On a few of the tunes on this soundtrack you can hear some examples of a very pared down blues style (e.g. Jessie Mae Hemphill), basically one chord and rather simplistic backing.
When this works it´s usually described as "hypnotic", and that´s not too far off the mark. Scott Bomar and Charlie Musselwhite et al also takes a stab at this (tracks 1 and 12) mainly trying to create an atmosphere (successfully).
This is surprisingly hard. I know -- every once in a while I try to do something along these lines, and I fail. But I´m going to keep on trying.
My question is if you have suggestions of songs (or whatever it´s called), be it harmonica in them or not. Your own stuff or already recorded.
Let me say that I´m not a beginner, and I´ve been around a while.
Australia's Collard Greens and Gravy have been killing it on this stuff since the late 1990s and don't get nearly enough credit for it. They didn't set out to do the Hill Country thang, but evolved naturally in that direction when they became a trio. Here is an original tune employing the central desert dominating that continent:
The triangle player did an absolutely AMAZING job of really sticking to the chord changes! His knowledge of music theory as pertains to the triangle is absolutely stellar!!
Last Edited by CarlA on Feb 10, 2014 5:29 AM
Thanks guys, of course some stuff that I´m familiar with -- but that Jr Kimbrough tune was really up the right alley: something seems to happen there after a few minutes. Thanks Komuso
Martin, I fully and completely feel you on this one. That "one chord deep blues thing" is pure magic when it's done right. I think it's "easier" to do it on guitar than harp, unfortunately. Here are two harmonica examples that I think work very well:
Dan Kaplan, "Back the Same Day":
Moreland and Arbuckle, "Can't get clear"
Also by Moreland and Arbuckle, "18 counties"
In terms of guitar, in addition to RL Burnside and John Lee Hooker that have been mentioned in posts above, look up Junior Kimbrough and Robert Belfour. In terms of a younger generation, look up C.W. Ayon and Patrick Sweany.
Here's a couple of my own crap-ass attempts at this style on guitar:
Here's some of my own attempts at it on harp:
Needless to say, I love this style of blues. It's my all time favorite. This is the kind of blues that I want to be playing all the time... ----------
Here's my attempt. It's a harp-driven adaptation of RL Burnside. His first, then mine:
I wasn't trying to copy his, but instead to adapt it. So I changed the vocal line and interspersed it with harp lines. But I remember his version while I do mine.
I did a handful of solo looping gigs with R.L. Burnside and Otis Taylor being the main inspiration. I only have three vids from one set (I think I did 4-5 solo shows):
Burnside and Taylor are super awesome and I love the trance blues-style they play. I am not very good at it myself, but listen all the time. ---------- Mike My Website My Harmonica Effects Blog
Cool sounding stuff, Mike... I like it! The use of a looper can really be helpful for getting this one chord thing on harmonica, especially if you want to sing too... Your's are good examples of this. I think the Dave Ferguson stuff is also a great example of that approach... ----------
Plenty of good suggestions here and I thank you for them.
Just on the off chance that any you haven´t heard this one (I mentioned her in the OP). No harp, and the pitch is off so it´s tough to play along, but still, this is magical:
(The illustrations here are also off pitch and whatever these ladies are doing, they´re not standing in their doorways crying.)
