It was John Mayall however whose band proved to be a training ground for so many of the guitarists of the 60s blues boom including Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor. The man responsible for popularising the blues in the UK is often thought to be Alexis Korner. Hugely respected by his peers, particularly Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters, who nevertheless sacked him after he turned up to a session loaded. Now pipping Big Mama Thornton to the #10 slot I choose the apparently quiet and undemonstrative Big Walter Horton and his 1953 classic Easy, which demonstrates his amazing tone & signature shuffle. There is just time for a side-step into the great Larry Adler, genuine prodigy on the harmonica as any of his recordings will testify to. Both Ralph Vaughan Williams (after whom I was named!) and Malcolm Arnold wrote classical pieces especially for him, he covered Bach, Mozart and Gershwin brilliantly and here he plays his Oscar-nominated title tune from the film Genevieve, a post-war British comedy about the London-Brighton car rally. Adler was forced out of the USA during the McCarthy era and he settled in the UK where he was much loved. Whammer Jammer features Magic Dick on harmonica from the sophomore LP The Morning After (1971). Geils Band who signed to Atlantic in 1970 with their scintillating blues-rock sound so beloved of that era’s rockers. James Cotton was, along with Little Walter, a huge influence on The J. James Cotton is on the harmonica playing mainly rhythm which the instrument excels at too. One of his pupils was a certain Muddy Waters, blues legend, who recorded a song he co-wrote with Brownie McGhee - The Blues Had A Baby (And They Called It Rock’n’Roll) in 1977 on an LP called Hard Times, produced by Johnny Winters, with all concerned blowing like it’s 1950 Chicago.
And after all it was Sonny Boy Williamson I who was the pioneer of blues harp, playing on hundreds of pre-war sides, while his own Good Morning Schoolgirl (1937) became a classic. SBW II stole Sonny Boy Williamson’s name, his fame and his mojo. I had a dream about Sonny Boy pushing past me in the street as an older man tried in vain to keep up. “Help me,” said the elder, “that young fella stole my harmonica …” But it was too late.
I was unaware that he’d guested on a Hancock track Steppin’ In It, and although his featured solo is a revelation I’ve had to stick with his cover of Bacharach’s Alfie which is a tour de force of chromatic harmonica genius, identifiable by his joyous personality coming through the notes.
The second time I was fortunate enough to see Stevie Wonder live he played a number of jazz covers, including Miles Davis (All Blues) and Herbie Hancock (Spain). Walking Blues (forgive me for listing the LP track rather than the blistering live version from 20 years later) is a Son House song from the 1930s covered by everyone.Īnd thus to Stevie. He formed his own multi-racial band in the early 60s and became a key player in the blues-rock crossover scene especially with the second LP from 1966, East-West, with Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield on guitars. The only harmonica player in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His big hit was his first single Juke, but here we have the unearthly sounds of Blue Light (Checker, 1954).Ĭhicago boy Paul Butterfield fell in with Muddy Waters too and was encouraged to jam. He played with Muddy Waters for years at Chess Records then made a string of mighty singles of his own in the 1950s. We can argue this all night but one of the finest blues harpists was undoubtedly Little Walter who distorted his sound with electrification and feedback years before any guitarist did the same. The harmonica is played by Franco de Gemini, the music was written by Ennio Morricone.Įverything else here is just great great music. Scene one of Once Upon A Time … takes place in a railway station, so next we go to the Charlie McCoy version of bluegrass standard Orange Blossom Special.
WHAMMER JAMMER MIDI FULL
I cannot do full justice to this in writing but watch the scene. A haunting four-note phrase which has punctuated the entire story is finally given its full dreadful context, and we discover why Charles Bronson’s character is called Man With A Harmonica. I never quite recovered from Once Upon A Time In The West, Sergio Leone’s finest film, partly because of the exquisite pain of the final nine-minute scene, and the music which accompanies it.
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