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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Favourite Songs With Singing
Favourite Songs With Singing
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One Palm John
55 posts
Sep 10, 2019
1:26 AM
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Hey all, so I'm finally taking the advice of many members here and working on my singing voice to add another tool to my belt.
What are your favourite songs to play that include singing? Nearly all the harp I listen to is instrumental. I'm particularly interested in songs that are outside the remit of typical harp blues, but I'm not averse to blues by any stretch.
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SuperBee
6155 posts
Sep 10, 2019
4:32 AM
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Hmm, favourites to play which include singing? I probably think of favourites to sing, and what I’m going to play, but ok.
I’ve probably only got blues though.
How about Jr Wells ‘it hurts me too’? That’s an 8 bar thing on which Jr plays a couple of really nice choruses using a D harp.
I like Mr Wells’ take on a lot of things, including ‘Early in the Morning’, but I’ve enjoyed learning the approach used on the Boz Scaggs record, and singing it like Boz is pretty fun. I believe Harry Duncan played the harp. That record is in B using an E harp.
Again with Jr Wells, I really enjoy playing and singing ‘please throw this poor dog a bone’. 3rd position on a G harp.
Sonny Boy Williamson II songs are good to play and sing. I like Mr Downchild, which has lots of fills and a solo which makes heavy use of a triplet lick. I’m thinking of the later Checker record, not the Trumpet record, although there’s nothing wrong with that! The record uses an F harp.
Don’t Start Me Talking is interesting to sing, with a couple of timing challenges. The outro chorus on harp is particularly cool imho.
I like singing Little Walter songs too.
You’re So Fine, My Babe, Blues With a Feeling, Can’t Hold Out Much Longer, Last Night, Mellow Down Easy, to name the first few which come to mind, all have great harp parts and vocals. I like Just Your Fool too, which has 12 bar harp choruses, 8 bar verses and a different 8 bar pattern in the bridge. Ice Cream Man by John Brim features Little Walter on an A harp in 1st position and it’s interesting trying to sing it and play some harp. Create rhythm challenge.
Also in 1st on an A harp I like Walter Horton’s “hard hearted woman” and Kim Wilson’s approach to Sonny Boy’s “From The Bottom”.
More Horton, somewhat overplayed maybe but Walking By Myself is enjoyable.
I like the way Taj Mahal played “Bright Lights, Big City” on the posthumous-release Jimmy Rogers (Allstars) album, but I also like trying to do it like Jimmy Reed. More A harp, 1st position.
And even more 1st position A harp is Walter Horton ‘Trouble in Mind’ from the alligator album ‘with Carey Bell’
Also, I like to do a couple of Billy Boy Arnold things from the Back Where I Belong album: Early In The Morning, and Shake Your Hips (which has Lester Butler on harp)
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jbone
3010 posts
Sep 10, 2019
4:48 AM
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Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jimmy Reed, Walter Big and Little, Wolf, SBI and SBII, Butterfield, Junior Wells, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, Carey Bell, Taj Mahal, Canned Heat, J. Geils Band, Elmore James, Norton Buffalo, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, TBone Walker, Louis Jordan, and a host of others all do stuff that's sing and playable. Many of them my wife and I cover some of their material as a duo. I've been fronting bands and duos for a lot of years. Depending on how much you can do on harp you can adapt a lot of popular music to have a harp part and learn the lyrics and there you go.
There's always writing your own songs too, which we have done 3 CD's worth and working on #4.
The sky is the limit. All the best to you One Palm!
