What Harp Do You Use?

The questions that come my way have to do with equipment and such, and I suppose which harp I use is the number one query.  Well, I gotta say up front that there is no PERFECT sound that all harp players agree on, nor should there be. It's like there's a sound in your head/heart/gut that you're trying to reach on the one hand and, on the other, what you can do and how you sound.

I've tried a ton of different harps and my little carrying case with a good range of harmonicas has a kind of odd range of types and brands. A few, like Big River Harps by Hohner, I don't keep within reach and are off on a shelf somewhere. I don't personally like the feel of the harp and the reeds and such are a bit recessed and make clean, natural blows and draw cumbersome for me. Another person's mileage may differ. If that was all one had to blow on, I'm sure one could adapt and conform to the feeling of the harp and the air space issues that I ran into. On the other hand, life is a bit short.

I don't usually find fault with a Hohner Marine Band, of course, and it has that sort of historical blues mojo. Having said that, I do see that in the more recent times I get a clunker now and then, one with whining and shrill or non-working reeds. That was unthinkable five years ago. It just didn't happen.  As far as I can tell, even though prices are going through the roof for harps the quality overview sucks and things are getting out of the factory that should have been tossed back in for repair or testing. So, if that happens to be your paying job in life, you'd better make sure your resume is up to date.

Lots of people love the Hohner Special 20's, although the diminished qualities evident in Hohner products these days can come through, they're not exactly terrible. They have to be babied a bit, which I don't want to think about when I'm playing.

Lee Oskars were once my unquestioned favorite to play. Loved the sort of mid and lower rumble and tone and have never been a guy who plays a lot on the higher end of the harp. I've heard, and only heard, things that suggest the quality, like Hohner, are suffering as of late. I suppose after the Marine Band gusto I have, I rarely ever find much wrong with a Lee Oskar.

Now, at the risk of being dumb, I have also played the Suzuki Promaster and the lesser-in-the-line Suzuki Bluesmaster. The Promaster everybody slobbers over because it's so much more expensive, but to me it's like blowing a brick. No life. No pizazz that you'll feel and hear with a Marine Band. The Bluesmaster, however, is one that I have in a C harp because Suzuki sent it to me some time ago in hopes I'd review it. I prefer the Bluesmaster to the Promaster anytime, and one thing I noticed is how I can sit in the back of a bus or on a bench and play very, very quietly and have the sound be full and not subject to choking attempts of reeds to vibrate. It's also the smoothest in terms of my mouth/feel as I'm trucking along playing. Unlike some, it also doesn't yank my mustache hair now and then and make my eyes pop open.

I haven't played the Bluesmaster in public in a band in a while but think I will at a jam/gig on Wednesday night just to see how it handles at full volume.

I hear good things about the Seydel (Heck, on Google it shows it was the favorite harp in Poland)(?) but don't have the $70+ bucks to toss down on one.

There is no "right" sound or "right" harp except the one that is for you to help get the sound out of your head and into the air. I'm always interested, however, in who likes what and why.

Bye Bye Bird

I bought one special harp after hearing this song -- the Hohner 364, I believe it is, because I dug the sound so much. The only problem was that the harp didn't come with even a modicum of extra talent, so I struggled through it as best I could.

When I got my harps back from their storage place in Ft. Worth thanks to my sister's continuing kindness in life, the first thing I did was pull out the 364 and play and sing this song. If all goes well, I'll be busking out on the streets again tomorrow, although anybody trying that in Houston knows it's not for money since most people smile and comment but pass by. It'll be to play.

Paging One Gibbs Slap

Ok, I totally clicked off the television thirty years ago only to somehow fall face first into things like NCIS, House and Bones.  And, of course, Craig Ferguson. But I'm already running off target. My point is, as much as I love acoustic blues harp it's a bit of a sacrilege to say that in this picture of harpist Sonny Terry with his long time partner Brownie McGee I'm convinced what was on Brownie's mind was the constant desire after hearing Terry's whooping and hollering and often nonstop playing to give his forced friend a Gibbs Slap.

I've had far less talented harp players sit in for a song with my band only to find they started blowing a note from the first of the song all the way through till a half-beat after the end. I know what it makes you feel like. Brownie handled it well, I suppose, knowing he had a harp genius sitting to his right -- he just wouldn't say diddley-squat to the guy on or offstage.

Juke Boy

Seems fitting since I'm staying in Houston for a while to mention a bluesman who played his music on a Fender Mustang -- a favorite guitar of mine in those long ago years thanks to the one owned by Alan House -- and a harp on the neck rack. He along with Lightnin Hopkins sort of solidified my early sense of the blues. In fact, when I was 13 I owned two albums -- one was Lightnin and the other was Ravi Shankar on the sitar. Ecclectic at best, eh?

