[Harp-L] Firsts

[Glenn Weiser <banjoandguitar100@xxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow-

I have heard most of the players you name. And they are some the very early players for sure. But just as Pat Missin has identified the first  blues harp recording and I've found the first bluegrass harmonica track, my question is still 
what were the the very first country and rock and roll harp records? For rock, I'll say post July 4, 1954, the date of Elvis' first recording, even tho that may be disputed as arbitrary. I'm curious to know this.


Glenn Weiser


Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 14:32:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Harmonica firsts
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For
 the earliest country harp recordings, you might look to either Vernon 
Dalhart or Henry Whitter (Whittier in some renderings), though whether 
Dalhart was country or pop-with-a-ten-gallon-hat is arguable. Plenty of 
old-timey records included harp in the 1920s, including Dr. Humphrey 
Bate and several others.

For rock it depends in what you're 
willing to call rock. The hillbilly boogie records of the late 1940s 
featuring Wayne Raney and Lonnie Glosson under both Raney's name and 
that of the Delmore Brothers might qualify, or possibly some of the 
early records of Onie Wheeler, even though all these artists are looked 
on as more country than rock. 

(For something closer to 
rock&roll, maybe some of Little Walter's work or that of Billy Boy 
Arnold on his own or with Bo Diddley might qualify).
 
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance