Great question, Nigel. Others may have more detailed responses, but the first name that comes to mind in pre WWII blues harmonica is of course, John Lee Williamson, Sonny Boy #1.
SBI was, of course, a huge influence on postwar players. That said, almost the only living direct link to him that I know of is Billy Boy Arnold. Just about everyone else actively playing Chicago or Chicago-influenced blues harmonica have received their John Lee filtered through postwar players, notably Little Walter.
Now and then you hear someone directly channeling SBI, usually in an acoustic setting, but I'm not aware of anyone whose approach is wholly or primarily based on SBI.
That said, I'm far from an expert in this area, and I'm sure someone out there knows a huge amount about the gigantic but largely veiled influence of SBI.
And, of course, maybe there's a wider story that includes other pre-WWII Chicago blues harmonica players an their modern descendants and exponents. =========== Winslow
I'll suggest Phil Wiggins, Joe Filisko, and Grant Dermody (however I don't know enough about the technicalities to distinguish what may be clearly pre-war, pre-Chicago vs. just acoustic -- I'd like to hear some thoughts on that).
Last Edited by TetonJohn on Feb 22, 2015 10:48 AM
Sonny Terry was my first influence in early blues. His blues came right out of the rural south of cotton fields, chain gangs, heavy drinking and cheatin' men and women. Usually accompanied by Brownie McGhee on guitar and vocals, he was the consummate folk blues player. Peter Madcat Ruth, in my opinion, is the closest thing to a pre-war blues player I've heard or seen. His versions of songs like St. Louis Blues, Shortin' Bread and others use minimal accompaniment and acoustic style playing.
The original question was about prewar *Chicago* - not pre-war southern.
All the pre-war names mentioned so far (except SBWI) belong to the south, not to Chicago.
While Filisko lives in Chicagoland, he's an expert on both pre-war southern and postwar Chicago. Perhaps he has knowledge of prewar Chicago, but I've never heard him display it.
Btw, @Goldbrick, thanks for the link to Yuki. I'd forgotten about her. Plays really good SBW1 and sings his stuff in her charming Japanese accent.
Winslow, you're mistaken. The question wasn't about Chicago at all. It was Pre-Chicago.
"Who are the greatest living exponents of pre-war (WW2 )/pre-Chicago style blues?"
LittleNigel - Well you're mostly looking at country blues harmonica in that case. There are a lot of players who are very adept at that style. Phil Wiggins, Paul Lamb, Joe Filisko, Tom Ball and Peter Madcat Ruth are some of the best. There are also many, many more worth checking out.
Let me see if I can ask the question I hinted at earlier in the thread more directly. Are there distinguishing ways of playing acoustic blues harmonica that could separate a "pre-war" style of acoustic blues playing from a later acoustic blues playing style?
(IF overblow/draw is the relevant difference, "pre-war" may not be the right moment of change -- but perhaps there are other differences??)
Last Edited by TetonJohn on Feb 23, 2015 11:16 AM
The original question is pretty clear. It asks who are the greatest LIVING players who play in a pre-WWII (i.e., pre-1940), pre-Chicago stye. (The title of the thread says "pre-Chicago." That's pretty clear.)
It's not a question about dead players. Nor is it a question about any style connected with Chicago. It's a question about living exponents of country blues, broadly conceived, but also, presumably, about non-amplified prewar styles that might have been connected with other urban locales, such as Memphis or Dallas or Raleigh-Durham.
I'd certainly think that Joe Filisko and Grant Dermody would jump right to the top of that heap. Joe has an encyclopedic knowledge of those styles. He's done entire solo concerts that consist of playing in that style. He once gave me a hand-burned CD of such a concert.
Paul Lamb is also a good call. And Wade Schuman, of course. I also bet that Dave Harris has a lot of that sort of stuff up his sleeve.
It's worth noting that John Lee Williamson, although born and raised in Jackson, TN, spent a lot of time in Chicago. He's heavily associated with that scene. A significant number of his recordings were recorded in Chicago between 1940 and his death in 1948. So he's actually got one foot heavily in what this thread is NOT supposed to be interested in, which is wartime and post-war Chicago blues harmonica.
Here's his complete discography:
http://www.wirz.de/music/will1frm.htm
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Feb 23, 2015 2:56 PM
Good luck finding any living players who play in that style. Most of the living players that play blues are heavily influenced by Sonny Boy I, Sonny Boy II and Little Walter. They pretty much changed the whole genre. If you can find their recordings, go back and listen to the guys who likely influenced SB I.
Sorry, you're right; I did miss the "pre-" in front of Chicago.
Prewar stuff is well known and well documented. I guess I saw what to me is a mysterious and therefore intriguing subject - the relatively undocumented prewar harmonica in Chicago itself. =========== Winslow
