I love Howlin' Wolf - his singing, harp playing, guitar, everything. Of all the great bluesmen, I would have liked to spend time around him more than anyone. I was wondering if there are examples of him playing an extended solo on harp? His sound is so powerful, yet understated - he draws me in with just a note or two. He epitomizes the idea of leaving space.
I've seen him live a number of times during the 70's until he passed away in 1975/6 and he never played extended solos at all. The big secret to his overall sound was his deep, extremely slow vibrato, which is extremely difficult to master, especially if you tend to play too hard all the time. The roots of his sound comes mainly from SBWII, who was also quite the master of how to use space. His speaking voice was often even raspier than his singing voice was and he ALWAYS played straight thru the PA and sang and played thru the same mic all the time and never had the soundman do anything to enhance anything at all , which means that signature tone of his was all HIM. He had the absolute nastiest, baddest tone I ever heard out of any harp player I've ever seen or met. I just regret that the times I saw him, he was in poor health and had to have all of his gigs scheduled to be as close as possible to the nearest VA hospital so he could easily get treatment for kidney dialysis, and having gone thru that myself for a time, I know what that feels like.
Back in the time he played, extended solos were actually FAR from the norm and an extended solo was essentially 24 bars. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Thanks for the insights Bob. As you say, Wolf has the grittiest, baddest tone of anyone I've ever heard (in person or on recording) - just love that tone. By extended solo what I meant was just something longer than the type of stuff he plays on "Smokestack Lightning" for example. Actually, I think I found an example on "How Many More Years" where he does play harp quite a bit more. Big bad tone, but finesse as well.
still working everyday to master throat vibrato....wolf used it very much so I listen to wolf Memphis days very much....it was the best Ive heard....I know what I must do to achieve this skill...Im a retired respiratory therapist and know all about the epiglottis...its tough but its certainly not impossible
