Wow! I had forgotten how slow they played it. I think Brownie was very underrated as a guitarist and a singer--seems he kind of fell into the shadow of Sonny.
Great to listen to this from the masters again. . .
I especially love Brownie's singing. I had an older friend that was their friend and he introducing me to them in the back of one of the clubs on Bleecker Street decades ago and Brownie said to me "I'd like to take all the harmonica players in the world, put them in a plastic bag, and drown them". Must have been during one of their "spats" to use a euphemism. Maybe he relaxed his antipathy when he recorded with Sugar. I got to see them a few times in "the old days". d ---------- Myspace: dennis moriarty
A friend of mine in Seattle was involved with booking them a couple of times. He said they were a bitch to book anywhere because they wouldn't stay in the same hotel or ride in the same airplane. . .
I got to see Sonny and Brownie at the Walrus tavern, 85th and Greenwood, Seattle, 1972 or 73, one of the three best musical experiences of my life. They did Key to the Highway, played two good solid sets. Because of Brownie being crippled and Sonny's sight impairment they had to help each other on and off the stage. That really made a big impression on me at the time. Heard later it was very much a love / hate relationship, but never would have guessed that the night they played the Walrus.
Last Edited by on May 10, 2010 8:23 PM
I expect sonny played over brownies vocals a lot that probably caused some discord between them it was said robert lockwood did not like harp players for that reason the only one he ever hired was wllace coleman who still plays today and have seen live twice
I only saw and met Robert Lockwood Jr once, but I got the sense that he didn't like anybody, harp players or not.
I heard a story once that in the old days in Memphis he had told BB King he would never be a good guiarist because he was a lousy rythym player. I loved Robert's music, as a sideman on Chess, and all of his own recordings, he to me was one of the greatest guitarists ever.
Last Edited by on May 11, 2010 2:00 PM
This is pretty much the speed that Clapton used to play it. That's where I heard it first. There is a nice version of it with Dennis Gruenling playing on it on YouTube.
clapton sets the standard little walter was his favorite harp player but in an interview I saw he said his skills were so raw EVEN HARMONICA,dont get it
I can not imagine hearing this song any other way. I have never heard it before so it will surely sound foreign at any other speed. ---------- -[][][][][][][][][][]- Learning is a journey, not a destination... -BL
