Excellent video from 2000 - Bern Jazz Festival. The song is mislabeled "Train Ticket".
I just think he is the greatest. We all have our influences, and he is mine. The more I listen to his playing, the more I hear what a heavy influence he was on Billy Branch.
I agree with you! I'm a big fan of Carey Bell also. great voice and deep with feeling! And a great big hearty toothless grin and I have read some great stories about him! ----------
"Those British boys want to play the blues real bad, and they do"
I saw and heard Carey Bell in the summer of 1975 in the Commodore Ballroom on Granville Street in Vancouver, Canada. Winslow knows the place. I will never forget that show, in a thousand seat venue but filled with about 1100 people, half of them dancing the whole night.
The band was "Willie Dixon's Blues Revue"-- Willie on stand up bass, his son Freddie on Fender bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buster Benton on guitar and most of the vocals. I can't remember who the piano player was.
Carey's harmonica playing was arresting. People don't often say this, but his third position chromatic playing is exquisite. That's what impressed me that night, what I will always remember, as opposed to his diatonic harp. Once in a while he would tilt his chromatic sideways and let the spit run out. We could see it from the audience.
I was playing in a blues band in Vancouver at the time, and got to meet Carey in a night club that weekend.
The hip club in Vancouver in the 70s was Rohan's, on Fourth Avenue. They had a blues jam on Sundays. Willie's band was still in town. Our band came to the jam, and Buster and Carey from Willie's band came down too. I ended up on stage playing with Buster Benton. We played Little Walter's "Off the Wall", which I had more or less memorized, like many harp players.
When I got off stage, I went up to Carey Bell, who was in the audience, listening. I was probably hoping for a compliment.
He was the first to speak. He said, "I got lots of tricks you ain't seen yet", or something close to that. His eyes were not friendly. I didn't know what to say. I mouthed a few platitudes, and moved on. Looking back, I wish I had told him how much I admired his harmonica playing.
Enough reminiscing. Here is a great example of Carey's chromatic playing. His rhythm is dead on. In this song, he is backing up his cousin Eddy Clearwater:
'He was the first to speak. He said, "I got lots of tricks you ain't seen yet", or something close to that. His eyes were not friendly. I didn't know what to say. I mouthed a few platitudes, and moved on. Looking back, I wish I had told him how much I admired his harmonica playing.'
What do you mean, that his nose was a bit out of joint because you playing? ----------
"Those British boys want to play the blues real bad, and they do"
Hi marine1896-- Yes, his nose was out of joint. I played Off the Wall pretty well note for note. (I can't do that now). I think he was jealous. He needn't have been, because he was a much better harp player than I. If I had been older and wiser, I would have stayed and talked to him a bit more.
Have a listen to his chromatic on the song I posted. I forgot to give its title-- it's "That's My Baby", from Eddy Clearwater's 1992 album, "Help Yourself". I love Carey Bell's harp here.
Cheers mate, I love stories like that. Yeah, I know Carey's work pretty well I think I probably have everything he put out and that Eddy Clearwater album. Still can't get that image out my head though of the saliva and his chrom.....put me right off my yoghurt! ----------
"Those British boys want to play the blues real bad, and they do"
"Hi marine1896-- Yes, his nose was out of joint"-wolfkrisitansen
i think he kind of liked to argue with harp players and get in scruffs.
the first time i met him,backstage at a willie dixon show,he called me a @#$%$#@ .i came right back at him. we fought back and forth. i was young and combative. we were both drunk.
then,somebody tried to break us up,and we had started to enjoy insulting each other,so we went to another room and drank a whole bottle of brandy.
