overblowing

[Steve Jennings <100010.1152@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Johno,

I doubt anyone was the first as such, anymore than any one was the
first to discover bends. Don Les once told me that he heard a kid using
overblows in the late 1940's, but given the fact that he appears not to
use them himself, I wonder if he meant top octave blow bends? Steve
Bell (son of Carey) also appears to refer to the high octave blow bends
as overblows.
I have also heard (can't remember where, or who from) that Ernie Morris
of the Borrah Minevitch Harmonica Rascals was a killer overblower, but
that they didn't use them in the act, because no-one could find a use
for them! I guess that with the chromatic being so recent an invention
at the time, only about 10 years old, the Richter tuned diatonic must
have seemed a complete anachronism.
I'm pretty certain that the technique was around in the thirties, if
not the twenties, and I'm sure I've heard some old-time stuff that
utilises it, but, of course, I can't recall what it was - not much
help, huh?
The one thing that does seem certain is that Howard Levy was not the
first to discover overblows - Lee Oskar has told me that he was aware
of the technique before Levy came to public notice. The other thing
that seems certain is that Levy is the first to put the technique to
anything more than a passing use, seamlessly integrating it into his
playing style, and making the harp serve the music, rather than the
other way round.

Steve Jennings,
Editor, Harmonica World