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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Johnny Moment
Johnny Moment
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SuperBee
6772 posts
Jul 25, 2020
2:28 AM
On the I Blueskvarter volume 3 album there are a couple of tracks attributed to Johnny Moment.

I am wondering if anyone knows anything more about Johnny Moment beyond these recordings. He has some technical skills and obviously wasn’t recorded completely at random; I mean he had clearly been playing long enough to develop a strong and durable throat vibrato/tremolo and even though he was a solo harp player he must have had some sort of profile.
sydeman
242 posts
Jul 25, 2020
1:34 PM
Awhile back...
https://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/3129472.htm
SuperBee
6773 posts
Jul 25, 2020
8:42 PM
Thanks, Sydeman. I did find that thread in my initial search, but I was really hoping to find some biographical information.
SuperBee
6774 posts
Jul 26, 2020
6:26 PM
i found this quote from Charlie Musselwhite: "In Memphis there were harp players that hardly anyone has ever heard of. There was a guy named Johnny Moment—great name—I learned from him."
sydeman
243 posts
Jul 26, 2020
8:09 PM
Not sure if you have seen the review of Blueskvarter volume 3 with the comment he was unknown,

The two remaining standouts are Babe Stovall and the unknown Johnny Moment. Stovall was an accomplished country bluesman who was recorded only sparingly. These recordings are his debut and he is in great form, particularly on "Good Morning Blues" which bears the influence of Tommy Johnson whom he learned quite a bit from in the 1930's. Moment is a complete unknown and these are apparently his only recordings. Moment practically steals the show on a pair of tremendous low-down blues bearing an uncanny resemblance to Sonny Boy Williamson I in both his vocals and his evocative harmonica playing.
Here is the full review:
https://www.jeffersonbluesmag.com/butik/2016-05-21-14-18-00/676-i-blueskvarter-1964-volume-3#review2
SuperBee
6775 posts
Jul 27, 2020
1:27 AM
Yes, I recently bought that album, hence my interest.
I also found it fairly unlikely that a fellow could play with that much technique and passion and be completely unknown.
I wondered if maybe he used another name, and I did find a reference to him as "Mississippi John Moment", but it didn't really help.
I also found that those tracks were recorded at Will Shades' residence in Memphis, and there were a number of other reasonably well known musicians present, so no doubt he was known to them.
Then I found the quote from Charlie Musselwhite, so obviously Charlie knew about him too.


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