exactly how he played, we are so fortunate to have a lesson like this one where we get to learn from the man himself. The footage of Fred McDowell seen in this lesson is a treasure because it's as if it was filmed with us, the students of McDowell's style, in mind. With clear shots of his left and right hands, it's like your own private lesson with the master himself.

DISC ONE is devoted to footage of Fred McDowell performing many of his classic tunes in Open E tuning. After each performance, Tom Feldmann breaks down Fred's techniques and then goes to the split screen, playing the song slowly as you play along.

DISC TWO is devoted to the recordings of McDowell in Open A tuning. Tom performs this time around as none of the available footage has McDowell performing in Open A.

A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on each DVD. In addition the original recordings of all the tunes in lesson two are included. On Disc Two there is 51 minute interview with Tom Feldmann where he talks about his influences as well as performing a wide variety of tunes.

Titles Include: OPEN E TUNING: When I Lay My Burden Down, Keep Your Lamp Trimmed
And Burning, John Henry, Break 'Em On Down, Louise, Mojo Hand, I Heard Somebody Call OPEN A TUNING: Write Me A Few Lines, Been Drinking Out of A Hollow Log, Fred's Worried Life Blues, The Train I Ride, Kokomo Blues

220 minutes • Level 2/3 • Detailed tab/music PDF file on the DVD

Review: No matter how famous McDowell's assertions of “I do not play no rock'n'roll, y'all” were, that talkative bottleneck ratted Fred out otherwise. When dropped onto guitar strings, blowing up the push-pull rhythm of elastic groovers like “Write Me A Few Lines”, “John Henry” and their kingpin in “Shake 'Em On Down,” that little glass tube dilates pupils and gets pulses racing, leaving you off far higher than where you first got on. Those aren't physiological hallmarks of the typical “straight 'n' natchel blues.” But such is Fred's type of rockin'. And with it, he was a one-man house party, a north Mississippi slide hypnotist in the grandest definition. So whether holy rolling “When I Lay My Burden Down” or even slide-lessly chugging on “The Train I Ride,” his repertoire knows how to have a good time. Except when wallowing in the depths of despair (“Been Drinking Out Of A Hollow Log” even rubs salt into the wound with its dastardly lowdown lick). Now over the course of two instructional DVDs, the inner workings of The Guitar Of Fred McDowell get exposed by disciple Tom Feldmann. Finally, step-by-step proof that “Shake 'Em” (a.k.a. “Break 'Em”) and 11 other songs can, indeed, be played by mortals. And Feldmann does a fantastic job teaching Fred's moves. Vintage film also lets some of Fred's moves get taught by Fred, the downhome dude with the pencil thin mustache, pomade-slicked hair, string tie, curvaceous electric guitar and grooves that everyone from R.L. Burnside to the Rolling Stones to the North Mississippi All-Stars and now you - just got to have. – Bluesrag/Dennis Rozanski

Review: Over the past ten years plus Tom Feldmann's name has become synonymous with the slide guitar style of country blues and gospel music of the 1920's-1940's. His has honed his skill and developed chops that have put him in the top tier of performers and instructors. His pedigree includes an affiliation with Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshops, and Mel Bay has produced numerous instructional DVDs of such legends as Blind Willie Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt and just about everyone in between. He has released eight CDs since 1999 while touring, six on his own Magnolia Recording Company label and two early CDs for Maple Island Records. In short, Feldmann has not only become an authority on Country Blues but is also well on his way to becoming a national treasure and a portal to the past. It is no surprise that his latest instructional DVD, “The Guitar of Fred McDowell” lives up to all that has come before and is a treasure trove of instruction and insight into the blues and the music of Fred McDowell. This two DVD set offers film footage of McDowell playing seven tunes in Open E (Disc 1) and five in open A tuning (Disc 2). The format of instruction for each tune begins with a film performance of McDowell on electric guitar from later in his career. This of course helps keep instruction rooted to McDowell's actual performance instead of focusing on an interpretation of his playing. Feldmann follows each performance with a discussion of the intricacies of technique of each specific tunes, followed by a split screen that isolates the left and right hand simultaneously throughout his own playing of the same tune at a very moderate tempo to allow the student to adequately take in the techniques presented. Feldmann's easygoing demeanor and clear description of technique makes his instruction accessible for any level player. Feldman also gets into the technical aspects of McDowell's technique and various methods of approaching guitar set-up from string gauges, saddle dimensions and the use of an unwound third string for E Tuning -- all of which speak to Feldmann's knowledge and the quality of his instruction. Bonus materials include a detailed tab of each song in the form of two PDF booklets as well as almost an hour of interview footage of Feldmann who delves into his influences, experiences, technique and instruments. Feldman performs a handful of additional tunes to augment these segments. Total running time of both DVDs is 220 minutes. – Minor 7th