Amazingly, video has just surfaced of the finale of the Save the Children UK show last February. Cotton kicks off "Got My Mojo Working." Dr. John is on piano, Maceo Parker on sax, Ron Wood is just standing there rocking--and boy, does he do that well!--and for some reason I'm on the stage. I thought it was a dream, but apparently it happened.
It's worth watching the entire video for a couple of reasons. One is that Cotton got totally lost within the 12-bar changes. Yes, that's right: he f----d up. And the band, because they're pros, picks up the pieces two or maybe three times behind him. I'd need to listen a couple of more times to figure out exactly what happened, but I'm quite sure he blew the changes at least twice, and yet nobody in the audience would know unless they were paying attention.
My solo doesn't sound particularly good, and that's a function of two things: a distorted amp--I'm not sure what happened, but perhaps there was some acoustic coupling between my HG-2 and the other dozen amps that were yowling on all sides. Or maybe I just turned the amp up too goddamned high. Also, the harp sounds flat, sharp, something. I'm sure I was fully adrenalized and pulling hard! But that shouldn't really have made a difference. It's possible that I'd semi-flatted-out a reed or two. But the cumulative effect was...nah. Notably sub-par, to my ears.
But there's more harp later on--starting around the 9:30 point, when Maceo gets something going and he and I go at it. And that is fun stuff. There the harp sounds fine. Not terribly loud, but some interesting harmonizing going on, and good grooving.
>>>>"... the cumulative effect was...nah. Notably sub-par, to my ears."
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First of all, you're wrong. Second of all, DUDE! You're up there blowing with James Cotton, Maceo, Dr. John, Ron Wood ..... I could play that gig and get stabbed at the end, and still be happy about it. :-)
I'm curious how it worked out hearing yourself among all those players on stage with just the HG-2. Was there an extensive sound-check?
Cotton got really lost. The bands,to me,just seems to keep going with the groove. He looked particularly old and frail at the beginning but later seems to perk up and get in the game. Since he's sitting down,could it have been extra loud?
Adam- I thought that was a great solo. The amped sound was really fuzzy and uncharacteristic of you. I often couldn't follow you in the mix. I'll bet it was loud up there.
A bit of a mess really all round,though these all star jams often are."Too many drivers at the wheel..." sorta thing. Ron Wood gets thrown a solo and he strums instead? Adams harp too low in the mix but what i could hear was good. Probably all seemed good though if you were in the audience and caught up in the moment.
@JD Hoskins whilst I agree that there were probably issues with the sound (and the levels ARE all over the place - just compare vocal mic levels), the description on the YT page describes this as a spontaneous encore - so I guess it kind of depends on how 'spontaneous'; whether the sound man was really expecting/prepared for everyone on-stage at the same time? Cotton's directly behind Dr. John's piano, got a percussionist too close for comfort, two guitarists and a bass directly behind. Anyone would struggle to hear and any soundman would have a hard time with that much going on on stage. Maybe Adam can shed some light? musician's dream = soundman's nightmare.
Last Edited by on Jan 24, 2013 12:54 PM
i am surprised no one has asked how the heck you got on the stage with those heavy hitters, adam. i dont remember you posting about this gig. how about the background story?
Recording Studio: Mick to Ronnie " this track could do with some cool blues harp on it..Whats that guys name we used on Miss You again?" Ronnie:Man we don't need him,heard this guy play at a Save he Children gig ,bleedin' awesome. Names Adam Gussow ,lets U tube him and i'll show yuh." Will Adam still speak to us when he's famous?^
I'd rather hear Cotton lost and through a bad PA situation than most of the young guns out there. It's still cool stuff to me. And Adam, I notice when the band came up again, your solo was very Cotton based, imo.
In any case, congratulations, what an honor to play with them!
Maybe you didn't get your sound as expected, but it cut through and you weren't drowned out. Most musically interesting part, especially the short.signature at the end. You set up the guitar solo which came after. Dr John and Cotton 73 and 78...can't expect anything too flashy. The singer got too caught up in the beat.Muddy sings at half the beat speed. Fine for harp though.
@Michael Rubin: Yes, in that stuff at the end, after 9:30 where I worked into a call/response thing with the horn section, I definitely began with Cotton on my mind, although I quickly modulated the actual licks I played so that some of them were harmony licks. When Maceo walked over towards me and got still, I heard that he was doing something interesting; I quickly switched over so that I was doubling the horns rather than dialoguing with them.
I've often said that when a harp player is on stage with horn players, he's just one more horn player and he needs to have good ears in order to hear what they're doing and work himself into it. That end-of-jam section demonstrates this principle.
As for my solo, earlier, it sounds to me as though I just couldn't hear myself amidst all that crazy-loud sound. The stuff I do on the high end of the harp is much messier and more imprecise than I usually play. I think I basically just hurled a Hail Mary pass.
Last Edited by on Jan 25, 2013 4:52 AM
Pretty sweet gig, Adam! ---------- Ricky B http://www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com RIVER BOTTOM BLUES--crime novel for blues fans available at Amazon/B&N and my blog THE DEVIL'S BLUES--due out soon
@Adam;As asked a few posts prior,a background story on how you ended up on stage playing for this benefit?Did you get a last minute call and fly over in your Learjet?
Yeah Adam, I thought you brought some sanity to that free-for-all. I agree that it was probably hard for some of those people to hear. You way more than held your own.
I watched it and felt like it was a ship teetering on the sea of awesomeness. At some points, the large number of folks playing and the sheer force made it seem the ship was coming close to capsizing.
The video zooms in on Dr John just before you solo. Did you just jump in or was there some communication around that? I ask because that transition was seamless and others were a mess. If it was spontaneous, how did you know you weren't going to step all over another player?
And what is the etiquette around staying on stage like that at the end of a song? Most of the big names booked (it's like they couldn't leave fast enough, pulling out cables and causing feedback) but some stayed and joined the house band who started to kick it back up. It seemed to me that as soon as you heard the first beat you had no doubt that you were staying.
i liked how the band turned down for you, they could have completely drowned you out. thats the difference between amateur and pro.
a kinder anti feed backer and four tens can come in handy in this type of situation, having said that, kinda hard to fly to great Briton with that set up. leaves you at the mercy of the sound man. i really liked the new orleans vibe during the proceedings sounds like..... when the saints go marching in, is going to break out at any time!
