XHarp
88 posts
Jul 06, 2009
7:27 AM
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OK, in keeping with kudzurunner's post about the origin's of the Juke riff, I was reading in a recent edition of Blues Review where Snooky Prior is given credit, based on his own account, as being the first to amplify the harp.
It was in contradiction to Little Walter being the first to do this.
Anyone else have any knowledge of this?
I'm wondering if the information isn't stirred up a bit. Perhaps the details are muddied and there is no distinction anymore between the first to do and the first to make it popular?
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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XHarp
89 posts
Jul 06, 2009
7:35 AM
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Follow up,
His wikepedia bio makes the same claim however there is this statement at the end of the sentence,
"..although on his earliest records in the late 1940s he did not utilize this method."
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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ZackPomerleau
337 posts
Jul 06, 2009
7:48 AM
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Pat Missin once told me it was in 1951, I believe the e-mail said, on Muddy Water's track "She Moves Me" which I believe had a B-side of "Honey Bee."
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kudzurunner
563 posts
Jul 07, 2009
4:09 AM
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I've heard the same story about Snooky Prior being the first to amp the harp. 1951 seems late for the first amped harp to have shown up on record, but I wouldn't dare contradict Pat Missin, since he is one of the few guys who really, really, really knows his stuff on all this. Certainly LW's tone on "She Moves Me" is seriously overdriven--almost a different instrument from un-amplified harp.
I'm pretty sure that Eddie Burns is playing amped harp in John Lee Hooker's "Burnin' Hell" (1949), but it's mildly electrified, not over the top. Check it out.
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belfast_harper
58 posts
Jul 07, 2009
4:44 AM
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According to Tom Ball, the first time that Little Walter ever recorded amplified was on Muddy Waters recording sessions of July 11, 1951. Which produced songs "Country Boy", "She Moves Me," "My Fault," and "Still A Fool."
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belfast_harper
59 posts
Jul 07, 2009
5:25 AM
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I think I remember reading a story that claimed the first person known to cup a bullet mic and to get an overdriven sound and play amplified was someone playing through the PA system on a ship to entertain the crew. They liked the sound so much that it lead to them playing amplified harp.
I have no idea where I read the story, who wrote it or who it was playing through the mic.
Has anybody heard any stories like that, or did I dream it up?
Last Edited by on Jul 07, 2009 5:49 AM
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XHarp
90 posts
Jul 07, 2009
6:04 AM
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The 1951 date is centred around LW's first amp'd harp although I have to agree with Kudzurunner on that seeming to be a bit late. I'll pull my books and scoot through them to see if Palmer or Wardlow mention anything on them.
Might be worth a trip to the mighty library that kudzurunner mentioned in his other post. Now if I can only get the time from work ?????
Until then, the Snooky date is in question still and even the comment quoted in my follow up post doesn't really reveal any firm date that he did that. It just states that his early recordings didn't use that technique.
Still a mystery.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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Elwood
91 posts
Jul 07, 2009
8:31 AM
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Okay, I'm a few years behind Sonny Boy, Snooky and Little Walter (heck, ain't we all) but I had my first amplified harp last week.
A new friend who turns out to be a guitarist with a fiendish gear obsession, well, he let me play through this little old amp he had lying around. At least, that's how he described it: turns out it was a Fender Bassman. Jesus, guys -- I've only ever been amped through a PA using a vocal mic, and you're always talking about this Fender Bassman thing but I had NO. IDEA.
It sounds like a f***ing HOWITZER.
More, please.
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XHarp
93 posts
Jul 07, 2009
8:35 AM
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Welcome to the curse.
You will now have great attacks of G.A.S. (gear acquisition syndrome) and will not be able to relieve it with any amount of gear or spending trying to get the Howitzer sounding sweet and full.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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XHarp
94 posts
Jul 07, 2009
10:11 AM
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So no real account prior to 1945 but as per wikipedia info Maxwell street in 1945 for Chicago bues harp sound and if the LW date of 51 is set then I guess Snooky's claim is true.
Hmmm, I wonder what date he actually tried the Army PA with the harp?
And I find its interesting that the had this type of claim to fame but, while a popular harp player, he never got the level of recognition that LW got. Perhaps the Muddy Waters/Chess Records thing was the difference.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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XHarp
95 posts
Jul 07, 2009
10:34 AM
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Just grabbed this off of the website MOG.
http://mog.com/music/Snooky_Pryor/bio
The two Sonny Boys were influential to Pryor's emerging style, as he played around the Delta. He hit Chicago for the first time in 1940, later serving in the Army at nearby Fort Sheridan. Playing his harp through powerful Army PA systems gave Pryor the idea to acquire his own portable rig once he left the service. Armed with a primitive amp, he dazzled the folks on Maxwell Street in late 1945 with his massively amplified harp.
Seems it now narrowed down to 1940 to 1945 as the first time he amp'd the harp.
Gotta keep searching the records now to tighten this up. That trip to Mississippi is getting closer and closer....
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
Last Edited by on Jul 07, 2009 10:35 AM
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ZackPomerleau
342 posts
Jul 07, 2009
11:05 AM
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Pat Missin told me Adam that he believe that was the first. You may be right. I'll try to find that track.
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kudzurunner
567 posts
Jul 07, 2009
1:11 PM
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"And I find its interesting that the had this type of claim to fame but, while a popular harp player, he never got the level of recognition that LW got. Perhaps the Muddy Waters/Chess Records thing was the difference."
I think the difference was that Little Walter was a genius/virtuoso and Snooky Prior wasn't. There's no harm in being a good, competent player, of course, and SP was that.
The other two differences were: LW played with Muddy during a crucial period; and he had a #1 R&B hit. So you're right about that.
Last Edited by on Jul 07, 2009 1:12 PM
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snakes
294 posts
Jul 07, 2009
3:39 PM
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I swear I read somewhere that claimed Sonny Boy Williamson I (John Lee) was to first to amplify his harmonica. Wish I could remember where I saw that...
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XHarp
98 posts
Jul 08, 2009
6:53 AM
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"Little Walter was a genious/virtuoso"
Man, I got to agree to that.
After all, that's likely what got him with Muddy in the first place.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
Last Edited by on Jul 08, 2009 6:54 AM
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