Re: [Harp-L] Re: Bluegrass harmonica

["Cara Cooke" <cyberharp@xxxxxxxxx>]

You forgot to add "Foggy Mt. Special" and "Don't Get Above Your Raisin'" and
many more.

Many bluegrassers aren't into the history of the music enough to realize
that Bill Monroe studied blues a bit and desired to include the blue stuff
in his music.  For that matter, many blues players may not realize that the
Charlie Monroe that is referenced as roots blues was part of the Monroe
Brothers: Bill, Birch, and Charlie.

Then again, how can we forget the many people Bill brought into his music:
Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise, etc... many of whom brought even more blues/jazz
into the music.  If it suited his sound at the time, Bill wanted it.
Bluegrass is some of the most American music we have -- a melting pot of
sounds from many of the cultures that built this country.  It is all simply
tempered in a direction that is "bluegrass".

Like you said, music is music.

Cara


On 8/11/07, Dave Payne Sr. <payneoutdoors@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
> Hard Drive is one of the hottest local bluegrass acts around here and they
> have a full-time harmonica player.
> I play a lot of bluegrass and as far as I know, there are only three
> blugrass harmonica players around here. People either love them or hate
> them. Cara is right about Bluegrass having so much blues in it, especially
> Bill Monroe... a lot of the bluegrass standards got their start as a blues
> standard and came into the genre via Monroe. Here's some more: Blue Yodel
> No. 7, No. 5, No. 8 (Muleskinner Blues) No. 4, Brakeman's Blues, are all
> 12-bar blues standards that came into bluegrass via Monroe and are now
> standards.
> A lot of bluegrass players, it seems, the ones who don't like harmonica
> players don't realize the close ties between blues and bluegrass. They don't
> hit the blue notes like Monroe did, Monroe could hit a flat five that puts
> chills in my spine. Bluegrass without blue notes, I think, is often
> boring.  I should also mention that Monroe had DeFord Bailey as an opening
> act and there's some old Flatt and Scruggs with harmonica in it. ''Nashville
> Cats" is one.
> Everybody thinks in genres, but music is music. Looking back to Monroe's
> "Rocky Road Blues" from 1945 and you've got argueably (I argue it) the first
> Rock N' Roll song.
>
> I think part of problem might be harmonica players tend to overpower if
> they aren't experienced. String guys hate that. I play mandolin, too, and my
> harmonica rhythm is like a mandolin's, chop chords accented on 2 and 4.
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> Dave Payne Sr.
> Journalist and writer
> 1114 Charles St.
> Parkersburg, WV 26101
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