Re: [Harp-L] re: Country Western harp

["Luke Keefner" <lkeefner@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Willie's Stardust album was what made me buy my first harp. Actually it was 
Unchained Melody that tripped my trigger. I saw Willie and Family in Glens 
Falls this past fall.. Mickey gets my nod as my first musical hero, and I 
consider him perhaps the most successful harp player ever. His tone is 
sweet, he always leaves you wanting a little more ( I hate long solos) and 
he is blessed with playing music for the last 3 decades with the 
incomparable (If somewhat stoned) Willie Nelson. What a gig!      Luke
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "martin oldsberg" <martinoldsberg@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 8:14 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] re: Country Western harp


> I love the sound of harp in country music. Don Brooks in the early Waylon 
> stuff, Mickey >Raphael just plain killed in Willie's Stardust album. Jelly 
> Roll Johnson has a unique sound >that works will with current styles. I 
> love blues harp, too, but I'm basically a country >player, I guess.
> Steve Webb, waxing philosophical in Minnesota

Yes, Mickey Raphael on Willie´s "Stardust" album, the track was "Georgia", 
was a sort of "Copernican moment" for me. I remember hearing it on the 
radio: this was definitely a diatonic harp, playing stuff that was quite a 
bit outside of blues and trad country. "It can be done!" Somehow in my 
simplemindedness I´d convinced myself that the diatonic was a "blues harp" 
and blues harp only and Mickey R with a few bars released me from that & I 
thank him.
This was a long time ago, but not long enough, I should have listened up 
earlier: when I lived in the States early 80s Willie was on the radio all 
the time, but I didn´t get it at all; thought he was just plain awful ... 
Country aint big on this latitude.
Martin, waxing sentimental in Gothenburg.




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