Portnoy is a ridiculously good harp player. I think the more subdued, not in your face playing like some of the more "Exciting" players named is actually what got him hired. He was there to support, not steal the show. The Hoochie Coochie Man solo on From the Cradle is how I introduce my students to 1st position in the low octave. It is a finely crafted solo with no fat on it. Check out the CD In the Mood Room. Also, the Legendary Blues Band albums are excellent.
To be honest, I didn't like Portnoy until about two years ago. It sounded very technically precise, but no feeling. Now I hear lots of feeling. I think I changed, not him. Perhaps Portnoy is the caviar of harp.
yeah, green is who those other guitar players were listening too.. and once he left Fleetwood Mack so did most harp, just like the rest of those bands at about that time
I agree that Clapton doesn't seem to like harp much--my all-time favorite album to jam with is "Me and Mr. Johnson," which features very nice harp on most all of the cuts--but never any solos, and you have to listen close to even hear it. (Great to jam with on harp and the key is A for pretty much everything).
I've been a big fan of Clapton since the world began--I have to agree that the Johnson stuff isn't his best work--but I still love it as one of the very best ways to hear Robert Johnson music in a high fidelity mix--all the re-makes of his recordings are great to study the music--but not so good to listen to just for fun--and the key is usually evasive on the old recordings--hard to jam with. . . ---------- Oldwailer's Web Site
Yes defiantly I was referring to him as a guitar player just because there was lot of mention of brilliant guitar player in this thread but his name was not mentioned. But for me his was and still is a great blues man. Fantastic vocals good harp player and well in my opinion the best British blues guitarist ever.
"Cream and, slightly later, The Allman Brothers, were both listening to John Contrane's free jazz experiments."
Yes! astute observation Adam. here is an interesting side note. Prior to Claptons experiments, there is the Birds Eight Miles High. The 12 string guitar intro is pure Coltrane. it quotes him in CAPS. Bonus points if you guess the tune.:-)
seems i wasn't in the best of moods in early July of 2010. Oh well.. ---------- MP affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name [MP] for info- repair videos on YouTube. you can reach me via Facebook. Mark Prados
i really like Peter Greens harp playing from those Fleetwood Mac recordings. Also, his wonderful tone and phrasing on guitar. it gives me chicken skin. Green also sings and plays a great version of B.B. Kings recording of 'Need Your Love So Bad.' ---------- MP affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name [MP] for info- repair videos on YouTube. you can reach me via Facebook. Mark Prados
@MP-"Yes! astute observation Adam. here is an interesting side note. Prior to Claptons experiments, there is the Birds Eight Miles High. The 12 string guitar intro is pure Coltrane. it quotes him in CAPS. Bonus points if you guess the tune.:-)"
"India" from the "Impressions " album was the influence -Coltrane and Shankar were in heavy rotation on the tour bus-I have personally met Crosby and McGuinn. I know more about Coltrane than most on this forum.
Last Edited by on Oct 10, 2012 6:18 PM
"What do you like, Gloth? The Singing Nun? Do you listen to the blues at all?"
Gloth-no
Singing Nun-no
Blues -YES My brother got me into Coltrane around 2001-we went to The Irdium in NYC to see Ravi Coltrane-it was on from there. Just beacuse Im well versed in Jazz does not mean I dont listen,play or like the blues.
when peter green made his comeback it was very obvious he had lost his pipes somewhat but if you ever listen to fleetwood mac in chicago it starts out with greenie on vocals and lead guitar on watch out...nothing short of brilliant...too bad he overdid the LSD....
re. the Coltrane influence thread tangent - there's this on JC & the Dead:
Weir: "We felt at that time, when we were listening to Coltrane, that we were hardly fit to grovel at his feet. But still, we were trying to get there - our aims were the same."
Lesh: "We never heard Coltrane live after the band started, so it was the recordings we would lean on. Mainly it was Africa/Brass. Bill Kreutzmann really got off on Elvin's drum solo on 'Africa'; of the other guys, it was pretty much the whole composition and the way it all developed, <-snip -> 'Blues Minor' is one of my favorites."
As for Garcia: "I've been influenced a lot by Coltrane, but I never copped his licks or sat down, listened to records and tried to play his stuff. I've been impressed with that thing of flow, and of making statements that to my ears sound like paragraphs - he'll play along stylistically with a certain kind of tone...for X amount of time - then he'll change the subject, then play along with this other personality coming out, which really impresses me."
Lesh says in his book, "I urged the other band members to listen closely to the music of John Coltrane, especially his classic quartet, in which the band would take fairly simple structures ('My Favorite Things', for example) and extend them far beyond their original length with fantastical variations, frequently based on only one chord."
more here: http://archive.org/post/383375/the-dead-quote-coltrane
To my '3'd ear' the Dead come a lot closer to bringing the spirit of JC to Rock. For the Dead the blues where just a starting point, - one of the roots along with country and folk. Their aim was sonic / spiritual exploration - borrowing from JC's 'outside' stretching of one chord modal stuff. Clapton and Cream remained much closer to the simpler blues roots IMO. As to what tickles your own 'third ear' - it could well be EC - he just doesn't do it for me. ----------
Last Edited by on Oct 10, 2012 9:11 PM
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers c1966 is about the only album from the sixties that i still play regularly.IMO its about as perfect a blues album as any bunch of white bluesman have ever done,every track a winner. That Cream version of Steppin' out is not a patch on the '66 one. It's also the only Harp stuff of John Mayall that i like, can't understand what actually happened to his chops and tone after that. And EC? well he has put out a lot of crap in the years since but he does deserve some respect and has come up with the odd winner,but there a lot of other guitarist singers i'd rather go see,hear, than EC. Harp content:I agree with Michael Rubin that Portnoy was the logical choice for EC ,imagine Kim Wilson or suchlike in his band nah wouldn't of worked they just couldn't be happy compin' away in the background imo.
@ tmf714 - I was directing the question at Mr. Gloth, the guy that doesn't like Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Bonamassa or BB King, not at you, sucka.
@ tmf714 - Excuse me, sir? Did I call you a name that you didn't call me first? Take your schoolyard bullshit elsewhere. The question wasn't directed to you.
@ The Gloth - I'm happy for you. But your statement describing the guitar players that you don't like suggested that you don't have an ear for good blues guitar. So I suggested someone that might be more your speed. I'm thrilled that you work near her grave. Whenever I hear the song, I'll think of you!
There's a guy named "Guitar Shorty" that was a big influence on Hendrix. Shorty is still alive and his live performances are supposed to be astounding. ---------- The Iceman
i played at least one blues festival in PA w/ Guitar Shorty on the bill. Shorty is phenomenal! also present were Jimmy Thackery and Clarence Spady.
Spady blew up his amp...again. he seems to do this often. Anyway, he was trying to borrow an amp from Shorty and Shorty wasn't goin' for it. Shorty told him his stuff was all packed in the van. (it was February and freakin' cold too).
So Thackery, seeing Shorty being put on the spot, starts telling a Cary Bell story (it had to do with Gin) to Shorty in an end run distraction save. Funny stuff;-)
---------- MP affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name [MP] for info- repair videos on YouTube. you can reach me via Facebook. Mark Prados
I'm sort of surprised that no one has mentioned Paul Kossoff, the guitar player from the original line up of the band Free. For my money a much more warm, soulful and melodic player than Clapton -- but he died very young, surely would have made more of a mark if he'd had a chance.
