[Harp-L] Re: "The Best"

["jazmaan@xxxxxxxxxxx" <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx>]

I believe that some musicians stand so far above others that they must be recognized as geniuses. 
I know we've had the "genius" discussion here and some people don't want to acknowledge that Bird
and Jimi were in a class of their own.   But I'm not one of those people!  

And for the record, I never claimed that Stevie was the best of all time.  I said he was the best
on earth!  (Not IN the earth) So its not fair to bring Little Walter into the debate!  He's dead! 

And yes, of course its a subjective measure and you have every right to disagree with my choice. 
Shall we take a vote and let majority rule?  

I recently was amazed to hear a recording of a 15 year old Stevie guest DJ'ing on a Michigan radio
show in 1965.   He was debuting his new single "Uptight" and promoting a Motown revue with the
Supremes that night.  Over the course of an hour, he joked, sang and spontaneously played along
with his favorite records.  

He starts out the show by playing harmonica along with Fingertips Part ONE (not the better known
Part Two and his genius is immediately evident.  He goes on to play a little harp along with his
new single "Uptight" (the only time that song ever got a harp solo!) and also adds a few harp
flourishes to Chris Montez' "Call Me".  He even sings along with Tom Jones' "Thunderball!" He's
just having fun, a few notes here and there, but even at 15 he is head and shoulders above most
chromatic players three or four times his age. 


So you may call it subjective, but I think its objectively undeniable that Stevie was playing
better harp at the age of 13 than 99.999% of the harp players on this list will EVER play in their
lifetimes.   And now that his playing has matured, I say that nobody else can touch him.  Not even
Toots, Stevie's humble deference notwithstanding.