Harmonica Happenings

HarmonicA A quarterly publication of the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica

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Vol. 52 No. 1

2018

St. Louis, Mo. AUGUST 14 - 18 REGISTER REGISTER NOW NOW

WINTER 2018

Rupert.

by Margie Goldsmith - Page 4

Sugar Blue: The Harmonica Wizard

by Margie Goldsmith - Page 6

The Spirit of Live Music

by Jim Chesnut - Page 12

Reed All About It

by Manfred Wewers - Page 14

Youth Scholarship Application Calling all young harmonica players - Page 25

Call for SPAH Archives from Manfred Wewers - Page 26

Member Snapshot: Jack Hopkins

by LJ Anderson- Page 27

SEYDEL SYMPHONY GRAND CHROMATIC ACRYL

SEYDEL SYMPHONY GRAND CHROMATIC ALU

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HEATABLE HARMONICA CASE WITH LEATHER WRIST STRAP AND ACCESSORIES

PREMIERE: THE NEW SYMPHONY GRAND CHROMATIC – THE FIRST 16-HOLE CHROMATIC HARMONICA WITH A TONAL RANGE OF FOUR FULL OCTAVES AND 64 STAINLESS STEEL REEDS. A PROFESSIONAL INSTRUMENT WITH UNIQUELYINSPIRED TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS THAT SETS NEW STANDARDS IN TERMS OF SOUND, AIRTIGHTNESS, PLAYABILITY, AND RELIABILITY. THE HIGH-QUALITY, CONTEMPORARY ERGONOMIC DESIGN GUARANTEES LONGEVITY AND MAXIMUM PLAYING COMFORT, LEAVING NOTHING TO BE DESIRED. THE SYMPHONY GRAND CHROMATIC IS AVAILABLE IN TWO VARIANTS: WITH BLACK ANODIZED ALUMINUM BODY OR A TRANSPARENT-GREEN ACRYLIC BODY. BOTH VARIANTS WILL BE SHIPPED WITH A NEWLY DEVELOPED LOCKABLE HEATABLE HARMONICA CASE.

PLAY YOUR NEW SYMPHONY GRAND CHROMATIC EVERYWHERE YOU GO AND INITIALLY! THE UNIQUE HEATABLE HARMONICA CASE DELIVERES THE RIGHT PLAYING TEMPERATURE MAKING IT LESS SUSPECTIBLE TO CONDENSATION ON THE INSIDE OF THE INSTRUMENT. AS ACCESSORIES THE HEATABLE HARMONICA CASE COMES WITH A USB-ADAPTER FOR YOUR CAR-PLUG, A MULTI-POWERPLUG-ADAPTER FOR ALL INTERNATIONAL POWER-PORTS AND A USB-CABLE TO CONNECT WITH A COMPUTER. ADDITIONALLY THERE IS A SEYDEL-POWERBANK (12.000MAH) OPTIONALLY AVAILABLE.

Driving while harping (DWH) Those of us that have a long commute are known to keep a couple of harmonicas in the car console and play them on a regular basis. It would be interesting to know if playing the harmonica while driving has been responsible for many auto accidents.

With the recent studies on the dangers of texting and other mobile phone usage while driving, it would seem a similar concern would apply to harping behind the wheel.

Then again, you don't need to take your eyes off the road to play along to the radio.

Since keeping control of the steering is a preferred trait, perhaps using a rack is the safest way to harp in the driver’s seat. I wonder if Jimi Lee has perfected this?

This issue is chock-full-of-harp-nuts from pro performers to our general member enthusiasts. All are eager to share their knowledge and passion for the instrument.

Thank you to all our contributors, editors, proofreaders and leadership for making another outstanding issue of Harmonica Happenings.

Cheers!

Doug May Publisher How to submit your ideas and content to Harmonica Happenings: All approved articles, 300 DPI photos, and hi-res ads must be submitted prior to the dates listed below for inclusion in the specified issue.

Spring issue - March 15 Summer issue - June 15 Fall issue - September 15 Winter issue - December 15 Submit items to: info@spah.org

Our Mission: The Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica is an international non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Michigan in 1963 by a small group of visionary harmonica enthusiasts who were passionate about the instrument and about its relevance to contemporary and future music.

SPAH’s objectives are to cultivate, develop, improve, foster, promote, preserve and advance the harmonica and harmonica playing. SPAH respects the colorful past of the harmonica, while advancing its acceptance as a bona fide musical instrument.

SPAH wants to inform everyone about the rich heritage of harmonica music, the many talented musicians currently making music with this phenomenal instrument, and the great pleasure to be derived from learning to play the harmonica.

Harmonic A h a p p e n i ngs Winter 2018 Vol. 52, No. 1

©2018, The Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from SPAH Inc. Printed in U.S.A. Harmonica Happenings is published quarterly by SPAH Inc., a nonprofit organization, incorporated in the state of Michigan on October 23, 1963.

Correspondence should be sent to: SPAH Inc., PO Box 551381, Dallas, TX 75355 or by email to: info@SPAH.org EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Michael D’Eath President Mike Runyan Vice President Jerry Deall Secretary Bruce Dunai Treasurer DIRECTORS Phillip Franklin Douglas May Lucy Wilson

Membership Media Convention

STAFF Phil Duncan Vendor Relations &

Site Planning Jim Vetter Convention Planning Christopher Richards Staging & Production David Bernston Asst. Stage Mgmt.

Paul Davies Entertainment Director Franklin Cobos II Convention Seminar

Coordinator Manfred Wewers SPAH Historian and

Web Manager Andrew Garrigue Marketing Zaring Robertson Assistant Magazine Editor LJ Anderson Proofreading PAST PRESIDENTS’ COUNCIL Winslow Yerxa Paul Davies Tom Stryker

ROSEBUSH YOUTH COMMITTEE Cynthia Dusel-Bacon Co-Chairperson Jake Houshmand Co-Chairperson Janalyn Miklas Secretary Winslow Yerxa Committee Member Jarred Goldweber Committee Member SPAH FOUNDER

Earl Collins 1924- 1988

Ask a friend to join SPAH by going to the online membership form at www.spah.org.

If preferred, they can download the application and mail it to SPAH with a check to:

SPAH MEMBERSHIPS All memberships are on a calendar year basis, beginning Jan. 1. Membership entitles each member to receive a full year’s issues of Harmonica Happenings and discounts on SPAH’s annual convention.

SPAH Inc. PO Box 551381 Dallas, TX 75355

CHANGE OF ADDRESS To ensure receiving your next copy, send both your old and new address to: Membership Director, SPAH Inc. P.O. Box 551381, Dallas, TX 75355

Refer a New Member:

Winter 2018

SPAH’S WEBSITE www.spah.org

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Established in 1953, it’s a little known fact that the very first product line ever produced by Suzuki Musical Instruments was the harmonica. In continuous production and development ever since, Suzuki Harmonicas have become the most technically advanced harmonicas in the World. Suzuki Harmonicas offer a huge selection of instruments for the casual player to the World’s top harmonica players, performers and recording artists.

See all the New, Unique, Different and Innovative Harmonicas at the website below. Then visit your local Music Retailer and experience World Class Harmonicas for Yourself!

PlayPals

A Colorful New Way To Play!

www.suzukiharmonicas.com Your Music... Your Lifestyle

President’s Letter

What's the Word? Early Bird.

Michael D'Eath SPAH President

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elcome to 2018. The SPAH staff and Board are already hard at work on the 2018 Convention. It will be held in St. Louis, Missouri from August 14 to 18 at the Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet Hotel.

In this issue you will find registration details for the Convention. The Convention registration website is up and running at www.SPAH.org, and you can now book your room at the hotel. Our allocation of hotel rooms is open to SPAH convention attendees using this link: https://www. starwoodmeeting.com/Book/SPAH2018. *Use this link to ensure that you receive the SPAH rate of $112 per night.

If you register online before July 1, you will pay the same Convention price as in 2017. We encourage you to register and make hotel reservations as soon as possible. Knowing how many guests we will see in St. Louis helps SPAH ensure capacity for rooms, seminars and meals.

So please register early! Also, to offset the extra time and increasing cost we incur for handling registrations sent in the mail, this year we’ve added a handling fee for that service. If you cannot use the internet to register, please seek help from a family member or colleague to register online and save! If you have trouble logging in to your membership account on the SPAH website, please contact Membership Director Phil Franklin at pbf@swbell.net and he will be happy to assist you.

