Upon first seeing this video, I had to download it to my computer, and have watched it hundreds of times. It is my favorite harp video of all time, and I was wondering what the many knowledgeable contributors to this forum notice in it. I recognize Hound Dog Taylor as the guitar player, but who is on bass and drums? Also, what do you notice and take away as valuable lessons from this performance. Sometimes having other perspectives, especially from more technically advanced players, can accelerate the learning process greatly. Thank you very much for any insight which you may be able to offer.
i think whats good about is, he has so many different things goin on;
backbeats-bassline boogie-chugs--he's usual 7 draw bend, he seems to like the 7 draw bend, its a dirty b7 deal--split tongues---
-[tongue block 123 draw, drawing 456 at same time so u get the 5, b7, 9 basically a I9 chord] if u don’t tongue block tape of hole 123,7 and draw, maybe bend it all a little sounds dis chordal and gritty—rod piazza does a lot of those kinds of things—if Im wrong u can sew me I tune my 7 draw a ½ step flat so I get the b3 thrown in-- so 4567draw sounds very gritty n dis chordal
I think little walter is a great learning tool for mixing up all the bend, trills etc possibilities in holes 1-6
for me, it's his hands, getting to see his hold, how he cups acoustically and manipulates the tone with his hands is the one of the best things about these videos. I like his body language too how he cues the ending in Jump. Attitude.
I wish we had some videos of him playing amplified. I also wish they had provided a better guitar player.. Hound Dog's playing on My Babe is pretty awful. ---------- 4' 4+ 3' 2~~~ -Mike Ziemba Harmonica is Life!
It's three minutes of total mastery. Every note sounds good; there's no bad intonation, no note that doesn't have a kind of vocal edge.
LW has a perfect balance of repetition and variation. This is apparent after the first two or three choruses, but it's awesome to behold as he works his way through 12 or 15 choruses. (I haven't counted them, but I'm estimating.) He's a master at knowing when to change modes: when to change up the WAY he plays a given chorus, modulating from a certain kind of phrase to, for example, a 4 draw held for a longer time. So that mode-changing becomes yet another way of embodying the repetition-with-variation principle.
He does something that I've learned to hear in Kim Wilson's playing and that I'm 100% sure now that KW got from LW, which is holding specific single notes for slightly longer--and sometimes across a bar line--than you'd expect. (He does this with a 2 draw around the :58 point.) This adds interest.
By balancing all these things, he makes the 3 minutes seem longer and fuller than one would think 3 minutes could be.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Jul 27, 2017 11:50 AM
Reading Adam's analysis prompted me to watch the video again, watching for the things he mentioned. Usually, I sit so transfixed in awe at the total mastery that Adam pointed out that I don't think to focus on individual aspects enough. This time through, I noticed the precise use of wah effect controlled by his right hand. I usually clamp with the right and wah with the left. Don't know if this is a right handed thing, or if it matters. At the 1:42 point, he adjusts the harp in his clamping hand, and executes a muted sweeping chord bend ending with a precise wah at the end. Again, at 2:29 he does it again, with that "crack of the whip" wah at the end, then repeats it with his hands open and a wah in the last part, then repeats it with a wah on the beginning. Wonderfully illustrating Adam's point about repeating things in several different variations. Adam's videos have always offered great observations about blues harp classics, and I love his break down of "Whammer Jammer". This would make for a great instructional analysis video in the woodshedmobile. So jam packed with important details. I'm just sayin'.
Last Edited by Garlic Breath on Jul 27, 2017 9:00 PM
