[Harp-L] Little Walter's influences

[Philharpn@xxxxxxx]

 Little Walter was influenced by the sax players in big bands that he heard 
around him when he was growing up? And grown up. And by taking a strong lead 
from John Lee Williamson Sonny Boy I, -- using the harp as a lead instrument -- 
he was able to come up with some new "horn lines" on the harp.

Most of those who follow Little Walter think Little Walter invented all these 
riffs, when in truth he just transferred horn riffs to the harp. That's 
because fans of Little Walter only study Little Walter, never his influences, jump 
bands, swing bands.

Bob Dylan didn't invent rack-harmonica -- he just put it on the map, along 
with several of his contemporaries. You could order a wire version that hooked 
around the next similar to today's cheap models from the 1897 Sears catalogue 
and the 1910 Sears catalogue offered one that had two hooks, one for each 
shoulder.

Howard Levy didn't invent overblows. Others had used them before he came 
along. But he put them on the map. He made a big deal about them and spread the 
word.

Guess what? While most harp players are aware of Liittle Walter, they don't 
all play like him.

While most harp players are aware of harp racks, they don't use them.

The same is true of overblows. Most people don't use overblows -- even though 
they have been demonstrated to be useful in bluegrass, jazz, standard blues 
and standards. 

The future of the harmonica -- diatonic or chromatic -- is likely to lie in 
the past, not in some radically new thing that nobody has never heard of 
before. More like a new arrangement of old tunes.

Maybe the next best thing on harmonica is beat box harmonica?










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