Re: ----- I suck, I tell you, I suck. ------

[joey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Joe Lempkowski)]

Mark, 

I wouldn't let this stuff get to me too badly.  Here are some of my more 
memorable negative experiences (which include no electrocution stories.)

When I was first learning to play,  I would regularly go down to Kingston 
Mines in Chicago on Monday nights.  It was hosted by Sugar Blue.  At that 
time,  there were very few harp players sitting in.  It seemed like I would 
always immediately follow Sugar Blue or I would preceed him taking the stage.
After finishing playing I would experience the same feeling you described in 
addition to shall we say "intestinal rapid transit."  For some strange reason,
I would continue this same pattern week after week.  People would come up to 
me and tell me they enjoyed the performance (still don't know whether they 
meant the harp playing or my being bent over as a result of stomach cramps. :-))
(BTW,  Sugar Blue was a great guy.  He returned my Hohner 2016 CBH chromatic
after I accidently left it on the bandstand.) 

There is nothing quite like the feeling of having James Cotton walk into a
club while your are playing,  "Juke" and two tunes later having him blow a 
wicked version of "The Creeper".  That felt like a good old fashioned ass 
whippin'.

One other night,  I went to a club on a jam night.  I was feeling all jittery.
After experiencing the same feelings,  I took to the stage with the band.  I
blew what I thought had been the performance of a lifetime only to have a
friend say,  "Man I could barely hear you play."

Then there was the time,  a group of friends (that I would regularly sit
in with) lost a gig to an accordian playing, Elvis-impersonating one man band.
So needless to say,  I sat in with him and a Hendrix lookalike/soundalike.  
That must have been the funniest version of "King Bee" ever played,  but the 
crowd was really into it.  I would have loved to have heard a tape of that 
tune.

One time I played a festival with a rock/blues band and I had a couple of
intoxicated folks tell me that I sounded just like Larry Adler and that
I should lose this band.  At that time,  I didn't know who Larry Adler was 
so I just said thanks.  I couldn't tell if I sounded awful that day not being 
able to hear a note above the droning guitarist.  (BTW,  I didn't get paid.)

Then there was a time, I stopped by Wise Fools Pub to see a friend playing.
I hadn't picked up a harp in nearly four years and got called up on stage to 
play a couple of tunes.

All of these "performances" have been forgotten except by me.

We have a tendency to be our own harshest critics,  fortunately alcohol
makes everyone sound like {insert size here} Walter to the casual listener 
(except for me,  I sound a lot like Larry Adler. :-))

Cheers,

Joe 

P.S. How do ya hold a harp,  ionizer,  and a bullet mike?

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<From owner-harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx  Mon Feb 27 17:58:26 1995
X-Listname: Harmonica Discussion List <Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Warnings-To: <>
Date: 27 Feb 95 16:08:00 +1600
From: BEERE_MARK@xxxxxxxxxx
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: ----- I suck, I tell you, I suck. ------

Harpers, through good and bad I've enjoyed your advice and stories, now I need
both from you in the hopes that you raise me from the depths of despair.  You
see, last Friday night I was minding my own business at one of San Francisco's
finer establishments.  There was a band there, mediocre to very good covers of
modern rock stuff (BHTM etc.).  So I happened to have four harps with me ;) and
I went to them during a break and asked if they ever used a harp player.  The
lead singer practically leapt out of the boots saying he'd love to have me in,
loved the harp, and that "Dude, you're on next set."  Be careful what you wish
for I guess.  So he calls me up during a blues number.  I walk up, grab the
SM-58, cup it to a Golden Melody and begin to draw.  And what do you think
emerges but a not-so-golden melody at all.  Like high-pitched feedback.  And
because I didn't have a monitor going through the PA I could only use the
audience's reaction as a monitor.  And let me tell you it ain't no fun to be on
stage and see half the audience trying to get ear wax outta both ears.
Really took the wind out of my sails, not to mention my lungs.  So the whole
while we're playing on, lead singer's doing his best to adjust my levels, and
I still can't hear what the hell I'm playing.  All in all, I'd say I walked
off stage with my tail between my butt cheeks.  And for most of the next day my
stomach was in knots.  Man, I can't believe how much that hurt.  And then I
leave the place and play with this free-spirited (homeless) guy on guitar
Elvis' Hound Dog.  And it was great.  He offered to give *ME* a buck.  But it
wasn't much consolation.
                          Don't you hate it when this happens?     - Mark




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