Being a big fan of the Vaughan brothers, Kim Wilson, and Angela Strehli I was excited when I found this video. I really like the way Angela sings.
I've been studying the use of 3rd position in various style of blues since it was commented I should use it in something I posted. I have found places where it works, but I don't think this vid is one of them.
I know it is a matter of taste and opinion, and I really dig Kim Wilson's stuff, but I don't think it fits in on this song with what the singer and rest of the band are doing...especially the solo. I like an Ab harp in second here.
I think it's a case of that being the harp he had on hand. IIRC, during those days KW didn't carry a full set of harp keys--most of the Thunderbirds' material then was in the keys of E, A, and B so that Kim could buy A harps by the carton and cover those keys with position playing. You would see a roughly-shoebox-sized shipping carton of A harps behind Kim onstage.
One night that I witnessed, the band decided to see how drunk they could get and still play--and were brilliant--and at the end of the night Kim grabbed his carton of harps and started giving them away to the crowd till their road manager or whoever stopped him. Unfortunately I wasn't close enough to get one (believe me, nobody who got one knew what to do with it). My brother drove them around town for in-stores on later occasions and told me about the E/A/B key thang.
But the chromatic in that video could sure use some tuning. I think it works fine except for that. Strehli is brilliant and too little known--Kaz Kazanoff plays some fine harp on her records, as well as sax.
Last Edited by on Sep 11, 2010 7:42 AM
I thought 3rd worked perfectly. The solo didn't hold well tonally and he'd been better to stick with the rhythm chops that he was using, which were exceptional. The interplay of rhythm here amongst all the players is a study in listening. That said, imho, Kim over plays throughout, especially on the guitar solos. Also interesting that the group accommodates SRV's tuning
Last Edited by on Sep 11, 2010 7:16 AM
So am I correct in saying that Kim is playing an "F" Chromatic in 3rd position? I can see how that could be his only option.
I don't like what Kim does in behind Stevie's breaks at all. Stevie is playing Elmore James meets Albert King rockin blues and Kim's backing sounds like the awesome Rod Piazza west coast blues.....
He played the solo and the backing dead on the money. I played along with him in 3rd with a 64 and alternated with an Aflat diatonic in 2nd and its exactly what I would've done in the same spot with a band in Eflat. (And if I can do it then it isn't that hard) The octave/chord that frightens some players is one lifted from Big Walter and later Bill Clark Kim Wilson "don't make no bad bets" (although I think Piazza or Jimmy Harmon on the 64 would have totally BURNED the place down on this thing) Regards
Last Edited by on Sep 11, 2010 9:44 AM
harpdude61... tm714 is correct. Wilson is just holding the button in which throws the 64 ,playing in 3rd, from D up into Eflat. Players who have money will have two 64's and one will have the button taped in with duct tape or adhesive tape but then you miss out on a few choice licks that can be hit by releasing the button at certain spots. On a 270, you can take off the mouthpiece, get in there and reverse the slide position...does the same thing. Rick Estrin has a couple setup that way I never tried that on a 64 because everytime I start tinkering with one of those I wind up messing up a harmonica and with the highway robbery prices of the things, I'm too scared to gamble. Regards
Last Edited by on Sep 11, 2010 12:00 PM
Kim learned that from the guy who taught him, Rod Piazza, and William Clarke that thing, and that was George Harmonica Smith. JoeLeeBush is right about that thing about reversing the slide on the 270 chromatic (which is straight tuned, but doing this on a cross tuned chromatic like the 280, 64, Super 64X, CX-12, or the Suzuki chromatics won't work because they're crossed tuned) or pre-'65 wood combed 280.
You actually order one that way and it's usually referred to as an Irish tuned chromatic so that when the slide is pressed in, you go a 1/2 step flat rather than sharp. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Listen to the stretch from about 4:09 to 4:15 and try not to cringe--either there's a problem with the video playback itself, or there's an intonation issue. That's the long problematic section, but there are flashes throughout.
If you regularly beat up on the C side of a chro doing D blues (250-300 nights a year), but rarely play in Eb and don't use the button much, the overall C-side and C#-side tunings may drift apart significantly over time. It sounds like Kim's having trouble playing it into tune with the button held in, as if his button-out intonating habits don't work. The issue is something other than the typical chromatic ET harshness.
Good players will cope as needed to make a randomly tuned harp intonate better, but usually need some time on that harp to intonate well. I wonder if KW spent enough time playing this particular harp in Eb. No shame in that, but a good advertisement for tuning your own harps, regularly, so that you don't have to cope with intonation idiosyncracies when you pick up one that doesn't get much work.
I wouldn't say that he's overplaying, just that he can't tuck the harp underneath the guitars very well with no VC on the mic. It's the classic pitfall of the switched mic: if you're loud enough to have full dynamic range in your solo when the band is this loud, you may well be too loud on rhythm.
"In Orbit": the one T-Birds tune with chro in Eb that I know of.
To my ear, when Kim tries to play louder for the solo in the OP, he winds up playing flat for a whole lot of the solo. Either the C# plates weren't tuned sharp enough to start with, or he's pulling them way flat much of the time. Can't be sure whether the harp's out of tune--I think I hear bad octaves and individual notes in spots--but he's definitely playing it out of tune, intonation's sour during a lot of the solo. Check right about 4:51--ouch, that'd be better in a way if it were a dying reed.
Maybe he's playing too hard because SRV's band is too loud. What are the odds on that? But tuning those C# plates sharper to start with would still give him more margin in that situation.
3rd works great on all these other vids posted...including this one of the same night! ....still not for me on the original post....I'm not saying what he does isn't musical or does not fit. It does...but for the style of song Kim would have killed it with an Ab harp in 2nd.
