Rolling On

This is sorta kinda a continuation of my thought threads from yesterday, so I'm just rolling on. I was going to pull up the post and simply edit and add, but I do have enough swirling around the brain to just do the do again today.

I failed to mention that a few friends from my school days in Brazoria came into town expressly to watch our band play at the Brewery last Friday. My brother and his wife played host while we tried our best to entertain them. It made for a very special night for me. Word is that they'll return at some point down the road.

Let me add a link to David Barrett's marvelous website here. Lots of folks just aren't going to fork over the $17 a month for harmonica related stuff and search out similar free online offers. I balked at doing it for a long time until I decided that I wanted to see his reviews of the numerous small amplifiers and stayed a couple of months. And that's the deal. One can pay out for a year or month to month and cancel anytime. As I said in yesterday's post, I'm back to wandering around the site and finding plenty of value as I go, such as the aforementioned tube rolling vids on the Princeton. That in itself was worth a month's fee.

Barrett interviews a slew of harmonica pros and those are super. Since I re-signed up on the site to glean a bit more info to polish my tongue blocking a bit more, I went through the vid interviews just clicking on each player's responses to Barrett's question on tongue blocking and some on their preferred equipment. What I'm saying is that I haven't viewed each interview in their entirety, so I'm looking forward to watching them. At the time, I just wanted to hear what master blasters like Gary Primich, Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, Gary Smith, etc...had to say about TBing the harmonica.

Now, and I mentioned somewhere in the history of this blog, that I curl my tongue (or UBlock) to get a single hole. Just the way I found it easier. For many years, I really thought I was an odd duck out of water, because I knew of no one else that did such. Everyone puckered or tongue blocked. UNTIL I bought an instructional video from Norton Buffalo who played harp for Steve Miller. Right off the bat he mentioned that he curled his tongue. Anyway, I felt validated. Soon, from online discussion groups such as Harp-L, I found others mentioning they did the same thing. We were rare, but there and maybe even Little Walter did a bit of it.

CUTTING to the chase as to why I'm rehashing all this is the Barrett interviews. One of my favorite present day harmonica players is John Nemeth. Immaculate vocals and his harp tone is wonderful and he said he strictly UBlocks his notes, of course except for playing octaves (which of course, takes tongue blocking to get the split notes). Said it was the way he learned and has never seen a reason to do otherwise and ain't gonna try and change now. Epiphany for me. From there, another one of my favorites, Mark Ford, said he did the same thing and can even manage slapped notes with the embouchure. Steve Guyger even said that he's trying it out, because he was told by a reliable source that Little Walter did employ the method from time to time. SO I was surprised and felt additionally validated and not quite so hell bent to perfect tongue blocking.

BACK to discussing Shoji Naito. I first became aware of Shoji during a trip to Chicago (it's documented in the archives here) and he was playing guitar with harp man Morry Sochat and the Special 20s at the seafood restaurant. They were fabulous, by the way. I later learned that he was also a great harmonica player and I had heard good things about the backing tracks he offered on his website for us harp players. I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I did download a few of those and they are wonderful. Anyway, he has been putting out a few videos on youtube during the pandemic stay at home time period and I caught quite  few of those. He plays both tasty guitar and harmonica. His tribute to Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater, who he played with for fourteen or so years until Eddy passed in 2014, caught my eye and then my ears after I downloaded it.

Westmont to Chicago is a solid unadulterated Chi-town blues release with guest performances by several musicians well known on the Chicago blues scene. Not going to get into an extensive review (mentioned that I've moved away from doing so), but this recording is certainly notable for some of Eddy Clearwater's last recordings and reveal a veteran bluesman that hasn't lost a step, vocally or on guitar. Shoji shines on slide guitar on Ogden Avenue and lays down some tuneful harp on a few cuts, his best while conjuring the memory of James Cotton on Like The Creeper. Great release honoring one of Chicago's great bluesmen. If you lack yourself some of The Chief's stuff, go grab something from his catalogue. Anyway--'Nuff For Now.

