I don't know if everybody here is familiar with the Brownie McGhee / Sugar Blue band. The album is called BLUES IS TRUTH, and it featured Louisiana Red as well. It was recorded in 1976. This rocked my world when I first heard it.
Early Sugar Blue as sideman. When he played lead, he just had a whole different concept than everybody else who played harp, even then. He had a few signature moves that nobody else had and that he continues to work. I know that some folks don't like him, but THOSE people will surely like this:
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Dec 01, 2016 4:48 PM
This is how SB sounds when he TBs. There is a vid. On YT of SB sitting in with Lida Fischer. She cues him to stop playing and he abruptly yanks the harp out of his mouth. His embouchure was so air tight it sounded like someone detaching a suction cup. Anywey, SB's mouth was hanging open when he pulls the harp away and it was clear that his tongue had been on the harp. Just because he plays a lot of single notes doesn't mean he's not TBing. Why do you think he's LPing?
Last Edited by hvyj on Dec 04, 2016 10:16 AM
He TB's everything now, but that's because he moved to Chicago at a certain point--early 1980s, I believe--and hung out with Big Walter. At the point when he recorded this album, he was a lip pursing player.
@Adam: maybe so. But I don't hear much difference between how he sounds on this cut and how he sounds on later recordings made after his move to Chicago. While this cut and some of his stuff with Willie Dixon may be STYLISTICALLY different from his later material there is a similarity of sound with respect to timbre and technique at least to my ear.
Last Edited by hvyj on Dec 04, 2016 10:35 AM
Adam even on his playing today I just don't here T/B to my ears especially on his fast runs up the top end of the harp...he is not doing as much T/B as he says he is...just my opinion be interested to here other folks view on this.
@Sean: if you are referring to his speed, the answer is yes, he is able to play that fast TBing. The reason he had to pull the harp out of his mouth when Lisa Fischer cued him to stop in the YT vid is because he had been playing so fast that was the only way he could stop that quickly. The position of his tongue was clearly visible when he did that.
Last Edited by hvyj on Dec 04, 2016 11:07 AM
When Sugar came to Hill Country Harmonica at my invitation in 2011, I inteviewed him for an hour. He insisted that he plays everything TB'd these days.
You're insisting that he lying about that. Really? I disagree. I think he's telling the truth. I don't automatically believe every single thing that blues players tell me--older players can sometimes pull a younger player's leg--but I can't see any reason why he would lie about something like that; there's no gain to be had from lying.
I also see it as a sign of great disrespect not to take a professional player at his word when he's being interviewed, in public, by another pro about what techniques he uses.
hvyj: Same critique. He told us that when he went to Chicago, he wasn't a full-time tongue blocker and that Big Walter had convinced him to go full-time. That's what he said.
I think we should take him at his word. But I also don't think it makes any difference what techniques he's using, since many people can't tell the difference. The point is the sound he gets and the notes he plays. I like 'em.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Dec 04, 2016 11:34 AM
I've always been somewhat uncertain about which recordings were made when in relation to SB's move to Chicago, keeping in mind that the release date of a particular recording may or may not correspond to the year it was actually made.
Last Edited by hvyj on Dec 04, 2016 2:08 PM
Sean, why do you think he's lip pursing? What signs are there to you that he's not tongue blocking? I think that on any single note runs that hardly any listener could tell you definitively whether someone was lip pursing or tongue blocking. It's also worth bearing in mind that pretty much most of the techniques associated with each embouchure and most often used as indicators of either embouchure can be imitated by the other. With the notable exception of octaves of course.
Adam..I am not saying he is lying..I just think a lot of these guys who say they T/B everything are still hitting a lot of single notes and they don't even realise they are doing it..the more I listen to Little Walter the more I here loads of pucker single notes in his playing.. again lots of players say he is 100% T/B ...by the way I love Sugar Blues playing.. as I do your very own unique style
I'm not sure I understand your comment. You said "I just think a lot of these guys who say they T/B everything are still hitting a lot of single notes and they don't even realise they are doing it".
I'm a 100% TB player on holes 1-6. I think you may have a misconception about TBing. You seem to be saying that TB players are puckering and you can tell this because they are hitting single notes. You do realize that you can hit a clean clear single note with TB, right? I can TB or pucker a single note and you can't tell the difference by listening. If I slap or pull or some other technique that's associated with TB, then you can hear it. But I'm perfectly capable of a clean and clear single note with no embellishment using TB. If I can do it, the pros certainly can :-)