In 2018, we are offering a SPAH VIP Registration & Membership Package. This package supports SPAH in a very special way. Included in the package will be a SPAH family membership, full Convention Registration, VIP banquet seating for you (and one guest if you like), a bottle of wine at the banquet, two private lessons with Teach-in faculty, and several other unique benefits. If interested, please contact Winter 2018

me personally for details. The number of VIP Packages is limited, so please reach out now.

We have some superb entertainment planned for this year. The full schedule will be made available later this spring, but we are excited to confirm that we have Peter “Madcat” Ruth, Sandy Weltman, Zoe Savage, Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, Judy Simpson Smith, Al Smith, Steve Watne, Chris Bauer, Wally Peterman, George Miklas, and the return of Tom Stryker’s “Big Band” Orchestra, together with many of our perennial favorites! The seminar program promises to be excellent, featuring increased focus on the chromatic instrument, and Joe Filisko has a wonderful Teach-in planned.

As in the past few years, SPAH is now accepting scholarship applications from young players to attend the 2018 Convention. Thanks to generous donations from members and friends, SPAH is excited to be able to offer as many as six scholarships to promising young players, covering 2018 registration, a hotel room, Saturday banquet, onsite support from our Youth Committee as well as registration for one guardian, if needed. The application form can be found on the SPAH website under the Convention tab, and on the SPAH Facebook site (@SPAH63). If you know of any deserving young players (21 & under), please encourage them to apply!

Applications are due by May 15.

If your club is not already talking to SPAH about hosting a Convention in your city, please contact us soon. We are already considering proposals and will be selecting a fabulous site for 2020 in the spring.

Another exciting project underway, led by SPAH Archivist Manfred Wewers, is to create a website in which to record relevant historical materials and Photo by Neale Eckstein

information. If you have documents, newspaper or magazine clippings, publicity photos, and so forth that you wish to offer, please contact Manfred. Document scans need to be 300 dpi, or you can mail materials to Manfred and he will gladly return them. Manfred can be reached at mwewers@rogers.com.

I welcome two new sponsors to SPAH: Easttop Harmonica and Lone Wolf Blues Company, joining Hohner, Seydel, Suzuki, Psardo, and Golden Bird as our corporate sponsors for 2018-19. SPAH depends on the generosity of our sponsors and donors – we could not do this without them. Please give all of our sponsors your business when you are in the market for new instruments and gear. Thank you!

Lastly, in 2018 we are very focused on growing SPAH membership. While we have a faithful membership group, I meet players and other enthusiasts every week who have not heard of SPAH or have not given a thought to joining as members.

When you come across someone, please tell them to join SPAH - pass it on! Maybe show others your copy of Harmonica Happenings.  See you in St. Louis!

Michael

*There is a comments section where you can enter any special requests. For phone reservations, please use the toll-free number 1-888-627-7066, and press “1” for the Chalet.

Please reference “SPAH" to obtain the group rate. With phone reservations you can provide any special needs information to the central reservationist. Note that there are two Sheraton hotels in the area, so please be sure to specify the “Chalet.”

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by Margie Goldsmith

Rupert Oysler,

president of Seydel USA, is also a harmonica player, technician, customizer, and one of the early proponents of embossing harmonica slots to make them play better.

“He is a really schooled and educated student of the instrument,” says Greg Heumann, owner of BlowsMeAway Productions. "He’s an outstanding player, but more importantly, he’s a tireless ambassador for the harmonica through his work with SPAH and Seydel.”

“Without Rupert, Seydel would never have anywhere near a presence in this country,” says Paul Davies, SPAH’s entertainment director. “He’s also a low-tone master who is folky, gentle, never hardedged, and a great musician with a very sensitive touch.” Adds P.T. Gazell, “He knew about the overblow technique many years before it became popular. He’s really a schooled technician of the instrument.”

“Rupert has been a great asset to all of us in the harmonica community for many years,” says Todd Parrott. “He was one of the first to begin sharing information on how to customize and repair your own harmonicas by way of his DVDs, a work that influenced many who went on to become great harmonica techs themselves. He introduced me to bending overblows when he demonstrated the technique in a phone conversation around 2001. His demo was the spark that ignited my pursuit and development of the style I play today.”

“I believe his knowledge and ability to make harps play at their peak is one of the reasons he sounds so much better than the rest of us on super-low harps,” says Jimi Lee. “His DVD, Harmonica Repair and Modification, revealed many harmonica secrets and also revealed Rupert’s hilarious 4

revival throughout the northeast U.S. and taught yourself how to play guitar, banjo and dobro. Why? I just loved the music, the sounds, loved the way that I felt listening to music and loved the process of making it.

You taught harp, banjo, guitar and dobro for the next 10 years and developed a group teaching method that you presented at three colleges.

What was that method?

dry sense of humor. To me Rupert Oysler is a Harmonica Zen Master.”

“Rupert Oysler is an outstanding harmonica player and repairman,” says Charlie Musselwhite. ”He’s also an outstanding human being with great enthusiasm for life and a tremendous sense of humor, too. I always look forward to seeing Rupert because he’s always uplifting to be around. He’s definitely what I call One of The Good Guys! And he really is a really good guy. I’m all the better for knowing him.”

Born and brought up in the suburbs of Chicago, Rupert Oysler began his musical career playing a toy harmonica at the age of eight. At Brown University, he studied art and thought he’d be an artist or a teacher, but he preferred making music because sound happened in the present moment as opposed to a painting which could only be observed. It was the days of the transistor radio and, at 18, he taught himself cross harp by listening to records. By the time he graduated from university in 1970, he was getting paid to play in little coffee houses.

We caught up with him in Asheville, North Carolina, where he now lives.

I got involved with a banjo teacher who was really a trained classical bass player.

I believe he played with the Knoxville Symphony but he had been a banjo player as a kid all his life. He took this professional kind of musical training and developed a banjo method that was like the Suzuki graded violin method—he based it on that. You learn something in lesson one and then you build on that in lesson two and then lesson three. By the end of ten weeks, you’re playing some pretty decent stuff all built from lesson one. I used that as a model to build a little harmonica course to teach people.

You participated in the folk music

You also became a pioneer in

In the early ‘80s you left full-time music to start a retail business and began training in the Alexander technique, a physical movement technique. Isn’t that kind of farfetched from your musical world?

Absolutely. My life kind of represents multiple incarnations.

But you were also playing and recording in Nashville in the ‘90s.

Yes, I kept my toe in music.

Harmonica Happenings

playing all the chromatic tones on a simple diatonic harp and you won two awards at the International Harmonica Competition sponsored

by Hohner. How did this happen?

In college, back in 1966, there was a guy who lived upstairs who had some chromatic harmonicas, and I didn’t have a chromatic. I didn’t even really know what one was, basically. He was doing things like dripping solder on the reeds to tune them and he could replace a reed. This guy was kind of like the mad scientist and encouraged me to take apart little diatonic harps and try to make them work when they weren’t working. At some point in the ‘80s, I decided to learn to read music because all my learning was based on tablature. It was certainly the easy way to teach harmonica. So I began training myself to read music with a chromatic harmonica and I actually contacted Robert Bonfiglio at the Turtle Bay School of Music in New York and took some lessons by cassette. That’s what caused me to go to SPAH, to learn the background of so-called “real music.” There, I was exposed to some chromatic players who worked on their own instruments. I met Jerry Murad; Pete Pedersen and Dick Gardner showed me stuff. I took some lessons from Stan Harper.

The chromatic players all knew how to fix their harmonicas, knew how to make reeds out of bullet casings and springs out of diaper pins. I began to seriously learn about repair in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

What started you off on repair?

I was keeping my chromatics running. But then the whole diatonic movement of needing a better instrument to play these chromatic scales—from Howard Levy’s influence—got a lot of us interested in “how do you create that, how do you make that happen?”

You said Seydel is the oldest harmonica manufacturer in the world and their instruments are still handmade in Germany. They’re older than Hohner?

Winter 2018

They started in business 10 years before Hohner.

to learn which keeps me going, and that’s really good.

And their instruments are handmade?

What’s the best piece of advice you could give someone just learning to play the harmonica?

I mean they use machines too, but it’s a true handmaking process in that each instrument is handled by a person and tested and tuned.

What do you hope to do with Seydel in the future?

Every year Seydel makes better and better instruments and improves what’s already there. It’s been a big help to the whole harmonica world in terms of some of the innovations we’ve come up with and some of the things that we create, so I hope to continue in the vein of what we are doing and to get the awareness of our company more in the mainstream. I think we are really, really well-known now among harmonica lovers and people who are on the internet searching things out, but the common, average person still hasn’t heard of us at all. Every day I speak to somebody in an email or on the phone who says, “How come I never knew about you?” So it’s really just to continue that growth of awareness that we are there.

