Not that familiar with his recordings, but am listening to the Mellow Down Easy CD.....
Lots of the accompaniment I really enjoy for harmonica - for instance, the St. Louis Blues cut starts with acoustic harmonica and bass only (one of my fav combinations) and half way through a drum using brushes joins in.
Basically, the back up band with great groove and whisper quiet, really allowing Carey to shine and stand out. Great vocals, "no doubt" diatonic playing and really fat/greasy chrom sound....
I always believed that the volume of the back up band can make or break a performance. ---------- The Iceman
Do you happen to know which cuts on the Walter Horton - Carey Bell album feature Big Walter and which feature Carey Bell? The album notes say Big Walter is on the left channel and Carey Bell is on the left, but I wonder if you have any more info. Thanks.
On the album with Big Walter, Carey Bell plays harp on the cuts with two harmonicas. If a person buys the record, they will hear it. Why does everyone expect stuff for free?
Last Edited by Joe_L on Feb 08, 2018 12:12 AM
According to discogs Carey Bell is -playing bass on have a good time, Christine and under the sun. Could be true, I dunno.
On the record for sure Carey plays harp on lovin my baby, little boy blue, have mercy, and temptation blues. Just those. He is always in the right hand side channel when he is present.
The original recordings is in stereo. On the tracks with two harp players, one is in the right channel the other is in the left. Is that preserved when posting to YouTube?
Carey Bell certainly isn't discussed often enough when talk goes to blues harmonica immortals.I first came across Bell on a public broadcasting show in 1970. I was still in high school and trying to get my chops together when I saw he and his band swing hard for a good twenty minutes or so. As with seeng the original Butterfield Band in Detroit a few years earlier, I never forgot this. Never got over it, actually. Perfect tone, slicing phrases, beautiful attack and timing. I wanted to do what he was doing when I grew up. Still trying. ---------- www.ted-burke.com
