Yeah. Those two are golden. As I was painting my mother-in-law's basement ceiling last night, I was listening to a bunch of Corky's stuff on youtube on my phone. Came across this version of Hey Billie Jean. Man does he have some on-stage energy! That ending solo-jam is killer! Kinda surprised me to see where he was at. Cobden is just a stone's throw from my grandparents' house.
My biggest influence is Paul Butterfield; I have never heard a better combination of feeling, tone , phrasing , speed and fluidity in other diatonic blues player. There are , of course, dozens of players who might be technically better, faster, more polished, but Butterfield remains for me one of the few real geniuses on the instrument. After him, it is Sonny Boy Williams, Sonny Terry, Charlie Musselwhite, Norton Buffalo and Cary Bell. Guitarists are a huge influence on how I play, paricularly John McLaughlin. ---------- Ted Burke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu www.ted-burke.com
They had the ability to get the whole audience rocking back and forth at either venue.
Unbelievable locked in groove. The band played the silences between the notes together.
Then I saw Corky do his solo show a few times at the once famous "coffee house" venue in Southfield MI (can't remember the name - it's now known as Sweet Lorraine's restaurant). He oozed groove. Also plays with a lot of humor in his approach to the music. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by on Jun 15, 2012 3:41 PM
Ah, Detroit, home sweet home! I saw Butterfield at the Chessmate at Livernoise and Six Mile Road , as well as the Siegle-Schwall Band and some others. It was a no age limit coffee house. Good times,always. ---------- Ted Burke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu www.ted-burke.com
Started playing because of "diggin' my potatoe" in cowboy bebop. I'd love to play like SBWII but need four more decades of blues before trying. Now my greatest harp influence is Filip Jers. Not really a blues influence but tone and technique to kill for. ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
someone help me. I don't get John Popper. What kind of music does he actually play? What with all the random notes? Is it a contest to see how many notes he can play in a given amount of time? I just don't get it.
@ Pluto - I gave your question on John Popper some thought (about a minute, not because the question is not important, it is) and I think I have it figured out. Check out the beat of many of Blues Traveler's songs. It's that same-ole, same-ole guitar-strumming beat that the younger generations like. In order to fit the harp into the whole scheme of things, Popper acts like a lead guitar and just blows strings of notes that fit the beat. That is about it. If anything, the word "Blues" at the beginning of his band's name could not be more deceptive. It's OK for foot tapping music, but it doesn't really grab me, and it certainly is not the blues.
Last Edited by on Jun 17, 2012 8:10 AM
someone help me. I don't get John Popper. What kind of music does he actually play? What with all the random notes? Is it a contest to see how many notes he can play in a given amount of time? I just don't get it. not a big john popper fan. but listen to this!
@1847: I have to tip my hat off to John Popper to an extent because he has a unique style, instantly recognizable from the many competent harmonica players out there. A little bit of his style, though, goes a long way and I find his reliance on speed so much of the time to be to be grating, imprecise and repetitive. He is not all that versatile a player; speedy harp players like Sugar Blue, Jason and the ever reliable Howard Levy learn their instruments to the degree they're able to play a great variety of styles and to construct their improvisations. Adam, I think, is the perfect example of that: his solos are statements, coherent , fluid and well articulated, with each chorus containing a surprise or fresh variation on an established theme. Finally, construction and control of one's skills is more important than the capacity to go from 0 to 60 at once. Popper strikes me as the Jose Feliciano of diatonic harmonica: you cannot deny the skill that is there, but you find yourself wishing that you'd spent your time instead listening to a better player.
@att1chgo: I rather like what Butterfield did with horns back in the day and I thought the color contrast between Butter's amplified harp and the brass was exhilerating. "The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Live", recently rereleased as an mp3 download, is Butter and Horns in full force: funky, sharp, soulful, with Butterfield's harmonica work laying it down with force and genius. Of course, to each their own. ---------- Ted Burke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu www.ted-burke.com
I've always lightheartedly commented that John Popper developed one really cool and unique harmonica solo, but seems to play it in every song. :>) ---------- The Iceman
@The Iceman: I guess that would make Popper the Alvin Lee of the diatonic. ;) ---------- Ted Burke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu www.ted-burke.com
People always ask me at gigs if I was inspired to play by John Popper, which is understandable that they would ask considering that Popper was really the most prominent and visible harp player to my generation. I'm always honest with them. I tell them no. I admire him for his skills, and his unique approach to diatonic soloing, but he is not what inspired me.
Truth be told, back when I first listened to Blues Traveler, it was before I'd even picked up a harp. So listening to Popper's solos on things like The Hook and DMB's What Would You Say? just made me feel like I had a kind of music dyslexia, because it all ran together and I couldn't make any sense of it. Now that I play harp and have a grasp of most playing styles and techniques, I can figure out, in theory, what the Pop is doing in those solos.......
.....I wouldn't dream of being able to duplicate it in any way, shape, or form though.
---------- Hawkeye Kane
Last Edited by on Jun 18, 2012 6:46 AM
Any moment now someone will leap at the chance to tell you all about why JP is fantastic, and how you could probably do to open your minds or such. Won't be me though. ----------
I'd love to see what'd happen in a head cutting session between JP and JR or Howard. The guy prolly wouldn't know what hit him. ---------- Hawkeye Kane
@HawkeKane: Hell, I'd love the chance to go up against JP. Howard Levy trumps everyone on the planet, IMO. But it would fun to witness. ---------- Ted Burke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu www.ted-burke.com
I've been thinking about this for several days. I picked up the harp because I hadn't had much luck with other instruments. I'd tried piano and guitar, both with carpal-tunneltastic results. I write. I had a garage band I sand with part time on about 1/3 of the songs, but I wasn't happy with my voice, and the guitar player/lead vocalist always thought I was trying to muscle my way in on the lead vocalist job (which actually I didn't want). I'd also noticed my fat-ass was out of breath when I got to the top of the stairs, and I read harp was good for asthma. So, that's how I got started. It wasn't until I heard Jason Ricci that I really got excited about it. I like Cotton and SBII a lot, and I love Adam's foot drum driven style. I steal a lot of lines from other instruments, and when I'm just jamming around the house I'm usually playing the vocal line, so one of my biggest influences is all the vocalists out there whose lines play well on harp.
Later, I stumbled on Hakan, and the harpbox/loop guys on here. That's sort of what I'm aiming for now- a Hakan/Ricci electric guitar on harp sound, with moments of soul like Cotton all tied together with beatbox.
Cool Nate! And btw,I'm really happy to see this thread still active! Let's keep 'em coming! Who inspired you the most? Let us know! ---------- == I S A A C ==
