I'v got a copy of a recording by John Hammond c.1964. Like the sound and like the harp on it. Lately on blues radio a more recent (don't know when) record has been played repeatedly. There is a lot of high end harp played acoustically with little if any hand effects, It's pretty screechy and unpleasant to my ears.
Does anyone know much about John and his playing style? Is high end part of his recent signature sound or is it just the one example I'm hearing?
Hammond is steeped in the Jimmy Reed tradition. Although Jimmy sometimes played in holes 1 through 6 in the cross harp tradition, he lived mostly in 1st position, holes 7 through 10. For example, he would play an A harp in the key of A. There is a full blues scale available as well as a major third, which Jimmy employed a lot. If you don't like that sound, don't do it. I love it, but would only inflict it upon an unsuspecting audience once or twice a night.
Jimmy Reed tunes are great for improving your 1st position blow bends. And, they stand as having singular beauty.
My first harmonica teacher, Harry Harpoon, uses Jimmy Reed to weed out the wannabes who approach him wanting lessons. He's had too many waste his time by not wanting to work at it. He tells 'em to go buy a copy of Chess Record's "Best of Jimmy Reed" and come back when they've learned to play all the songs it. I shocked him by becoming the first one in 30 years to actually do it.
Harry has the strongest 1st position playing I've personally witnessed. It's a thing of beauty to listen to him play a Jimmy Reed tune. And it's hilarious to watch him use them to humiliate drunks who want to get up and play with him on stage. He'll get a big grin and say, "Great. Come on up and we'll play a 1st position blues." It's fun to see them go pale in the face as they take the stage and a rare occasion to see one who doesn't quickly stumble right back off red-faced after Harry opens up with, say "Honest I do." I know it still intimidates the h*ll out of me when I play a Jimmy Reed song with him.
Pays to learn to play some Jimmy Reed. ;^)
Michelle
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With my current band our fearless leader includes Reed's "Going to New York" most nights. First time I've had the chance to regularly play 1st position other than playing with a rack doing solo singer/guitar player work. Real fun and not so difficult with the blow bends and such. I do need to spend some time figuring out what notes are available in the lower register but for now the 7-10 work just fine. ---------- LSC
