Re: [Harp-L] SB2

[Tom Ball <havaball@xxxxxxx>]

> > >  "billannette" <mojoworkin@xxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
I recently bought two Chess "Best of" recordings, one by LW and one 
by SBW.  The SBW recording seems to more frequency limited than the 
LW record, although recording dates were around the same years, so 
recording techniques should not be vastly different. Some tracks are 
better than others, with the ones done in the '60's (63 and 64) the 
best. The question has to do with SBW's harp timbre compared to LW. 
This recording seems to indicate that SBW's tone is thin and reedy-is 
this an effect he sought to get, or is it a by-product of the 
recording techniques? All the tracks were recorded by Chess and 
released by them.

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Hi Bill,

You may want to check the recording dates. Contrary to popular 
belief, most of the classic Chess blues sides weren't recorded at 
Chess Studios, which didn't come into being until around 1955. 
Universal Studios was the premiere recording studio in Chicago for 
years, and to his credit, Leonard Chess used Universal exclusively 
until his own studio was up and running. 

Universal owner/chief engineer Bill Putnam built his own tape delay 
machine using a reel-to-reel.... and they basically used three 
different methods to get delay and/or reverb: (1) An empty tiled room 
with a speaker at one end and a mic at the other (the classic 'echo 
chamber,') (2) a massive plate reverb unit, and (3) the slave 
reel-to-reel that was used solely for tape delay.

Thus if the Walter cuts you are referring to were made between '52 
and '55, they would sound much different than his later cuts and also 
different from the Chess SBWII cuts. Sonny Boy's contract was sold to 
Chess in '55 so most of his recordings took place in the studio built 
by the Chess brothers -- which did not have the aforementioned 
effects found at Universal.

Additionally what you are hearing may stem from the fact that from 
'51 on, LW usually played harp through a hand-held mic into an amp, 
while singing into a (clean) vocal mic; whereas (until '57) SB played 
harp and sang through the same vocal mic.  And even post-'57, SBWII 
recorded the harp 'acoustically' (i.e. no amp) as often as not.

Careful listening to LW's acoustic output (pre-'51) compared to SB's 
acoustic output (pre-'57) show not THAT much audible difference in 
tone -- with the exception of the deeply cupped tone achieved by SB, 
who had HUGE hands.

Walter was strongly influenced by SB.  As a teenager who had run away 
from home, Walter was taken under Sonny Boy's wing in Memphis in the 
'40's. Sonny Boy recalled having to intervene one night in West 
Helena when a woman tried to stab the moody youngster.

anyhow hope this is helpful,

cheers,
Tom Ball