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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
What's your story?
What's your story?
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John M G
269 posts
Oct 23, 2018
9:11 AM
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Here's mine
I started playing harmonica in my early 20's not long after migrating from the UK to Australia in December 73.
I had no one to teach me, no online tutorials and it never occurred to me to get lessons. I bought a “How to” book that was about the size of a 45 sleeve. The book came packaged with a Hohner C harp. In the back of the book there were two flimsy vinyl 45’s that you cut out to play on a record player. There were some instructions on how to get bends and some other basic stuff.
I just copied as best I could everything I heard on those 45’s from the book. Then I started buying Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Walter, Paul Butterfield, John Mayal, Charlie Musselwhite albums,. I was never a big fan of Sonny Terry’s style of playing and didn’t really like the only Little Walter album I’d bought in those early years. I bought more records, practiced and learned what I could by ear.
My biggest challenge was making the upper octave work fluently with the lower two, that took a lot of work and was one of the harder challenges to solve.
In the late 80’s early 90’s I had a series of lesson with Sydney legend Jim Conway formerly of the “Backsliders” who guided me in a number of ways and introduced the concept of tone. He gave me the clues to getting a good throat vibrato along with other things.
Jim put me onto a second hand Mexican 520D and organised his electronics guy to add a volume control for me. He also got me my first valve amp that was loaned to a family member and never returned. That was a big mistake!
I’d bought a 2nd hand Fender Sidekick 15 R that actually had a proper reverb tank in it from Smithy’s in Sydney. I’d buy another in a blink, but that’s probably just nostalgia kicking in.
I gave up smoking in 94 so I had to stop going to live music venues. I then became a virtual closet player. I had a set of harps in the bathroom, the car and a set close to the hi fi system.
I’d played with a few guys on and off in jam situations. I did 3 or 4 gigs with a 5 or 6 piece band “Doctor Glockenspiel” but the lead singer also played harp! I got up with my friends band a couple of times in Tamworth (The home of country music in Australia) but really it was just enthusiastic but unstructured learning and not going anywhere except for my own pleasure. I never ever stopped practicing but not with any real direction. Just pretty much for my own pleasure. I’d hear a song and just want to see if I could learn and play it.
4 years ago my wife and I moved an hour and a half south west of Sydney to the Southern Highlands and everything changed at 5 pm the second Friday of the month, May 9th 2014. My wife was reading the local paper and saw an ad for the inaugural meeting of the Southern Highland Blues and Band Club at the local Lawn Bowling Club.
It has been one of the best positive life changing events in my life to date. I was the only harmonica player there that night. Through the guys at the club I have got involved in a number of bands and regular jam sessions. One of these guys, Gary, really encouraged me to sing, I hadn’t sung in public since my voice broke and to date now have a song list of 30 plus songs which is ever expanding. I’ve been recorded and have been actually paid for playing! I’ve met some great people and just wish I’d got a lot more serious 10 or 20 years sooner.
If you have ever thought about playing in public get out and do it. Put in some hard work on your playing and you’ll have a ball. I am so indebted to all the musicians that have encouraged me and those who have posted so many helpful tutorials on the WWW
My deep thanks to Jim Conway, Steve Whitby, Roy & Sharon Hauptberger, Paul Harmon, Rod Nielsen and the other muso’s at the Bowral Blues club, Gary Norwell, Allan Vander Linden, Steve Coupe and Sue Wallace, John Newell, Dave Shaw, Bruce Greenfield, Gordon Blakey, Keith Marshal, Ken Clark, John Tubridy, Kim Mannix and Frank Macias have all helped me, and I couldn’t have done any of it without the help and support of my wonderful wife Trish.
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The Iceman
3690 posts
Oct 23, 2018
10:03 AM
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Inspiration = late night "underground radio" WABX in Detroit in the late 60's - DJ played the album cut "Hush Hush" by Siegel/Schwall and that electric solo harmonica intro grabbed me and never let go.
Break through regarding bending - playing harmonica on a beach in Goa, India in 1972 while tripping on LSD provided by The Doctor, who would wander up to you, ask "1 drop or 2?" and then said "Say AHHH" as he medicated you with his eye dropper and bottle of acid.
