I missed a few years from blues/harp,(about 30 yrs) since before internet etc. Lot's of good players these days playing pretty intricate stuff. So on this snowy day I'm wondering if any of the players are also well known for having a nice singing voice. Any favorites..? they don't have to be famous, just looking for a few good examples to share with friends. What seems to be happening now is I'll find a really nice player with a great sound till they start singing so thought I would ask around to see if there are a few known for their singing as well as their playing..thanks
I would second Paul deLay. Happens to also be one of the more original players from the modern era, but sadly no longer with us. I've also been impressed with John Nemeth's vocals. Very soulful.
I guess you're looking for current artists but reaching back I'd have to say that Jr. Wells is one of my favorite blues vocalists ever. I would sound pretty silly if I tried to sound like him though.
John Nemeth immediately springs to mind. I've also always liked Taj Mahal's voice. And of course he's not considered really a blues player, but it's hard to match Huey Lewis' voice for soul. ----------
I had never heard of Curtis Salgado, so I went looking and found this. Somewhere around 5 min into it he it some note for like 2 min or so it seems. I have no idea how people do it but it sure catches ones attention. Nice voice and sense of humor it seems.
I'm not sure the link works but the song is Baby Scratch My Back"
A lot of names I'm not familiar with so looking forward to checking them out.
Last Edited by Spderyak on Apr 10, 2015 10:56 AM
Hope you're open to listening to harp players who are no longer with us. In no particular order:
Junior Parker (exemplary singer) Junior Wells (exemplary singer) Little Walter Howlin' Wolf (exemplary singer) Big Mama Thornton (exemplary singer) Sonny Boy Williamson II Jimmy Reed
And who are still here. In no particular order:
John Nemeth Mitch Kasmar Annie Raines James Harman Taj Mahal (exemplary singer) Huey Lewis Delbert McClinton (exemplary singer) Sugar Ray Norcia (exemplary singer)
As the OP is asking about extraordinary vocalists who are also extraordinary harp players
x3 for Mitch Kashmar , Paul deLay, William Clarke , Taj , Howling Wolf , and Rod Piazza should be mentioned as well ...
Norton Buffalo (especially NB's older material) a great vocalist/harp player, keyboard's , writer , all around virtuoso musician … this song show's his vocal abilities, as well as diatonic & chrome work … sings like a bird ...
and a whole lot more , these are the vocalist/harp players I just do not get tired of hearing : )
Last Edited by mastercaster on Apr 09, 2015 9:42 PM
Good voices can be so subjective. I like Sting's voice, but it drives one of my friends crazy. Satchemo's voice gives me chills.
There is also a difference between a good voice and a good singer. There are lots of people out there who can do a lot with an average voice because of their musicality. When I list people with great voices I'd like to borrow a little bit of Adam's test- can you immediately tell it's them?
edit-one guy I've been lucky enough to see in concert is Guy Davis. Amongst other instruments he plays harmonica.
Ahh... lot's of names and music to look up...I should have started back during the winter to help pass the long hours. Some names are a blast from the past, though many I have never heard of. True the good voice thing is fairly subjective, I used to love to hear James Cotton though I couldn't really say he was a great singer for example. (still haven't figured out how to post video links like others have) I suppose in the back of my mind I'm hoping for someone who sings like Nat King Cole did and plays harp. Probably not to realistic but makes for an enjoyable search and it's nice to find out some favorites I'm not familiar with.
The late great Lynwood Slim a proper vocalist, harpist and flutist or flautist .
@Spderyak ; Go to youtube, click where it says SHARE then click EMBED then just copy and paste here!
Last Edited by marine1896 on Apr 10, 2015 10:33 AM
After a lot of suggestions, I ended up with a list that looked like this:
Mitch Kashmar John Nemeth Sugar Blue James Harman Kim Wilson Sugar Ray Norcia Billy Branch Rick Estrin Rod Piazza Curtis Salgado Charlie Sayles Watermelon Slim
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Apr 10, 2015 11:57 AM
Y'all hit on several of my favorites. I'll throw down a few more that have impressed me. Darrell Nulisch began as a front man for Anson Funderburgh before Sam Myers took over and he dang can sing and play. Tad Robinson's another seasoned veteran that do the do too. Lee McBee, who fronted Mike Morgan and the Crawl, had the goods too. I said had, because I heard that he recently passed away. ---------- Ricky B http://www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com RIVER BOTTOM BLUES--crime novel for blues fans available at Amazon/B&N, iTunes, iBook THE DEVIL'S BLUES--ditto HOWLING MOUNTAIN BLUES--Ditto too, now available
Was this thread about good singers who play harmonica but could equally sing a song in another genre and you would think he has a good singing voice or was it good blues singers?
I could imagine say, sugar ray Norcia singing a jazz, crooner style tune or even a bit southern soul but there ain't a lot on the list that could do that me thinks.
