MLT Club Member Jürgen
MLT Club MemberForum Replies Created
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Hi Jung,
letting go is often difficult in life. Especially from places we loved and with which we associate beautiful memories. “Life is a long, calm river”. That’s the title of a movie by the French director Étienne Chatiliez. It’s an allusion to the fact that our life appears calm, leisurely, and slow on the surface, but is actually seething beneath the surface. And I think that’s how life has been for many of us: Unexpected, full of surprises and sudden turns that we didn’t expect. Often beautiful, unfortunately also far too often sad. I can still visit my parents’ house after my mother’s death, but it is no longer the house of my childhood. Whenever I enter the house, my memories are already waiting there for me. They wander around, make me see things that are no longer there, think of things I thought I’d already forgotten. And then I realize that it’s also good to just let go. The house of my childhood: beautiful and ephemeral. My memories: interwoven with me and my life forever. New experiences await us. To be lived. To accompany us. To become memories again. To remind us that we are alive.
And yet it is important that there are such places: where we can reminisce.
Music is such a place to come back to. A constant in my life that can give me strength and patience when life presses too hard again.
„There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain“These lines have always particularly touched me; all my life.
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And also a legend on the harmonica: Howard Levy, an American harmonica player and pianist who was born on July 31, 1951 in Brooklyn NY.
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Speaking of the blues here’s a classic one that probably shaped the harmonica blues: John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson I. was an American blues musician and harmonica player. Williamson established the harmonica as a melody instrument in the blues and is considered the “father of the modern blues harp”. His style has influenced many blues musicians including Billy Boy Arnold, Sonny Terry and Muddy Waters. In the 1940s he was so popular that blues musician Aleck “Rice” Miller called himself Sonny Boy Williamson II (wiki)
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Hi Tom,
I read that the term mouthorgan is also used in the english language, but I wasn’t sure if this is common, thanks now I know. I’m not that familiar with The Lovin’ Spoonful either (except the known hits), but sure they played the blues with the harmonica.
Here is another title that is said to be one of the masterpieces on the harmonica: J. Geils Band was an American blues rock/rhythm and blues group formed in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1967. They thrived in the 1970s with their R&B sound before embracing a more pop-oriented sound after joining EMI America Records in 1978 (wiki)
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Female Musicans and the Harmonica
I was hoping to find female musicians, who were playing harmonica with beat and rock bands in the early 50s or 60s, similar to drums or electric guitar, but somehow I hardly found any material. Was the harmonica a classic male instrument? Why? Do you know any female musicians from the beginning of the beat and rock era? In modern times this has already changed. Here are some very talented female harmonica players of the present time:
In the first place of course, Mona (here in the tradition of the eternal songwriter poet Robert Allen Zimmerman 😃 ):
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Originating from Curitiba, Brazil native Indiara Sfair quickly won the hearts of music fans all over the world with her unique, sensitive harmonica sound. Part of Brazilian blues band “Milk’n’Blues”, she is both player and accomplished composer.
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Rachel Plas is a singer and songwriter from France:
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Amanda Ventura, a young Brazilian harmonica player, quickly gained attention for her soulful blues music:
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Vikki Thorn founded the Australian folk band „The Waifs“ together with her sister. She plays the harmonica in a very powerful and dynamic way:
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Shakira has also tried her hand at the harmonica. Not bad at all, isn’t it?
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…and „I got to find my Baby“ a song originally written by Chuck Berry…
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Yeah David and Jung, „Love me do“ and „I have should known better“. Two unforgettable songs that only get their special charm from the harmonica. My gateway drug into the colorful, musical world of the Beatles was the Red Album and so “Love me do” and “Please Please me” were some of the first songs that I consciously perceived as Beatles songs.
„The harmonica was formative for the early sound of the Beatles and they made this instrument popular again, because the harmonica had almost fallen into oblivion with the bands of the 1960s. The sound of the harmonica successfully set the Beatles apart from the other bands. Only the Rolling Stones later went one better with their blues-based harp. But who actually played the harmonica in all the hits by the Beatles?
Most of the time, John Lennon plays the harmonica in the Beatles' songs. His uncle George's harmonica was John's first instrument, which he learned to play as a child. John's harmonica playing influenced later British and Irish rock and pop bands such as U2 and Oasis.
George Harrison and Ringo Starr are also said to have played the harmonica from time to time. Unfortunately, that is not so clear. Mal Evans, a Beatles roadie, played the bass harmonica.
The Beatles used different models of harmonica. John Lennon played a chromatic harmonica in the first few songs. With this one, the sound is a bit purer and sweeter. John Lennon used the Larry Adler Professional 16 model. In most of the later songs, a diatonic harmonica is played. It was an "Echo Vamper". This is a Hohner Marine Band 364 specially renamed for England. This harmonica has 12 channels and 4 additional notes compared to the standard diatonic harp.“
(source: HarmonicaRocks)Here are the 13 most famous Beatles songs in which a harmonica plays a role:
- Love me do
- Please Please me
- From me to you
- I should have known better
- Little Child
- I’m aloser
- Fool on the hill
- All together now
- Thank you girl
- I’ll get
- There’s a place
- Chains
- Rocky Racoon
Did I forget any songs? And then there are these two rarely played covers:
„Clarabella“, a song written by the band „Jodimars“
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Hi JP, thanks for mentioning „Roger Waters: The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking“. I listened in there. The vocals and style reminds me a bit of The Wall. It sounds very interesting, musical impressive and captivating but also partly dark. Definitely very complex. Is this another autobiographical work by Roger Waters? The LP is currently not available, but the CD version is.
Winnie the Pooh, you mean the cuddly little fellow who lives in the 160 acre forest with his honey pot and his best mate Tigger? The story is rather unknown to my generation here, but I heard a little bit about it.
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Fine Jackie, what are your all time favorite titles?
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Thanks again Dave,
this is one musical pearl after the other that you conjure out of the hat. How do you know the many songs? Do you play harmonica yourself?