Let’s talk about your playing because you’re really an accomplished harmonica player yourself. Do you have a practice regimen?

It varies. There are times I have practiced for hours every day and nowadays I try to at least get a few minutes in, but I don’t play nearly as much as I want to. I work a lot of hours for Seydel so my focus has not been on the playing in recent years.

My life has been funny. There have been a lot of things that have come through and taken my focus away from playing, practicing, and from learning like I’d like to. Lately, basically, it’s just to try to make sure that I put the harmonica in my mouth at least a few minutes every day. And I am really lucky because I’ve been in a band with some guys for the last two years here in Asheville, so there’s new material

It’s still: make sure the harmonica is in your mouth and begin to really fully listen to what’s out there, to really fully listen to the sounds that are available. Whether it’s on a harmonica or another instrument, just fully listen, begin to really hear what you love, and find a way to make those kinds of things come out of your harmonica.

And what about advice for advanced players?

I am not sure I am advanced enough to give any advice. I think it’s just a continuation of getting more and more accurate about what you are doing and what you want to do.

When you’re playing on stage, have you ever had a period when you were uninspired and feeling as though you were playing the same riffs every time?

Almost all my playing is in a role of support, so I am listening to the other musicians and I am really living off of that.

It’s not so much where I am in charge of creating... so I don’t know if I have really felt that way. I might have felt like I don’t have enough skill here to really do what I want to do or something like that rather than I am playing the same thing. I tend not to play things that I have learnt. I am playing something new every time.

What has music done for you?

Everything. Music is magic. It’s something that for the person doing it, creates some sort of a magic environment in your brain, it puts something out into the world which is just terrific, and it communicates on a nonverbal level something again that really needs to be communicated.

It’s like another dimension. It’s a gift to the world.  5

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Harmonica Happenings

Sugar Blue:

The Harmonica Wizard

by Margie Goldsmith

Grammy Award-winning harmonica virtuoso Sugar Blue was born James Whiting and raised in Harlem, New York, where his mother was a singer and dancer at the Apollo Theatre. He spent his childhood among the musicians and show people and decided that he wanted to be a performer. He would win the Grammy Award in 1985 for his work on the Atlantic album, “Blues Explosion”, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Winter 2018

7

B

lue, as he is known, recorded on Willie Dixon's Grammy-winning Hidden Charms album in 1989.

He often performed live with the Rolling Stones and can be heard on Some Girls, Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You. He has performed on festival stages with Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Art Blakey and Lionel Hampton, sat in with Fats Domino, Ray Charles, and Jerry Lee Lewis for the Cinemax special, Fats Domino and Friends, and has appeared on screen and in the musical score of Alan Parker's acclaimed 1987 thriller Angel Heart, starring Robert De Niro.

Blue has played and recorded with musicians ranging from Willie Dixon and Stan Getz to Frank Zappa, Johnny Shines and Bob Dylan, but is perhaps best known for his signature riff and solo on the Rolling Stones' hit “Miss You” from their Some Girls album. Blue performs his own version of the song on his 1993 Alligator debut Blue Blazes, and with his second release, In Your Eyes, emerges as a profound songwriter as well as a harmonica wizard.

Appearing at prestigious festivals throughout America, Europe and Africa, in 2008 following the release of Code Blue, he received two nominations as Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica at the Blues Awards and as Outstanding Performer at the Junior Wells Harp Awards. He is featured in the film The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll along with Pinetop Perkins, Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith and Hubert Sumlin.

He was in the tribute video We Are One that played before the all-star Inaugural Concert at the Lincoln Memorial at the presidential inauguration on Jan 20, 2009.

It has been said that Sugar Blue “bends, shakes, spills flurries of notes with simultaneous precision and abandon, combines dazzling technique with smoldering expressiveness, gives off enough energy to light up several city square blocks, and sings too!”

We caught up with him in Chicago where he lives.

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Sugar Blue with Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy

Your mother was a singer and dancer at the Apollo, and you spent your childhood among musicians including Billie Holiday?

Yes, but I met Billie when I was maybe three months old. And the fact that I remember that has nothing to do with my memory. It’s got to do with my mom telling me about it. When I grew up and I realized who Billie Holiday was, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather.

You decided you wanted to be a performer early in life?

By the time I was about four or five years old, I knew I had to play some kind of an instrument, and I knew I had to be a musician. That’s one of my earliest memories.

What made you decide you wanted to be a musician?

I fell in love with a song on my mother’s record player called “PC Blues” by Billie Holiday’s favorite classical saxophonist, Lester Young. I asked my mother to play it over and over and over and when she didn’t, I learned to do it myself. And she said, ‘Boy, if you scratch my record, I’ll kill you.’ And that was in the days of the diamond stylus and high fidelity. It predated stereo.

How did you end up with your first harmonica?

I got a saxophone from my sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Nagle. He was also the band director. He gave me a saxophone and I took it home and I’d play that thing from the time I got out of school till the time I went to bed. And that was my mother’s breaking point. She disallowed saxophone in the house. So she took it from me, and my aunt, seeing how miserable I was, bought me a harmonica.

Was it one of those little toy Hohners?

Hohner doesn’t make toys. Hohner builds instruments.

That’s true. Are you a Hohner endorsee?

But of course. It’s not a harp if it’s not a Hohner.

So how old were you?

I was about 12 or 13 years old.

And were you self-taught?

Yes. Harmonica Happenings

So you played along with Dylan and Stevie Wonder when you heard the radio?

Oh yeah. Dylan and Stevie Wonder and all of the cowboy movies. I loved cowboy movies because they all had harmonica in them.

And then you also became influenced by Dexter Gordon and Lester Young?

I’d been listening to Lester since I was about five or six because my mother was always playing the Billie Holiday-Lester Young duo things. She was a big fan of Billie as well as a friend. I didn’t get into Dexter until later in life and actually even got to meet and play with Dexter.

What was that like?

It’s like when the littlest angel meets God. It was really fantastic because I had been listening to him since I was in high school, and I am not a jazz harmonica player by any means. I played blues and R&B and rock n’ roll but Dexter played a helluva blues.

Would you say that listening to Dylan and Stevie and Dexter and Lester helped you create your style?

You’ve been described as having an ultra-modern blues style.

Wow. That makes me feel like one of the Jetsons.

How would you describe your style?

It’s just me. It’s what I do. It’s the way I play. I mean I listened to a lot of big bands and I listened to all of the great blues harmonica players: Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Walter, James Cotton, Junior Wells, Billy Boy Arnold. I listened to everything I could get. When I finally got into blues and blues harmonica, I listened to all of those guys and tried to style myself on Sonny Boy and Little Walter. One day I was playing with a guy named Larry Winter 2018

Johnson, a great guitar player, and he was playing like bebop style blues. That night I thought I had come close to playing like Little Walter as anybody could get, and he said, ‘You know, that was really good, you sounded like Little Walter.’

And I was radiant. And he said, ‘But this is not what you want to play with me, this is Piedmont style and it doesn’t go like that.’ And at that point I realized I had to find a way to play my way. He gave me a record he wanted me to listen to of a clarinet player and he said, ‘Now try and do what this guy does.’ And so I started trying to understand this guy’s way of playing and what he was doing. Eventually I understood that I was never going to be any of these people. I had to be myself. So I started playing the way I played.

You began your career as a street musician. Were you playing solo or were you playing with a street band?

I was playing solo. I was playing with a washboard player, a guy by the name of Washboard Doc, and playing with people that I met in the park, I mean, with anybody and everybody. That was back in the early ‘70s.

And this was in Harlem?

No, but I met with a guy in Harlem, one of the incredible experiences that I have really had in Harlem a long time ago. I can’t remember his name. But this guy came walking down the street with a guitar and he was playing the blues in Harlem. That was unheard of at the time. James Brown and Stevie Wonder and all of the Motown people—that was the grand epoch of Motown. I had heard very little blues and I had never heard any live blues and to meet this guy on 126th and St. Nicholas Avenue blew my mind. So, I sat there with him for the whole day and he talked and he played and we played. He talked about all of these folks that he played with in Mississippi and I hoped to see him again but I never saw him again. Just a wander-

ing minstrel. What was his name? Steep Papa Stoke Pipe! It was a wonderful day for me. But I never saw him again, I looked for that old gentleman for the entire summer but he never came back.

And I had to [inaudible phrase] into Bob Dylan and Buffy Sainte Marie and folks like that. I started playing that stuff and started hanging out in the West Village.

The West Village is where I really started busking.

Where did you meet Dylan?