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
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snowman
489 posts
Sep 10, 2019
8:45 AM
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Strong advocate for lessons---I took private lessons from Thomas Appelt when he was starting out-- now he' well known---i lucked out
He sells a cd book thing now --
heres the deal
https://www.amazon.com/Can-Sing-High-Without-Straining/dp/0963233939
Learning the differance between 'head voice' and 'chest voice' is really important--he teaches all that-
He teaches "vibrato" vs "pulsing" which is very important for harp as well--good vibrato involves a little pitch change at a fast or slow pace---but there is a pitch change --[1/4] to 1/2 step-change
Exactly like BB kings bends with vibrato--hes bending the string slightly to change the pitch at his pace--which is very sweet---some guys have a fast pace--BUT THE PITCH IS CHANGING-
Holes 2 and 3 are great holes for learning this---
bend 3 draw and release a little and rebend fast ---WATCH A TUNER THE PITCH SHOULD WAVER--
if it isn't changing its "pulsing"-Pulsing sounds like rapid tongue slaps and pulls-with no pitch change---just bouncing tounge on n off
I think for blues a pretty voice is not as good as a little scratchyness-Tab Benoit--Susan Tedeshi
hope this helps
do yrslf a favor--Take lessons and or at least get some instructional stuff and practice practice yr favorite singers as well--
Change the keys of songs yr practicing, in audacity---until u find the keys u sing better in
I sing better high Bb B [C] C# and D
when sitting in people ask "what key" don't say "i don't know" they'll get bummed---know what key u like to sing it in
U have to find yr voice -that takes yrs--theres a lot of famous harp players that don't have great voices-BUT THEY HAVE LEARNED TO WORK IT FOR THEM---so its sounds good--
In country Lyle Lovett doesn't have a great voice , but he's learned to work it--and he sounds good
Hope this helps-
-Ps singers are always lacking at jams or sit ins--like bass players---tons harp players and guitar
STARTING NOW AND STAYING WITH IT IS IMPORTANT
yrs ago be arthritis, people complemented my guitar and harp-- Now they say " u have great voice"--It took yrs to learn to work MY voice for me--
IT TOOK YRS TO LEARN HOW TO GET IT A LITTLE SCRATCHY--
some people sing really well but an operatic, choir voice--doesn't sound that great in the blues
STICK WITH IT
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One Palm John
56 posts
Sep 11, 2019
5:21 AM
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Amazing guys, thank you so much. Appreciate all the wisdom.
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GamblersHand
707 posts
Sep 11, 2019
6:01 AM
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It's be good to know a little bit more about your own voice and it's strengths - phrasing? lower range? higher range? expressiveness? growly or clean?
Find your strengths and initially base your repertoire around this
For example, a few singers in more West Coast style bands have superb phrasing but otherwise a little unremarkable vocally … but it totally works with their style
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jbone
3011 posts
Sep 11, 2019
8:16 AM
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I smoked and drank enough to put the gravel where it needed to be. Sober many years now. Along the way though I also sang all wrong and did damage to my voice. Voice lessons and breathing lessons are a huge necessity if you want to pursue singing. When you find your depth in your own torso this also will affect how you play harp. It's a win-win. Find a teacher and learn where to breathe from and what your good singing keys are. it's money well spent.
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.
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BnT
250 posts
Sep 17, 2019
12:54 AM
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A few of things:
1. Your vocal range - you already got some good advice about what fits for your voice and considering lessons. If Sonny Boy did "Help Me" in F, why would Junior Wells do it in A? Figure vocal range or he liked the D harp better for the solo. If T-Bone Walker gravitated toward doing songs in Eb, Ab, and Bb - not traditional guitar keys - was it about his vocal comfort zone? Lot's of people just sing based on the key of the recording they copied and while that often is fine you may like the song but decide that Sonny Boy or Little Walter had a different range than you and you can't sing as well in their keys. If you do a song in a key that fits your vocal range, it will probably sound better. If you don't like the way the harp solo sounds in "your key", change harp position - 2nd, 1st, 3rd, etc.
2. Lessons: Really worth considering. Just a few lessons can put you over a hump that's holding you back or make you a much better singer. You don't need to make a lifetime commitment to lessons or break the bank. Just get a little guidance. I performed with a woman singer last week who was really good, and versatile. Turns out she has been doing online vocal lessons with Berklee College of Music (Boston), 3,000 miles away.
2. Songs - Outside of traditional blues, but trying to stay on the outskirts of the genre, how about Mose Allison's "Your Mind is on Vacation"; Junior Wells' version of "Fever";. "The Hucklebuck" - try Roy Milton's for vocals/James Cotton's for harp; "Take A Swing With Me" - check out B.B. King (1949) and Andy Just (2011) https://youtu.be/jeO_56LwLGM;
Steve "West" Weston combining his own "She's a Killer" with Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" https://youtu.be/QCehVvjTdu0 ; Muddy Waters doing Carl Wright's rumba, "She's Into Something"; or "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" - https://youtu.be/UJ1HUZgj91o. The possibilities are endless. Good luck!
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BnT
www.BluesWithAFeelin.com
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