# Killer Harmonica Parts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 16, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665 "2021-01-16T11:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/1 "2021-01-16T11:41:58Z")
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) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/W4q9_XlsU3Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Robert Palmer - Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4q9_XlsU3Y) … and _Uncle John_ by Eric Lindell (harmonica carries the entire tune, but the solo at 2:04 drives it home) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NOmi0JBLDQU/hqdefault.jpg "uncle john Eric Lindell") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOmi0JBLDQU) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/2 "2021-01-16T12:05:54Z")
I’m pretty sure these guy’s’ll fit the bill; hard to go wrong with Satan and Adam: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ulptB5BkhMo/maxresdefault.jpg "Satan and Adam - I Create The Music from Harlem Blues (Audio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulptB5BkhMo) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/X35P-1g213E/hqdefault.jpg ""Listen to the Music," Satan and Adam (1990)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X35P-1g213E) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/3 "2021-01-16T12:28:42Z")
My fave is Magic Dick’s solo in Whammer Jammer on the live J. Geils album Full House. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ASF5CpqP6HY/hqdefault.jpg "J Geils Band - Whammer Jammer (Full House Live)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASF5CpqP6HY) ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/4 "2021-01-16T12:45:47Z")
The great Toots Thielemans does some great harmonica work on Billy Joel’s “Leave a Tender Moment Alone”… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JHpIC4Kk0MU/maxresdefault.jpg "Billy Joel - Leave a Tender Moment Alone (Audio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHpIC4Kk0MU) ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/5 "2021-01-16T13:19:21Z")
Starting around 1:08, check it out. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hYEamCxl6bk/hqdefault.jpg "Mother Earth - Come on and See") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYEamCxl6bk) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/6 "2021-01-16T13:26:26Z")
Larry Adler… Rhapsody in Blue. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4ZI8uB7KfSU/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGHIgTyg2MA8=&rs=AOn4CLBe7d9nlVVkYQ9YKlTGOuchvJ-07Q "Larry Adler - Rhapsody in Blue") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZI8uB7KfSU) > **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. [http://free-reed.net/essays/adler.html](http://free-reed.net/essays/adler.html) Duetting with Perlman on “Summertime.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mrdauSqH_EI/hqdefault.jpg "Larry Adler and Yitzhak Perlman, Summertime") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrdauSqH_EI) And of course… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mRCsfbS5wCM/hqdefault.jpg "Charlie McCoy - "Orange Blossom Special"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRCsfbS5wCM) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/7 "2021-01-16T14:09:20Z")
Robert Plant plays a mean ass harmonica in Zeppelin’s When The Levee Breaks. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uwiTs60VoTM/maxresdefault.jpg "When the Levee Breaks (Remaster)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwiTs60VoTM) ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/8 "2021-01-16T14:12:24Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Larry Adler… 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. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/9 "2021-01-16T14:15:44Z")
> [@Keith1](#): > > Awesome stuff! If you haven’t heard of Adler before, this may interest you: > During the 1940s, Adler and the dancer [Paul Draper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Draper_(dancer)) formed an act and toured nationally and internationally, performing individually then together in each performance. One popular number was Gershwin’s “[I Got Rhythm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Got_Rhythm)”. During the [McCarthy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism) era he was accused of being a communist and refused to cooperate with the [House Un-American Activities Committee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Adler#cite_note-NYTimes-6)[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Adler#cite_note-7) where he remained the rest of his life. Another source indicates he stayed in London from 1949.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Adler#cite_note-BBC-3) > **[Larry Adler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Adler)** > > Lawrence Cecil Adler (February 10, 1914 – August 6, 2001) was an American harmonica player and film composer. Known for playing major works, he played compositions by George Gershwin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin. During his later career, he collaborated with Sting, Elton John and Kate Bush. > Adler was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Sadie Hack and Louis Adler. They were a Jewish family. He graduated from Baltimore City College high school. He taugh... ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/10 "2021-01-16T14:42:57Z")
**John Mayall** - “Room To Move” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_NZhZPQXTNY/maxresdefault.jpg "Room To Move") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NZhZPQXTNY) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/11 "2021-01-16T14:57:59Z")
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. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2zU5q8TYD38/maxresdefault.jpg "The Ballad of Myron D. Brown Jr.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zU5q8TYD38) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/12 "2021-01-16T14:59:59Z")
Just a great cover of Blackbird, one of my favorites: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/h0zr-WNc3bs/maxresdefault.jpg "Blackbird") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0zr-WNc3bs) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/13 "2021-01-16T15:15:11Z")
Baba O’Riley solo by Roger Daltrey. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/iL9tJDMk64U/maxresdefault.jpg "The Who- Baba O'Riley Harmonica Solo (Edmonton 2016)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL9tJDMk64U) ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/14 "2021-01-16T16:16:12Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > If you haven’t heard of Adler before, this may interest you: 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 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/15 "2021-01-16T16:30:08Z")
> [@Keith1](#): > > I’ve known of Larry Adler for years 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. > [@Keith1](#): > > I have several harmonicas. Never got any good at it and never had the perseverance to continue. 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… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cjfduB2n9QQ/hqdefault.jpg "The Gap Aerosmith (commercial, 1999)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjfduB2n9QQ) So I looked further and… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/q9RJtoQ_zcQ/hqdefault.jpg "Steven Tyler's Best Harmonica Playing") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9RJtoQ_zcQ) ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/16 "2021-01-16T16:59:34Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Remember this ad? 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. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/17 "2021-01-16T17:03:27Z")
> [@Keith1](#): > > 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. Jagger’s harmonica in “Stop Breaking Down” is quite good: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NnDpW5vpbDY/hqdefault.jpg "The Rolling Stones - Stop Breaking Down") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnDpW5vpbDY) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/18 "2021-01-16T17:03:53Z")
I’ve always been partial to his solo in Nobody’s Fault But Mine. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gqQelCIGYMI/maxresdefault.jpg "Nobody's Fault but Mine (1990 Remaster)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqQelCIGYMI) ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/19 "2021-01-16T17:07:18Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Just a great cover of Blackbird Check out The Jaco Pastorious Big Band: [Jaco Pastorius Big Band - Word of Mouth Revisited Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/word-of-mouth-revisited-mw0000692081) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665/20 "2021-01-16T17:10:39Z")
_Train, Train_ by **Blackfoot**. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hBP15lRprPs/maxresdefault.jpg "Blackfoot - Train, Train") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBP15lRprPs) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-harmonica-parts/930665.md?page=2)