scottb
9 posts
Apr 06, 2009
7:52 AM
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Adam posted about that live Jim Lupkin record the other day and it got me thinking how many great blues / harp records are out there that most people don't know about.
Hidden gems if you will.
I finally got my car CD player replaced (I could start another topic about the sad state of current music and radio!) One of the disc I grabbed was Ready To Go.
This is an out of print disc released in 1992 on Blue Loon records then in 1997 was released by Atomic Theory.
It features RJ Mischo on harp and vocals, Teddy Morgan on guitar, Percy Strother on vocals, Bruce McCabe on piano, Bill Black on bass and Robb Stupka on drums.
This record is terrific! It has everything, a harp instrumental, a guitar instrumental, a piano instrumental, classic covers like Evil and Forty Days which Strother does justice to the originals. The feel is 1950s and the band plays like a group of all stars rather than an artist and some guys backing him up.
I got so excited listening to it I actually emailed the record company to see how I could get the rights to rerelease this thing myself! If you can find a copy get it!
Take a listen!
http://mp3skyline.com/rid-0x30aeb-r-j-mischo-and-the-teddy-morgan-blues-band_-_ready-to-go-mp3-download.html
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scottb
10 posts
Apr 06, 2009
8:00 AM
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So that is mine. I forgot to say that I want you to share your hidden gem.
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Hollistonharper
66 posts
Apr 06, 2009
9:48 AM
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I guess I'd offer up Back Porch Blues by Blind Mississippi Morrris and Brad Webb. Just a harp and a guitar. Raw and bluesiful. Been listening a lot to it lately. Can't get it as a mp3 anywhere, check out www.bradwebb.com for the cd.
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Oisin
173 posts
Apr 06, 2009
10:07 AM
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Buffet Flats by Bad Town Blues featuring Giles King on harp. Best Blues Band in South of England.
Oisin
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kudzurunner
341 posts
Apr 06, 2009
11:52 AM
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If I think back on all the recorded harmonica music I've got, then one album stands out: MOUTH HARP MAESTRO by Big Walter Horton, which was recorded at Sun Studios in the year or two before Elvis showed up and Sam Phillips basically stopped recording blues.
It stands out for two reasons: it's not nearly as well known as his later stuff, and certainly far less well known than the mass of recordings by Little Walter and other greats; and it's the most explosively swinging harp I've ever heard. At their best, Rod Piazza, Magic Dick, Cotton, Rice Miller come close. But a handful of the cuts on MOUTH HARP MAESTRO, like "Blues in the Morning" and "Jumping Blues" have an extra swing-gear or two driving them on.
Amazingly, you can get this album on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000009G2?tag=modeblueharm-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B0000009G2&adid=1Z2E291ZCFGJ485WTZ6M&
I'll go so far as to say that people who think they know what Big Walter is about but haven't heard this album don't really know how good Big Walter actually was. When I listen to the swingingest cuts, I feel as though I've been set down in Memphis in 1951 when harp players were jumping the blues and I mean JUMPING the blues.
I'm going to do a YouTube video on this album at some point soon.
Check out the first cut, "Jumping Blues," in the Amazon preview. "Blues in the Morning" won't load, but "Jumping Blues" gives you a taste. Also "Go Long Woman."
Last Edited by on Apr 06, 2009 12:01 PM
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scottb
11 posts
Apr 06, 2009
1:57 PM
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That's what I was looking for!
Mouth Harp Maestro is fantastic. I found a place to listen to a sample of Blues in the Morning and you're right, he is swinging here like nowhere else. Great stuff!
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bluemoose
45 posts
Apr 06, 2009
2:38 PM
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Johnny Shines and Robert Lockwood.
Big Walter only plays harp with Johnny Shines on 6 cuts (out of 20) and one of them is an alternate take but damn....
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Spl20
25 posts
Apr 06, 2009
10:07 PM
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He's no Big walter, little walter, sonnyboy 1 or 2 but he is and was a true mississippi blues man born in the cotton fields. I love Willie Foster "LIVE at the Airport Grocery" RIP
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