Re: [Harp-L] Plagairism

[BiscuitBoy714@xxxxxxx]

OK, I've read  a bunch of these posts about plagiarism and I'd like to put my 
2 cents in. Who  here who learned how to rip, did so on his/her own without 
learning other  peoples leads? When it comes right down to it we are all 
influenced by whomever  it was that caught our attention and turned us on. I know 
that I use every lick  that I hear and like. I rip off everybody that sounds 
cool to me. Now that  doesn't mean that I do anybody's leads note for note all 
the time at a gig  either though. I can just about name every player that I got 
my licks from. In  any given night I will play licks from 20 different 
players, not all of them  harp players. Anybody that copies a complete lead and just 
can't do things on  the spur of the moment will be shown to be a little bit 
weak anyway. Whenever I  play Long Train Runnin' I do it note for note pretty 
much on the lead and then  do my own stuff for fills. I just can't imagine that 
song with a different lead  in it 'cause it was one of the songs I learned 
with. Am I plagiarizing whoever  it was that came up with that lead? Probably. 
Could I do my own lead on it? Not  just yes, but hell yes. I do it because I 
want to. Call me a copy cat if you  may. There are a few songs that I copy pretty 
much, but I do it as a tribute to  the players that recorded them. It's my 
way of saying thanx for teaching me. 
          About playing the  same lead every night, some people that have 
bought music expect to hear the  same lead that was on the album. Randy Rhoads 
did the same lead a lot of the  time with Ozzy, but whenever he changed it it 
was because he wanted to, not  because he couldn't reproduce his own leads. 
Anybody want to tell me that this  guy was a weak player? 
         I use any lick I can get  my hands on and I'm sure that there are 
times during any given gig that a  schooled harp player MIGHT be able to tell 
where they come from. I hope that  everybody pays that much attention to what 
I'm playin', but I doubt it. I play  for the paying crowd, not the few killer 
musicians in it. Hell they probably  didn't pay to get in anyway. As long as I 
got the gig I play what I want to.  Just about every gig I do I end up playin' 
a boogie thing all by myself and I  play whatever is in my head at the time. 
What's in my head I learned from the  greats.
         Give 'Em The Meat
        Randy
                              BiscuitBoy Blues 
         



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