I love the stuff Little Wiliie Foster recorded for Cobra. It's nothing fancy or technically elegant, it's just good.
It isn't often that Blues gets discussed on the Modern Blues Harmonica forum. When it does, I don't like to see the thread get diluted by people who think the music is ignorant or unsophisticated.
I rarely hear Buddy Guy go balls out mad playing with junior wells. Alone maybe, but his stuff with Junior is way better. But it could be because I'm not an overly hyped up World Class Musician.
"Hoodoo Man Blues" seems like a perfect example of Less is More. Along with many others. Shoot Jimmy Reed must not be a good musician either. Comparable to the great highschool musicians out there.
Also, how long can you listen to highschool musicians as opposed to say James Cotton. I'm sure the highschool musicians can say their music is more musical, but interesting..... Not a chance. So what's the point of listening if it is far less interesting than someone who may be less musical.
Musical theory and proficiency in it does not equal good or "Listen-able" music. Just look at Miles Davis. Claimed by many to be the greatest improvisor in jazz. Very musical..... His music is music, but interesting. Not at all.
I like many people listen to BLUES. I wouldn't give Gogel Bordello a long listen even though they are WAY more musical than say Sonny Boy Williamson.
But like I said, I'm no Super Leet exceptional, wizarding, magical genius World Class Musician.
Maybe Less is More should be this post's motto. :)
---------- ---Go Chicago Bears!!!--- 1st to Clinch Division
The conflict between rehearsed and improvised music on harmonica is perennial; I think it brings up a very relevant point--how do you guys feel about memorized instrumentals vs. the head + improv variety? I like both types and notice both types being cited above. There's a lot to be said for blasting a three- or four-minute set-piece romp like Piazza loves to do: it can really grab the audience if you can play it competently, as Todd observes about "Cherry Pink." Or a slow mood piece of similar length: for a few years I did a version of "Blue Midnight" that kept the major motifs, partly because the version without the early fadeout works pretty well as a composition IMO.
There's much to be said for the head + improv variety for playing out spontaneously: you can throw down that type at a jam or when sitting in. I used to do "Off the Wall" with the first two choruses kind of accurate, and the drum-break chorus if the drummer knew the song, and we did our best to jam the rest. LW's got plenty of good instrumentals for that; James Cotton took "Off the Wall" and kinda took it over as the years went by, till it became "Cotton Boogie" and really a display of his style--isn't it called "Juke"(?!) on one of his earlier albums? Or was it Musselwhite who evolved "Juke" into a different tune by the time he recorded it?
Another issue that interests me about instrumentals is that we can value them for displaying sheer harmonica prowess, or for the degree to which the song integrates the whole band, where you can't really separate the harp from what else is going on. 5F6H knows I favor the latter type if I have to do a top 10 list or whatever. Obviously that's crucial to the rehearsed-type instrumental, and when it comes to the throwdown type, I try to do ones that throw a bone to at least one other instrument up there, a cool bass line or drum break or a non-shuffle groove--remember how Gary Smith announces "Minor Mambo" at that Meltdown show? "Blue Midnight" was the first tune AFAIK to use the "Last Night" bass line, and a surprising number of blues bass players don't know that bass line and like it when they learn it. Little dicey to teach it on the bandstand at a jam, but it's sure a lot of instant mood if they can grasp it in time.
Anyhow, trying to be a little obscure about nominations, not to show off but to give these tunes wider exposure like Joe_L did a lot of above:
"Taylor's Basement" by Bill Rhoades is a head + improv number on a Jimmy Lloyd Rea & the Switchmasters record--cool melody line that's so elegantly simple that you'll kick yourself for not writing it yourself :)
The others are more "interplay" tunes, I guess:
"Fast Boogie" by LW--NOT the early takes of "Off the Wall" that also bear that title, but the song from the superlative July 1953 session. Fred Below and LW at their best together, and check out the guitars too. I don't think it's on YouTube; in the states it's on the Essential LW and the recent box set.
"C-Boy's Blues" on the first Fabulous Thunderbirds album belongs on any short list of slow diatonic instrumentals. It may just be a particularly good take of a theme they played often, but listen to how the guitar and harp work with each other.
"The Oven Is On" by James Montgomery sounds relatively rehearsed to me, and the song structure goes some interesting places and has a natural spot for a guitar solo.
"Back in the Hot Seat" by Dave Morris with Big Dave and the Ultrasonics is classic. (Big Dave was the guitarist/vocalist.)
"Holman and Dowling" by Sonny Boy Terry is a Houston groove & backing instead of a Chicago or West Coast, etc., one; I like the version on Joe Hughes's DOWN AND DEPRESSED: DANGEROUS best. SBT's "Pressure Cooker" is another excellent instrumental.
"Chase the Ace" by our own Ev630 is a very good instrumental and demonstrates several of the above principles, plus the fact that the only thing stopping you from writing your own instrumental is you, really, so what are you waiting for? The head + improv variety is within everybody's reach and a decent one will help establish your identity in your community if you are moving into playing out.
Apologies for the length, but I think it's worthwhile to stop and ask just why we esteem certain tunes so much, in the interest of going out and doing some of that ourselves. If you're starting to play out, playing an instrumental can mean fewer lyrics to remember or sing on key; and if you make it a cooperative venture instead of a hey-everybody-watch-me-play-harmonica wankfest, you can make some new friends.
Last Edited by on Dec 23, 2010 4:44 PM
@htownfess - If I'm listening or playing, I really dig the interplay between the musicians. I don't like to play instrumentals unless I know the players are paying attention and playing off each other. One of the things that make most instrumentals work is the interplay between the musicians.
When I do play instrumentals, they tend to fall into the Head + Improve + End variety. I rarely play them exactly as the original mostly because I can't memorize stuff.
I also have two pretty basic instrumentals that I can play at jams where I can start it off before handing it off to other players and then I close it out. Wild Child Butler's Speed is really good for that. I can play it amplified or through a PA and it sounds decent.
Finally, I try to avoid playing Little Walter tunes as they tend to be well known by harp players. I try to shy away from some of Big Walter's better known instrumentals for the same reason. I will pick something by someone less well known. That way when I don't nail it note for note, very few will be any wiser. I do the same thing with tunes with vocals.
and, "Work Song" -- butterfield "Off the Wall" -- Little Walter ---------- I could be bound by a nutshell and still count myself a king of infinite space
Hmmm... The title of this thread is INSTRUMENTAL. A lot of these suggestions (including mine teehee) have lyrics! you guys broke the rules of the thread! but, yeah, just throwing that out there. Y'know, the observation.
---------- I could be bound by a nutshell and still count myself a king of infinite space
I was answering a question on reddit today on this topic and google returned this thread. I'd like to pick the computer brains out there...
Obviously some of these links may be broken because the video was deleted but at some point YouTube changed things and broke a lot of old links as well. I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to track down old links. I went in as an admin but I wasn't able to pull down useful information. The links seemed to be broken, at least on the first couple I tried. I don't know if the Wayback Machine would help.
Anyway, any suggestions, let me know. It's not something I would do globally but if I find an interesting thread it would be nice to be able to fix some broken links.
In the meantime, maybe we need to keep this in mind in the future and remember to just leave a text name of the links we put in so future generations can figure out what we were looking at when the links are broken.
