What are some great songs with killer harmonica parts - either solo or featured or whatever? There are tons that aren’t springing to mind, but here are two that inspired this thread:
Sneaking Through the Alley with Sally - Robert Palmer (harp solo at 1:44)
… and Uncle John by Eric Lindell (harmonica carries the entire tune, but the solo at 2:04 drives it home)
What do you got? I suppose you could just say “The entire Blues Travelers library,” but, come on, that’s just being lazy. Get with the program - link me.
I’m pretty sure these guy’s’ll fit the bill; hard to go wrong with Satan and Adam:
Mr. Satan is an awesome player and performer; his voice is full of pain and joy and his songs are wonderful expressions of being.
The addition of Adam’s harmonica to his songs takes them from merely “far too full of talent to be played on the street for handouts” to “transcendent emotional experience”; it is the perfect counterpoint and compliment to Mr. Satan.
Adler: I was at a party in New York in 1934 when the host, Jules Glaenzer – the president of Cartier Jewelers—suddenly announced that Larry and George were going to play the Rhapsody in Blue. Glaenzer didn’t even know if I knew the Rhapsody, but he announced it anyway. I had never played it before, but I had heard the piece, so I was confident that I could play it.
So George sat at the piano and I started to play the Rhapsody, and it was as if two people had known each other all their lives; we played the Rhapsody all the way through and when we finished it, George got up, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “You make the god-damned thing sound like I wrote it for you!”
From then on I was friends with the Gershwin family for the rest of George’s life and for the rest of Ira’s too.
Awesome stuff!
Saw Charlie McCoy a few years ago, he stuck around & sat in with others for awhile until he got hungry for food. Mostly doing blues stuff. Some pretty weird looking people in this clip heh,heh.
If you haven’t heard of Adler before, this may interest you:
During the 1940s, Adler and the dancer Paul Draper formed an act and toured nationally and internationally, performing individually then together in each performance. One popular number was Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm”. During the McCarthy era he was accused of being a communist and refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). After being blacklisted and an unsuccessful libel suit decided in 1950, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1951 and settled in London,[6][7] where he remained the rest of his life. Another source indicates he stayed in London from 1949.[3]
I was not familiear with Larry Addler - he’s amazing.
Here’s another: The Ballad of Myron D. Brown jr. by a little band called I Suppose You Know Karate (in which I play guitar (shameless self-plug)). A guy by the name of Dave Wakefield (who also blows a mean sax) plays the harmonica. Dave also tells the worst friggin’ jokes in the world … just in case you ever meet him. Forewarned.
I’ve known of Larry Adler for years, but thank you for the information! My dad took up harmonica in his later years and would go to a convention in or around Detroit and see Adler, Toots Thielsman, Charlie Musselwhite etc. That was quite a few years ago.
I have several harmonicas. Never got any good at it and never had the perseverance to continue. Not many can do with a chromatic what Adler could. No wonder I became disenchanted with myself Toots did some interesting stuff with Jaco Pastorious.
I see someone just posted Pastorious
I stumbled across him because of the “Glory of Gershwin” album. It’s a pity he was blacklisted—but at least his recordings are available.
We may be related…I can play guitar so I got the Bob Dylan/Neil Young holder thing and…nope! Why is it I can sing and play guitar but I can’t play the most basic harmonica and play guitar at the same time?
Remember this ad? I had heard Steven Tyler was originally a drummer, so ok. But harmonica? Some people just pick things up…
Steven Tyler is pretty good. I wish he just stick to what he does though instead of the celebrity thing. Same goes for Mick Jagger.
I never cared for much of the sound using harmonica holders. The way one cups their hands adds a lot to the sound. Jimmy Reed might be an exception to my thoughts on that. He was never a ‘great’ harmonica player, or guitar player, but he had that sound that was all his. I guess his and Eddie Taylor’s who was his guitar accompanyment for years. Reed owes to Taylor what Chuck Berry owes to Johnnie Johnson piano.
Toots did some interesting stuff with Jaco Pastorious.
