song: Black Is the Color (of My True Love's Hair)
artist: Johnny Smith
albums: The New Johnny Smith Quartet (1958) / Johnny Smith Trio: Easy Listening (1958) / The Man with the Blue Guitar (1962)
origin: Traditional Appalachian / Scottish folk song

electric archtop guitar: Johnny Smith

This product is transcriptions of both recordings of “Black Is the Color (of My True Love's Hair)”, both solo-guitar arrangements of this timeless folk song. The origin of the song has been debated by musicologists since, on the one hand, it took its current form in Appalachian folk music, yet, on the other hand, it has a lyrics traceable further back to Scottish folk music. Regardless of its origin, Johnny Smith brings it onto solid Jazz territory, in his rubato arrangement, which exhibits rich harmonizations and polyphonic movement. The first version was recorded in 1956 for the quartet album (1958); the second version is a minor expansion of the original arrangement, recorded later for the trio album (1958), which was later sampled for his great solo album (1962). Enjoy!

Also, be sure to check out this great guitarist interview with Johnny Smith himself where he runs through parts of his arrangement {at 30m01s}.