Lick of the Week - Jumpin' ala Hollywood Fats!

[mark wein]

This week we are exploring a new favorite of mine, Hollywood Fats....Tom Harkenrider and most of the artists we've had in the studio for his BluesCasts have spoken about Hollywood Fats as a major influence so I got the one studio album I could find and was blown away....here is a pretty cool lick that he plays in "Rock this House" that combined chord tones and chromaticism to make a really neat and slippery idea over a G chord....you can get all of the info here including the printable tab and Guitar Pro files.

 

[Tig]

This is a fun lick! You can build from here for all kinds of improv with this style.
I never heard of Hollywood Fats before, but will have to get the album now.

Thanks for the lick and the intro to an artist who wasn't here long enough.

 

[mark wein]

This is a fun lick! You can build from here for all kinds of improv with this style.
I never heard of Hollywood Fats before, but will have to get the album now.

Thanks for the lick and the intro to an artist who wasn't here long enough.

No problem! I'm starting to discover a bunch of guys like this so you might see more "intros" as time goes on

 

[Tig]

Did a little web search on Hollywood Fats. He did a lot in a short time.

He met Buddy Guy and Junior Wells who gave him the nickname.Hollywood Fats toured with James Harman, Jimmy Witherspoon, J. B. Hutto, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Albert King. Other guitarists with whom he played included Junior Watson, Kid Ramos and Dave Alvin.

Hollywood Fats was invited to be a sideman to Muddy Waters and later met the harmonica player Al Blake. Blake had just moved to Los Angeles from Oklahoma. In 1974, Hollywood Fats and Blake formed a band consisting of pianist Fred Kaplan, Richard Innes on drums and Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor called the Hollywood Fats Band.

For a King Biscuit Flower Hour concert on September 7, 1979, which was later to be released on record, Hollywood Fats played the lead guitar in Canned Heat.

The Hollywood Fats Band released a self-titled album in 1979, the only album under their name. The band broke up not long after and Hollywood Fats continued to play with Harman's band, and The Blasters in 1986 replacing Dave Alvin.

 

[omegadot]

This is great, I like hitting the 3rd and 4 string at 2 and 3 on the end. Actually, a few other places too to thicken it up for me. I'm embarrassed that this is one of the first times I've checked out your site.

 

[Meritone Music]

cool!!

 

[mark wein]

Did a little web search on Hollywood Fats. He did a lot in a short time.

He met Buddy Guy and Junior Wells who gave him the nickname.Hollywood Fats toured with James Harman, Jimmy Witherspoon, J. B. Hutto, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Albert King. Other guitarists with whom he played included Junior Watson, Kid Ramos and Dave Alvin.

Hollywood Fats was invited to be a sideman to Muddy Waters and later met the harmonica player Al Blake. Blake had just moved to Los Angeles from Oklahoma. In 1974, Hollywood Fats and Blake formed a band consisting of pianist Fred Kaplan, Richard Innes on drums and Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor called the Hollywood Fats Band.

For a King Biscuit Flower Hour concert on September 7, 1979, which was later to be released on record, Hollywood Fats played the lead guitar in Canned Heat.

The Hollywood Fats Band released a self-titled album in 1979, the only album under their name. The band broke up not long after and Hollywood Fats continued to play with Harman's band, and The Blasters in 1986 replacing Dave Alvin.

This is great, I like hitting the 3rd and 4 string at 2 and 3 on the end. Actually, a few other places too to thicken it up for me. I'm embarrassed that this is one of the first times I've checked out your site.

cool!!

Thanks guys, I'm glad you dig it! This was one of my favorite lessons to do in recent memory and it got the least response last week online...