Re: [Harp-L] Blind Owl's special note

[bostonmoejo <bostonmoejo@xxxxxxx>]

There was a tribute to James Cotton here in Boston at The House of Blues back in November, I believe it was, and I met Al Wilson's sister (they, apparently were from Arlington or Lexington, MA.)   I wish I had thought to ask her about it (I don't even know if she would know what I was talking about)  She was very nice and had some cool stories/memories. 
Just saying...that's all.



In a message dated 02/09/10 15:31:39 Eastern Standard Time, winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx writes:
As a teenaged harmonica player I heard Al Wilson wailing on that note in "On the Road Again" and just heard a really good note and never even noticed that it wasn't a normal bend. it just seemed organic to the tune and to the harmonica. 

Al Wilson heard that note in his head - a good, solid blues note. It wasn't built into the harmonica, but he didn't hesitate to go beyond the obvious techniques to get it out of the harmonica. Yet nobody says, "Well, Blind Owl wasn't a real blues musician 'cause he didn't stick with what was done before." They say, "Wow, that's cool, how the hell did he do that?" 

By the way, there's been extensive discussion and sleuthing (via detailed listening) about how Al Wilson got that note. The weight of evidence-based opinion was that rather than taping off Blow 7 or weighting Draw 7, he tuned Draw 6 up a semitone. You can probably find the discussion in the archives. It was Pat Missin, as I recall, who came up with a convincing argument for that conclusion, based largely on the sound of the bend (it sounds like a dual-reed bend) and on the fact that he both approaches and leaves the note from a slightly lower note with the reed bent down slightly, wehihc would be both difficult and stiff sounding using 7 Draw. 

Winslow Yerxa 

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5 

--- On Tue, 2/9/10, roberttifol@xxxxxxx <roberttifol@xxxxxxx> wrote: 

From: roberttifol@xxxxxxx <roberttifol@xxxxxxx> 
Subject: [Harp-L] Buildin' yourself up by tearin' others down 
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 11:13 AM 

al wilson wasnt overblowing , he used to put a piece of scotch tape on the 7th hole draw to weight it down from the tonic to a flat seventh in first position which was the minor third in cross position.