Listen to this video; copy and repeat. Key thing here: He's playing on the vocal mic. No harp mic; no amp. No stomp-boxes, delays, reverb tanks. No muss, no fuss. No swapped out tubes. No $2000 amp. No vintage squat. Just a harp, his hands, and the mic.
I found this clip by googling "fantastic blues harmonica"
That is Mark Korpi playing guitar on "Bad Poker Hand"-he runs the Thursday night jam at The Beach Shack in Cocoa Beach-I get up there as much as possible to play with Mark-he has shared some personal stories with me about Gary,and we have also played some unfinished songs started by Mark and Gary.
Mark wrote a lot of Garys material,and played guitar on quite a few of his recordings. I feel privliged to play with Mark on Thursdays-he is very casual about it ,but I am sure he knows how much it really menas to me-,
Tom Fiacco.
Last Edited by on Sep 25, 2012 12:49 PM
Gary was a great player. Fantastic tone and technique. He had some great songs. He learned from the masters of the instrument. The best way to pick a lot of this stuff up is by watching and listening to great players. It's not magic. It just doesn't happen. It's a lot of work.
About the second video: One of the cool thing about David Barrett's free videos is that they provide an interesting insight into the development of a variety of harp players.
The message from them is almost 100% consistent:
1. Listen to a lot of great players. 2. See a lot of great players in action. 3. Try to put what they heard from the better players into practice. This requires a lot of trial and error. 4. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again...
Back to Gary Primich. When he blows through the vocal mic, he walks up to it like a man. He isn't prissy about it. He isn't timid. He knows exactly what it's going to sound like because he worked at it. He's done it a bunch. He's worked at it and practiced it.
Watch his hands. Watch how he works with the mic. Listen to what he is playing at those moments. It's also a decent video from the standpoint that there isn't a lot of delay between the audio and video. (This is one huge area where watching and trying to learn from performances on youtube stinks.)
Tom: Ask Mark about Brewer Phillips. That guitar is a direct tribute to him on this song. Gary, Mark, and lots of other great austin players are now sadly dead and or scattered all over the world due to the decline in the live music there and the cost of living gone insane. I feel very fortunate to amoung the musicians, like Gary and Mark (evan johns and the h bombs), that tore it up in Austin back in the 80's. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Can someone help me out here, I can't make out the end lyrics on the last verse of Bad poker hand at 3:55 (just after "gamblers always lose").Been buggin' me for awhile. Thanks in advance! p.s shame on any blues harp player that doesn't have Gary in their collection.
Brewer Phillips was a fine guitarist. The records he did with Hound Dog Taylor are legendary recordings that put Alligator records on the map. His album entitled "Homebrew" on Delmark is very good, too. It's the kind of Blues that's rarely played anymore.
Mark was buddies with Brewer. Tell Mark we need to do a Black Cat Lounge reunion concert. His band (Evan johns and the h bombs) and I were some of the first and longest playing bands there. Teddy Roddy was too with teddy and the tall tops. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
He played with "Omar and the Howlers" for awhile and they played Third and Lindsey club in Nashville couple times a year. He could really make it sound like Gold!
TMF714, I lived in Austin and saw Gary play multiple times. He was my friend and he gave me a few private lessons. Gary was definitely not tongue blocking 100% of the time. He had multiple embouchure switching tools that he showed me.
Personally I am on a Gary tear. I have learned around 10 Gary solos and a couple of full instrumentals this year. Personally I am working on upping my TB skills so I am learning everything 100% TB'd but that is coincidental.
@MichaelRubin-Gary is tongue blocking everything in the first video-that is what I was reffering to. That is what the OP was about.
To achieve Garys tone,you must tongue block-no two ways about it. Mark would know you if you were close to Gary-I will ask Mark Korpi if he remembers you-.
P.S.- I bought Garys "Learn to play Blues Harmonica-the Basics and Beyond" when it was first issued-I still listen to it from time to time.
Last Edited by on Sep 26, 2012 2:32 PM
Korpi and I weren't friends, more acquaintances. We hung out a bit at a recent tribute. I did September Song, he might remember me from that. Korpi is an amazing guitarist and a nice guy, we just never hung out.
@waltertore-I spoke with Mark-he asked where the Blackcat is located now-he wants to know the specifics of the reunion concert,and he seems interested-let me know.
We spoke about Brewer on Thursday night-interesting stuff. Mark said he used mostly an early Tele through a Twin Reverb,but that he also had a lot of vintage gear. Interesting man Brewer was- Tom Fiacco.
Last Edited by on Sep 29, 2012 6:27 AM
