Good discussion on Butter!
For the record, I've never been a huge Butterfield fan (with the
glaring exception of Better Days, which I adore). Still, I readily
recognize him as a harmonica innovator in his day, and a player with
incredible technique.
Lister Ev630 wrote:
> So how did he play it? I'd be very grateful if you could explain what you
> mean in this post, as it remains unclear to me. If you mean no one was
> playing arpeggiated licks that were on the beat, then I would agree that
> many of the top harp guys weren't interested in doing that.
...and later wrote:
> So far, no one has been able to elucidate in what way Butterfield
was INNOVATIVE.
I think the poster's earlier statement partially states exactly in
what way that Butter was innovative. Those arpeggio licks, and in
particular the phrasing and note choice of those licks, at the time
were completely unique to Butterfield. And if you listen carefully,
he did not stick to keeping everything on the beat, but would often
push the beat, fall behind the beat or drum it right into the
ground, depending on the mood he was trying to create in a particular song.
Let's look at his playing on "Thank You Mr. Poobah" on his first
album, for example. This instrumental tune, a fast shuffle, shows
him mixing traditional blues licks with his frantic style. It
highlights his love for both pushing the beat and falling behind it,
demonstrates his unique phrasing of note choices (jazz influence
here), not in keeping with typical harp player's shuffles of the
day... and his fluid movement from lead instrument to backup
keyboard-style punches while guitar or keyboards took leads.
His leads in this song are again a mix of typical blues licks and
jazzier explorations (ie. that wailing 6 draw over chord changes)
that were clearly outside the box of a blues shuffle, particularly
as it applies to harmonica. Some of those runs are somewhat a-tonal
or near-a-tonal, bringing an edge to his play that was unique. Yet
in a moment that edge would melt back into musical normalcy and
create a comfort zone for the listener, falling back to traditional licks.
I don't know of any other harmonica player back then who approached
blues or rock (or music in general) quite in that way... certainly
not with the harmonica. Butter used the harp in a cutting, blazing
and very unconventional non-bluesharp ways--much more like an
electric guitar with jazz-influenced phrasing. Perhaps this is due
to his earlier training with flute. He played the harp upside down
too, which may or may not be considered an innovation. But to my
ears, his frantic jazz-tinged rock style of playing was certainly
musically innovative for harmonica, especially when you consider
that he applied that rock-guitar harmonica style to the blues.
I don't think Cotton was going there in his play; certainly not
Horton or Wells...(though there is an argument to be made that Wells
was highly innovative with his unusual applications of 3rd
position). And Charlie Musselwhite--who clearly was pushing the
envelope of conventionality in his own playing through the use of
"exotic" positions beyond 1st, 2nd or 3rd--tended to be more
consistently melodic with his phrasing and note choices, never
venturing quite so far outside the box as Butter. Look how he
approached Nat Adderly's "The Work Song", as another example.
Clearly he was consciously mixing jazz, blues and rock in this
frenetic epic. Clearly an innovative direction for harmonica players.
Butter was certainly innovative in his play. Not always my cup of
tea, but that's another discussion. Those are my thoughts anyhoo.
Harpin' in Colorado,
--Ken M.
TeraBlu Band on My Space
http://www.myspace.com/terablu
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