Re: [Harp-L] Country tuning

[Philharpn@xxxxxxx]

There is only one book that is considered the Encyclopedia of the Harmonica 
because contains biographies as well as interviews with players. 

It's a good place to start for an account of the Charlie McCoy "country 
tuning" story. 


"Harmonicas, Harps, and Heavy Breathers" was copyrighted in 1993 and at least 
once revised edition (with a different cover) has been published. I have both 
editions and I have no idea what was changed in the second edition other than 
adding death dates for those who died. 

On page 147, Charlie says he learned about what is now called "country 
tuning" from Duane Parker ("older gentleman") of Watertown New York who told 
Charlie:
     "I played chromatic all my life until I heard your (Charlie's) records. 
I've got your albums and I'm trying to learn. But there's one song I'm really 
having problems with--Danny Boy."
     Now my (Charlie's) curiosity is up, but I'm not saying anything.
     "The only way you could have done this song is to have tuned the fifth 
reed up." Parker says.
     He (Parker) pulled out a harp with the fifth reed tuned up and played 
the song and said.
     "That's the way you done it, isn't it?"
     And I (Charlie) said, "No, but that's the way I'm gonna do it from now 
on."
     What I (Charlie) had done in the studio was use different harps   for 
the verse and chorus.

This incident is not dated in the book; so I don't know when the story 
happened. But Parker was still around when the first edition of "Heavy Breathers" 
came out.

I don't know for a fact, but I suspect Parker's experience with the chromatic 
harmonica led him to the discovery of how and which reed to retune. Danny Boy 
would be playable on the chromatic, why not the diatonic? What was different? 
And how could he fix it?

MORE CONFUSION: Like overblows, (Don Les, among others in the 30s) the real 
origin of "country tuning" is probably lost to time. Anyone who knows the 
basics of chord progressions could have come up with the Magic Dick tunings. A 
piano player or guitarist. Just like my Seydel factory-built 12-hole C7 and G7 
chromatics--the 7th chord is my favorite chord (piano 1st, guitar 2nd). If Pat 
Missin has it listed on his exhaustive and complete collection of harp tunings 
I've never been able to find it. But the piano is in my living room -- and I've 
been playing that chord for 50 years. 

REMEMBER, just because the wheel has already been invented doesn't mean that 
somebody else didn't invent it at the same time or subsequently.

By the way, if you don't own a copy of "Harps and Heavy Breathers," it could 
be one of the most fascinating purchases you make this year.





(Slight paraphrase of attribution; quotes verbatim.)





     




In a message dated 2/8/09 11:43:10 AM, leone@xxxxxxxx writes:


> 
> On Feb 8, 2009, at 11:10 AM, Jonathan Ross wrote:
> 
> > Smo-Joe writes:
> >
> > " I described my tuning (5th draw sharped and with a wind saver) 
> > and the rest is history. Somehow it got around."
> >
> >
> > Funny, this is entirely different from the story Charlie McCoy has 
> > told many times for years and years, with a great deal of consistency.
> >
> So how does Charley tell it? According to what he told me, he was 
> playing somewhere and a fellow (he didn't remember the name)
> approached him and said "I think I know how you did that....you 
> sharped the 5th draw up a semi tone". When in fact, Charlie had used 
> TWO harps (actually 4 because he modulated up). Charley then said (to 
> paraphrase) something like; "No, but I will do it that way from now on".
> 
> Now I don't know what year this happened but it was probably after 
> 1975, because up until then, at least on the 10 McCoy albums 'I' 
> have, you can clearly tell when he is using two harps and when he is 
> not. Charley is not much for overblowing or blow bending, does mostly 
> 2nd position, and when he plays chromo, it is usually IN the same key 
> to which the chromo is tuned (see T.D.s Boogie). I agree with his 
> philosophy totally in not liking unnatural tones.
> 
> In any case, it's no big deal to me, and I never claimed this 
> tuning..wasn't in a famous enough position to DO so, and frankly, as 
> long as it benefited the harp community, that's good enough for me. 
> The way I came up with it was by accident anyway. I had a cracked 
> reed back in  1 9 5 9. That's right, 1959. I was already playing 
> professionally and was 17 years old. I was in local 802 of the 
> 'transient musician's union' out of N.Y. (I lived on Staten Is. at 
> the time). The way I fixed the harp was to:
> 
> Hammer out a brass lipstick case. (I have also used razor blades, 
> bullet casings, electrical switch parts)
> Cut the reed to size with my mother's cuticle cutters, and a diamond 
> dust fingernail file.
> Pierce a hole for the rivet by pushing with a sewing machine needle 
> and then gently filing the dent that appeared on the back side of the 
> reed with the file until a hole appeared.
> Then I swaged the hole bigger until it would take a drift pin made 
> from a paper clip.
> Then I tapped on the clipped off top of the rivet with a spoon to 
> form a head.,
> I left the bitter end protrude below the reed plate, but struck it a 
> few times to make it barrel out and wedge fit.
> 
> As I was tuning, I went the wrong way and was too sharp. I LIKED it 
> and immediately it opened up a whole NEW world of tunes I couldn't do 
> (correctly) heretofore. Eventually, I added a sharped 9th reed and 
> then a windsaver in order to blow the 5 blow DOWN a semi tone.
> 
> This is why, things should be documented. This is how stuff gets 
> lost. This is how legends start. This is how things get credited to 
> people. Sometimes the wrong people. Just because I'm not famous, 
> doesn't mean I didn't do it. And there's nothing anyone can do about it.
> 
> Btw: I didn't stay in the business because I have a low threshold for 
> people I like to describe as being afflicted with Anus Orifice 
> Syndrome. And I sure met a lot of THEM in my time....lololol
> 
> smokey-joe (executive assistant to Keyser Sosa...........got my sMo-
> joe working.........roogalatah)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >  ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
> > ()  ()
> > `----'
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> 




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