I met Dylan in the Village through a wonderful lady, Victoria Spivey. She was a classical lead singer from back in the day. We were all there listening to Willie Dixon and she took me around to the back in the VIP section and introduced me to this guy and said, ‘I want you to meet my son.’ She said, ‘This is my son, Bob.’ And I am saying to myself that looks like Bob freaking Dylan. And she introduced me to him and said, ‘Well, this is my son and he’s the greatest harmonica player in all of New York City and he’s going to be on your next record.’ And Dylan looked up at Victoria and said, ‘Yes. Ma’am.’ And I ended up in the recording studio but the track that we did was not included on the record. It did not come out until years later on The Basement Tapes. That’s how I met Dylan.

You made your first recordings in 1975 with Brownie McGhee and Roosevelt Sykes? How did that happen?

Actually, my first recording was with Victoria Spivey. I recorded on her label and she introduced me to Roosevelt Sykes and I was also playing with Louisiana Red. My God, that was really an incredible year.

We went up to Canada and we recorded with Roosevelt Sykes and there were a bunch of really great players on the record. At the moment, I can only think of Roosevelt and Louisiana Red. That was Blue Label records. I will never forget that because we used to call it Red Labor.

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In 1976 you contributed to recordings by Victoria and Johnny Shines before moving to Paris on the advice of Memphis Slim. Why did he tell you to move to Paris?

I actually met him at The Top of the Gate, an extension of The Village Gate in New York City where he was doing a three-nighter. I went to see him the first night and I was enthralled because after all, it’s Memphis Slim, one of the greatest piano players in the blues. And then the second day I got up the nerve to ask him to sit in and he said, ‘Yes, come on. You can sit in, but if you mess up my set, you see this shoe?’ And boy, did the man have some big shoes. He said, ‘If you mess it up, I am going to put it where the sun don’t shine.’ And so I started and he liked it.

And after, we sat down and talked. I asked him who do they like to hear play in Paris?

And he said, ‘Well, they like Sonny Boy Williamson, why don’t you give it a shot.’

About three weeks later, I was on a plane to Paris.

When you were in Paris you hooked up with members of the Rolling Stones. How did that happen?

Actually, Keith had heard me play before on a record that I had done with Louisiana Red at the 100 Club in London. I was playing at a party where there were some close friends of Keith and Mick and they said, ‘Well, hey man, we’re in the studio and you can play great harmonica and they could probably use you.’ And I said, ‘Well sure, why not.’ I thought the guy was pulling my leg. So I gave him my phone number and soon enough I got a call from Mick Jagger and the next couple of days I was in the studio with them.

What was that like?

It was pretty fantastic, because I had been listening to them and I liked them a lot because they were really going after [inaudible]. For me to be playing with them was something I can’t describe, but it was an incredible, fantastic opportunity.

10

You then appeared live with the Stones quite a few times and they offered you the session spot indefinitely but you turned it down. Why? Because I wasn’t going to be a Rolling Stone and I had my own record, my own tunes, and my own ideas. I wanted to get them recorded and I wasn’t going to be able to do it with them. All of a sudden, Keith was saying, ‘Would you like to record?’ You know, yea, definitely. I took that opportunity to go record my first CD under my own name. Actually, it wasn’t a CD back in those days – they were still making records.

“I thought the guy was pulling my leg. So I gave him my phone number and soon enough I got a call from Mick Jagger and the next couple of days I was in the studio with them.”

So before returning to the States in 1982 you cut “Crossroads”, and “From Paris to Chicago”. Who were your sidemen in those two albums?

On Crossroads mostly expats like me, Longinea Parsons, an incredible jazz trumpet player who’s now teaching at the University of Florida. There was Sweet Pops, an incredible saxophone player. Cecile Savage played bass with me for years. And a guitar player, his name was Tenko Slavov, I believe, he was Hungarian. I remember at the time, we had been looking for an electric guitar player who could do what I was trying to do and there were some great jazz guitar players but no R&B, rock ‘n’ roll, electric guitar sounds. I met this guy the day before we had to finish our recording.

So you know, it was kismet. And Mike Zwerin who played trombone. He was also a writer for a newspaper that was somehow hooked up with The New York Times.

You wanted to work with and learn

from the blues harp masters so you went to Chicago and sat in with Big Walter Horton, Carrie Bell, James Cotton and Junior Wells. What was that like and what did you learn from each of them?

My God. What didn’t I learn is more like it. These guys were all masters of the instrument in their own ways; I listened to them and I tried to internalize as much of their artistry as I could. I think James Cotton and Big Walter had the greatest influence over me. And I loved Junior, I just loved his stage presence, just his mastery of the stage, never seen anybody on the stage like that guy before.

What was it about him that was so appealing to you?

That he surprised them to the point of astonishment. He would take the harmonica out of his mouth and start making gestures that somehow enraptured the whole audience. You could hear a pin drop. And there was no music being played. And Junior was just there, making gestures with his hands and his body and the audience was enraptured. It was like, ‘How does he do that.’ I mean it was like magic to me.

You spent two years touring with Willie Dixon who was your friend and mentor as part of the Chicago Blues All Stars before putting your own band together in 1983. What did Willie Dixon teach you?

He taught me to be patient, he taught me to be quiet. He said, ‘Well, you’re going to learn a lot more from listening than you will from talking, so be quiet.’ I loved it. He was something else. I mean the man is a genius; songwriter, A&R, a life guide, and very much a father figure too. He taught me things that I didn’t even realize he taught me. Years later, I’m going like, ‘Wow, Dixon said that!’

Can you give an example?

We were cutting a live record overseas.

Harmonica Happenings

And he had been telling me, ‘Okay, you do this and you do that’ and I was thinking to myself, ‘Hell, I’m the harmonica player. I know what to put where.’ And so I ignored his teachings and went on with my own ideas as how I should proceed, and after it was finished we sat down and I was like ‘Oh my god, what have I done? I made a mess of this.’ At that point I realized this guy knew what he was talking about and I had no freaking clue.

Of all the famous players with whom you’ve played, who’s had the biggest influence on you? Is it Dixon?

Well, I guess it’s got to be Dixon. I mean you know, he talked about writing songs and how to write songs, and what to write about and why one should write about these things, and he gave me a lot of insight about writing songs and how to create a musical muse.

In 2010 you recorded “Threshold”?

I had a bunch of different songs, some very eclectic tunes, even some love songs.

So I was in a quandary as to whether I should actually record this stuff or not.

And Rico McFarland is like, ‘It’s kind of stepping over the threshold of the blues, you know,’ and I was like, ‘Yea, but it all comes from the blues. So Threshold is the name of it and we’re going to record this anyway.’ Some people liked it, some people didn’t but I am glad I did use the material.

The album “Raw Sugar”, is that with your present band members?

And when was that?

About a year and a half ago, maybe two.

Are these covers or your original songs?

Original songs except I did one cover of a Ray Charles tune.

You’re playing Hohner harps. Are they custom?

They’re straight from the factory.

Do you ever get nervous before going on stage?

Sometimes. I remember I was getting ready to go on stage with Fats Domino and Ray Charles and Jerry Lee Lewis. I was very nervous then. I was like, ‘Oh my god, Fats Domino and Ray Charles.’ Ray Charles is one of my favourites, for me, one of the greatest voices in recorded history of rhythm and blues. So to get the opportunity to play with them, I couldn’t believe it. I think I was a nervous wreck.

Do you have any Ray Charles or Fats Dominos’ stories?

No. My only story is that I was completely starstruck and I remember just walking around in the green room and pinching myself.

And you played on the road with Prince for a while? What was he like?

Was “Raw Sugar” your last album?

That was a hell of an experience. He’s like Dixon and Ray Charles, you know. The man was a brilliant song writer, vocalist and instrumentalist and quite a curmudgeon for such a young man. He was very wrapped up within himself. He was sweet one minute and bitter the next. He was quite something.

A brilliant, brilliant, musician. I felt very honored to be able to play and work with him.

No. The last album that we recorded was called Voyage.

Do you think that personality change was due to drugs?

Except for the drummer, James Knowles, who passed away.

Who’s your present drummer?

His name is CJ Tucker and he is related to James.

Winter 2018

I would say the man was in a great deal of pain for much of the last few years of his life. So he was sweet and nice when he wasn’t feeling pain and when he was in pain, he was snappish, which is understandable. And unfortunately, or fortunately, drugs that he took to suppress his pain were his downfall.

Do you ever get up on the stage and think this is the same, I’ve been playing this before? I’m tired of it?

No. Because I don’t care how hard you work at it, you are never gonna play the same tune the same way twice. So you just play. A lot of times the audience influences what you’re doing and the other guys are behind you. No, I don’t worry about that.

Do you practice?

