Re: [Harp-L] Buildin' yourself up by tearin' who down?/Note on Overblows

[Robert Paparozzi <chromboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Nick,

You'll get no sympathy here, this is HARP-L not BLUES-L.....we talk about
ALL things Harmonica and that includes Paul Butterfield & Overblows to Toots
and Sonny Terry. This is not a soapbox to promote classic Chicago blues as
the ONLY legit 'real deal' Harmonica....I've probably put in as many hours
on Little Walters as you have on studying Pints of ale. Learns some manners
and you get plenty of respect here.

Best,
Rob Paparozzi


On 2/9/10 5:02 PM, "Nicholas Lovett" <lovett.nicholas@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I don't fell like i've been given a fair assessment.  I did nothing more than
> present my art as a juxtaposition to the current trend in harmonica:
> overblows.  I've studied economics, and a rising tide raises all ships.
> Including blues players.  I don't hate overblows/ers; I just feel that my work
> is in contrast to the trend, and present myself up against it to gain more
> consideration/reach a different audience.  Many overblowers are better than
> myself at harmonica: Jason Ricci, Chris Michalek, Howard Levy, many of you on
> this list, etc. etc.  But how about a nod to the old guard? In my previous
> posts, especially this summer, I showed myself more than willing to give
> credit where credit is needed.  But no kudos for Little Walter from the
> overblowhards?  Most of you have recognized his contributions, but some of
> you, I honestly feel, don't understand his gravitas.  The current explosion of
> innovation(which is great btw) is a ripple in a stream compared to
>  the tidal wave of the Great Little Walter.  Simply put, the man was a
> motherfucker.  As a dedicated stylist, on my record, I have only done the
> Sonny Boy II nearly note for note(not the subleties though, bwahahahah).
> That's because no one else is, and there's a market for it, similar to Rick
> Estrin amplifying his technique, or Bharath doing Little Walter.  The rest of
> the record was cut in an hour and a half, and three of the songs were cut in
> one take.  No rehearsals happened. As Muddy Waters once said "there's no
> rehearsing the blues."   I'm not rich, I work a shit job in a cafeteria(about
> to be fired if you must know).  I met all these cats at local jams, I got my
> start two and half years ago at literally the worst jam in the world in the
> ghetto in Lewiston, Maine.  I dropped out of school for this.  Twice.  I would
> do it a third time.  I'm not a nut/weirdo/negative individual, i'm a fun
> loving kid who watches the history channel with his beautiful
>  girlfriend/pint glass of Shipyard Prelude Ale. The notes I wrote are
> tentative liner notes: no names are named because that's disrespectful.  I
> wrote that because I see many young harmonica players such as myself playing
> an amalgamation of tradition blues and overblows.  Many are more accomplished
> than myself.  There has to be two sides to the argument, and seeing as I'm the
> last young guy playing this stuff, I feel good about finding a market for my
> work.  I've worked hard to present a big picture.  Lovett's Shuffle isn't a
> style piece, a harmonica showcase, or a histrionic cluster fuck of notes.
> It's blues, the best I can play them, the best I've been taught, up to this
> point.  I put together my favorite cats and my favorite tunes, and threw it at
> a wall at Middleville Studios in North Reading.  I left a lot of space(it's
> all about the rhythm), sang the vocals as best as I could, and wrote a couple
> of songs that show influence.  The record is a
>  personal one, because the lack of time that went into it was intentional, I
> wanted it to be a stream of consciousness.  "Lovett's Shuffle" was cut in one
> take, and I wrote the opening riff the day before hand.If I seem like a mean
> guy on this list, know that my exuberance is just a kid psyched to make a
> contribution alongside his heroes.  I used to watch these guys on youtube.
> Finding them and approaching them took wherewithal and testicular fortitude.
> I am pretty shocked that a group of really intelligent people continue not to
> separate my arguments from my work, and rather attack me rather than the ideas
> I try best to eloquently embody.  For a group so embracing of new ideas, why
> not take mine and think for about them for a minute...there's enough
> black-balling and cliques out there, and I certainly got into harmonica to
> forget that.
> 
> Draw, don't blow,
> Nick Lovett
> 
> --- On Tue, 2/9/10, Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
>> From: Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
>> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Buildin' yourself up by tearin' others down - And Blind
>> Owl's special note
>> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
>> Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 8:30 PM
>> 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.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>       
>> 
> 
> 
>       
> 


All the best,
Rob Paparozzi

email: 
chromboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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