Re: [Harp-L] "Oh Girl" position

joe leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx> · Sun, 19 Sep 2010 23:28:49 -0400

Ok, the clip says T.V. performance 1973, and I have no reason to  
doubt it, BUT this video is from that performance and not the MTV one  
that I saw around 1983. This was probably TAPED in 73, but this was  
not the video that was televised AS a video AT that time. This has  
obviously popped up later.
A couple things.

1..They show a MAN playing the harmonica. The MTV video showed Willie  
Mae Thornton

2..The harmonica is NOT a chromatic

3..The harmonica (being held) is a polyphonia. Look at the length.  
Maybe they wanted it to actually be seen.

4..If you watch the player's movements, he is NOT playing it. The  
movements up and down the poly don't correspond to the (rather small)  
movements needed for this simple tune. It is covering less than  
2/3rds the treble cleff, and yet the player is jumping that poly too  
far for the tune.

5..One of the Chi-Lites is shown playing that part

conclusion? I doubt it. The part was done on a chromatic.
I agree with Rick & Johnnie
smo-joe
On Sep 19, 2010, at 8:33 PM, Rick Dempster wrote:
Well, this looks like a 'vintage' clip (1974, it says, and the  
clothes sure look like it) That sure sounds like a mouth organ to  
me, more than a melodica....could be wrong though...wot do other  
reeders think?

This is it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cu8XA89JzA
joe leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx> 19/09/2010 10:17 >>>

On Sep 18, 2010, at 6:16 PM, JohnnieHarp wrote:
... saw the Chi-Lites perform this on a PBS Doo Wop type special
within the last few years ... what they used during their performance
was a melodica rather than a harmonica ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodica

What year Johnnie? That would be an important factor. Walking
backwards through my mind, I seem to recall that this tune was
originally done in around the early 70s.
I don't think they had music videos back then but by early 80s they
DID. I remember taking the family on vacation to St. Augustine, and
the motel had MTV.
While the wife & son were enjoying the pool, the girls were watching
MTV. I came in to check on them and happened to catch a video that
was just starting.
A large black woman who looked for all the world like Wilhelmina Mae
Thornton was dipping a Hohner 270 into a glass of water. Then she
shook it out and began to play it in a warbling fashion. I took that
to be because there was still water in the chromatic. The tune was
'Oh Girl'. I stayed and watched it because I had seen Willie Mae live
back in the 60s in Louisiana. So in the early 80s, Willie Mae was
still alive. Now here are a couple factors that don't jive.
1... dipping a wood combed chromatic is a no no, and I don't think
she would have done that...voluntarily.
2... it sounds like a harmonica. There is evidence of muting/hand
cupping and 'Pulling' or milking the reeds.
I don't think that works on a melodica. Melodica is used on the movie
'Endless Summer, and the timbre isn't close
3... Melodicas are all blow instruments. I hear evidence of slight
bending.
This bears scrutiny...   smo-joe