Of course. You can’t play if you don’t practice.

Do you practice scales?

I practice scales. I practice songs. Sometimes I just take the instrument and just play around and do stuff, you know, just let the instrument do what it does, you know.

What do you want to be known for?

Well, I don’t know. I guess the same things that people like about what I do. The songs that I write and the things that I play. Just basically, I’d like to be known for being a musician that knows and cares about the music. It’s been said before by a much bigger musician than me but I will repeat his words. As Duke Ellington said, ‘Music is my Mistress.’ Actually, he wrote a book under that name. If you haven’t read it, maybe you should.

What does music mean for you?

Music is my life. 

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of i now have two reasons to remember December 7th. Of

by Jim Chesnut

course, the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 is etched in my memory, as is the Christmas party at Las Chiladas Mexican Restaurant on December 7, 2017.

The Holiday Play-In was hosted by the Alamo Chapter of the Harmonica Organization of Texas (H.O.O.T.) from 6:30 p.m. until I got sleepy and left (and, I’m sure it went on long after that). I was invited to perform a couple of songs and was accompanied by a group of talented musicians on bass, drums, lead guitar, and of course, a number of “harmonicats.”

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Harmonica Happenings

I

first learned about this group from my now-deceased father-in-law, Glenn Walden. Glenn was the spirit of live music, in my well-informed opinion.

In his final years he could be heard playing his harmonica in his room and in the common areas of his senior care living centers.

His neighbors loved his music, “grace” notes and all. And, when he didn’t have his harmonica, he whistled! He died in the summer of 2016, and I really miss him.

There is mysterious magic in live music, and not all music magicians are professionals. In fact, most people who play music never get paid for it. Like Glenn Walden they do it because they love it.

And, maybe because they have to.

Among those who do earn their daily bread performing live music is Katrina Curtiss. Like me, she was a special guest at the H.O.O.T. party at Las Chiladas. If Katrina could be bottled, the label would need to include a warning: 200 Proof! She is the real deal, and her music will both shake and stir you. Her blues and rock ’n roll numbers brought the capacity-crowd house down.

And, wouldn’t you know, I had to follow her.

It reminded me of the first time I played in San Antonio in the late 1970s.

Drove all the way from Nashville and had to follow Frenchie Burke at the KKYX-AM River Festival.

Geez, Louise. Can’t a guy get a break?

Anyway, I was heartened and energized by the collective spirit of all the live music performers and fans of live music who attended the event.

•••

T

he Alamo chapter of H.O.O.T. was founded in 2004 by Betty Welch, an enthusiast of the harmonica who served as its first president. According to the current president and harmonica instructor, Don McRee, “From the start, the mission was to promote the advancement and appreciation of harmonica music to our community and beyond.

“Throughout the history of the organization, on a practical level, the goal has

Winter 2018

been to get the harmonica in as many people's mouths as possible. Persons who have always said they are non-musical suddenly find themselves intrigued by the little ‘tin sandwich.’

“In an effort to support live music, a sizable number of H.O.O.T. members play with bands and serve as mentors for other

Glenn Walden (1925-2016) whistles while waiting for lunch.

players. In the same vein, members join with other musicians to jam twice a month at local restaurants (currently held at Barbecue Station [located on Loop 410 at Harry Wurzbach] in San Antonio).

“Alamo H.O.O.T. has also found a way to bring San Antonio's attention to the harmonica on a larger scale. The organization went international in 2016, hosting the annual convention of the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of Harmonica (SPAH), which drew 500 harmonica players from all over the world convening in San Antonio.”

1982. I was burned out from being caught up in the business of music and no longer wanted to sing in the shower, so to speak.

But, my association with these harmonica players, which began with Glenn Walden, has allowed me to re-experience the power of live music as a listener rather than as a performer. And, what I get from these folks is authenticity. Authenticity is the most important ingredient in live music performance, once again in my well-informed opinion,

So, I have to thank Betty Welch, Don McRee and all the others involved with the local chapter of H.O.O.T. for helping me recover from my music business jaundice to discover anew the authentic spirit of my own music.

For more information about H.O.O.T. and/or harmonica instruction, contact Don McRee at (210) 827-6285. On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alamohoot  Jim Chesnut, founding president of the Texas Live Music Association, is a former major label recording artist and staff songwriter with Acuff-Rose Music in Nashville. After 25 years away from the music business, he began performing in and around San Antonio in 2008.

Since then, he has self-produced and released four CDs. Since January 2016, he has had five consecutive Top-10 national indie country singles, three of which reached #1 in the Top-40 chart of IndieWorld Country Record Report.

He has been a freelance contributor to Action Magazine since the beginning of 2016. Contact info: jim@chesnutproductions.com.

•••

I

must confess something. I am somewhat jaded by my years as a professional musician. In fact, that is one of the reasons I left Nashville and returned to Texas in 13

Reed All About It! The Harmonica in the Book World, Part 2

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Harmonica Happenings

I

n its broadest sense, literature is any printed material such as books, booklets

and even flyers. In its finest sense, it is a written work that, because of its artistic, intellectual or cultural values, can withstand time’s onslaught and

by Manfred Wewers

remain relevant many years later. Good books, like comfort foods, are enjoyed more than once. The works of many authors, some dead for hundreds of years, can still be found on some of today’s bookshelves. When an instrument, such as the harmonica, firmly establishes itself in a society’s culture, it must surely also have a place in its literature, in both the finest and broadest sense.

Winter 2018

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N

ovelist John Steinbeck (1902-1968) vividly entrenched the harmonica in American literature with his 1939 work, The Grapes of Wrath, a story of the homeless Joads who leave the Oklahoma dust bowl in the late 1930s for California. The popular harmonica, an affordable and transportable instrument, stands front and center.

A harmonica is easy to carry. Take it out of your hip pocket, knock it against your palm to shake out the dirt and pocket fuzz and bits of tobacco.

Now it’s ready. You can do anything with a harmonica: thin reedy single tone, or chords, or melody with rhythm chords. You can mound the music with curved hands, making it wail and cry like bagpipes, making it full and round like an organ, making it as sharp and bitter as the reed pipes of the hills. And you can play and put it back in your pocket. It is always with you, always in your pocket. And as you play, you learn new tricks, new ways to mold the tone with your hands, to pinch the tone with your lips, and no one teaches you. You feel around-sometimes alone in the shade at noon, sometimes in the tent door after supper when the women are washing up. Your foot taps gently on the ground. Your eyebrows rise and

“What better way to get rid of the devil’s instrument than by smashing it!” they’s a harmonica player in the nex’ tent.

Makes it pretty nice together” (419), the “mouth-organ man is red in the face” from adding “the harmonica’s sharp chords” to the music (420), and during the playing of a reel, the harmonica is described as “nasal and sharp” (435).

Ironically, later in the story, Steinbeck points out that it takes seven people, picking peaches all day, to earn one dollar.

During the Depression, a house cost $7,000; a car, $525; milk, 56 cents a quart; gas, ten cents a gallon; bread, eight cents a loaf; and a postage stamp was still only two cents (Biegel 39-41).

Unfortunately, the harmonica did not make it into the 1940s The Grapes of Wrath, the movie version, by John Ford (1894-1973). However, it is featured in the 1976 movie Bound for Glory. David Carradine (1936-2009), whose father John Carradine (1906-1988) acted in The Grapes of Wrath, portrayed a 1930s Woody Guthrie (1912-1967). Guthrie’s music, including the harmonica, would influence future gen-

“Losing a harmonica, that cost 25 cents was, a “great loss” after all.” fall in rhythm. And if you lose it or break it, why, it’s no great loss. You can buy another for a quarter.” (418-9) What a wonderful piece of prose, evoking so many sights and sounds with its imagery.

Steinbeck was able to capture the essence of the harmonica. As well, in the story, there are several less-well quoted references to the harmonica, played at a tent dance: “Play her [guitar] in the evening, an’ 16

erations of harmonica-playing folk artists including Bob Dylan.

American author Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) wrote novels in many genres, including 1962’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, a fantasy and horror story. Two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, encounter the carnival from hell. Will’s father, Charles, who “brought out a battered harmonica” (184) from his pocket, uses it during a ritual to overcome evil by playing

the harmonica, singing and dancing, in order to revive Jim from a stupor. “The harmonica knocked teeth, wheezing, Dad hocked forth great chords of squeezeeyed hilarity, turning in a circle, jumping up to kick his heels…[the] harmonica [was] seeping and guzzling raw tunes from a father” (284). This description contrasts sharply with Steinbeck’s more musical, less comedic version.