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The Iceman
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Gareth
39 posts
Oct 23, 2018
12:04 PM
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Got into black music by the ska revival in the late 70's, (also giving me a lifelong interest in loafers and button-downs!).As a teenage Mod, got into soul, then older RnB, then deep blues. Then my dad, god bless him, noticed me playing air harmonica to Little Walter and gave me a fiver to buy a harp, when I was 15.
There were no books, no teachers, but a guy who drank in my dad's local explained second position to me. I just learned by listening to records, over and over and over again!
Then started playing in bands, etc. and learned a bit of guitar and tenor sax along the way. Could never play on Acid though, so props to Iceman!
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Harpeaux Edwards
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jbone
2729 posts
Oct 23, 2018
3:56 PM
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I was a very slow starter although I was exposed to harp via my Granddad when I was very young. He played to the whole family but made me feel like it was just for me. I had lost my Dad not long before and was inconsolable until he sang and played for me. A few years later I discovered late night a.m. radio, the "race radio" shows, pretty much all blues and soul, from several major US cities late at night. Still at age 6 or 7 I was not yet ready to try my hand at music. Some 10 years later my Mom gave me a harp that her Dad had given my Dad when I was born.
I had no clue how to play but began trying to do something with it. A Marine Band in C. After a couple of years some friends were noodling around in the living room where I rented a room, and I brought the harp out, and got some basic bending lessons and the information that blues was played in cross or second.
So a small beginning. I began buying Brit Invasion blues albums and other stuff, but at the time I was just not very teachable in any fashion. Fast forward to 1979 and I had moved to Dallas from a small city in the northeast. Ran across some jam nights and began to learn a bit. Still, I was very limited and reluctant to ask anyone for help although there were some good players I could have sought out.
In '87 I crashed and burned and ended up in treatment and beginning a sober life after decades of abuse of a variety of substances and also alcohol. Some time later my mind began to clear and I rediscovered some open mics and jams in a new city. After a time I began getting invited to sit in with bands, and learned more than I had before. I was still pretty much stuck in 2nd for the most part, and I felt like a one trick pony. I had had a crappy mic and amp years before and now I fell into a Fender Princeton Tremolo and a green bullet and began the tone journey. I began working with bands and then founding my own, and went to bigger amps. I went through the whole volume thing, blew out a lot of harps, finally took some voice lessons and realized that focus of air was much better then force. That was about 20 years ago.
Along about then I also was turned on to 3rd position playing and revisited 1st and 2nd as well, with a new attitude. Focus not force.
At this point I have about 46 total years of effort playing harp. About half of that has been with enough skill to work in bands. Side note, I have been singing for about 24 years now and have also written a lot of songs.
The past 20 years have been very fruitful musically. Excepting 1 year where I did not play at all (another whole story), I have been totally committed to playing for about 19 years solid. One of those years music was a major income source and I played every chance I got.
Some 14 years ago my wife began her journey with guitar and then singing. We've been a blues/roots duo ever since and we've had the time of our lives in recent years. We've written produced and published 3 original CD's, played a lot of joints in the south, and last year toured the USA playing a lot of little joints along the way.
This year we sort of regrouped and we're getting set to get back on the road and pursue music every place we go for the rest of our days.
That's the short version. I can't possibly name all those who have helped me in all these decades but there have been many. In turn I try and be a help to others with music.
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
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nacoran
9983 posts
Oct 23, 2018
10:25 PM
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Singer with a little music theory but wrist problems that were keeping me from learning guitar or piano. And I've got asthma and fidget a lot, and a harmonica seemed like it could help with both of those. When I first started my only goal was to get good enough that I could use it to quickly figure out what notes my songs had so I could write them out. (I never get around to that part, but the idea was that it would make it easier to put together a bunch of songs and break into professional songwriting). My other goal was to be able to hear a song and just knowing the key figure out the melody on harmonica fairly quickly. I can do that now. Was in a band, played open mics, opened for a friend... the next goal was a paying gig (we were getting offers but our guitar player/singer flaked on us) and see if we couldn't get on local radio. Didn't get there but working on getting up the energy to go out and try to find more musicians and see if I can't get into a new band. (Possibly with my old bass player. He didn't flake. Our lead guitar player is a daddy now so he doesn't have time.)
