The discussion of Howard Levy is great! In that vein, I'm wondering what everyone has to say about John Popper?
Last Edited by on Mar 06, 2012 10:00 AM
when i heard recently on vh1 news that john popper was found slumped over on a toilet my heart sank and i feared the worst. it was to my great relief when they said he was just constipated.
I enjoy his playing as well. Not as much as I enjoy a lot of other players but I like that he doesn't just stick to traditional blues playing. I'm not sure I agree these threads are great as it's easy to predict the outcome on this forum.
Hey, I just want to know if the squirrel has any chops.....anybody??? and....for the record, it looks to me like he's "limiting" himself to holes 1-6. so he's OLD SCHOOL.
A joe spiers student no doubt.
Has he got any good train rythyms? i am so down with this cat.......er squirrel.
Last Edited by on Mar 04, 2012 5:46 PM
i think he's very talented, and plays with his own distinct style. it's just not my cup of tea. my band recently started playing the Blues Traveler song, "But Anyway", so i spent some time listening, to get a feel for it. and i discovered that it was hard for me to get through the whole song without finding his playing really irritating. but that's just me.
geeze....why don't people try to take the best of what they can learn and be positive?
I mean I suspect there is nobody here that cannot learn something from Popper or Howard.
Popper owns the top end of the harmonica played straight. He is one of the best rock writers and vocalists around.
Seriously, the negative, destructive vibe around here makes me reconsider being as involved as I am.
What have you learned from this forum lately, what have you taken away to make yourself a better player? What have you contributed to get the group toward that goal?
1. Music and art are useless,purposeless endeavors. 2. spontobeat has been medically diagnosed. 3. somewhere, there is a squirrel who does some serious chugging. 4. the captcha can be a pain in the ass. 5. busking in libya is a tough gig 6. every now and then people will discuss the merits of howard levy and john popper 7. the POTUS thinks mick jagger is an awesome blues harp man 8. march 2 was dr.seuss' birthday 9. hobostubs could use a little feedback 10. a high f is not a waste of money
I enjoy John Popper and have great respect for the man and his playing.
After hearing him play a few years ago, I waited in line to ask 3 questions to share with our club. Here's what I "remember" of his friendly Q&A
Q: do you tongue block, pucker, or u-block ( he asked, "what's u-block", I stuck out my curled tongue) A: pucker
Q: Do you play mostly 1st, 2nd or 3rd position? A: mostly 2nd
Q: When you play those rapid notes, are you inhaling and exhaling, or are you going side to side. A: mostly side to side, you should practice doing that smoothly
4th bonus question Q:What do you think of the Delta Frost harmonica A: I never heard of it.
---------- HarmoniCollege March 24, 2012 theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
ahh u block i never knew. yeah i do that sometimes too when i bend high notes. i finally checked out this levy guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2klBmIbXR0 this is the worst oriental music on western instruments ive ever heard. @gary a band has to have ground rules the most important in mine was no songs post 1969 the second most important was no gfs at gigs or practice. if i ever get another together i think it will be no blues songs by anyone still living.
I really love to listen to John Popper. I admire his voice, his harmonica playing and overall band grooving. He find his own inimitable style of phrasing.
---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
I have a hard time listening to popper for more than a song or two. Just not my style.
Not gonna lie I wish I could hit the upper end of the harp that well that consistently. Note choice aside.
The faster guys are a motivator For me. I try to bring a fast run or two in for a song but in my case I need to work to have the mobility that popper or ricci have. When I try to move fast as possible I have trouble not using both draw and blow notes in a predictable in and out sort of crutch manner.
Howard levy I think is just fantastic, but I don't spend much time listening to him. Prolly cause I am not aspiring to play like him. That may change. John popper is a guy I have heard a lot about but not a lot of. I had a blues traveller album, it didn't grab me. I heard a lot of fast harp playing which seemed to be fast harp playing. The note selection seemed ok and I was aware the skill involved was mighty impressive. Just didn't grab me. And that's all. I haven't gone out of my way to avoid blues traveller, but I don't seek the stuff. I probably haven't given it much of a chance. I think I don't want to play like that. If I was 20 years younger maybe I would. Now Sugar Blue is a different story.
I find Popper amusing. I love Run Around. It's a great song and the harp playing fits really well.
Sometimes he's playing for playing's sake.
Interestingly, from Jim Rumbaugh's posts and from other stuff I've read, he doesn't seem to have a clue about the harmonica's workings or techiques. Perhaps he plays dumb to avoid questions from us poor saps who want to know every nuance of the instument, I don't know, but I find his 'ignorance' quite endearing.