Wish List of Blues

Oh, since I've been pre-occupied with things related to my novel being accepted for publication, I haven't had time bite down on the blues lately. Today, I thought that I'd stroll through www and see what might be out there that I may have to have--eventually or tomorrow or whatever. I do believe that the following will contain some butt kicking, fat toned, blues harp blowing:

Big Walter Horton

Blues Harmonica Giant

JSP Records

I've got most everything that this blues giant has recorded, but this box set of 3 cd will put a lot of the music into one place. Can't go wrong with Big Walter.

Junior Wells & The Aces

Live In Boston 1966

Delmark Records

Notice that I'm starting with the blue harp legends. Junior Wells live with the Myers brothers can't be passed up, so I think this just may be another 'must have'. This is during the same time period that his desert island classic, Hoodoo Man Blues was released.

Charlie Musselwhite

The Well

Alligators Records

Charlie was one of the blues harp players that I saw live and in person. He blew me away and continues to do so. I've heard The Well on the radio and it is his well known tale about finding sobriety after hearing the story of 18 month Jessica McClure falling and being trapped in a well pipe in Midland, Texas. Her courage gave him courage and he tells it in song here, which includes a whole program of songs from Charlie's pen.

Mitch Kasmar & The Pontiax

Delta Groove

Way back when, I picked up a copy of Mitch Kasmar's Crazy Mixed Up World and became an immediate fan of the man. The recording covered a slew of Little Walter's songs, but I knew that he had more in him than just cloning the master. My research indicated that he had a previous, well received, recording with his band, The Pontiax. I tried my darnest to get my hands on a copy, but it was totally out of print, so I never did. Now, comes along his current label, the spiffy Delta Groove, who has the wisdom to re-master and re-release this first effort. I'm expecting it to be darned good.

John Nemeth

Name The Day

Blind Pig

John Nemeth frustrates me because I want him to stick his blues harp in his mouth on every tune on every record. He won't do it. Hard to blame him, when the man just might have the best damn vocals for the blues, soul or rhythm & blues. So, he mixes that stuff up and he's so good at it that I love his releases, even though I don't consider myself much of a soul/r&b fan. He just flat bowls you over with his singing. BUT, when he does put harp to mouth...then look the hell out, because the man can blow.

Maybe, when I slow down long enough to buy what may be gems of the blues, I report back with my opinion. In the meantime, don't take my word for it...beat me to it. 'Nuff for now.

More Cowbell Please!

Alabama Mike
Day to Day
Jukehouse Records
JHCD0010


Ever heard of Mike Benjamin? No? How about Alabama Mike? Me neither, until I kept seeing advertising for his debut CD Day to Day. I mentioned him back in June in the post entitled, Ramble On. I also stated that since it looked like that guitarist Steve Freund and harpguy R.J. Mischo were on board that it just might be a worthy release. As it turns out, it is--but don't go out and get it based on my reasoning. Those two exhibit their talents on only two cuts each. Just get this to hear a new guy on the block sing the holy heck out of some traditional blues styles.

He may be called Alabama, but Mike woos them on the West Coast and is surrounded in the studio with plenty of those cats from out yonder. Seems like the days of making a go of it as just a blues shouter passed several decades ago--with the likes of Big Joe Turner, Percy Mayfield, Jimmy T-99 Nelson, and Jimmy Rushing. For a long time now, the blues has revolved around laying it down with guitar, piano, sax, and harmonica and if you could belt out lyrics along the way, well, so much the better. So many of the aforementioned singers fronted bands that swung more than just blues--lots of R&B and big band jazzy stuff. NOT Alabama Mike. This cat is a BLUES singer.

Day to Day is just chocked full of what the blues is all about. Most of it is of the gritty, down-in-the-alley, gutbucket type, which is illustrated quite well by the slam bang sliding whines of Jon Lawton's guitar. I'm not a guitar guy, but it sure sounds like he's got a Resonator cranked up on the title track, along with Mike's intense vocals. Did I say intense? Wait until you hear him channel the ghost of Son House on Death Letter Blues where he gets absolutely ferocious. Oh, and I just thought Lawton's slide was nasty on the opener, as he proves he knows his Book of House also and really bangs the box.