When I heard James Cotton and Jason Ricci I decided that I wanted to actually play this thing, and I do, and I have fun with it. There are days I wish I was better at the memorizing stuff... lyrics and arrangements and pieces of music theory that are more memorization than understanding... and wish I'd spend more time improvising over jam tracks. I can go up and play songs I know, and I can play over jam tracks, but I am not as confident jamming live. Really the only thing on stage that makes me nervous.
Working on a harmonica invention (well, procrastinating this week... but thinking).
Found Adam on FB and nearly deleted his first message. I didn't know anything about harmonica really, so when I got a message that said, Magic Dick Whammer Jammer I thought maybe it was for some sort of pills.
I guess I've been playing about 10 years now. I've found that whatever goals you had for yourself that you reach you'll replace. I sight read bass clef, at least theoretically and I'd like to bring that over to harmonica. I'd like to do some inventing. I'd like to get more of my stuff recorded well, which includes learning recording software which sometimes makes sense and other days hurts my brain.
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Nate
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indigo
534 posts
Oct 23, 2018
11:29 PM
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@ JMG....basically that's my story too...I want publishing rights ;-)
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The Iceman
3691 posts
Oct 24, 2018
4:19 AM
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nacoran: " Magic Dick Whammer Jammer I thought maybe it was for some sort of pills."
What kind of pills, Nate?
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The Iceman
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snowman
384 posts
Oct 24, 2018
9:14 AM
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I have a Siegal Schwall Cd remake and I as well, had to stop drinking n druggin--no regets --part of life--been clean 26 years-
Have u ever noticed kids listening to music—some don’t know its there---some can’t stop moving and dancing---right brain left---the world needs both
Nobody encouraged me to like or dislike music –I just loved it as a kid and still do. The first blues guy I can remember liking a lot, was BB King . Most of the rock n roll I liked, leaned towards 145 blues.
Wanted drum lessons in 7th grade—my parents compromised with guitar lessons—I took them for about 2 years-then broke a finger playing football---I didn’t go back to lessons and didn’t start with guitar again until I was about 18-19
Now a teenager in 60’s and 70’s GOOD GOD WHAT FUN-----I was jamming with friends to cream songs—canned heat---woodstock Lps—CCR etc. also got a job in the record dept in a dept store ‘white front’ no racial spin off just had a white front ,it was a chain like walmart.
At about 22 my finger picking was weak, so I took guitar lessons again, A couple monthes I asked where did all the James Taylor pictures came from—He said –“ he’s my cousin” this teacher ripped on guitar- even better than JT but he couldn’t sing at all-horrible
His instruction put me several years ahead of where I was on guitar
Started playing harp at about 20-22 1st song I wanted to learn “Lazy” Deep Purple”---then Butterfield—then all those cd’d from work—Heck at the beginning I even tried Chharley Mccoy b4 I realized, maybe I should STICK with the blues guys—Heck Charley was a regular at the Grand Ole Opra—WAY OUT OF MY LEAGUE”
In my 40’S took singing lessons for a year –SMARTEST THING I EVER DID- improves knowledge-confidence-VIBRATO VS PULSING –whick I later applied to harp. [Vibrato =note wavering smoothly down and back up to note] [Pulsing= same as say tongue slapping with out bending, the air supply stops and starts smoothly---BUT NO CHANGE IN PITCH]
Took Harmonica lessons from a college grad for about 6 monthes in my twenties—hes main push was vibrato and scales
Now 66 OLD FART—happy to still be here—over the years I have purchased instructional CD”S books. Dvd’s[Harp—“Blues harp’---“tom ball “---“Charlie Musselwhite” “Dave Barret” “harmonica for Dummies” ----MY ALLTIME FAVORITE “JERRY PORTNOY 3 CD”---“JON Gindick”----“paul Butterfield”---
For years I’ve studied Rod Piazza---slowdowner u name it—also sonny boys—Butterfield
For Guitar-lots Robben Ford dvd etc—BB king instruct CD—tons Misc tab books
Youd think after all this studying I could stop; “ drowning in a pool of mediocrity” but alas
Its always the journey that makes u happy-the destination is just fleeting moment of “wow I did it”
and then back to “IF I LEARN THIS LICK, THEN I’ll BE THERE” Ive discovered Im never there—but sure do like, workin to get there
Have arthritis, it disrupts my guitar by 20-30%--BUT I WILL NOT QUIT—SO MANY DO—MY MOM DID ON PIANO—I believe part of her soul died when she stopped playing—every once in drunken while she sit down and play, twisted fingers n all—I d sneak and listen –sounded good to me—had to wait till next day to tell her—IN MY HOUSE U HID FROM ADULTS AFTER 6PM—AND PRAYED FOR SLEEP-JUST THE WAY IT WAS—no wonder the blues fit me to T
For singing I have 3-4 instruction Cd’d I go back to when I can’t hit note
Anyway IM SO FULL A HOT AIR-BUT I MEAN WELL—
Got a go pack for “Blues Cruise” Since I left my house at 18, I’ve made it my mission to enjoy life and make up for the first third of my life—I HAVE MORE THAN SUCEEDED
“BE GOOD TO YR KIDS “
Last Edited by snowman on Oct 24, 2018 9:15 AM
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BnT
210 posts
Oct 24, 2018
12:06 PM
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Grew up in San Francisco. High school years - First inspired to play by Butterfield in 65 ; then Little Walter (& Bo Diddley) played the Longshoreman's Hall in '66. I was hooked.
I was a music journalist HS, college & beyond - mostly blues & jazz artists. Listening to albums and singles, trying to copy the harp parts. First mentor, Louis Myers.
Late '60's, also travelled the West Coast with the James Cotton band, so Cotton helped with my playing. When they left Cotton's band, guitarist Luther Tucker and drummer Francis Clay became friends and neighbors. Played together in the Bay Area - including my wedding. They immersed me in their blues stories...and, while not harp players, told me what I was playing wrong!
Junior Wells was my 3rd mentor - succinct and efficient in helping with tone, groove, and squeezing the most I could from each note.
Spent time in Chicago interviewing and in the clubs 69-71, creating a taped history of Chicago blues made for radio - my Masters thesis. Got to play with a lot of guys I knew from their records. Hound Dog Taylor and Luther Tucker helped me with slide.
I also had two teenage friends in SF whose influence was important - John Petersen (now in Washington state) played in my first band and more importantly, with John Lee Hooker, Steve Freund, Rusty Zinn, Charles Wheal & others; and a kid named Ricky Estrin - funny, dry, cool and exactly what you see today, just younger - skipping school to go through record store bins in search of blues 45's & 78's. He listened, listened, listened and learned to play note-for-note & exact tone for Little Walter, Sonny Boy, and Howlin Wolf before he ever hit 20.
But club life - alcohol, drugs, late nights, low pay - had a downside. My wife asked, "When are you ever going to make enough money playing blues on weekends to EVER pay the rent?" I said "Never", which led to a real job and a 35 year "blues retirement", playing confined to my car and home, seldom in clubs.
I started playing out again in 2008, maxing out at 100+ nights playing in 2014. Now, writing more than playing and planning to record my 1st CD in the coming months - all traditional style originals; Chicago blues, 40's R&B, and jump blues; paying tribute to the great guys who took me under their wings - my friends and idols. That's my story.
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BnT
Last Edited by BnT on Oct 25, 2018 8:44 AM
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snowman
386 posts
Oct 24, 2018
6:14 PM
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Bnt did u meet shuggie otis?
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jbone
2730 posts
Oct 24, 2018
6:26 PM
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@ Snowman- Congrats on sobriety first of all. Some of us just get lucky like that. Many don't. Some of our heroes had a pint in their jacket at all times to kill bad teeth pain or worse.
You have done much more real education than I have but what we seem to have in common is we both have a love and commitment to always do music and get it out to the people. When I took a year off about 15 years ago people told me something was missing from me. Folks who barely knew me noticed. Re making a commitment to music in my late 40's was the best thing I ever did.
@BnT- What a rich life. And amazing to me- you took off 3 1/2 decades and got back to it!
I'm totally enjoying this thread John M G. Thanks for putting it here!
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
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BnT
212 posts
Oct 25, 2018
1:01 AM
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Snowman - I saw but never attempted to meet Shuggie Otis. Your 66 looks young from where I sit - two months away from 70. Inside I'm still a teenager...except for arthritis and sciatic nerve pain.
I too am impressed with your (formal) music education. I envy the guys near me who study with Dave Barrett, learning notes, theory, and how to meld the two. They seem to develop quickly and some are pretty good. Between ADD's gift to me of constantly being driven to distraction (never managing time for regular practice or classes) and the issues of time & money - when I had money (for lessons), my time was dedicated to my kids and work; now retired, I have lots of time and little disposable income. Regular lessons will have to wait for my next lifetime.