Have a friend who saw Juke Boy back in those times but Juke Boy was not in the best of health. This clip from Swedish television happened in 1975 and, three years later, Juke Boy died in his apartment from cirrhosis of the liver at age 46. Unknown in most of Houston, he was a blue hero in Europe.

Gratitude

Got only one thing on my mind tonight -- a thank you.  Dr. Rick and the Burners invited me to sit in for several songs at their gig tonight here in Houston and, yes, I was honored. Fantastic band -- not blasting/muddled, but sharp and clear and just plain fantastic.

Dr. Rick has been extremely kind to me since I had a "coming out" party as a revived player at The Big Easy a few nights ago, and the invitation's just one example. And I can't say enough about the players. I'm used to running into some pretty severe ego measured in  pounds per square inch in bands and amongst musicians, but these were flat out the nicest people I could hope to paratroop down into.

They have a regular spot over at Papadeux here in Houston on Friday nights on Richmond for the next few weeks, and I canNOT resist telling you to make plans.

My Younger Days

Ok, one thing I love about the blues is when a great song just dovetails in with where I am at the moment -- usually standing more than neck deep in the swamp.

I went searching for Sonny Boy doing "My Younger Days" and, lo and behold, found it. So, from my favorite:

Yes -- with several blues geniuses playing along -- Willie Dixon who did the forward to my book on the blues, Sunnyland Slim who is a piano blues god for me and even Hubert Sumlin who was the guitarman behind Howlin' Wolf for several centuries. 

First Getting You Started Lesson

Ok, there are great lessons out on the Net for intermediate and advanced players of the blues harp. But what if you have been listening and figure playing the harp is like learning calculus. Not quite. The goal is to get yourself in touch with the music and the sense of playing it and down the road to make your thoughts and emotions known through the medium of the blues harp.

Well, let me introduce you to Jon Gindick who has some of the best basic harmonica teachings I've ever come across. In fact, many years ago when I played a lot of Bob Dylan style folkie harmonica, I wanted to learn some blues. The concept behind it all was way beyond me -- and I picked up something he'd written who gave me this flash buddhalike insight into just the most basic principles to hang onto as I progressed. For that, I'm grateful.

Another example of that kind of miracle -- teaching me anything I can learn  -- is posted today. Now, if you take a moment to review the video with a C harp in hand, perhaps a lot of the mystery at the start of having a harmonica stuck in your mouth will clear up for you.

The Big Easy -- Fantastic!

Stepped into a blue jam tonight here in Houston at The Big Easy, a legendary club that's been around for years and years. Played there several times a long while back with my band.

It was fantastic. Great musicians, wonderful staff and owner, fantastic audience. I was lucky, since performers are kinda of thrown together, to have gotten such great players. I did a few blues tunes -- Pontiac Blues from Sonny Boy Willamson and Long Distance Call from Muddy Waters -- both singing and playing harp.  Really cool. I was asked to come back tomorrow night and was also invited to do a few songs at a restaurant/club by one of the musicians I met tonight and played with.

Way cool.

The Holy Grail of Harp

Ok, so what is the Holy Grail of Blues Harp?  Well, given the nearly celestial tone of Little Walter, I suppose most players genuflect in the direction of his classic "Juke."  

 

Not a lot of things in life are stunning. Perhaps the most recent verbal smoke bomb of a Sarah Palin which can leave people wide eyed in bafflement. Juke, however, IS stunning. Now, nobody -- and I mean nobody -- has mastered it. So, get  that out of your head pronto.  If you want to start goofing around with it, go right ahead. Thinking a tiny sliver of a transcript will make one a Little Walter is akin to saying, "How do I ride across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope on my bicycle?" and hearing "Well, first get a rope."

There are a few important points beyond that.

If you're interested, you might try out http://www.harptab.com/blues/playjuke.shtml which is, I suppose, a good hearted attempt to get one moving in the right direction.

Hooker 'N Heat

Ok, one of the most underrated or unknown blues albums is the fantastic Hooker 'n Heat which features the immortal John Lee Hooker with both solo work and tracks with Canned Heat. I heard it in college a thousand years ago and fell completely under its spell.

Of huge importance to this blog (and this player) were the duo cuts with Hooker and Alan Wilson, the Heat's harp player who died even before the album came out. In fact, the cover shows the band and Hooker sitting in a dark hotel room without Alan, of course, although his picture hangs on the wall behind them and to the right.

Alan Wilson's performance blew Hooker away. Hopefully it'll do the same for you.

Oh, That Bias Thing

First of all, there's no such thing as the best in harps, either players or equipment or songs.

Instead, what we have are piles of personal favorites. So, when I look at harps and players it's not the same as you or you or you.

My personal favorite is Sonny Boy Williamson, aka Rice Miller. He is simply the coolest cat, period, and the choice reflects my own likes -- listen to Trust My Baby and tell me it's not brilliant, of course, and I'll raise all kinda of hell.