Charle Wheal (of Mark Hummel's Blues Survivors) slaps on the straps to get a bit more B.B. Kingish on Religion, which showcases what the Alabama guy can do with penning blues lyrics. I mean, really, how can someone talk to you about religion when they give you so much hell--that's what he's talkin' 'bout. Seven of the ten cuts are his originals and they are solidly written blues stories. The weakest may just be the one chord boogie, Lay My Money Down. That type of groove doesn't call for a lot of lyrical invention--just boogie on. The aforementioned Son House tune, Willie Dixon's Too Many Cooks, and two Elmore James' tunes (Strange Angels and Knocking At Your Door) are nicely sung covers, or should I say nastily sung covers. He has quite a bit of Buddy Guy melded with B.B. in his delivery.

With all the slide playing going down on this disc, neither of the two Elmore James'cuts have a whiff of the bottleneck. Charles Wheal breaks down the former and Freund stabs nice single picked licks on the latter--he even throws a bit of broomdusting on it. Speaking of Dust My Broom, that exactly the vibe that Lawton brings out on Sara Brown when he breaks that nasty ol' slide back out. It kind of bounces into Freddy King's Tore Down territory also and that's kind of how this CD goes. Most of the songs remind me of some other blues song from back in the day, but that's alright mama, mama that's alright. By the way, R.J. does blow the reeds away on Sara Brown.

I've never heard of Scot Brenton before, but his blues harp tones are pretty tasty on a couple of the cuts. I have to keep tabs on this guy, because he also plays rhythm guitar and waves the wah on Naggin'--which brings me to the point of the post title. Sorry it took so long to explain why I stole Christopher Walken's legendary line from my son's favorite Will Farrell Saturday Night Live skit. I'm just not used to seeing cowbell listed in the credits of any song; and there it is, Myles Silveira: Cowbell. So, there you have it. I don't know, but he must be related to the drummer, Scott Silveira, who ramrodded this project and brought a wonderful vocalist out of the shadows for us all to hear. Oh, yeah, John Nemeth sits in on harp on I've Been Rocked and is excellent per usual--BUT don't buy this for the harp playing, because with only five out of eleven cuts having harp it may disappoint you. Buy it and discover a new real blues singer. Anyway--'nuff for now.

John Nemeth

I had big plans to travel over to Houston's best blues club, The Big Easy, and catch John Nemeth's gig last night, but circumstances got in the way. Bummed me out! My ol' buddy Steve Schneider filled me in on the fact that, "John Nemeth rocked!", with his scary good vocals, great harp playing, and top shelf band. Darned it! And I have to say that waayy too often.

Oh, and for the Rick Davis blog rant fans--Nemeth blew harp through a vintage '59 Fender Pro and not his Harp Gear amp. Some of you know what I'm talking about.

John Nemeth grabbed my attention a few years ago when I was trying to track down a Bill Rhoades CD (great harpman, by the way) and I ran across some Nemeth stuff. Both of these guys were blowing the blues in the Pacific Northwest. I came across an e-mail for Nemeth, so I inquired as to how to get his stuff. At that time he had Jack of Harps out there and Come And Get It. He mentioned that Jack of Harps was chocked full of more of his harp playing. I grabbed it and immediately fell under his spell.

That release opens with Junior Parker's Mother-in-law Blues. What struck me was the fact that Nemeth absolutely nailed down Parker's vocals. Whoa! I thought. This guy can sing. He does a couple of more covers, but eight of the cuts are originals. Nice debut disc. But the Come And Get It CD blew me away.

Come And Get It showcased just what Nemeth could do singing classic grooves associated with soul and R&B. His individuality emerged on this disc and the idiosyncratic guitarist Junior Watson did his thang--which is one of my favorite twang thangs. He shelves the harp a lot more than I like, but he music is outstanding.

The Blind Pig follow-up, Magic Touch pushed the formula further on up the the road. Hearing him torch Sit and Cry The Blues was enough for me. That one tune will convince anyone that John Nemeth is the best blues singer alive today--period.

His current entry into proving my last statement is Love Me Tonight. The man rejuvenates that ol' R&B vibe so darned well and makes it all so fresh again. I'll say it again--the man can just flat sing--anything. He can channel Ray Charles, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Sam Cooke, and, and, and,...I do believe that he could put out country and western, rock and roll, jazz, gospel, and it wouldn't matter. He would just nail it. Oh, and he doesn't forsake the harp--it just is not the focus of his releases.

Go over to his website or myspace page and order his stuff. In the mean time check this out: