Level: 2
Tuning: Standard

Rev. Gary Davis was a huge influence of Dave Van Ronk. Cocaine Blues was one of Rev. Davis's best-known arrangements. It is what Rev. Davis would call "old fashion picking." He had heard it played in 1905 by an itinerant musician named Porter Irving. The arrangement is played in the key of C and uses simple first position chords. The bass figure is not your usual C chord, fifth to fourth to sixth to fourth alternation. Rev. Davis alternates between the sixth and fourth string, never playing the C root note on the fifth string. This gives a special flavor to the arrangement. Add to this the hammer-ons and pull-offs and that Dave plays this using a reverse alternating bass (fourth to sixth strings) and you have a challenging arrangement to master. "Cocaine Blues" competed with "Green, Green Rocky Road" for being Dave's signature tune.