Jbone - Thanks. It has been a rich life. The many blues guys I spent time or shared the stage with were typically welcoming, humble, and very kind to me - that made it rich. I guess being away 35 years gave me time to listen, re-listen, practice and to think about what those bluesmen taught me - like the guy who visualizes making baskets then goes on the court and makes the shots he visualized. Coming back (after being really nervous about it) I realized that while "retired", I'd never been away from the blues.
John M G - Thanks for the post.
And congrats to all of the guys who post here and got away from drugs, alcohol, or smoking.
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BnT
Last Edited by BnT on Oct 25, 2018 8:59 AM
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nacoran
9985 posts
Oct 25, 2018
9:04 AM
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"What kind of pills, Nate?"-Iceman
The kind they advertise with old Howlin Wolf songs!
(Or it could have been porn, but I was pretty sure Adam was up to no good.)
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Nate
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florida-trader
1379 posts
Oct 29, 2018
8:53 AM
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What’s my story?
I grew up playing the clarinet and I was pretty good at it. First Chair, Soloist, etc. I played all the way through Freshman year in college. That is also when I bought my first harmonica – 1972. I don’t really remember what possessed me to do so. My guess is that someone in the dorm had one and I started noodling around on it and I liked it so I went out and bought a couple of my own. Because of the embouchure I had developed through playing the clarinet, I never had any problem isolating a clean single note, like many beginners. And, because I do have some musical aptitude, I was able to figure out the layout – high notes on the right, low notes on the left, like a piano. Breath in. Breath out. OK – I got it. I was playing simple melodies and “campfire” songs within hours. I never played with other musicians or jammed. I listened primarily to Rock and Roll. If I heard a cool harp solo on a song, I would figure it out and be able to play it. The first “harp solo” I ever learned was from The Doobie Brothers’ Long Train Running. I must have played that solo a thousand times. I had no clue about second position, pentatonic scale or any of the other information that we pretty much take for granted. I didn’t realize it way back then, but I do now that the music that comes out of you is the music that is inside you. I learned to draw bend in order to fill in the “missing notes” on the low end to complete the Major Scale and I played classical music. I knew all the “lead” parts since I was a First Clarinet. They were ingrained in my head and I was able to play them on the harmonica. Ditties, Folk Music, Christmas Carols comprised the music I played.
Fast forward 35 years, which is about 10 years ago, and I am at a dinner party with some friends. After dinner, the host broke out his guitar and a couple of harps. He did a couple of songs strumming the guitar, playing harp in a rack and singing. He is a pretty good guitar player but not much of a harmonica player, so I commandeered the harps and we played a bunch of songs. As long as we stayed on the “beaten path” meaning he knew which key harp to play if he were playing, we did fine. As soon as we strayed, we were both completely lost. I had heard about something called “Cross Harp” and I knew it meant that you didn’t play the harp labeled with the same key that the guitar played, but other than that, I was clueless. I came away from that night thinking, “This is stupid. I’ve been playing the harmonica all these years and I still have no clue which harp to play when I play with a guitar”. The next day I Googled “Harmonica Cross Harp Chart”. In other words, I opened Pandora’s Box. I discovered a thriving online harmonica community that I could never have imagined. I was instantly sucked into the abyss! I subscribed to a couple of newsletters or websites (harp-l.org being the first) and just immersed my self in all things harmonica. Up until that time, I played the Golden Melody exclusively. I started buying different models – Marine Band, Marine Band Deluxe, Special 20, HarpMaster, ProMaster, Seydel Solist Pro, an XB-40, a couple of tremelos and a Chromatic. I never knew there was such a thing as a Front Man who was the lead singer and lead instrumentalist on the harmonica. In other words, I knew nothing about Blues Music. I subscribed to a website that allowed me to download 50 songs a month for $15.95. I started downloading nothing but blues harmonica music. And that was all I listened to. Still do. I bought books, videos, microphones, amps, effect pedals. The whole nine yards. I was having a blast.