The harmonica, as just seen, can be used to fight evil and conversely, it can also, itself be evil. Canadian W.O. Mitchell’s (1914-1998) radio play, The Devil’s Instrument aired in 1973. A book version, The Devil is a Travelling Man came out in 2009. It’s the story of Jacob Schunk, a Hutterite boy, who is given a mouth organ at age 16. His love of music and deviation from his faith, lead to the smashing of his harmonica on an anvil. It seems somewhat appropriate or coincidental that Mitchell chose the name “Schunk.” Johann Schunk founded a harmonica manufacturing company in 1871 in Klingenthal, Germany, that exported its harmonicas to the United States during the 1920s and ‘30s.

What better way to get rid of the devil’s instrument than by smashing it! It’s been done before and since then. On television on Dec. 22, 1959, during the showing of “The Coward,” an episode of The Rifleman, a bully cowboy smashes someone’s harmonica with a hammer. And again, in the 2005 WWI movie Joyeux Noel, a petulant German, Crown Prince Wilhelm (1882-1951), stomps on and crushes a soldier’s harmonica into the ground. In the real world, Canadian historian Modris Eksteins documented this event with less embellishment in his Rites of Spring, an analysis of WWI. On Christmas Eve 1914, soldiers in the frontline trenches declared a temporary truce to celebrate in no-man’s-land. “At one point across from the French a lone harmonica Harmonica Happenings

began in a moment of stillness to play ‘Silent Night’ and the gentle, haunting tones, in the midst of complete quiet, mesmerized the French” (110).

Works of military history, both fiction and non-fiction, contain numerous references to the harmonica which has had a presence in the military history of the United States since the American Civil War era (18611865). Hollywood has embraced this reality of the harmonica by placing it in a multitude of war-related movies over the years.

Mirroring reality, the writers of fictional war stories have also placed the harmonica into the hands of their characters.

In the 2003 Civil War novel, Ghost Riders,

by Sharyn McCrumb, “a red-headed fellow a little ways off took a harmonica out of his coat pocket and puffed out a jaunty tune…”

(137). This takes place during an enlistment drive, before the real horror of war sets in.

“Jaunty” tunes were not in vogue on the front lines. Later in the story, the harmonica is referred to as “the French harp” (160), another of its many aliases. Writing in the 1990s about the 1870s, Mark Graham’s The Killing Breed has a character named Wilton McCleary, a Civil War veteran, who becomes a detective in Philadelphia. One of his colleagues, Hugh Nolan, Was a man of song, always humming some ditty or another, and had a harmonica in his desk drawer which he frequently played, like he was then.” (37).

Alex Haley (1921-1992), in his pre-Civil War book about the underground railroad, A Different Kind of Christmas, set in 1855, created Harpin’ John Graves, a harmonica virtuoso who “goes around playing his darky music on a harmonica all the time” (61). He’s described as the “almighty best harmonica player anybody ever heard of” (63).

Harpin’ John’s clenched fists cupped the small instrument tightly against his mouth; his eyes were squinched shut, and every one of his facial muscles Winter 2018

was strained in the intensity of his playing, while his body jerked and twisted and writhed, accompanying the driving beat of his music.” (77) Harpin’ John said that he got his harmonica when he was six; he did not say how or where he got it.

Born in Germany, American author Ursula Hegi wrote Stones from the River, a fictional story about Trudi, a dwarf, who grew up in Germany between the two world wars. In the early 1920s, Trudi had a friend Eva, who was Jewish. For her seventh birthday, Trudi gave Eva “her official present - a harmonica in a velvet case” (116). Later on both girls “took turns on her harmonica” (117).

In her 2015 novel, Echo, Pam Munoz Ryan, uses the harmonica and harmonica history, to link together the lives of a physically imperfect German boy in

during the last days of WWII. It’s a complex story with a host of characters dealing with rocket science and harmonicas. A main character, American Tyrone Slothrop, is a harmonica player and “he packs it everywhere he goes.” At a bar in Boston in 1939, “the mouth harp in his pocket reverts to brass inertia. A weight. A jive accessory.”

Having drunk far too much, his harmonica, “his silver chances of song,” falls from his shirt pocket into the toilet. Slothrop hears “the low reeds singing an instant on striking the porcelain” and then sees “immediate little bubbles slide up its bright flanks, up brown wood surfaces, some varnished, some lip-worn” as it descends (64). The harmonica was not rescued.

Believe it or not, this is fiction after all, he finds his dropped harmonica, or a look-a-like, again in 1945, in Germany, in a stream. He leaves it in the water “to soak

“Both Ryan and Hegi make it very clear that the harmonica is not just played by boys.”

Trossingen, Germany, in 1933, destined for sterilization; an orphan in Pennsylvania, in 1935, facing rejection in the adoption system; a young American girl of Mexican descent facing discrimination in 1942 in California; and a young American soldier of Japanese descent coping with his family’s internment. They all come together in 1951 at Carnegie Hall in New York through the magic and power of a diatonic harmonica.

In the course of her harmonica research, Ryan consulted with harmonica collector and SPAH member, John Whiteman. Both Ryan and Hegi make it very clear that the harmonica is not just played by boys.

Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow came out in 1973 and is considered the best American novel of that decade. The story takes place in several European locations

all night, wedged between a couple of rocks in a quiet pool” (634), where it creates its own music.

Through the flowing water, the holes of the old Hohner Slothrop found are warped one by one, squares being bent like notes, a visual blues being played by the clear stream.” (634) But amazingly, the harp still works when Slothrup plays it.

Whacking the water out of his harmonica, reeds singing against his leg, picking up the single blues at bar 1 of this morning’s segment, Slothrup, just suckin’ on his harp, is closer to being a spiritual medium than he’s been yet….” (634) 17

“Indeed, the harmonica has often become a mere cliché in many war movies and also westerns, a fact that doesn’t seem to stop us from going to see them.”

Very different from the prose of Steinbeck; yet, just as evocative and powerful.

The wonderful prose and harmonica references continue throughout the book.

While a colonel is getting a haircut, a blues harp is being played and he hears, [T]he shiver-borne blues-long runs in number 2 and 3 hole…. Blues is a matter of lower sidebands-you suck a clear note, on pitch, and then bend it lower with the muscles of your face….” (656) Later at a rocket fuel dump, during a party, singers are joined by “ukeleles, kazoos, harmonicas, and any number of makeshift metal noisemakers” (603). In Berlin, a student, “a harmonica novice… has been trying to play ‘Deutschland, Deutschland Über Alles’ for the past four hours, over and over missing notes, fucking up the time…” (697). Certainly, a unique harmonica experience and a unique way to phrase it, Slothrup, on a highway, comes “upon a veritable caravan of harmonica players” (772). Pynchon also adds an element of evil to his harmonica in the story by introducing another character, theatre manager Richard M. Zhlubb, who spoke out against the “irresponsible use of the harmonica”, claiming that patrons “have fallen into a state of near anarchy because of the musical instrument” (769). The harmonica is indeed very powerful.

18

British novelist Olivia Manning (19081980) places the harmonica in Bucharest, Romania, between the Russian and the German armies of WWII. In her novel, The Balkan Trilogy, a work of historical fiction written in the 1960s, Guy Pringle, a British teacher, is able to purchase a mouth-organ, in a city bereft of the most basic items, for a Jewish student he is sheltering. The student was soon able “to pick out a tune he had heard on the radio” (480). However, Guy’s wife Harriet was “annoyed by the mouth-organ” (527) and “complained about the constant noise” (557). In the 1986 movie version, Fortunes of War, the harmonica player is able to perfectly imitate the sound of a chromatic harmonica on his diatonic harmonica. This is fiction after all.

Writer Stephen King adds the harmonica into America’s Viet Nam conflict of the 1960s and 1970s, in his Hearts in Atlantis. Sully, one of King’s characters, spoke of an army friend.

He remembered how Pags had been over there in the green-skinny, blackhaired, his cheeks still dotted with the last of his post-adolescent acne, a rifle in his hands and two Hohner harmonicas (one key of C, one key of G) stuffed into the waistband of his camo trousers.” (468) In a surprising twist, King proclaims reality in his fiction with the view, “It was a war-movie cliché, the grizzled G.I. with the mouth-harp…” (467). Indeed, the harmon-

ica has often become a mere cliché in many war movies and also westerns, a fact that doesn’t seem to stop us from going to see them. In the 2001 movie version of Hearts in Atlantis, based on the first chapter of the book, Ted Brautigan, portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, plays a harmonica while sitting on the porch. Hopkins appears to like the harmonica, as he once more plays it, in a cell of an insane asylum, in the 2010 movie, The Wolfman.

