Re: [Harp-L] Was:Rhythm Willie: Wow/Don Les

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Feb 6, 2007, at 1:19 AM, Winslow Yerxa wrote:

> If you're interested in fluent diatonic playing, yes this is
> worthwhile. It's a solid dose of Don Les the diatonic player - as
> opposed to the Harmonicats bass harmonicist who occasionally had a
> diatonic feature on the old Harmonicats records.

AFAIK, 'Cat's Polka' was about the only diatonic piece I ever heard  
Don play with the Harmonicats. I would love to hear more examples if  
anyone knows of any.
Of course if you're talking about HIS group, the 'Don Les  
Harmonicats', then that's different. But Jerry wouldn't LET Don play  
diatonic. That was only one of many rifts.

 One of the reasons I no longer purchase any albums is because I  
gave away about 893 9/16ths pounds (404 2/3 kilo for our European  
friends)(63 5/8 stone for our English friends) of vinyl, and one  
thing I found out was that I wasn't getting the (prerequisite) 3.6  
good tunes per 12 tune album (3.9 @ 13).

You don't get this noise with Donny. He gives you (or should I say  
ME) ALL good stuff. ANY diatonic player should listen to his stuff if  
for no other reason than he is ONE of a kind.
> However, I wonder how current that link is - I notice it lists the
> now-defunct (and lamented) F & R Farrell Company. Plus I thought this
> had been transferred to CD. Check with Danny Wilson before ordering.

Danny is 'De' man to check with.
> Don Les had a genius for coming up with flowing patterns without much
> use of bends - mostly in first position with the Cats, but later in
> second and 12th as well (as you'll hear on those cassettes or whatever
> they turn out to be), with some bends and overblows as needed.

He also would switch harps. Sometimes for just ONE note. He would  
also re-tune a harp/ Sometimes for just ONE note.

> He was
> at least thinking of the diatonic as a fully chromatic instrument in
> the late 1940s even if he didn't actually take it there.
>
> As to style, he wasn't anything like a folk or blues musician like
> Foster or Rhythm Willie or Birdhead, and he wasn't really a jazz
> musician like Toots or Howard Levy. He was a Midwestern melody- 
> oriented
> pop musician (back when jazz was considered a part of pop) of that
> between-the-wars, children-of-European-immigrants couple of
> generations, and he sounds like it

Exactly. Don had a sort of Jimmy Sturzhinski (Jimmy Stir) Detroit  
style, or a Frankie Yankovic Cleveland style polka band feel to his  
material. He would then make it Bop. His rendition of 'Around the  
world in 80 days' or 'Sunny Side of the street' are (alone) worth the  
price of the tape. Don is one of the reasons I play diatonic.
just my opinion... (so listen to Winslow).... smokey joe

> - Orange Blossom sounds a bit more
> like a polka than it would in the hands of, say, Charlie McCoy. But
> don't let any of that put you off. He's still worth hearing and
> learning from.
>
> Winslow
>
> --- Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Rhythm Willie, Blues Birdhead and Gwen Foster are three players
> > whose
> > respective styles I have been attempting to combine ( glued together
> > with my own ideas and the odd overblow/draw) for some years now. It's
> > a
> > kind of old jazz thing and a desire to get some of that stuff that
> > clarinet and brass players have (except that with the Foster element
> > you
> > have a keyboard/accordion thing going as well) I have heard Don Les'
> > name mentioned over the years as a great 'jazz' diatonic player, and
> > I
> > see Mo Vint has a CD of him available. I guess I should just buy it
> > and
> > see for myself; but I would really appreciate some
> > opinions/evaluations
> > from anyone who has heard these particular recordings before I go to
> > the
> > trouble of ordering it (mail order only) shelling out etc. The CD I
> > am
> > talking about is available through this website:
> >  http://www.bassharp.com/lescatsr.htm
> > Can anyone tell me if tbis is a good example of the playing that Don
> > Les seems to be highly regarded for? If not, any other suggestions?
> > Thanks in anticipation,
> > Rick Dempster
> > Melbourne,
> > Australia
> >
> > > > > John Kally <jkally3@xxxxxxx> 6/02/2007 14:42:28 >>>
> > Hi James,
> > Thanks for putting up that link.  There was an extensive discussion
> > of Willie here some months back.  I'm especially glad to have that
> > link to I got Rhythm.  I owned that record over 30 years ago, and
> > it's great to hear it again.  Willie had such great first position
> > chops!  Reminds me a little of another player who really could
> > control those high bends, Don Les.  His recordings are worth checking
> >
> >
> > out too.
> > James wrote:
> > http://www.patmissin.com/78rpm/78rpm.html
> >
> > The above site has some valuable though not well known artists. If
> > you scroll down toward the bottom (I believe the harp players are
> > arranged alphabetically) you will find two Rhythm Willie Gems. The
> > first is Willies Boogie.He is accompanied by The Earl Bostic
> > Orchestra Earl Bostic was a famous Alto Saxophone player from the
> > 50's. Check out the interplay between him and the horn lines. He
> > imitates Benny Goodman or Sidney Bechet
> > The other tune is I Got Rhythm on a diatonic. Cool when you think
> > this is 50 years before Howard Levy and his school of overblowing.
> >
> >
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