[Harp-L] Ford/Butterfield

[Grant Walters <grant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'd be curious to hear Mark Ford"s comments on this but I always felt  
Mark was truly one of a kind.
If you are basing your opinion of him by Recordings you are not  
getting the true picture.
Night after night, Garth Webber and Mark Ford created a guitar/Harp  
unison in harmony.
Unless you saw them live, it is hard to explain the energy.  The dance  
floor was full.
There was a generation of harp players in the San Jose/San Francisco  
area who tried unsuccessfully
to get his sound.  Andy Just did this new form justice with Chris Cain  
on Guitar and maybe Paul Butterfield
was pushed in new directions  by his set of young, talented, energetic  
guitar players.  I don't know.

I once played a recording of Mark Ford to music loving friend who  
asked me who was playing the guitar.
To this end, I went out and got a Lab Series amp and the same mic he  
used.  Could not even come close to
getting that power or that sound.  There were a lot of guys ( harp  
players) who were not ready for him and his dance floor
full of beautiful dancing women. ( I was)   It Did not seem fair when  
the guys we worshiped who played the old style blues were
not getting the same reaction or crowd.  Nowadays there seems to be  
room and an audience for both.

I understood where  Ford and Just and these guys were coming from.   
They could pair up with the Guitar licks.
I think I hear this in Ricci's playing.  Raw power.  But I have not  
seen him live so I cannot make a comment for sure.
I did see Butter live a few days before he passed.

He was in San Franciso and he took a break and put a wet towel over  
his head in the downstairs Cafe/Bar.
A girl ( in tears) was pleading with him not to go play any more and I  
almost went home because I thought he was done.
Up until that time I was a fan but I placed him among my many favorites.

When he retook the stage for the final set he completely blew my  
mind...I did not know that kind of Power could come from
this instrument.  Now I wish I would have had a chance to see him in  
his early years.  This was the single most moving set
I have ever witnessed and yet I was not a big fan before this.

I love to see these guys live...and do every chance I get.

Grant