In 2001, the harmonica shows up in, yet another, detective novel. Author Lynn Hightower wrote The Debt Collector, in which a doctor named Gillane, [W]as herding her [detective Sonora Blair], not waiting for an answer, moving her toward his private room, where he could hang out or see patients, do paperwork or play the harmonica. The room, she knew from past experience, would hold a guitar, a laptop computer, a Hohner harmonica, and most likely a box of Twinkies.” (35) No longer do only cowboys and soldiers play the harmonica; it’s now doctors and detectives and good and bad guys as well.

I hope, you have noticed that Hohner harmonicas are just as popular with fictional characters, as they are with real ones. In 1946, cities in Germany were still digging themselves out from under the rubble of war. German writer Günther Grass (1927-2015), in his 1999 book My Century, described digging through the rubble and finding a body wearing a coat that he takes. In one of the pockets he found a harmonica, “A real Hohner. Gave it to my son-in-law…. He never played it, though.

Or when he did, he made it sound real sad” (118). There was not a lot of happiness in post-war Germany. Nor, in this case, is this Hohner harmonica a cliché.

Again using the previous iceberg analogy, these are just a few of the many harmonica references that can be found in serious and less serious literature. There are just too many books to read! To be continued at a later date.  Harmonica Happenings

Bibliography: Biegel, Alan. “Deal of the Century.” NonSport Update 11.4 (2000): 39-41.

Bradbury, Ray. Something Wicked This Way Comes. New York: William Morrow, 2001.

Eksteins, Modris. Rites of Spring. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1989.

Graham, Mark. The Killing Breed. New York: Avon Books, 1998.

Grass, Günter. My Century. Trans. Michael Henry Heim. New York: Harvest Book, 1999.

Haley, Alex. A Different Kind of Christmas.

New York: Doubleday, 1988.

Hegi, Ursula. Stones from the River. New York: Scribner, 1994.

King, Stephen. Hearts in Atlantis. New York: Scribner, 1999.

Manning, Olivia. The Balkan Trilogy. London: Penguin, 1981.

McCrumb, Sharyn. Ghost Riders. New York: Signet, 2003.

Mitchell, W.O. The Devil is a Travelling Man. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Ryan, Pam Munoz. Echo. New York: Scholastic Press, 2015.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.

AD TK

Dear SPAH Member, I have been busy putting together an archival section under the header About SPAH. It contains the history of SPAH, its members, our beloved instrument, the harmonica, and is illustrated with links to photos, news clippings, SPAH documents, books, articles and other memorabilia.

It is a work in progress with more to be added as time permits and has been made possible through the generous donations of many past and present SPAH members such as Gordon Mitchell, Eugene Hansen, Maurice Godfrey, Lloyd Hovey, Harland Crain, and others.

I invite you to visit this site to learn more about the history of our very unique organization called SPAH and its members. Please zcontact me if you find errors, know missing names or dates to be added or wish to add artifacts that should be included in the archives. Our history needs to be preserved and shared with the harmonica world. If you have any SPAH convention programs from the years 1964, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973, please contact me at mwewers@ rogers.com Manfred Wewers - SPAH Historian Winter 2018

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Downloadable Study Songs for the Intermediate Blues Player and the Filisko Tongue Block Trainer

www.RootsDuo.com www.Facebook.com/RootsDuo

Music, Live Performance and International Workshops by Joe Filisko & Eric Noden

www.BluesHarmonica.com Video Instruction

us.playhohner.com/ www.Filisko.com

20

Harmonica Happenings

Do you have a harmonica story to tell?

Submit your article to: info@spah.com

Winter 2018

21

22

Harmonica Happenings

SPAH 2018 - CONVENTION REGISTRATION Tuesday, August 14 - Saturday, August 18 at the Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet – St. Louis, MO

CONVENTION PACKAGE FEES*

Full Convention, including Saturday Banquet & Show A Fees Received: Before July 1st Before August 1st At the Convention

By Mail Add:

Saturday Only: Seminars, Banquet & Show

B

C

D

Saturday Banquet & Show Only E

Member or Spouse

Nonmember

Age 25 or Under

Member or Spouse

Nonmember

Age 25 or Under

Member or Spouse

Nonmember

$195

$245

$95

$80

$90

$55

$65

$70

$215

$265

$105

$85

$95

$60

$75

$80

$235

$285

$125

$95

$105

$65

$85

$90

$15

$15

$15

$10

$10

$10

$10

$10

– CONVENTION REGISTRATION ONLINE and BY MAIL CLOSES at MIDNIGHT JULY 31st –

After July 31st, registration is available at the convention only.

Banquet tickets with late registrations subject to availability. Please note the increase in price for late registration.

PLEASE REGISTER EACH PERSON, INCLUDING YOURSELF, SITTING TOGETHER INDICATING TICKET TYPE FOR EACH (A, B, C, D, or E).

IF BY MAIL, USE REVERSE SIDE OF THIS FORM and include addresses & phone numbers of all non-members in your party.

SEATING FOR THE SATURDAY BANQUET/SHOW WILL BE ASSIGNED IN THE ORDER RECEIVED. Early applicants receive table seating nearest the stage. You will receive confirmation of your registration Tickets, showing table assignment, should be collected at the convention registration desk at the hotel.

TO SIT WITH FRIENDS AT THE SATURDAY NIGHT BANQUET/SHOW: Submit all registration forms and payments for the people in your group together on the same online form on the SPAH website or in one envelope. Maximum of ten (10) persons per table. We are unable to add additional persons at your table at a later time.

Advance registration is available for Saturday single day using Packages “C”, “D” and "E”, above.

There is no advance registration for other single day tickets. Single day tickets will be available at the convention.

NEW VIP Registration: VIP Banquet seating, Private Lessons, Presidents Breakfast, mentioned in program & more.

If you would like to support SPAH with VIP Registration, email Michael D'Eath michael.j.death@gmail.com

Payment & Registration: Payment should be made online by credit or debit card in US funds.

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ONLINE REGISTRATION Log onto: www.spah.org Go to the "2018 Convention" page and follow the prompts to register online.

Hotel booking: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/SPAH2018 or (888) 627-7066 For an extra fee (see above), you can mail your Convention Registration (on reverse) with payment

Chicken Mudega

Chicken Breast, Char Broiled topped w/ Onion, Mushrooms, Bacon & Cheese La Crème Potatoes, Chef's Selection of Vegetables

SPAH 2018 Convention Menu Choices Beef Sirloin Vegetarian

Grilled Sirloin with Herb Butter, La Crème Potatoes, Chef's Selection of Vegetables

Vegetable Streusel: Grilled veg. in Tomato Sauce wrapped in Phyllo dough, La Crème Potatoes, Chef's Selection of Vegetables

Gluten-Free (Chicken)

Chicken Breast, Char Broiled topped w/ Onion, Mushrooms, Bacon & Cheese La Crème Potatoes, Chef's Selection of Vegetables

Served with: Westport Salad w/ Herb Vinaigrette, Rolls & Butter, choice of Iced Tea, Hot tea, Starbucks Coffee or Decaf Dessert: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing or GF Flourless Chocolate Torte Winter 2018

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SPAH 2018 - CONVENTION REGISTRATION BY MAIL Tuesday, August 14 - Saturday, August 18 at the Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet – St. Louis, MO

Note: Handling Fees Apply for Convention Registration by Mail NAME OF APPLICANT:_____________________________________ PHONE: (_____) ___________________ ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________________________________ CITY: _________________________ STATE: _______ ZIP: _______________ COUNTRY: _________________ E-MAIL ADDRESS: ___________________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT MEMBERSHIP STATUS (check one):

❏ I am a current 2018 SPAH member. ❏ I was a SPAH member in 2017 and am enclosing renewal fee of $50 made payable to "SPAH, Inc." ❏ I am joining SPAH with this convention application and have enclosed, in addition to convention fees, the new member fee of $50, made payable to "SPAH, Inc." ❏ I am registering for the convention as a Non-member.

Show the names as you want them to appear on convention name badges

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SPAH Member Status check one Member or Spouse

Nonmember

Convention Package check one

A

B

C

D

1. Chicken 2. Beef 3. Vegetarian 4. Gluten Free

E

1

2

3

4

Convention Fee

List the names of those who are registering on this form.

Banquet Dinner Choice

Membership Fee

NAMES

$

$

By Mail Handling Fees Total Convention Fees Enclosed Made Payable to “SPAH, Inc.”

Total Membership Fees Enclosed Made Payable to “SPAH, Inc.”

You may use and detach this form, or make a photocopy first.

