“Mama Tain’t Long ‘Fore Day” as played by yours truly has appeared on Robert Frost’s Banjo before. About a year ago, I did a performance video of this song using a cigar box resonator guitar. I enjoyed the cigar box guitar, & it’s a really well-made & good sounding instrument (made by Big Daddy of Back Porch Mojo), but in the long run I found it limiting—I just couldn’t get used to only having four strings & really couldn’t get the sound I wanted. My guitar style relies heavily on using the two bass strings for a foundation & I guess I was a bit lost without them. But have no fear: the cigar box resonator guitar is still with us. I passed it along to Eberle who is thinking up all sorts of fun & unusual uses for it!
Anyway, my earlier version of the song was in the key of D, but I think E really is a better match for my voice, so I’m playing the Gold Tone resonator guitar tuned to open D but capoed up to E. At one time, open E was a fairly common tuning, but since it involves taking a few strings above standard pitch I’m leery of it both in terms of potential for string breakage & also strain on the guitar neck. But then, caution has often been my undoing!
“Mama Tain’t Long ‘Fore Day” is by Blind Willie McTell, a great guitarist from Georgia who made close to 150 recordings between 1927 & 1956—the majority of these were made in the late 20s thru mid 30s. McTell played a 12-string guitar & was one of the major exponents of what is called “Piedmont picking,” a form of fingerstyle playing that was prevalent along the East Coast. He played some songs with a slide too, & “Mama Tain’t Long ‘Fore Day” was one of those. In fact, this song comes from his very first recording session in October 1927. I believe that McTell played this song in G.
Hope you enjoy my humble version!