PAUL BUTTERFIELD LITTLE WALTER SUGAR BLUE the late KEN SCHOPPMEYER KIM WILSON NORTION BUFFALO ARISTOTLE GEORGIO SONNY BOY WILLIAMS
special mention for the late JERRY LACROIX of Edgar Winter's White Trash. He was a mediocre harmonica player, but he had a set of pipes that would not quit. No harmonica here, but this track shows you what I mean.
---------- Ted Burke __________________ ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.com
Last Edited by ted burke on Apr 10, 2015 3:17 PM
I was mostly thinking of people who were primarily harmonica players foremost but as a bonus had nice voices. A little reluctant to say in the "blues style" as that may have different connotations from person to person. Myself, I like those with smooth voices but to others it's all about a more growling style. Kind of like if I asked which,of the horn players had good voices some might say Louis Armstrong. I love to listen to him but couldn't really say he had a good voice, certainly a distinctive voice and a great trumpet player. ..on the other hand I'm surrounded by A Cappella singers, if those that know I play harmonica ask if I can sing I would say no I'm an aspiring instrumentalist and save my singing for when I'm in the shower...
Last Edited by Spderyak on Apr 11, 2015 5:56 AM
@Spderyak ; That is what I was asking! OK, a lot of the originals like Muddy and Wolf, Sonny Boy II or modern cats like Sugar Blue or William Clarke had to our ears great voices in the Blues genre but would you say if you gave them a song like My Way (for no particular reason other than it's a singers song) that they could do it just as a song the way it's meant to be sung (and not in a blues sort of way), That's why I could only really suggest say, Sugar Ray Norcia, Lynwood Slim or John Nemeth! To my ears they have really good singing voices that could crossover to ther genres. But for Blues we have sort of been conditioned for a hoarse, rough, deep, rich, resonant, expressive and feeling voice and some of those are more agile than others, Junior Wells, Magic Sam etc. Of course we all sort of accept and forgive a lot of voices of 'Blues' artists nowadays because of their great musicianship and for me just the very fact they have a great feel for the music and are keeping the genre alive albeit from the 50's era or contemporary 'Blues' is great.
It was a valid question and a subject that has come up many, many times over the years in my interactions with others who are into the Blues.
Last Edited by marine1896 on Apr 11, 2015 6:31 AM
1896 seemed like a perfectly good question to me. I figure I'm on a Blues web site so people were thinking in terms of blues singer/players singing blues. (Bob Dylan of all people just came out with him singing old sinatra tunes but figured that would be way off topic) So wasn't really wondering if little walter could have sung Jazz or pop tunes. I've been pleasantly surprised with all the responses..it'll give me plenty to check out for quite a while and maybe others enjoy checking out some the response as well.
..oh as an after thought...I learned that James Cotton voice is shot nowadays.. anybody know if that was just bad luck or did his singing style cost him his voice ?...thanks
Last Edited by Spderyak on Apr 11, 2015 10:32 AM
From Rhode Island, Dave Howard (fronted Roomful of Blues for awhile, has his own band The High Rollers, but is usually with his old partner "Young" Neil Vitullo.
For me, Kim Wilson and Curtis Salgado are right up there at the top. Love lots of the others mentioned. One that I don't think WAS mentioned is Billy Gibson - I think he has a GREAT blues voice.
Adam turned me on to Billy via Hill Country Harmonica a few years back....
Spderyak, if the video is posted on YouTube all you have to do is click the share button under the video, which will then show you a couple options. Click 'embed' and cut and paste the code it gives you there. That will work for anything on YouTube (unless the person who posted it deliberately set the video to not be shareable, but I'd guess that's only about 1% of them.)
I'll second both Steve Guyger and Tad Robinson!! I The first time I heard Tad He gave me goosebumps and that only happens to me when great singers sing!!!
Here are a couple of nice songs by people I found by looking up the music of some of the names people offered up. This 1st one is Tad Robinson i had never heard of him but I sure like this one...
here is another...I'll confess he isn't playing harp on this but it is such a classy song I couldn't resist It's by Keb' Mo and Dr John
I just did the Tulsa Harmonica Summit with Billy Gibson. He is a great harp player and singer and all around nice guy. I think his vocals are reminiscent of Norton's. Also there was RJ Mischo, another great singer. An Al Blake. But the really amazing singer , guitarist, harp player of the bunch was John Long. He is one of the best singers I have ever heard.
I give it to: John Lee Williamson Rice Miller Little Walter Junior Wells Paul Butterfield James Cotton William Clarke Paul Delay Sam Myers Norton
And living: James Harman Taj Mahal Delbert McClinton Kim Wilson Rob Papparozzi Piazza Guyger Mischo Long And I think Greg Heumann can sing!
One living player not being mentioned here at all is Darrll Nulisch, who fronted Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets before the late Sam Myers did and, for a time, fronted Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters before it became an all instrumental band.
One player from the past not being listed here and one of the very best blues singers, period, that shocks me for not being listed here is Junior Parker and the harpman/vocalist closest to his style is my old buddy Sugar Ray Norcia. Not listing Junior Parker is downright criminal to me. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
