toddlgreene
2179 posts
Dec 03, 2010
5:17 AM
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Adam-Tell us about the tune on the home page. Thanks!
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Todd L. Greene, Codger-in-training
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kudzurunner
2098 posts
Dec 03, 2010
6:21 PM
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It's the last cut on the BLUES CLASSICS album that I released (Charlie Hilbert and yrs truly). It was recorded in a midtown NYC studio, just across the street from Penn Station, in 1989. Wild Jimmy Spruill was playing rhythm guitar; a singer named Grace Brimage was on vocals; other nameless NYC blues players were on drums, bass, and lead guitar. Actually, Howie Wyeth may have been on piano. A french guy on guitar.
Spruill was playing straight fours: basic down-strums, but he anchored the whole song. The French player was playing all the fancy stuff, and he played the solo.
I was on harp. I was playing through the Ampeg Rocket w/a 15" speaker that I used in those days. Plus my Shure PE5-H.
As you'll notice, I throw in a big fat 6 overblow in the middle of my solo. Big, fat, amped-up OB. This is in 1989. You tell me how many guys were playing amped-up overblows in 1989. As far as I know, there were only three of us. Howard, Carlos, and me. Howard wasn't really amped up--that wasn'this main mode--and he wasn't throwing them into traditional shuffle-blues contexts; I had his HARMONICA JAZZ cassette at that point and I thought of him as a bebopper doing "Donna Lee." Carlos hadn't yet recorded or released his first album. Most of the stuff I played came from memories of what Cotton had done on that song, combined with some of the feel of Magic Dick.
The cut still surprises me, because it's more solid and mature than anything I'd played with Sterling at that point. I tended to rush the beat back then. But that day, I was in the pocket. It took six good musicians to keep me there, but I managed to relax even while swinging.
I still remember the session. We also did "C. C. Rider." I played an F harp on that, and basically just hit the 2 draw on the downbeat of 1, straight through the song, with a little vibrato, making it sound sweet, like a B. B. King guitar note. After the recording, Spruill chuckled and said, "I like that note." And he sang the note I'd just played, a couple of times, and chuckled again. One note. I played one note, on one hole, all the way through the song. I'm not much of a minimalist, but for some reason I sensed what the song needed from me--not much--and just did that.
Good teaching day for me. Twenty-one years ago.
Last Edited by on Dec 03, 2010 6:30 PM
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Rev. Jim
40 posts
Dec 04, 2010
5:02 AM
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"French guy on guitar"
Paris Slim? Played a lot around the SF Bay Area in the 80s. I believe he is also on the Gary Smith DVD. Just wondering.
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kudzurunner
2099 posts
Dec 04, 2010
5:03 AM
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@Todd: I've taken the Brimage/Spruill cut off the first page. It was an experiment to see if music helped people to linger on the homepage, but Google Analytics told the opposite story. I'll probably post another clip to the homepage at some point, but that particular cut didn't work.
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Jagrowler
30 posts
Dec 04, 2010
6:03 AM
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Adam - I never really like music to automatically start on any web page. Sometimes inconvenient (eg also talkng on phone, proving men can multitask!), sometimes annoying (eg daughter has left vol on speakers WAY up), I suggest a button to start examples of MODERN blues harp may be more successful.
As always, my advice is free and there is no obligation intended. Cheers, ian
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pharpo
453 posts
Dec 04, 2010
8:34 AM
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A great buy @ $8 by the way....
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Procrastinator Emeritus
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MP
1070 posts
Dec 04, 2010
10:09 AM
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i may be wrong, but didn't gary primich do amped up overblows prior to 1989?
listen to his version of 'the girl that radiates that charm'.
he does big fat low note OBs in the begining of his solo on a Bb harp, then plays 3rd pos on an Eb harp.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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toddlgreene
2184 posts
Dec 04, 2010
2:19 PM
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Adam-I figured you wouldn't have anyone else's playing on there, and it makes sense now-yes, the overblow was a giveaway, but the refinement of your vibrato and overall attack that is evident now wasn't in that track. Very cool, though. I also liked the Buford Chapel Breakdown tune.
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Todd L. Greene, Codger-in-training
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kudzurunner
2102 posts
Dec 04, 2010
2:54 PM
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@MP: I'd love to hear the part of that cut that you're talking about. The album was released in 1992 and it's not available as a download. Is there any chance that you could trim the cut to give us, say, a 15 or 30 second passage that has the overblow you think you hear? I saw Gary live two or three times in NYC back then--hung out with him, talked with him--and don't remember hearing him throw OBs into the mix. I also wrote the script for an edition of BluesStage that featured him (and exceptional playing it was!), and since I was OBing it up back then, I would have noticed, I think.
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MP
1071 posts
Dec 04, 2010
4:15 PM
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alas! i can't find it anywhere. MBH member MojoKane has the CD somewhere. i'll talk to him about it.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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Mojokane
172 posts
Dec 05, 2010
1:58 PM
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forget it...damn friggin ads are relentless!
They hold you hostage, unless you upgrade. Media Fire, that is.(delete delete)
And I''m not the kind to pass on a song to fellow members with all the BS thrown in.
Any suggestions?
other than joining the site which I would only use once or twice a year.
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kudzurunner
2104 posts
Dec 05, 2010
2:04 PM
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@Mojokane: Thanks for sending me that clip. No: no overblow there, just some very tasty 3rd position harp, with a particularly nice bit of playing on the 1 an 2 holes. That's what I think you heard.
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MP
1076 posts
Dec 05, 2010
2:15 PM
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okay, sounded like an overblow down low.
this song has my very favorite 3pos. solo.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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Mojokane
174 posts
Dec 05, 2010
4:57 PM
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Adam...Any chance of posting for the members to chime in as well?
I apologize for the repeated requests for the truth.
Is Gary getting that out of the 4 blow?
Gary seemingly 'draws' it down low...from a high unbended 4 blow, and bends down a whole step?
Help me...This is a song I do, and although I can fake it...fairly well, it still doesn't bend as much as Garys ver.
Thanks.
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