I've been listening a lot to Junior Wells lately. I love his style, both singing and harp. There was a guy who did not waste licks, who had soul to spare. I also like his use of voice, grunts and moans, while playing the harp, I've not heard anyone else do that (aside from old-time fox chase stuff). You don't hear that very much in amplified harp playing.
@Frank, thanks for that Nemeth video. He was more than nodding to Junior, he was channelling him, and doing a great job of it. Almost to the point of imitation, I thought. I liked it, but I wonder if he mentions that he is doing a Junior Wells tune when he does this. I would, if I were aiming for that kind of "tribute" in a cover. Just something else to think about. ----------
If he does'nt - then the folks in the audience that are clueless to Jr's music will think John's even more of genius and top shelf entertainer then he already is?
I thought that Trouble No More was pretty much perfect. Ted Williams used to take batting practice at Fenway and scream "I am Ted F...ing Williams!" at the top of his lungs between screams. That's kind of presence Junior has here. Licks are simple and significant and I marvel too at the notes he doesn't play. This is a guy who knows how it's done. He starts out really, really simple on the harp, then gets more complex as he goes along, but his solos are deeply based in the melody and I love the way he works the grunts in. Oh yes, and he's playing very softly and his embouchure is very relaxed. I posted this largely for Tooka's benefit and I hope he sees it. So many of the things I and others were trying to express in our comments is done to perfection here, among those: the simplicity of it, starting simple and increasing dynamics and volume as the song builds, notes played sparingly and the melody threaded throughout. He doesn't play the entire melody, he plays the most significant and recognizable parts of it that come in and out during the solos and he skips parts of the melody and opts instead for silence. Beethoven and Mozart used to do stuff like that back in their days.
What energy! He was like James Brown with a harmonica.
Never heard about John Nemeth but I discover he plays like Shaky Jake Harris, as far as I can judge and that way of playing is not so so frequent. I appreciated Elkriver's fine analysis about Junior Wells: I there also discover new things.
