[Harp-L] SPAH 1998

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

George writes:

"I attended SPAH for the first time in 1998 (Romulus/Detroit again).  
The venue was horrible for anyone without access to a car. Although  
the hotel was convenient to the airport, alternatives to the hotel  
restaurant were almost non-existent. There was a chain restaurant  
right next door (Bob's Big Boy?), the food from which sickened  
several people including, if I remember correctly, a close personal  
friend of mine. Then there was a sub-Subway quality sandwich place in  
a forlorn strip mall and, at some additional remove, a mediocre  
Italian place one got to by traversing terrain last used as a  
location for the filming of Mad Max. That was it."


Yup--one of the worst hotel locations for any convention I've been  
to.  It's a good example of how cheap rates aren't the most important  
thing.


"But the convention rocked because of the people and the stellar  
entertainment line-up."

Agreed in toto--it was one of my favorite conventions ever.   
Actually, I'm not even sure I remember who was playing that year, but  
I remember the people, who were to a one just happy to be there.  It  
makes me wish I could get to conventions more often nowadays (stupid  
job, always getting in the way of my vacation:).

"Kim Wilson, Curtis Salgado, Steve Baker and the amazing Chris Jones  
(RIP), Jerry Portnoy, Cham-Ber Huang, Charlie Leighton, William  
Galison, Carlos del Junco, Steve Guyger, Robert Bonfiglio, Stan  
Harper, Joe Martin....Yikes! "

Now I remember the talent!  One of my fondest memories of SPAH is  
standing by the door during Wilson's set.  Portnoy and Guyger had to  
go up with him at the end of it and were out in the atrium having a  
pre-show smoke, but they kept popping their heads in every twenty  
seconds or so to listen to Wilson, with this slack-jawed look, before  
shaking their heads and desperately lighting up again to kill the  
nerves.  I just loved that scene, as two of the best in the world at  
what they do (traditional electric blues) were being amazed by  
another one.  Just a great memory.


"And ex-World Harmonica Champion Jim McGlaughlin, who arrived in  
someone else's Oldsmobile 442 (remember, JR?) and who at one point  
dumped out his whole bag of harps on the hotel carpet, revealing  
several Filiskos and a pink plastic harmonica in the shape of a  
penis, which is the one he put in his mouth. "


Sadly, and amazingly, I don't remember the penis-shaped harp, but I  
do remember the look of sheer horror on your face when he dumped out  
the Filisko's, which IIRC was accompanied by an exclamation "But  
those are Filiskos!"

And they were, brass bodied and cover-plated ones at that.  Gorgeous  
instruments to a one.  And best of all, McGlaughlin's response:  
"they're just harps".  And then he blew everyone away.  I also  
remember him driving a bunch of us out to Denny's at about 4 am  
despite his not being hungry and preceding to play one of the most  
amazing versions of "Orange Blossom Special" I've ever heard, which  
actually used the "make-the-opposite-side-reeds-play-at-once" trick  
in a musical way.  I'd never imagined that you could make that  
"trick" into a viable musical sound before then, but since then I've  
never dismissed any sound you can make--no matter how awful a quack,  
you can find the perfect spot for it if you try.

I don't remember the 442, and I think I would as that's my favorite  
muscle car.  Maybe he had already switched to a van by the time of  
the Denny's trip?  Or was it Allen Holmes van?  4am memories tend to  
be fuzzy for me.


"A long way of saying that to me, it's the people that make the  
convention, not the place."


Yup.  A nice place helps, and will be remembered, as will a bad one  
(I'm sure anyone who was there remembers the elevator smell in St.  
Louis from about the same time period), but overall it doesn't matter  
as long as the people are friendly, and you have fun.  Hell, I  
immediately forgot t the elevator from that convention as soon as I  
wrote it and instead remembered chatting with Toots as he was tired  
on a bench as well as having a good conversation with Rollo from the  
Siegal-Schwall (sp, sorry, too lazy to look it up right now) band by  
way of Sun Ra's Arkestra (just awsome).  And discovering Keith Dunn,  
although I may be getting my conventions mixed-up.

I can't say it better than George, so I'll steal his line:

A long way of saying that to me, it's the people that make the  
convention, not the place.



 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()   & Snuffy, too:)
`----'