Re: [Harp-L] muddy waters harps

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

No. An Echo harp plays tremolo (2 reeds, one tuned slightly sharp for a quavering "tremolo").

Crawling Kingsnake is played in second position. The first couple of chords sound a bit like third position because the tune starts on the V chord, in the last third of a 12-bar blues verse.

The harp player (doesn't sound like Little Walter to me-Cotton? Horton? Perhaps a Muddy discographer will weight in on this) is using a Hohner Autovalve in D. The Autovalve is an octave harp. It has two reeds per note, tuned an octave apart. 

EXCEPT: the closing phrase, which is played on a standard A-harp, first position, with blow bends in the top octave.

One cool thing about this is that it shows how effective you can play blues harmonica without bending notes (except that closing phrase).

Winslow

harmoniman@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote: isn't crawling kingsnake done with an echo in 3rd ?

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Winslow Yerxa  

> Mostly 3rd, some possibly 10th (Eb on a C chromatic, like my copy of "I'm 
> Ready," which may have been mastered at the wrong speed). Walter did one record 
> in B on a C chromatic with Muddy ("My Eyes Keep Me in Trouble"). 
> 
> I'm not aware of anything Walter recorded in second position on a solo-tuned 
> chromatic with Muddy ("Oh Baby" doesn't count; it's Walter's record, not 
> Muddy's, on a diatonic-tuned slide harp, and in 9th position (Ab on a C-harp)). 
> 
> Winslow 
> 
> Jim Alciere wrote: I'm listening to Muddy Water's chess 
> collection Chess Box 2 54-59. Some of 
> the early cuts are on chromatic? Is it 3rd posiiton or 2nd? 
> 
> Thanks 
> 
> -- 
> Rainbow Jimmy 


       
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