Question for folks who play “American Girl.” I’ve been studying this one, specifically Mike Campbell’s part before the verse begins. It has a strong Bo Diddley feel, but all of the tabs I’ve seen of Mike Campbell’s part shows that it’s mostly sixteenths:
1-e-&-a 1-e-&a 1-e-& 1-e-&a
I’ve been working up to playing that at speed. The main challenge right now is not the 16ths but including the accents to get the Bo Diddley feel. It’s getting there.
Justin doesn’t have a video for this song so seeking a bit of help I was watching a video with Mike Campbell talking about the guitar work in that song, and he emphasized the Bo Diddley rhythm and demonstrated it without playing the 16ths. (I wonder if it’s a difference between the record and what Mike plays live.)
It made me curious to know from folks who have this song in their repertoire: do you play the 16ths, or do you do a more standard Bo Diddley rhythm?