I learned so much from hanging around on harp-l.org. Every digest would lead me down a Rabbit Hole of new information. I also noticed a recurring theme on harp-l. That being that guys seemed to constantly be in search of quality custom combs and that nobody was doing a particularly good job of meeting that demand. After about two years, I decided to put my toe in the water and try my hand a making custom harmonica combs. I had no idea what I was doing. I just thought it would be fun to start an online business. I like working with my hands. I love the harmonica. Guys wanted them. So, why not? I used eBay. I was immediately embraced by the harmonica community and they “educated” me about what a quality harmonica comb was supposed to look like, accomplish, etc. The smartest thing I ever did was listen to them. “The Market” is a genius. If you just listen to them, they will tell you exactly what you have to do to earn their business. This is true for any business – not just making harmonica combs. Within three months, I went from making two products to 45 products. I added different materials and different models – all based upon customer’s requests. Then I started offering Powder Coated Covers and within a year, I was offering over 300 different products. Soon, I set up a website. Another year or two later I became a Hohner Dealer and a Suzuki Dealer and have been building harps for the past five years. I didn’t know much about reed work at first. There is a learning curve with Reedsmithing just like there is a learning curve to making custom combs or playing blues music. But there is an abundance of information available to anyone who wants to take advantage of it. I have the same resources at my disposal as everyone else. I suppose the advantage that I have over many is that I got to practice by building hundreds and hundreds of harps. As the months and years went by, I incorporated what I learned from talking with other Harp Techs, attending SPAH Conventions, YouTube Videos, Facebook discussions, and, of course, the tremendously valuable information shared by the members of Modern Blues Harmonica. In a manner of speaking, I am simply a reflection of what the market has said they would support. There are literally too many people to list who have contributed to my education and to helping me get where I am today. It has been a fun ride. It has been a lot of work. I’ve been very diligent. The past 8 years, since I started Blue Moon Harmonicas LLC, have gone fast.
As for my harp playing – the only regret that I have about starting Blue Moon is that I simply do not have the time to practice as much as I would like. To be sure, my playing has improved dramatically but I am not where I would like to be. Perhaps I will retire from building harps and focus on playing them. You never know. Anybody interesting in buying a business?
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
Last Edited by florida-trader on Oct 30, 2018 7:11 AM
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ROBERT TEMPLE II
33 posts
Oct 29, 2018
12:28 PM
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Around 1972, I found my great uncle's Fr Hotz "AMERICAN ACE" diatonic in an old pullman trunk up in our attic. The first hit on the draw tasted of mothball crystals, so I thought to rinse the harp out. [It wasn't my first "hit" by any stretch of the imagination.] Right away, my harp swelled, but then, so did my heart when I was first able to make some sort of music in a few days.
I had grown up around a baby grand that decided not to hold its tuning anymore around then, just as I was starting to take an interest in music. The piano was replaced with a terrible Wurlitzer organ, their "Fun Machine." I was left with the harp and much to my delight it has been one of my closest friends from then on.
My friend Jeff turned me on to the recently released John Mayall album "Jazz Blues Fusion", something his dad had bought. I reckon the harp was probably in C and it didn't fit all the tunes. I soon started buying Hohners, mostly the old "Blues Harp" in different keys.
Having grown up in the 60s and 70s, I was privy to lots of new grooves. One day a friend turned me on to Butterfield's "Golden Butter" album. "Driftin' Blues" was immediately the sound I felt in my heart, crying, wailing...I was deeply touched by that music.
James Cotton was another who got to me at an early age. I particularly liked his feel for boogie. He used to play near where I grew up in the northeast of the states so I got to see and meet him early on, around 1978 or so. Good times at the old Red Barn bottle club out in the STICKS, a yankee juke joint, if you will.
Just out of high school in 1974, I hitched to Aspen to be a ski bum, harps in tow. I used to walk the streets there in the evenings, playing harp in the cool air. One night I walked past an open stairwell and WOW, THE ECHO!!! I backed up and began working with the natural echo. Suddenly, some "secret" of harp was revealed to me, the feeling was almost like finding a $100 bill on the ground, a huge, unexpected surprise. Another time that winter of '74-75, as I was doing my usual evening harp walk around Aspen, another harp guy about my age heard me and said, "Lemme show you how to play." And play he did, wow, it was like Butterfield's style, I was in bliss and sort of jealous as this guy had it DOWN. And then he left. To this day, I'm not sure who that kid was, but I think it may've been Mark Ford. HAD to be.
