Harmonica Blues [Yazoo]

by VARIOUS ARTIST

Overview

It is perhaps a testament to the harmonica's status in music that even its finest practitioners remain relatively obscure. Compiling a disc of harp players, as Yazoo has done here, isn't going to turn up a bunch of familiar names. As an early document of an instrument that remained essential to the blues well after it became an electric medium, however, Harmonica Blues is excellent. The instrument served numerous roles during the 1920s and 1930s (the period covered here), showing up in dance music, solo showcases, and blues; on street corners and in juke joints. An example of the instrument's novelty appeal is as good a place to start as any. Though Freeman Stowers' recorded conventional blues, he also relished in comic fare like "Railroad Blues." Bidding his woman farewell as she steps aboard a train, Stowers builds to a blistering pace in his steam engine imitation. The harmonica's ability to bend notes and produce vibrato made it particularly expressive when applied to blues. It's dynamic range and unique timbre meant that it could cut through an acoustic ensemble in a manner similar to a violin or slide guitar. Harp men step into the spotlight for particularly spectacular solos on the otherwise tepid blues of "I Want You By My Side" and "My Driving Wheel." Both De Ford Bailey and Jaybird Coleman, the two players to gain some degree of notoriety during their prime, are represented by a cut each. Bailey, a popular performer on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry displays his unparalleled technique on "Davidson County Blues," while Coleman proves that he was an exceptional vocalist as well on "Man Trouble Blues." Together, the artists gathered on Harmonica Blues represent the precursors to the great harp players of the electric era like Little Walter, Junior Wells, and Sonny Boy Williamson. ~ Nathan Bush

Product Details

Release Date:	04/08/1991
Label:	YAZOO
UPC:	0016351015327

Tracks

1. Railroad Blues  - Freeman Stowers
2. Crazy About You Baby  -  State Street Boys
3. Wang Wang Harmonica Blues  - Henry Busse  -  Carver Boys  - Buster Johnson  - Gus Mueller
4. My Driving Wheel  - Lee Brown
5. Bay Rum Blues  -  Ashley & Foster
6. I'm Going to Write and Tell Mother  - R. Hill  - Robert Hill
7. Blowin' the Blues  - Chuck Darling
8. Harmonica Rag  - Chuck Darling  - Sonny Terry
9. Man Trouble Blues  - Jaybird Coleman
10. I Want You by My Side  - Jazz Gillum
11. Friday Moan Blues  - A.J. Lewis  - Alfred Lewis
12. House Snake Blues  - Jimmy "Skeeter" Hinton  - Chicken Wilson  - Chicken Wilson  - Skeeter Hinton
13. Need More Blues  - Robert Cooksey  - Bobby Leecan
14. Davidson County Blues  - DeFord Bailey

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Robert Cooksey   Primary Artist,Harmonica
Skeeter Hinton   Primary Artist
Chuck Darling   Primary Artist,Harmonica
Freeman Stowers   Primary Artist
Jazz Gillum   Primary Artist,Vocals,Harmonica
Alfred Lewis   Primary Artist
State Street Boys   Primary Artist
Jaybird Coleman   Primary Artist,Harmonica
DeFord Bailey   Primary Artist
Ashley & Foster   Primary Artist
Bobby Leecan   Primary Artist,Banjo
Lee Brown   Primary Artist,Piano
Chicken Wilson   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Robert Hill   Primary Artist,Harmonica
The Carver Boys   Primary Artist
Jimmy "Skeeter" Hinton   Primary Artist,Harmonica
Clarence Ashley   Guitar
Carl Martin   Guitar
Big Bill Broonzy   Guitar
Eugene Powell   Guitar
Gwen Foster   Harmonica
Robert Lee McCoy   Harmonica
William Harris   Guitar
Willie Harris   Guitar
R.D. Norwood   Piano
Bill Gaither   Guitar
Hervey Hoskins   Guitar
Alfred Martin   Guitar
George Wilson   Guitar

Technical Credits

Robert Hill   Performer
Chuck Darling   Performer
Freeman Stowers   Performer
Jaybird Coleman   Composer,Performer
Jazz Gillum   Composer
Bobby Leecan   Composer,Performer
Alfred Lewis   Performer
State Street Boys   Performer
Paul Franklin   Composer
Sonny Terry   Composer
The Carver Boys   Performer
DeFord Bailey   Composer,Performer
Robert Vosgien   Digital Mastering
Ashley & Foster   Performer
Buster Johnson   Composer
Gus Mueller   Composer
Henry Busse   Composer
Lee Brown   Performer
Robert Cooksey   Composer,Performer
Nick Perls   Mastering
A.J. Lewis   Composer
Robert Crumb   Cover Art
Chicken Wilson   Performer
R. Hill   Composer