Transcription Page:     Breakfast Feud

C&A:

Charlie Christian’s solo on this take of Breakfast Feud is especially interesting for the lyrical/rhythmic approach, tremendous drive, and innovative fretwork that he maintains at such a high level of creativity from start to finish…on such a simple harmonic base.  This alternate take has been reissued more often than the master—presumably because it has the best solo of the eleven versions that he recorded on this particular twelve-bar blues.

The first four bars of CC’s first chorus is an ascending, lead-in refrain played by the ensemble.  The refrain sounds like it was either composed by Charles or borrowed from one of his licks.  After the refrain, it’s fascinating to hear how he will open a solo that begins on the fifth bar rather than on the first.

CC enters this solo on the third beat of the fourth measure with one of his usual lines but throwing in two beats of B♭6 in the middle of the E♭13.   Melodic mm 7-8, then bluesy ♭7 at bar 9, alternating strings introduce the second chorus, two beats of E♭m (bar 2 of second chorus), blues ♭7 again (at bar 4).  There’s a long, slow slide at bar 7 followed by alternating strings leading to a short but very nicely placed diminished run (bar 9) capped by alternating octaves/pedal tone.

The freely improvised four-bar tag that closes out the tune has CC playing a B♭dim7 ascending from the 3rd fret to the 14th fret in the first bar and a half.