So, I was now on to something and I began buying several different key harps, still the Blues Harp with nails, a Hohner Piccolo in A for $10.95 [it sits before me as I write, still a great harp], my first chromatic in D, a Hohner 270, and a couple of Hohner Echo Harps.
There used to be a fellow in Aspen by the name of Micky Shemin who had his own walking billboard business in the streets of Aspen and he played echo harps while he shouldered his sandwich signs about town. I started working for him and also played echo harps when doing so, playing improvised polkas, jigs, reels, something like that, it just came naturally to me. I took that idea back to my home state in the east and made my own walking billboard business, replete with echo harps, summers '76-78.
The summer of 1976 I learned to juggle. I added that to the billboard show and started working with a puppeteer, eventually working as a clown/juggler in the Clyde Beatty - Cole Bros. Circus for seven years in the 1980s. Along the way, when in the circus, I was able to sit in with many bands at open mics or just sit in providing I had harps on hand, which I always did. I liked the blues bars up and down the east coast and I had access to many, seeing as how we played three towns a week, seven days a week, Mar-Nov. Sitting in once with the since-passed Bryan Lee in NOLA was the best.
Just prior to joining the circus, I attempted to be a music student at a university in my state. That was difficult, I had no discipline, save for practicing my juggling, which took a front seat to my music studies. I had no music training prior to then and have only recently actually started to study it at my own, plodding pace.
After seven years on the road with the circus, I moved back home and began to play a lot more harp, got my first amp, a Kalamazoo Model 2 [still have that, too, $20 at a junk store, mid-1990s], a Wurlitzer 200A electric piano, a couple of Fender Rhodes and a whole lot of Hering 12 hole chromatics and Hohner CX12s in different keys. [Special thanks to the late F & R Farrell]. I also got a nice vintage tape loop, the Roland RE-301 Chorus/Echo. Again, $20, still works great.
My album collecting had started to get obsessive but no regrets there. Too many greats to list here but some are Paul Delay, Jimmy Smith, Ray Charles, Musslewhite, Wm. Clarke, Cotton, Bell, WAR, obscure guys like Lazy Lester, Blues Etilicos, Mark Hummel, etc.
When I had returned home after seven years on the road with the circus, I decided to reopen my walking billboard business. It was a huge success in Portland, Maine. One summer day in the early 1990s, some skate punk came to me and told me I played "wicked blues harp." As I never played anything but the polkas and such when doing the sign business, I wondered how he knew I blew the blues. He told me he had heard me one Tues. night at an open mic blues jam. He was too young to be let inside the bar, so he said he hung around outside as I played with people I still play with at open mic blues jams here nowadays. He asked me who I listen to so I rattled off a few of the aforementioned artists. I invited him to my place to listen to some blues greats later that day. The kid was intense, very smart and likely troubled by homelife and more. He reminded me of myself when I was his age. He was noneother than Jason Ricci, a dear, dear friend who I owe a lot to so far as inspiration, perspiration and sobriety is concerned.
I have lived extensively in Brasil and that Kalamazoo went with me, once. Even though I had the proper step-down transformer [220 down to 120 volts, in the state of Bahia], I was nearly electrocuted when Mr. Positive and Mr. Negative met, the moment I put harp and mic to my wet lips...YEEEEEOW !!! YOU ONLY DO THAT ONCE. Anyway, they love the blues in Brasil and I had many occasions to play with some fine folks there, was even able to meet Flavio Guimaraes once in Rio. But what I found to be really a nice thing is that the chromatic is MADE for bossa nova, which one hears all over the place. Soooo many fine musicians in Brasil, all nice people.
Like so many others, I, too, came to the harsh realization that I could no longer tolerate alcohol in my system so I quit that poison just over two years ago. I have no regrets about stopping as now I am better able to concentrate on more important things than trying to get out of bed. My top priorty these days is to learn as much as I can about playing harmonicas.
I got my first Stage 2+ Bb Sp20 about ten months ago, then two Manjis, A and D, also Stage 2+, this past January. I am happy to report that I "own" the overblow technique now. As a huge fan of many types of jazz, particularly jazz/blues, swing and funk, the ability to hit any note on the diatonic is a godsend, as it were. The overbend ablity has also had the curious effect of me studying the chromatic harp more, too, and I am examining the valving options for diatonics as well. Oh, and then there are the alt tunings I have discovered, namely the so-called "dorian" harp with its flatted by a half-step draw holes 3&7. Now I wants me some EDharps, seems like an intesting harp full of potential.
