Critical Listening #12: She Just Wants To Dance

Since we talked a bit about blues and R&B, I decided to break out some classics from my music library. My dad has a great love of blues, so I grew up listening to B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Keb' Mo' among others. Keb' Mo' became one of my favorite blues guitarists. The following is "She Just Wants To Dance" from the album Keb' Mo', released in 1994.

8 bar intro
4 bar A
4 bar B
4 bar A
4 bar B
4 bar C
8 bar bridge (intro chords)
4 bar A
4 bar B
4 bar A
4 bar B
4 bar C
8 bar bridge (intro chords)
8 bar guitar solo
4 bar C
8 bar intro chords + vamp

Though Keb' Mo' is not from the time period we are learning about in class, he is the quintessential blues guitarist. This song doesn't have a typical form but the four bar phrases are easy enough to follow as is the chord progression that matches the lyrics progression.

Though the chord progression follows a steady pattern and besides the short solo, Keb' Mo' makes this song very interesting by the very way he plays. It is overflowing with blues notes and he uses a steel pick to give the guitar a unique sound. He also uses a glass slide on his pinky finger which becomes more apparent on his solo.

In any jazz with vocals, the vocals are just as important if not more important than the instrumentation. Keb' Mo' has a very unique style of singing. He bends notes with his voice, stretches some out while cutting others short (almost popping the noise at the end of the word). He varies the melody by substituting comparable notes and changing the rhythm. He also has a very welcoming and entertaining stage persona.

His guitar solo is mostly slides to a higher register, using the glass slide to give the repeated chords a grating, but extremely interesting and original sound. His solo is short and mostly just a variation on the theme, but it employs a lot of the things we talked about when we learned about vaudeville guitarists and just the blues in general.

This piece is a catchy tune that allows you to start to understand some of the appeal of blues guitar. And I can say from experience that it definitely grows on you.