[Harp-L] James Taylor harmonica on "Road Runner"

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I wrote years ago on harp-L about James Taylor's wonderful "Hourglass" record, which features amazing chromatic harp by Stevie Wonder on one song, and some less amazing diatonic harp by Taylor on another. I just heard Taylor's "Covers" CD, and there's some very nice diatonic harp, apparently by Taylor (who is the only harmonica player named in the credits), on the Junior Walker classic "Road Runner".  The harp is second position, with a heavily effected sound--there's an octave doubler for sure, set to double the pitch one octave up, and there's either an amp or an amp modeler in the chain, too.  (I have no idea what gear was used to produce these sounds.)  The lines are obviously inspired by Walker's sax on the original, and they're played well.  

It's inspiring to hear Taylor progress on harmonica--to see that he takes it seriously enough to add to his skills.  The originality of the tone is inspiring, too.  A simple amped sound would probably have done the job for this piece, but Taylor's sound is way more electronic than that.  He's not the first harp artist to use a pitch shifter in this way--Wade Schuman with Hazmat Modine comes to mind--but the effect is still unusual enough to stand out in a mix.  The sound tells you that he was confident enough in his playing to put the harp WAY out in front of the band. 

Wouldn't it be amazing if James Taylor became a master harmonica player at this point in his career?  He's certainly got the talent.

Regards, Richard Hunter



  

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