Part of it comes from a general dislike of most amplified harp players, which is to say 90% of the honkers and raspers that masquerade as harp players these days from garage bands on up.  As a former group leader, I had one guy in my band over the years who was simply the best -- Frank Zona. He was also (and is now primarily) a sax player, something I don't hold against him because he comes at it all as a blues player, not a jazzamoto.  I did have one guy who must have had a blood transfusion from David Sanborn and always sounded out of tune to me as he waggled his backside to impress the ladies.

The difference is critical. Blues is played from the heart (or waist) down and jazz from the neck up.

Sonny Boy Williamson 2 (to be correct) had a bag of tricks/skills that made his playing the best for me. It wasn't just buying a harp and blowing it through a Shure Green Bullet. His hands and technique gave the most distinct voice to a harp I have ever heard.  With it came the freedom to create, not the drive to conform.

Next time I'll step on toes about the harps themselves and what I like and don't like.

Don't start me to talking. I'll tell everything I know.

Increasing Chance of Howling Wolf

My favorite story about Howlin' Wolf is that during a club date one night, a guy from the audience walked up to the stage and said to Wolf, "Hey, do you know your piano player is asleep?"  Wolf looked around and, sure enough, the poor guy had dozed off at the piano. Wolf looked back at the man and said, "Let him sleep. Long as he sleeps, he's got a job..."

If you're looking for intensity that would melt lead, check him out -- it's evident in this clip. So is some excellent harp playing with a great style that fits, big time.

The Real House of the Blues

Mentioned the Paul Butterfield Blues Band yesterday, but I also came across an astonishing bit of footage that features his electric work (although the cameraman is standing behind them and seems to be on acid).

The highpoint of the clip is one of my favorites -- Son House, who simply radiates the blues. I was fortunate enough to record his classic Death Letter on my latest album, but I can't get enough of him. Hopefully you'll pick out a few things of importance from this:

Top Blues Harp Masters?

TOP-10 ALL-TIME:BLUES GODS
list complied by the fantastic player and teacher Adam Gussow

    Little Walter (Jacobs)
    Big Walter (Horton)
    James Cotton
    John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson (aka, Sonny Boy I)
    Rice Miller (aka Sonny Boy Williamson, Sonny Boy II)
    Sonny Terry
    Junior Wells
    Howlin’ Wolf
    Paul Butterfield
    George “Harmonica” Smith

Wouldn't quite be my list -- but would it be yours?

A Bit More Howlin'

But I know what kind of day you've had. I know you need a dose of the blues -- and here is Howlin' Wolf himself with Smokestack Lightning:

Practicing the Blues Harp

Since it seems to be damn near impossible to find players in Houston, I was fortunate to come across some of the Backing Tracks featured on YouTube.com and if you're trying to hear what your blues harp sounds like against a full band or, as I enjoy sometimes, just against an acoustic guitar and such, look no more.

Blues harp isn't something that just springs forth, and if you are new then quit beating up on yourself and start with some of the lessons that are out there.  I'll try to point you in a direction or two, but you can't go wrong diving into Adam Gussow who has a ton of good stuff to say. If that's too far down the road for you at this time, then Google or search YouTube.com and you'll find someone who seems to be speaking directly to you.

When I was a kid, I'd have given anything to have the kind of reference that's out there right now to learn harp -- to dig the sound, watch how the legends actually played and to learn, learn, learn.

Ah, but the backing tracks -- here's the kind I'm talking about. The way YouTube is set up there are always some suggestions off to the side of the main video page, there on the right. You'll do it. The blues harp isn't a destination, it's a journey you'll never quite get to the end of.

Have A Sonny Day

Oh, here's a look at Sonny Boy Williamson -- Rice Miller, usually referred to as Sonny Boy Williamson 2.  Ok, this cat is smooth stuff and has always formed an archetype of how to do classy blues -- my favorite -- and stunning blues harp.

Paul Butterfield

Paul Butterfield played and endorsed (as noted in the liner notes for his first album) Hohner harmonicas, in particular the diatonic ten-hole 'Marine Band' model. He played using an unconventional technique, holding the harmonica upside-down (with the low notes to the righthand side). His primary playing style was in the second position, also known as cross-harp, but he also was adept in the third position, notably on the track East-West from the album of the same name, and the track 'Highway 28' from the "Better Days" album.

Seldom venturing higher than the sixth hole on the harmonica, Butterfield nevertheless managed to create a variety of original sounds and melodic runs. His live tonal stylings were accomplished using a Shure 545 Unidyne III hand-held microphone connected to one or more Fender amplifiers, often then additionally boosted through the venue's public address (PA) system. This allowed Butterfield to achieve the same extremes of volume as the various notable sidemen in his band. His mastery of tone in such situations was stunning.

Butterfield also at times played a mixture of acoustic and amplified style by playing into a microphone mounted on a stand, allowing him to perform on the harmonica using both hands to get a muted, Wah-wah effect, as well as various vibratos. The performance below is a very good example.