That's the William Clarke I saw back in the day. He was touring in support of "Blowin' Like Hell," as he says. I saw him at the Bucks County Rhythm and Blues Picnic, then again at the Old Bay in New Brunswick (might have been the following year) and at Tramp's in Manhattan, right after he won the award for "song of the year" for "Must Be Jelly Baby." Incredible show. He was a showman, alright, but he also had a jazz horn player's sensibility on certain grooves. He swung really hard.
now there walked a man, no doubt. sad to say i never "discovered" him until not long before he passed.
he has been a huge inspiration to me. that mix of chicago and west coast swing is just so infectious!
the primary thing about william clarke was, even "just" on cd or video, never mind live- you definitely can feel the love he had for the music, his band mates, and people in general.
I have never heard anybody swing the way he did with the harmonica. His chromatic playing was simply wonderful. By all accounts he was a really nice guy too.
It was a sad loss indeed to the harmonica world when he passed away.
Blowin' like hell is easily in my top favorite harmonica player CDs I own! I really think he's one of the ones you don't have to be a harmonica player to enjoy listening to. Really enjoy his style and very original lyrics that seem to pay tribute to the older masters.
I'd really like to practice some of his stuff but I can't tell what's chromatic vs diatonic. His stuff is mostly 3rd pos I think?
---------- ~Ryan Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
I like the way he always served the music first. It wasn't all about his harp playing,he'd let the whole band stretch out. He definitely played in 1st & 2nd besides third on diatonic & chrom. Possibly other positions,too. His widow,Jeanette, lives in my area and usually shows up when a big name harp player plays here.She keeps his spirit alive,bless her!
I had the extreme pleasure of meeting William Clark back in 1991 (mutual friend) and was able to sit down and rap with him for a while. He was as nice a guy as everybody says he was. I remember asking him "How can you see in the dark clubs with the sunglasses on all the time?" He took them off and said "Try 'em on - it's not so hard." I'll never forget trying on William Clark's sunglasses.
One of my favorites. Discovered blues harp and blues about 2 years ago and he stands in a very select crowd in my opinion. Gets the blood flowing real good.
