I had heard this told about a Black harmonica player from the Grand Ole Opry, that while he was performing, a reed came loose, which he sucked in and caused him to choke to death.
This had some of the earmarks of urban legendry (similar to Mama Cass and the sammich), so I went a-lookin’. The only Black harmonica player associated with the Grand Ole Opry that I could find was the legendary DeFord Bailey (and whose name in one instance was specifically associated with this story). And while it is true that he did fade into obscurity, he actually lived to be in his 80s (which I just found out), dying from natural causes, not from a wayward reed.
So, the question: Did you ever hear of this, whether it was about DeFord Bailey or someone else? If it was someone else, who was it? I’ve heard this from several people, and they were all Country music fans who would have been listening to the Grand Ole Opry on AM radio back in the 1930s and 1940s.
Don’t know if the story is true or not, but it is medically possible, similar things have happened to others, including one person who died when they inspired a bay leaf that was in their food. It went down the windpipe and sealed it off, lying over the vocal chords. The individual couldn’t push enough air out of their lungs to blow the leaf out, and each time they tried to inspire, the leaf re-sealed the airway.
I had heard this told about a Black harmonica player from the Grand Ole Opry, that while he was performing, a reed came loose, which he sucked in and caused him to choke to death.
Sounds unlikely to me, cause,
Harmonica reeds are really small, not big enough to actually obstruct your windpipe.
But,
Maybe the resultant choking reflex, from having that little piece of metal stuck in the windpipe, was enough to bring on some other factor such as, heh, vomiting, or a heart attack?
My regular harp player buddy sucked a reed out of a lee oskar one night, and he did indeed choke and gag untill he could get it coughed up, but it was only a few seconds, so who knows?
Mighta been a contributing factor, and they certainly didn’t do the heimlich, or cpr back then did they?