lumpy wafflesquirt
107 posts
Sep 14, 2009
1:11 PM
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On a newsgroup at work I asked people to list two Harmonica players. The respondents were a wide range of people although mostly telecoms engineers, some are musicians, some not.
the results were as follows:
Larry Adler 5
Bob Dylan 4
John Lennon 3
Neil Young 2
Bobby Rush 1
Charlie McCoy 1
Crispian Mills 1
Jack Bruce 1
Joe Satriani 1
John Mayall 1
Richard Salwitz, stage /nickname ....Magic Dick 1
Robert Plant 1
Sonny Terry 1
Stevie Wonder 1
Teddy 'Zig Zag' Andreadis 1
the boss 1
Val Donnican 1
Hugh Laurie 1
Arthur Tolcher 1
Paul Jones 1
I just thought you might be interested.
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Mgimino
84 posts
Sep 14, 2009
1:14 PM
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Not a single Dan Aykroyd, surprising.
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http://www.youtube.com/user/mgimino
Michael
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Preston
499 posts
Sep 14, 2009
2:19 PM
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Not surprising. Face it boys, outside of our little harp nerd circle, our instrument is just not at the top of the list of "cool".
I am surprised to see no mention of Taylor Hicks considering the American Idol thing.
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scottb
47 posts
Sep 14, 2009
2:25 PM
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I'm suprised there was no Bruce Willis. Are you in the UK?
I'm guessing there was one harp fan who knew magic dick and sonny terry and the rest, well, they were the rest.
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lumpy wafflesquirt
108 posts
Sep 14, 2009
2:59 PM
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In UK
Sonny terryand Magic Dick were different respondente IIRC. I think on or two people were trying to be clever and googled for names.
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congaron
130 posts
Sep 14, 2009
3:22 PM
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It doesn't surprise me. I am 52 years old, a musician for over 40 years, having various phases of amateur/professional play throughout the years. In february of this year, I went looking for free youtube lessons so i could learn harp for the blues band that had recruited me on percussion/trumpet/vocals. I literally stumbled upon Adam Gussow this year and was amazed.
I knew nothing about and nobody in the harmonica world. I still know relatively little. Since I am learning it as a musical instrument, some history is important to me, some isn't. I am way more concerned with being able to play it like a musical instrument than being able to trace its roots. I'll bet there are other players who have done the same. If players can do this (of course i could be the only one), the general public surely knows very little of who plays what. Harmonica is not an obsession to me and i'm sure many harmonica fans feel the same way. They like it when done well, and really haven't ever noticed it being done poorly (something I keep hearing about here.) I am still listening for that lousy harmonica playing that's evidently all over the radio and TV...as well as in blues fests. Who's who? I'm learning.
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
192 posts
Sep 14, 2009
4:36 PM
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Thank God Adler beat Dylan.
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RyanMortos
297 posts
Sep 14, 2009
5:11 PM
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What gets me is huge national blues festivals featuring 20+ groups where only one has harmonica in the act. Now how is anyone not connected supposed to know? Is that a shortage of proficient harmonica players or a shortage of national blues acts that fit harmonica into their sound?
I really had no idea Bruce played until I started playing & found out accidently via youtube. Actually that's how I found Adam Gussow's account, doing a random search on youtube. Damn, back then it was probably on something like how to hold the harmonica, lol.
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~Ryan
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
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Blackbird
109 posts
Sep 15, 2009
1:45 AM
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Joe Satriani? LOL!
...ok, but seriously - is he playing harps now?
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MrVerylongusername
511 posts
Sep 15, 2009
1:52 AM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVnfarYmjDw
around 2:14
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The Gloth
162 posts
Sep 15, 2009
1:54 AM
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Damn, nobody came up with Toots Thielemans !
Hugh Laurie ? Is he the guy from that TV soap "Dr House" ?
Last Edited by on Sep 15, 2009 1:55 AM
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Kingley
358 posts
Sep 15, 2009
2:18 AM
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Larry Adler and Stevie Wonder are probably the best known harmonica players in the western world. At least in the context of household names.
Larry Adler insisted on calling it the "Mouth Organ" and never cared for the term "Harmonica" at all.
Cham Ber Huang is probably the most famous harmonica player in Asia.
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MrVerylongusername
512 posts
Sep 15, 2009
2:22 AM
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@ The Gloth
Yeah he did some Bob Dylan parody routines (I dunno how much folk outside of the UK know about his whole stand-up career, with and without Stephen Fry, prior to his success in House). I think he appeared on SNL doing a song. I'm sure it's on Youtube somewhere.
Last Edited by on Sep 15, 2009 2:22 AM
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Chinaski
20 posts
Sep 15, 2009
2:56 AM
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Crispian Mills?? that tool from Kula Shaker?? Dear God...
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