18 May 2013

Post 79: THE HOT NUTS CHORD PROGRESSION

THE HOT NUTS PROGRESSION 
has a long history, as it dates back at least to 1906 with Percy Cahill's Don't Go Away, NobodyIn the Key of C it is:

C | A7 | D7/G7 | C | C | A7 | D7 | G7
C*** | C7*** | F*** | Fm*** | C | A7 | D7/G7 | C 

As you can see, it is a very simple 16-bar structure. In some songs, a two-bar tag is added, making 18 bars in all. Where I have placed askerisks, the band sometimes chooses to include solo instrument (or vocal) breaks.

Like the 12-bar blues, this is one of the most common progressions in traditional jazz.

You can hear it for example in:

If It Don't Fit, Don't Force It 
Droppin' Shucks
Everybody's Talking About Sammy
Forget Me Not Blues
Hot Nuts, Get 'Em from the Peanut Man 
How Come You Do Me Like You Do Do Do? 
Maybe Not At All
Meat on the Table (one theme)
My Sweet Lovin' Man
Prove It On Me Blues
Take Your Fingers Off It
Walk Right In
Watchin' The Clock
Don't Go Away, Nobody

Like the Sister Kate Progression, this one ends with the Sunshine Sequence (described elsewhere in this Blog). So nothing could be more natural or simple to play. But the progressions are extremely effective.