![]() “A career bootlegger, pimp, gambler, gunslinger, and sometime minister of the church, the stricken James was also the subject of a manhunt. While Skip was not the first to use the DADFAD layout, he does seem to be the originator of the ‘ cross-note‘ term – offering the somewhat unclear explanation that, in his tuning, “ the major crosses the minor” (I guess that the ‘0-0-0- 1-0-0′ major shape ‘crosses the straight line’). ![]() The Dm-tuned Illinois Blues, one of his earliest compositions, describes his experiences of this era: “I been to Chicago and I been to Detroit…I gin my little cotton, and sell my seed…the people will treat you just so-so…”. The son of a bootlegger-turned-preacher, James spent years labouring for low pay around Mississippi, drawing sonic solace from his guitar strings amidst hard work building roads and levees across the Southern state – as well as following his father’s excursions into both the church and the underworld. ![]() Open Dm will forever remain closely associated with Nehemiah Curtis ‘Skip’ James (1902-1969), a foundational Delta bluesman known for his intricate minor-key fingerpicking techniques.
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