Mail this form with your check or money order to (please note additional mail-in fees on page 1): SPAH Convention Registrar PO Box 551381 Dallas, TX 75355

*** Convention Registration fees must be included with this Registration Form *** (No refunds can be made after July 31, 2018)

SPAH Youth Scholarship Application to attend the 2018 SPAH Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, August 14-18, 2018 Attention young SPAH harmonica players - SPAH (Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica) needs you!

The SPAH Youth Committee will make several awards to suitable applicants to attend the 2018 SPAH convention in St. Louis, Missouri. Awards will cover hotel room & tax at the SPAH Convention hotel for the nights of Tuesday, August 14, through Saturday, August 18, departing Sunday. Scholarships also include full Convention registration including the Saturday banquet for each award recipient, and registration for one parent or guardian (for whom banquet tickets are available at $45) to assist in chaperoning and other duties.

The Committee seeks applicants who either have experience in performance, or can clearly demonstrate the promise of accomplishment in playing their chosen type(s) of harmonica.

Applicants must be 21 years old or younger. Each award recipient will be offered the opportunity to perform at least once at the SPAH Convention and will be expected to contribute time supporting youth programs at the Convention; for example, occasionally sitting at the Youth Scholarship table, explaining how our scholarship has benefited them, and helping sell raffle tickets, especially at the Saturday night banquet. Priority will be given to applicants who have not been selected previously.

To apply, please write short paragraph answers to the questions below with your application. You should also submit an example of your playing by mailing in a CD (address available on request), emailing an MP3, providing a link to a video on a sharing website (e.g. YouTube), or arranging to play live for the selection committee on a video call (e.g. Skype) or on the telephone. Applications may be submitted by email to scholarship@spah.org Applications for the SPAH Youth Scholarship (including the sample of the applicant’s harmonica playing) must be received by May 15, 2018. Recipients of the SPAH Youth Scholarship for the 2018 SPAH Convention will be selected by the SPAH Youth Support Committee and notified by June 1. We encourage all to apply and know that attending a SPAH convention is an experience worth seeking.

Please provide answers to the following questions: NAME: _________________________________________________________________ AGE: _________________________________ ADDRESS: ___________________________________ CITY: ________________________ STATE: ______________ ZIP:_____________ TELEPHONE:_________________________________________ EMAIL:___________________________________________________ PREFERRED METHOD OF CONTACT:

PHONE ❑

EMAIL ❑

POSTAL MAIL ❑

1. How long have you been playing the harmonica?

2. When and how did you first become interested in the harmonica?

3. What are your principal hopes and dreams in making music with the harmonica?

4. Are you self-taught or do you have a teacher? If you are currently studying with a teacher, can we contact him/her for a recommendation? If so, please provide your teacher’s phone number and the best time to reach him/her.

5. Have you been to a SPAH convention before? If so, in what year? What was the experience like for you?

6. Why would you be a good recipient of the SPAH Youth Scholarship?

7. What would you like to get out of the SPAH Convention?

8. How did you hear about the SPAH Youth Scholarship?

THIS FORM IS AVAILABLE ON-LINE AT http://www.spah.org/Files/2018YouthScholarshipApplication.pdf

Winter 2018

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Member Snapshot

by LJ Anderson

was – they made harps but I never had one.

I just quit playing harp during World War II but when we were sent back to the US, I picked it up again because we could get them. I finished my degree in engineering at Purdue and got a job as an engineer.

That job got moved around and in the five or six states where I lived, none of them had a harp club.

Name: Jack Hopkins What’s been a performing highlight?

Town: Woodbridge, VA About: Lifelong harmonica player, World War II veteran, native of Kendallville, Indiana, and SPAH 2017 attendee

How long have you been playing harp?

When I was five or six, in my Christmas stocking with the traditional orange, my parents put in a celluloid harmonica – the first commercial one that was of any benefit. Our plastics industry has grown so much since then. I found that I could get a scale out of that and I learned to play one of the popular songs of the day – maybe “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby.” It was a toy harmonica but once I learned how to get a scale, I was able to play tunes by sound or by ear.

In 1985 a man telephoned me who identified himself as a bass player in a national symphony, and who had gotten my name from several people. He asked me, “Do you play chromatic, read music, and this is crucial, can you count out rests?” Well, I had played in band and orchestra so he then said “You sound like the man I need.” The San Francisco Ballet was performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and there was a number with harp written into it – but no union harp player. They made an exception for me and paid me union pay for the days I was there. I borrowed a tuxedo and wound up playing for two programs at the Kennedy Center in the orchestra with the ballet being danced over my head. It was a unique experience and one I’ll never have again.

What ongoing “gigs” do you have?

What happened to your harp playing during World War II? I left it at home. The only harmonicas with a trade name on them were Hohner harmonicas, and we were fighting the home country of Hohner. If I were to lose a harmonica, I would be up a creek without a harmonica. There had been a harmonica company in the US-maybe more than one – Kratt Harmonica I think it 26

When our United Methodist pastor baptises babies, he will carry the child up and down the main aisle as the congregation sings "Jesus Loves Me." I was new in the church but I knew that song was in the key of C. I was sitting in the front row and I started playing on my Little Lady harp.

The minister said "See me after church."

He now has me playing every hymn which the congregation sings – so every Sunday

I get a lesson in sight reading. I can play in every key.

How’s your life now?

I was married for 62 years and I don’t know how I could have found a better woman to raise my children, love me, and let me share my life. We have seven children and seven grandchildren. When we moved to a continuing care community in Virginia, my wife got cancer and died. I knew one of us was having to go sooner and I was expecting to be that guy. I’m now 97 years old, and I find that hard to believe. I found a lady friend who moved in on the fourth floor and sings in the choir in which I sing.

She drives a car – I no longer drive because of my eyesight – so I have a lady friend with a car and a voice. Her daughter and grandson are also in the chorus so we can make a quartet.

Any advice for harp players?

Learn to play with other people – and the ability to read notes can be eye opening and ear opening. Music has been written for all kinds of instruments, and the harp can play music that has been written for other instruments. Normally I play bass harmonica – I play a Chordet 20, have a full-size 48-chord harmonica, and I almost always have a Little Lady harmonica – an inch and 3/8ths long – with me. I’m blessed with being able to read music and how many harp players can you name who can do that? Most of us are self-taught and don’t read music. Playing the harp has contributed a great deal to my life.  LJ Anderson is a writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She can be reached at ljanderson120@gmail.com Harmonica Happenings

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2018 - 2019 Corporate Sponsors The SPAH Corporate Sponsorship Program benefits SPAH, its members and the sponsors. The sponsors listed below have demonstrated their dedication to the preservation and advancement of the harmonica by actively participating in SPAH conventions and other activities and by financially supporting the organization. They deserve the thanks, recognition and support of SPAH members.

GOLD SPONSOR

Hohner, Inc. Drew Lewis Hohner Harmonica Product Manager www.hohnerusa.com

SILVER SPONSORS

Suzuki Musical Instruments Daron Stinton Harmonica/School Division Manager (800) 854-1594 www.suzukimusic.com/harmonicas harmonicas@suzukicorp.com

C.A. Seydel Sรถhne Rupert Oysler 828-505-2346 www.seydelusa.com

Philharmonicas Phil Sardo 818-535-0733 contact@philharmonica.com

Jiangyin Qiling Musical Instrument Co., Ltd.

Jiangsu East Musical Instrument Co.,Ltd

Sung-hua (Alan) Yang

bruce gao

+86-8662-0102 qiling-harmonica@outlook.com

86-0510-86383008 bee-harmonica@vip.163.com

Lone Wolf Blues Company Randy Landry Lone Wolf Blues Company Randy Landry - Owner 866-386-0777 lonewolfblues.com

866-386-0777 lonewolfblues.com

BlowsMeAway Productions Greg Heumann 650-281-1085 blowsmeaway.com

Winter 2018

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new

THE REVOLUTION IN CHROMATIC HARMONICA DESIGN In close cooperation with leading players, we have redefined the standard for chromatic harmonicas in the 21st century. Service-friendly and developed to satisfy the highest musical requirements, the HOHNER ACE 48 also offers two revolutionary features: Patented Acoustic Coupling Elements (ACE) enable uniquely variable sound design, while in addition the new VarioSpring - System permits exact adjustment of slide spring pressure to suit personal preferences.

+ Removable Acoustic Coupling Elements (ACE) change mass to shape tonal color and adjust weight distribution according to taste 18

New revolutionary VarioSpring - System to easily adjust spring pressure to suit individual playing styles

Unparalleled comfort through new ergonomic cover and mouthpiece design

SPAH Inc. PO Box 551381 Dallas, TX 75355