Belfast Harper mentioned this under-recognized player in another thread, and I thought he was worth a thread of his own. Recently I assembled a playlist of must-have harmonica tunes, and a cut by FSJ called "Lonesome Day Blues," from an album called BLOWING FROM MEMPHIS TO CHICAGO, showed up. When I played back a burned CD from the playlist--I was in my car--I could not for the life of me figure out who the player was: except to exclaim "That's somebody doing John Lee Williamson BETTER than John Lee himself!"
It's a stunning cut, and I believe you'll agree with my assessment. Many other players have a bit of John Lee in them, including Dr. Isaiah Ross, Joe Filisko, and Nat Riddles, but Forest City Joe is the master. And that's his problem, too: what's the value of sounding exactly like another great player? Well, from the standpoint of a contemporary young player who wants to learn what the best old stuff sounds like, it's a great cut. In some ways it doesn't matter who it's by. It's just great stuff.
Please download and savor the cut in question, and share other cuts & videos. To get you going, here are two videos that show what I mean by the John Lee sound:
There is a disography of his work here: http://www.wirz.de/music/forrefrm.htm
Everything that he ever released can be found on the 'Downhome Delta Harmonica, Forrest City Joe & Polka Dot Slim'.
He plays some great unaccompanied harp on Train Time and Levee Camp Reminiscence, there is a very short section in Train Time where it sounds like Forrest might be doing an early form of harmonica beat boxing.
I think FCJ's playing seems a little more polished that SB1 and he has a sweeter tone.
You can listed to train time and a few other songs at the link below. The bit that sounds a little like early beat boxing is after 3 minutes 40 seconds, although I need to play it through my cd player to hear it properly.
http://www.we7.com/#/artist/Forrest-City-Joe
Last Edited by on Jun 23, 2011 9:05 AM
HOT DAMN....that is some GREAT wailing. First time I ever saw a picture of him but have loved his work for years. He doesn't look ANYTHING like the mental image I had of him. Best wah-wah work ever...in my opinion. A great addition to the forum, sir. Selah. ---------- "The degree of someone's "open mindedness" will be in direct proportion to how much they agree or disagree with the issue being discussed"...William F. Buckley
Louis Myers once said in an interview, that Forrest City Joe was his favorite harp player. He also said something to the effect that what kept Forrest City Joe being a big star was that he would get a pocketful of money, he would disappear spending his time drinking until he ran out of money.
What's the value of sounding like another player?
Money. I'm sure that there was money to be made by playing Sonny Boy tunes true to the style in the 40's much like playing like Little Walter his made some folks money and earned them publicity.
Another reason is passion. If you don't play the music you love, what's the point of doing it? Life is too short to do stuff you don't dig doing, unless there is a healthy payday involved.
You've gotta have niche. Forrest City Joe's niche was blowing Sonny Boy tunes. His downfall wasn't sounding like Sonny Boy. His downfall was drinking and being unreliable.
I think it does matter who the tune is by. It good old music played true to form by a guy who was considered by many of the greats to be bad ass. For that reason alone, he deserves to be a man with a name. He was an influence to other players. It's his contribution. It's his legacy.
Personally, I think the history and the people matter. A lot.
One of my favorite records is the album by Good Rockin' Charles that was recorded in the 70's. The vocals are excellent. His harp playing suits the tunes and each tune is fantastic. It evokes feelings and emotion. Isn't that what music is supposed to do?
classic, super old school stuff. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
