Re: [Harp-L] cornball harp, but what kind of harp or harp device?

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Mar 12, 2007, at 5:24 PM, John Kerkhoven wrote:

> An old, cornball harp-comedy clip where the actors are certainly  
> not playing
> the music.

No, they're all playing brushes. The one on your right is playing the  
bottom of a long bristled floor brush as used in a mill where small  
particles needed to be swept cleanly.

The 'Lead' player in the middle is playing a 'Butch' brush. These  
were commonly used in pairs to brush short hair. Marines used to use  
them on their 'flat tops'.

The one on your left is playing a 'foxtail' or 'Bench' brush. These  
are commony used in a wood shop to sweep off the work bench of  
planeings and chips.
> But what are the two guys on the outside playing (or pretending to  
> play)?
> Are these harmonicas with some sort of attachment to project the  
> sound?

No, the sound is 'pumped in'. At first, I thought it was Jerry Murad  
and the Harmonicats. The following items would be correct:
The curvature of the nose, the almond eyes with their distinctive  
slant, the droopy eye lids, the wide upper lip, the way he holds his  
brush. The way he juts his face forward, The way he keeps checking  
the other players. His general posture.

BUT, the picture is so poor that while it may be made to 'look' like  
28, It might even BE 1928, and that would have made Jerry only 8. I  
do remember, however, as a child, that early TV picture quality in  
the mid 40s was quite poor, so it could BE.

Couldn't get a good enough look at the guy on the left but the  
general sizes would match up. Only thing I saw unusual was that the  
bass (Foxtail) and chord (Floor brush) were reversed.

smokey-joe / So. Florida
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS5cQSZn8mQ
>
> John
> Montreal
>
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