What makes a great harp player? What makes a player interresting? Well ... of course many things, but one thing is a personal and unique playing style. Rice Miller, Jason Ricci, Adam Gussow, L.Walter Jacobs,Sonny Terry ... you hear immediately who's playing, or recognize their style in a copying harp player. Popper has that. I recognize his sound and style right away. Another thing about Popper, he has helped elevating the harmonica to a "real" instrument to a broad audience, and done a great deed for the harmonica community. ---------- The tone, the tone ... and the tone.
the interesting thing about poppers approach to harmonica is that he plays in "sheets" of notes as he has said. i think this is actually close to what Ricci does in some ways, he has runs or sheets of notes that work with the particular cord that is playing.
it is also interesting to me that in spite of this, most of the melodies he sings use the more standard approach to melody... but that they are still highly harmonica centric and most can be played straight out on a diatonic.. and fall out easily
I never listened to Michael Jackson, if his music came on I turned the station. Could care less whether an artist danced or not and get pretty annoyed when dancers surround a singer or musician, it looks to me like they need a diversion to be interesting. But here are the facts: Michael danced a lot better I do, sold a lot of songs and made a lot of money, somebody liked him. Same with Popper. I'm not crazy about his style of playing, but I do like some of Blues Travellers' songs and if he is the lead singer, yeah, terrific chops. And I bet he has helped spur sales of harmonicas among the younger listeners, like Dylan did.
Last Edited by on Mar 05, 2012 12:22 PM
disclaimer: I'm a traditional, older, harper who generally does not like to hear tons of notes.
However, I prefer Jason Ricci's fast playing over Popper's for one reason: I think Jason picks every one of his notes very carefully and then he plays them very fast at times. I feel like Popper plays alotta notes 'cuz they're on the way to the note he wants to start his next phrase with. He gets awful close to the kind of unneccessary million-note playing that some blues guitar shredders employ. In other words-- to me -- Jason makes more sense. I get the comment about sheets of music though, and I would not denounce Popper's playing.
Exactly LittleBubba! I could not agree more. Jason told me that he only plays as fast as he can and still play the notes he wants to with clarity and the little nuances he does.
What Popper does is more akin to running your hand up the white keys on the piano quickly. So what if you go one or two beyond. Jason plays the white keys and the black and knows exactly which notes he is playing.
I feel that Popper has developed one really impressive solo, but plays it over and over in many different songs. (somewhat of an oversimplification, but I'm sure you get what I mean).
To my ears, he is a sequencer - creating an effect through rapid breathing in and out and coordinating a movement on the harmonica. I prefer melodic line myself, so am not really keen on this type of soloing. However, he is a force (especially song writing and vocals) that did turn on a whole lot of young people to harmonica through his music.
I've heard tell in the early days he would show up at NYC jams and somewhat push his way on stage where his harmonica playing was pretty awful at first. Sticking with it, though, he eventually shaped it into something unique.
btw, Honkin's response to what he learned on this forum is pretty hilarious. ---------- The Iceman
Popper was a huge influence to me early on in my playing, when Blues Traveler was still in their 'College Band' phase. I learned a tremendous amount from his playing style-especailly that my lips will bleed after a playing few BT covers... ---------- Todd L. Greene
***SPAM PREVENTION PROBLEM*** Since typing this post, the captcha's won't work for me. They show up as broken.
John Popper was the catalyst for me picking up the harmonica. He was also the catalyst for me becoming a singer in a rock band.
I could probably write an entire lit review on the topic of John Popper the musician, but I will try to keep it brief.
First and foremost, if all you've listened to of JP is the stuff from Four and before, you are missing the big picture and, IMO, going to make gross generalizations that are inaccurate.
In the last 18 years since Four, BT has released 9 albums - six studio and three live. John Popper himself has also released three of his own albums - a solo album (Zygote), an album as the John Popper Project, and an album with the Duskray Troubadors.
Still, after releasing a dozen albums (well, 13, as BT has a two-disc release coming out today) since Four, 99% of harmonica players try to judge him based on two of the first four albums BT recorded (namely their first single, But Anyways, and than the album Four).
Add to that the band wagon phenomenom that is rappant with musicians, and I think most of what is said about his playing has no evidence to support the claims OR the evidence presented is a miniscule sample size.
In addition, most of the generalizations of his playing are made comparing his style to blues, when in fact, he generally doesn’t play blues. Take the song RunAround, for example. The progression goes, G Cadd9 Am D. This is not a blues progression. Playing blues over this makes no sense in the context of the song. Most of the “wrong note” talk is just flat out incorrect.
There was a time where I would have spent an hour explaining this while providing a ton of evidence and my insight, but it is pointless. Haters gonna hate.
