Rare stuff in the video below. Sonny Boy in Copenhagen, 1964. First position on a G harp. It's hard to tell whether he's onstage or backstage; if he's onstage, this is just about the most mellow performance you'll ever see.
I was a straight amplified player for a few years. As soon as I could afford a mic and amp, I got them. Then with tips from Mark Werner and a few others, I had a pretty much state of the art set up for the time (mid 70's). I had always liked my SBWII, Jimmy Reed, Slim Harpo, Buster Brown, albums over the LW amplified school stuff. But when I tried to play off the vocal mic in my bands, it got so drowned out, I went amped. Then I started hanging around sonny terry. Hearing that pure acoustic tone in the flesh hooked me and since about 79, I have been blowing off the mic. I learned I had to hire guys that could keep the volume down so I could be heard. Now that I am a 1 man band, I have total control over all the instrument volumes and I can easily put the harp on top with any kind of beat. The amplified thing gets most of the glory. Much like the SRV sound over the Jimmy Vaughn sound, most go for powerful, loud stuff. SBWII was all about subtle. I still plug in my princeton reverb once every few years to see if the amped thing grabs me. It hasn't yet. The little things get lost IMO and I love the little things. It is all about personal preference. An amped player or acoustic player, who plays with passion and skill will be good on either. It is just which one satifies them more. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
Out of all the solo harp players I've heard, he's the one who plays the least and implies the most. Most of this is single notes and he doesn't even fill with any kind of groove, yet you know exactly where you are in the 12 bar structure. Amazing.
jondanchudan: That is exactly what blew me away from day one of hearing SB. The space is more powerful than the actual notes. That is what bugs me about most of todays players. They are mostly about no space and the space they leave is very tight. SB left loose space. Does that make sense? Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
Of all the guys on the scene today, Paul Oscher in his solo shows most closely reflects the minimalist aesthetic Sonny Boy exemplifies here. Paul is able to keep VERY slow grooves going, and able to leave all the space in the world between phrases. He learned that directly from Muddy.
here is a solo harp instrumental that is heavily influenced by SBWII. I use to play like this for hours in the abandoned stairways of buildings in Newark, NJ as a teen. The riots left a lot of that town in permenant ruin and I found a circuit of killer reverb chambers in those stairways. the reverb really adds a lonesome depth IMO that lets you work each note and the spaces inbetween. It is kind of the opposite of what is popular today with most harp players, but I still am exploring all the little nooks and crannies of this kind of playing. I will probably be at till the day I die. Walter here is the song
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
