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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Interview with William Clarkes' wife
Interview with William Clarkes' wife
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7LimitJI
633 posts
Mar 02, 2012
4:16 AM
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This a great interview that talks about Bills influences and style.Also his untimely death.
Bill Clarke
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The Pentatonics Reverbnation
Youtube
"Why don't you leave some holes when you play, and maybe some music will fall out".
"It's music,not just complicated noise".
Last Edited by on Mar 02, 2012 4:25 AM
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barbequebob
1822 posts
Mar 02, 2012
7:42 AM
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She's got a page on Facebook called "William Clarke Remembered." She's reissuing just about everything he ever did over the years.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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HarpNinja
2248 posts
Mar 02, 2012
7:48 AM
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"A technical virtuoso on both diatonic and chromatic harmonicas, he was not content to cop licks from other artists. He borrowed from jazz influences that gave his music an undeniable personal signature, a sound unmistakably his own."
""Well, as far as Bill's playing goes, Clarke-Lodovici continues, "at first he listened to other harp players. But once he learned how to play he never really listened to them again. It was always jazz that he listened to. I'm sure that people can tell that when they listen to him. In fact I remember George Smith saying that his favorite harp player was Larry Adler. He's very jazzy. Bill would listen to horn riffs and organ riffs and learn them on the harp. I'm sure though now most of the accomplished harp players who have been playing for years do the same."
"If you are covering a tune, or trying to get someone's style, the way Bill used to say it, it's okay to cover a tune, but make it your own. Don't try to sound like the person who originally did the tune, because you will never be able to do it as good as the person who did it first and you will always only be second best."
""I truly believe that Bill's style came from all those great harp players that he listened to at first, offers Clarke-Lodovici. "I can hear a lot of [James] Cotton's tone in Bill's playing. You know who is playing harp when you hear Bill. He is very distinctive. I can hear other guys out there now though that sometimes fools me. They sound a little like Bill's style. It took lots of hours and being very dedicated to the blues for Bill to get where he did in his own sound. He dropped out of high school because he knew that he wanted to be a blues musician—no matter what it took."
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Mike
VHT Special 6 Mods
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas - When it needs to come from the soul...
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Frank
327 posts
Mar 02, 2012
9:20 AM
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Plus he could keep it "unique" and create a style -I believe, because of his excellent Composing and Arranging talents...In my opinion, that's why (outstanding players) seem light years ahead of merely good players...Players like Delay, Gruenling , Piazza, Del Junco among others - They have acquired the Composing and Arranging talents along with other important skills necessary to develop a style that stands out as special! To have your own exceptional harmonica style is probably as hard as someone making it into professional sports and having a successful career?
Last Edited by on Mar 02, 2012 9:22 AM
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