I suggest for those interested that they check out some of his more contemporary work. If you are on Facebook, you can sign up for Spotify and listen to all these songs for free…
Duskray Troubadours - Love Has Made It So - Something Sweet - Hurt So Much - End of the Line John Popper Project - Everything - In the Midst - Horses - Open Hand Blues Traveler - Back in the Day - Let Her and Let Go - Regarding Steven - Orange in the Sun - She Isn’t Mine - Stumble and Fall - This Ache - Sadly a Fiction - Yours - Most Precarious ***All of these songs, post Four, represent more than the pattern playing found in his earlier work. That isn't to say that he doesn't play patterns, but the melodic content of the lines are more accessible in these tunes.
JP is tragically underrated for his melodic content and use of harmony and advanced harmonica-musical-theory. I cringe every time he gets brought up. ---------- Mike VHT Special 6 Mods Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas - When it needs to come from the soul...
Last Edited by on Mar 06, 2012 8:31 AM
If anyone wants to come down on fast playing as a gimmick then you will have include Sugar Blue as well, or on music in general.
Check out the Blues Traveler dvd Thinnest of Air, a wonderful show and you can really see what Popper's doing, a wide range of harmonica work and great use of effects, and he sings of course. National anthem on harp and that moving no woman no cry solo (which is surprisingly easy to comp).
There is a series of short video tips from Popper, including one where he said he wanted to play harp like Eddie Van Halen plays guitar, so he was practicing by attrition to get certain runs/licks.
So he got his own style by copying first. As for copying, consider this intro monologue from "Everything is a Remix" (4 parts, available on YouTube):
"The act of creation [as done by people] is surrounded by a fog of myths. Myths that creativity comes via inspiration, that original creations 'break the mold', that they're the products of geniuses, and appear as quickly as electricity can heat a filiment [in a light bulb]. But creativity isn't magic. It happens by applying ordinary tools of thought to existing materials. The soil from which we grow our creations is something we scorn and misunderstand, even though it gives us so much. At that is: COPYING. Put simply, copying is how we learn. We can't introduce anything new until we are fluent in the language of our domain. And we do that through emulation. For instance, ALL artists spend their formative years producing derivative work. Bob Dillon's first album contained 11 cover songs. [and John Mayall Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton: 7 covers]. NOBODY starts out original. We need copying to build a foundation of knowledge and understanding. And after that, things can get INTERESTING."
Popper is closer to Sugar Blue than Ricci, sliding (glissing) a lot to the notes they actually want to hold/rest on. If you think about it it's potentially faster if you don't have to switch breath direction. Why else would 2-hole trills and glissing be so overdone? Why isn't that considered mindless "speed playing" or a gimmick, even though it's so overdone?
Rather than say it's not what you want to do, try comping any player... it's not as hard as you think. You will pick up on what they're doing and get some good practice developing your own techniques, without any pressure to learn their songs down pat.
I've come up with about a dozen techniques i've never seen or heard anywhere, some of which I learned copied from my 7-year old! Popper works with a lot of equipment. Its probably partially helped to inspire the rig setup i'm going to try this week. I was just thinking how keyboard players work with two keyboards with different effects settings. Why not do that for harp? I have an acoustic amp which takes two inputs, a direct xlr mic for a shure 57, and a typical guitar amp for a green bullet (which is hi z, so it should take guitar pedals ok). So you have a clean mic which you can use hand techniques with, and the second for effects-driven sealed sounds. This has a really high tolerance for feedback. It should also work well with my Roland street amp, which has a mic setting and two inputs and onboard effects.
I hear circus clowns. No, I've never really enjoyed his playing. That said, Ninja's suggestion to listen to more is a point well taken. True story, I have an AMAZING old tweed suitcase that I have been collecting signatures on since about 1980. Mostly harp players (lots!) our heros, and great blues people. Many are long gone. I was at jazz fest (N. Orleans) one year trying to get Buddy Guy's signature and standing in a field I noticed that I was right beside John Popper. I thought about asking him, briefly. I didn't get Buddy's signature that day either, but I have it now. Some would think it a-hole of me to not ask Popper, some would applaud. I honestly couldn't see it anywhere to put it between Shines King(both) Rogers Bland Lockwood Clarke Wells Koko Clapton...etc
Dave Mathews would be example of someone who just doesn't do anything for me. Well, actually, that's not true, I actively dislike it. :) (I think it's his voice. Nothing else in the music by itself, lyrics, music, bothers me.) I like it better for having Popper in it.
For a brief time in the mid 90s when Dave Matthews first hit the scene, I was part of a band that was part DM cover band/part original music in the same vein. I got the Popper parts, of course, and do lots of other improv playing and generally had fun playing this stuff. That first DM album was also the first time I had heard JP in a sideman role-I dug it. ---------- Todd L. Greene
I used to feel exactly the same way until I started listening to their Live Recordings. Baddest live band in the land and it totally changed my opinion of Dave...give it a try ---------- The Iceman
Popper- he does things originally that nobody else does, I don't care for it but I respect him for the work he put in. Sugar Blue same thing really original I like his stuff better - more feeling.
