Smo-Joe,
This is an interesting Thread...Us Chrom players often wonder such questions ???
But what about his Classic Solo's in E "Isn't she Lovely" and F# "For Once in my Life"...to my ears these sound like the original keys??
My Fav solo is his Creepin' in Ebm starting on that funky bent down "A" note..
we'll have to hear from the transcription mavens!!! Winslow and Hunter,-)
Another one I've often wondered about was Toots' solo on Ralph MacDonalds "Smoke Rings and Wine" on his THE PATH LP...I always forget to ask Toots about this when I see him on occassion....The song is in E and what a smooth Jazzy solo which leads me to be he used another key 270 at the time.......
all the best,
Rob P www.myspace.com/hudsonriverrats
----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe and Cass Leone" <leone@xxxxxxxx >
To: <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Chaka Khan I Feel for You
On May 9, 2008, at 2:01 PM, Winslow Yerxa wrote:
It's definitely a chromatic harmonica (Stevie Wonder), with a little sound processing.
Yes, it is definitely 'Millionized' (for lack of a better term)
By the way, there's an extended version of this record that came out on a 12" single with a longer harp solo.
While the tune comes out in F#, Stevie didn't play it in F#.
This is correct. While everyone seems to feel that Stevie is this super human player who can play in any odd key and STILL sound marvelous, the truth is that he picks normal keys just like everyone else and the recordings or HIS tracks are either sped up or slowed down to give the impression that he is in F#, Gb, B, E, and other not so easy keys. I always suspected that is was to disssuade other players from trying to copy him. AND I don't think it's coming from HIM. I have to admit though that it is less common these days. I have had recordings which were BETWEEN the keys. I thought it was my player, but after checking several other players, I wound up with the same deal.
The tape was either sped up or slowed down and he played it in either F or G (I'm not where I can check which it was).
Because of the 'Chipmunks' timbre to the edges of the notes (which he is VERY good at to begin with), I believe the track is a sped up F. Something about the combinations of notes and the way they are 'chipped', leads me to believe he is in a DRAW key. G isn't as fluid as F.
p.s. just my opinion smokey-joe
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