Now you say it, it brought up a memory I'd completely forgotten. I saw a solo singer/blues harp player in the 1990's in a pub in Manchester. Way, way before I ever thought about taking it up myself. I noticed he had his harmonica in a pint glass of water. Knowing nothing about it, I thought it was to clean out the gunk.
Now, I remember liking his set so much I bought him a pint (of beer not water). And now I know you shouldn't drink beer and play harp, so probably he did need to rinse it out anyway.
The power of words, ideas and memory - thank you!
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Mar 13, 2015 4:26 AM
Gap Good last point on harp vs guitar. I think it really came down to being able to play and sing at the same time. Most bands did not want a guy to just sing......do something else for the money honey.
In a lot of bands no one wanted to sing lead but they did not want to pay anybody to do it either.
Slightly off topic from the original post, but related to the comments... my new album that is coming out in June, called "Going Somewhere", has a Peter Gabriel cover ("I Don't Remember").
Chicken Train brought me back here—sounds like bluegrass, TBH, but wow, very cool! I still maintain that harmonica with become cool again as soon as Beautiful People start playing it—hopefully well . . .
I dunno know much, but riff driven guitar licks sell & it's way easier to write music/songs on guitar. If your not coming up with original materiel you will never be mainstream. Not sure why but when I'm writing I always garb a guitar (attempting to write} I'm just an average intermediate harp player but been playing in bands for 30 years just bar/jam bands & couldn't imagine doing a gig without a guitar player but have done many without any harp. Covering rock songs & leaving the harp out works try leaving the guitar out. Lou
The more interesting question is what happened to the saxophone in rock and roll. From the early days until the early to mid sixties, the sax was a major component of your standard rock and roll band. As rock and roll became a style and genre recognizable on its own terms, distinct from the music that spawned it--blues, r and b, country --it can be considered a foundational instrument. The British Invasion and everything else that happened during the 6os changed all that. Saxophone was no longer a primary rock and roll instrument. The harmonica has been in rock and roll, sure, but it was not a standard instrument; it was an incidental addition to a song, used for atmosphere or that thin hint of "authenticity". There were good harmonica parts in rock and roll hits, of course, but they were few and far between. The long time absence of harmonica in rock of any consequence ( J Geils, PBBB and Blues Traveler being exceptions) that it's hardly been noticed, or at least barely noted at all. The vanishing of the saxophone, though, now that is a then-and-now distinction that is very striking and which still stirs conversations about why that changed. ---------- www.ted-burke.com
Dont get me wrong --I love the blues. Probably my favorite style of music.
But I like rock, Blue grass, latin rhumba style, country.
I like jazzy stuff Put it where u want it--sissy strut etc jazz that isn't based on displaying how much theory u know. Jazz with amelody-- u can hum it, cuz it has a melody,
That said; I agree 100% with; "reluctance to learn ------the harp as an actual instrument".
So many blues harp players are lost playing anything but 145 blues. Thats a shame.
My fingers are arthritic and it forced me to learn more theory about guitar. had to learn different chord replacements and partial chords. on n on.
My harp playing jumped a couple notches when I applied what I learned to harp.
If more harp players understood chords and the notes in the chord and what to play and what not to play. We would be in more rock songs and other styles of music.
But I've also realized "dont force it" some rock just shouldn't have harp or flute or sax etc---sometimes they sound better with just bass , guitar and maybe keys.
i can usually tell right away, whether harp will really compliment a rock song--or simply be obnoxious noodling.
Last Edited by snowman on Sep 07, 2020 1:44 PM
Depending on when you draw the line for what is early rock, harmonica was featured in hillbilly boogie (late 1940s) by the Delmore Brothers and Wayne Raney, featuring both Raney and Lonnie Glosson on harmonica.
Then there's Onie Wheeler, who played harp with country icon Roy Acuff when he wasn't making his own records.
the guitar is having a hard time staying relevant, let alone the harmonica. Both instruments take a lot of work to play well. If you look at how a band like the Chainsmokers make a song, it has little in common with how rock musicians made music for decades. There is still a niche for us but it is a small one.
You might want to ask-what happened to rock & roll? I hear very little of new R&R. Most of the really popular music is very beat oriented with very little real instruments.The little rock I do hear is morose navel gazing. It's telling that most of the video clips are really old.Can someone point me to sources of current R&R bands?
Taylor Swift's new song "Betty" - it may be a # 1 hit now - has a prominent harmonica part. It's not blues harp, but I was surprised to hear harmonica on a current hit.
