His playing consistently fails to move me. Can´t really say why. Don´t mind the speed issue at all; maybe it´s the repetetitiousness (?) of it: you can hear that here, he´s almost always returning to a few basic figures .. but aren´t we all?
Last Edited by on Jan 06, 2013 3:25 PM
I really like some of the stuff he does, like in the song, "Krystaline." But he is notorious for playing major 3rds over minor chords, like he did in the Rolling Stones song, "Miss You." Here he does it many times, both on the 3 draw and the 7 draw, and really rips into it here around the 4:20 mark:
Don't get me wrong, I DO like his playing, but playing major 3rds over minor chords sounds awful. John Popper does it sometimes too, along with many harp players. Not trying to be critical, but it's one of those things that we as harp players myst pay attention to. Steve Baker talks about it too here at the very beginning of this video:
Steve B has my complete sympathy here. Playing major scales (esp. maj 3) over minor chords sort of takes away the idea of "minor". I know that Sugar B and Popper does that, and think I´ve also heard it from Charlie Musselwhite. It sounds real crappy, and shouldn´t even be excused coming from beginners.
It seems rather ironic. Just as Sugar is really getting into it, soul bending arched back, all black blues transcendent....he starts clinkin clunkin that ugly note. As if he can smooth it over with soul. ---------- Sun, sun, sun Burn, burn, burn Soon, soon, soon Moon, moon, moon
Yeah, I hear ya, timeistight. I like some stuff he does, and the HCH video is not what I was referring to with playing the major 3rd (3 draw and 7 draw) over minor chords. The example of "Miss You" is what I provided as an example. I have some of Sugar Blue's music and I dig it for the most part.
Sometimes the Sugar Blue or John Popper style works well, just not in everything.
