Killer Harmonica Parts

Rog does a pretty good job here too (aptly described by Pete as “very, very, very heavy breathing”)

Little Walter.

Juke

Little Walter on harmonica:

Jack Bruce with Cream:

Alan Wilson and Canned Heat (with Harvey Mandel on guitar):

Another by Toots Thielemans, here covering the Benny Goodman tune “Don’t Be That Way”:

Check out the lick at 3:43 :astonished:

Dr. Ring Ding is an outstanding Ska band from Germany. The harmonica solo (at about 2:10) from Gerd Gorke on this cut is one of the best I’ve ever heard.

I love me some harp - this thread promises to be a lot of enjoyable listening. In the meantime, may I offer two very different examples.

Raw British R&B from the '70s. Dr Feelgood - Going Back Home (Live). Man, Lee Brilleaux could blow.

And oddly, a perfect little piece of pop - Groovin’ With Mr Bloe

j

“Hush, Hush” by the Siegel Schwall Band. Stay with it – it keeps getting better.

Wow. I don’t think a lot of ppl know of Satan and Adam, unless you’re a wanna-be harp player (like me) and followed Adam Gussow’s free harmonica classes on Youtube (or hung out in Harlem in the 1980’s.) Adam has tons and tons of videos for the beginner and intermediate harp player, where he, “gives it all away.”

Adam Gussow had a FANTASTIC interview with Magic Dick, in which they discussed simply everything about it, from its genesis to a literal blow-by-blow breakdown. The full interview, IIRC, was over an hour long, all about a 3 minute song. Here are some highlights:

This next song is to me, now, what, “Whammer Jammer” was to teenage me. Stunning.

Wade Schuman, of Hazmat Modine, performing, “Lost Fox Train” on Russian television. A masterclass in harmonica technique while also showcasing its history of train sounds and fox chases.

Hazmat Modine actually has TWO fantastic harp players, but this is a solo performance - the harp, the vocalizations, everything is Wade.

For a little more of harmonica history, here’s DeFord Bailey, performing, “Fox Chase” at the Grand Old Opry. You can hear some of what influenced Wade Schuman here.

“John Henry” was arguably DeFord’s best song, though.

Here is a very well known one - Stone Fox Chase - Area code 615

You taught me something, thanks. I knew the theme of The Old Grey Whistle Test, but didn’t know who did it. Charlie McCoy played harp for Area Code 615, according to Wikipedia, and I’d heard of him. Just about any harp you heard in a movie or TV show in the 1970’s or 1980’s, Charlie did it. If a successful recording artist need a session player on a song, Charlie did it. The man was simply everywhere, and with good reason. It isn’t TOO much of an exaggeration to say Charlie McCoy played harp for the actual area code 615, since that’s Nashville’s exchange.

Another rocker:

Got No Shame by Brother Cane (90’s grunge/blues I just discovered and/or forgot about)

Sorry, but I had to post this one while I remembered it. Here’s the late Norton Buffalo performing on Bonnie Raitt’s cover of, “Runaway.” He used four different keys and swapped harps seven times in 30 seconds! In a live performance! He did it in the studio, and he did it here. I’ve never seen anyone else perform that solo live. Any time Bonnie performs it and Norton wasn’t there, they went with guitar and/or saxophone.

I guess Charlie McCoy was busy with something else. :laughing:

This is going in a completely different harmonica direction, but I’ve always enjoyed Howard Levy’s jazzy use of the diatonic (he plays it basically like a chromatic harp – getting all the inbetween notes not just through bends but also through overblows and overdraws.)

I’m not sure which to feature, but for flash, I kinda like the solo from “Tell It To The Gov’nor” which is very bebop-py in nature, so if you’re not so into jazz, you may not like it, but it’s cool, especially knowing it’s played on a 10-hole diatonic harp (not sure which one exactly in that song, but Howard liked Golden Melodies early in his career, and then played customized Hohners by Joe Filisko.)

I could write thousands of words on this but suffice here to say that I have a deep and abiding passion for music that exhibits raw emotion as honestly and enthusiastically as S&A. They are the perfect balance of technical ability and performative enthusiasm. Anything they cannot do doesn’t matter because they do everything they can (and both can do a lot; they are each virtuoso players) without error, in perfect concert with each other. They are a part of the pinnacle of what The Blues can be, IMO.

I think “Mirror Man” is one of many Captain Beefheart songs where he blows a mean harp.

I’m not the biggest fan of the direction the Dave Matthews Band ultimately went in, but it has to be said that they had some amazing songs back in the 90s and this is one of them:

(It’s John Popper, of Blues Traveler fame, playing the harmonica on that song - a fact that I just now learned, upon looking it up on Wikipedia. He is not seen in the video.)

If you have the time and inclination, maybe you should write something, or even a series of somethings. You clearly have a passion for the subject. When I find something new (to me) and intriguing on Youtube, I take a stab at writing about it. I that did with Fanny, and Chuck Prophet, but that’s a rare occurrence, unfortunately. Like you, I love honest, enthusiastic performances. Youtube has been a godsend for those of us who can’t get out to see live music any more.

Mister Satan was getting up there in years and has lived in a nursing home in Florida for more than a decade, but I’m sad to say he passed away last year due to COVID. It has hit the nursing homes very hard all over.

Mason Proffit’s version of Amazing Grace. Starts off pretty standard country/folk, then segues into a pretty killer blues version.

Yeah, John has such a distinctive style I can hear him a mile away. First time I heard that song, I knew it was him. Come think of it, same with Howard Levy – he shows up as a guest musician on records from time to time and he used to be occasionally on Prairie Home Companion. As soon as I hear that harp, I know it’s him.