RE: [Harp-L] In which Gus is Summarily Dispatched to Eternal Ignominy

[chicago bluesman <chicagobluesman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Speak for yourself.  We are not all Gus.  I've never played harp while leaning against the back of the club, in a fantasied oneness with the band.  The closest experience I've had to a Gus event is the time I was standing outside of B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted in Chicago, simply holding a harp, and Jerry Portnoy insisted that I play along with the sound of the band inside the club, so he could "have a little taste".  I obliged him out on the sidewalk, in the cold, but I felt weird about it.  I've seen Gus in action many times, though, have decided he's a quite annoying fellow and have sought to improve the image of harp players by never being a Gus myself.  Someday maybe harp etiquette will permit us to bid farewell to Gus, RIP.

> Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 10:00:15 -0700
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] In which Gus is Summarily Dispatched to Eternal Ignominy
> From: bluesharpamps@xxxxxxxxx
> To: billhines4@xxxxxxxxx
> CC: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> 
> We are all Gus, at some point.
> 
> Why do we promote this negative stereotype that is so insulting to harp
> players?  This is a theme commonly seen on guitar player forums, where the
> disdain for nearly all harp players is obvious.
> 
> Either we are all Gus or there ain't no Gus.
> 
> -Rick "Gus" Davis
> The Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
> The Blues Harp Amps Blog
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 8:38 AM, Bill Hines <billhines4@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> > "He got it that the song was somehow in d"
> >
> > Reading this, I was just curious - was anyone calling out the song key
> > before each song started? Doesn't sound like it from the quote above.
> > Perhaps if that simple courtesy wasn't extended (which kind of annoys me,
> > why subject me to spending the first part of the song going through that
> > drill to find the right key rather than comfortably playing along), and this
> > young person was too embarrassed to ask, that was the source of at least
> > that part of the trouble.
> >
> > I feel kind of bad for the kid. He did the right thing and asked before
> > just wailing, probably felt a little insecure but happy to be invited, and
> > was likely crushed and embarrassed by the experience. I wouldn't call him
> > Gus at all.
> >
> > Bill Hines
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
> >
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> -Rick Davis
> The Blues Harp Amps Blog
> http://www.bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
 		 	   		  
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