Re: [Harp-L] How we learned diatonic harmonica in the "olden days"

[nonidesign@xxxxxxx]

When I was 16 (1978) I was into partying and hard rock, and I was a drummer in a band . We played rock tunes from Hendrix, Thin Lizzy, Bad Company, Zeppelin, etc. I was the youngest guy in the band. Our guitar player, Louis, was a Mexican guy who was also the group's leader. He also played harp and turned me onto Walter Horton and The Chicago Slim Blues Band's album "Love Me Or I'll Kill Ya" which had the kind of aggressive harp this stoned teeneager  was looking for. That was the beginning for me. I tried learning from those little booklets that come in the Marine Band cases but tongue blocking was too difficult for me. I learned single hole first and TB later. Harp was also a lot easier to carry on me all the time than drums so it was trial and error for years whenever I had time. Louis helped me with the basics like note bending but as we all know that stuff is worth about 3% of learning campared to actually doing it. I learned a lot about music from Louis too as he was into all
 kinds of music so I heard a lot of music for the first time through him. I guess he was a mentor in a lot of ways musically for me. Louis was a drug dealer and he and the bass player OD'd at practice one night. The bass player died then and there and Louis was in the hospital for a month or so. The band broke-up and eventually Louis disappeared...literally. He gave me a scrap of paper that had the 2nd position key guide on it. I still carry a key list in second postion with me on stage in my case. A totem I guess.

I didn't use any books although I knew Tony Glover's stuff was out there. I just figured that with as little luck as I had with the Hohner sheets that came with the Marine Bands, his book wasn't going to be much good to me either.

 I spent a lot of time on Maxwell Street (about every Sunday for years) and the first time I played live was with a group that was set-up in a dirt lot behind the market. First gig I played where I felt cooler than I'll ever really be was with Sunnyland Slim at Lillies in Lincoln Park.