Maybe the most important thing I have learned in recent months is the ability to better set up my diatonics. Harps that had been relegated to the junk pile over the years are now playable or at least useable for parts. I have yet to learn how to replace reeds but that is next on the list. Looks to be a long winter ahead so I am happy to have these many challenges to mess with.
Thanks for being there, y'all, I love reading all your stories.
PEACE...
Last Edited by ROBERT TEMPLE II on Oct 29, 2018 1:02 PM
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Joe_L
2855 posts
Oct 31, 2018
3:02 PM
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I was born and raised in Chicago. I got sucked into the harmonica after seeing Mojo Buford with the Muddy Waters Band, the Eddie Taylor Band and Luther Allison at Chicagofest. I started playing shortly after that. In a six week span at the University of Illinois in Chicago, I saw Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues, Eddy Clearwater, Lonnie Brooks, Koko Taylor and a couple of other bands. I get sucked into Blues in a big way. I read the book Deep Blues and realized many of the people in that book were still alive at the time. I started going to clubs. I saw every harp player that lived or passed thru Chicago from 1979 to 1987 several times. I worked hard to recreate what I was hearing with limited success. I sat in with whoever would let me.
I moved to California in 1987. I almost quit going out. I would go out when guys like Jimmy Rogers, James Cotton or Luther Tucker played festivals. I I quit playing until until around 1994 when Billy Branch, Willie Kent and Detroit Junior's bands played for two weeks each at a long defunct club. I started playing around the house again. It was thru Billy that I met some of the local guys who introduced me to RJ MIscho.
Around 2000, RJ started hosting a jam in the town we lived in. His wife sorted of talked me into playing again after about six months. After that, I started playing and sitting in wherever I could. Fortunately, people have been very nice to me and very supportive with my attempts to make noise.
Due to social media and a job that required some travel, I've had the opportunity to meet and play music in some places that I never would have thought about.
Unfortunately, everybody plays the harmonica in CA. I am usually too lazy to book gigs myself and the area doesn't really need another harmonica led band. I don't have many paying gigs, but I am really thankful for the gigs that I've had. I've had the opportunity to perform with some really great players that I truly respect. I've also had the opportunity to record with a few of them.
The coolest thing is that I got to meet and become friends with a lot of incredibly cool people because of a tiny ten hole instrument. Overall, life is pretty good.
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BnT
214 posts
Nov 01, 2018
10:14 AM
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I appreciated Joe_L's story but as Paul Harvet used to say, "Now...the rest of the story..." Joe's reference to listening to and trying to emulate the Chicago harp players is probably an understatement. In the S.F. Bay Area if I'm coming up to a club and it sounds just like a Chicago band in the late '60's, odds are I'll walk in and see it's Joe on harp.
He just has that organic sound - not high profile stuff - guys who try to do note-for-note covers of (songs by) the Walters, Sonny Boy, Cotton or Junior - but that thick, 12-bar, Chicago brown sound you can almost eat with a spoon; casual, but precise, the stuff you'd hear in clubs on the South and West Sides from the likes of Little Willie Anderson, Earring George Mayweather, Carey Bell or Mojo Buford - just sitting in for the night or filling in at Sylvio's, Walton's Corner, or the Checkerboard Lounge because Wolf or Muddy was out of town. It's Joe's calling card.
Joe_L combines killer tone, an efficiency of notes used, and spaces in all the right places. So, if you ever have that wonderful experience, being grabbed by the sound of straight Chicago blues while outside a club; if you walk in and Joe_L is the harp player, know that he's one of two harp players you never want to follow on stage.
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BnT
Last Edited by BnT on Nov 01, 2018 10:19 AM
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Joe_L
2856 posts
Nov 01, 2018
4:40 PM
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BnT - Wow! Thank you for those kind words. I am a fan of yours. I especially enjoyed your slide guitar playing. You don't hear much of that anymore. That, along with your fine harp playing, takes me back to Chicago. You also write some cool tunes. That's a triple threat.
Last Edited by Joe_L on Nov 01, 2018 4:49 PM
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