Re: [Harp-L] Re: Gussow in Princeton Alumni Weekly

[Mike Fugazzi <mikefugazzi@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/553397.htm?page=1

That comment was made by one person...and most the heated part of the debate
began with the original poster starting a thread that encouraged an intense
exchange, in a thread with the subtitle, "Overblows Suck":

"I don’t hear any overblows in Little Walter’s Juke or in Big Walter’s
Boogie. A harp customizer who we all know insists that harps were better
back in the day, so one can presume that these players were not limited by
their instruments. It seems logical to me that Little Walter MUST have
discovered overblows exactly as I did: By accident. He evidently didn’t see
much value in overblows because he did not include them in his repertoire. I
can’t hear overblows in any of Little Walter’s body of work."

The crap comment was in reply to the initial post:

"despite what allot of people think the goal in playing harp is not to sound
like little walter. it think if little walter heard some one like jason play
he would crap in his pants. now dont get me wrong im a very very big little
walter fan. but times change. thats why this is called MODERN blues
harmonica."

It could be inferred from the tone of this post and the others around it
that the "crap" comment was directed at how LW wouldn't believe what people
were doing with the harmonica compared to his era.

The very same Adam Gussow posted several times in this thread with very well
articulated opinions that complimented both the traditional and modern
aspects of blues harmonica (mind you on a forum whose very purpose is to
create dialogue about MODERN blues harmonica), to which the OP was even in
support of.

I only point this out for two reasons.

1.  To illustrate how easy it is to intentionally/unintentionally take
something out of context or read into it, and create a spin.
2.  Sharing a reaction to a conversation without the whole back story can be
misleading.

Adam had actually gone on record sometime ago to clarify and amend his past
comments on Rick E., specifically, but his stance on traditional blues.
That information is out there, and he restates that and his relationship
with Rick in his previously posted "apology".

I've been misquoted enough to not trust anything in print.  In fact, just
this week, my brother called me about working with a polygraph expert who
had been on the show MonsterQuest and how when he asked about the
experience, he complained about being mislead, lead into making statements,
and how editing told a different story than he had shared.  I also had an
employee just get misquoted in the paper...not only was the statement
inaccurate, it was totally in bad taste to print what was said...even if it
was legit...which it wasn't.

EVERYONE has an agenda.  I can't think of anyone who doesn't...whether that
is right or wrong.
----------
Mike Fugazzi
vocals/harmonica
http://www.mikefugazzi.com
Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/MikeFugazziMusic>
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
<http://www.mikefugazzi.com/fr_customharmonicas.cfm>



On Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 11:35 AM, Rick Davis <bluesharpamps@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Mike, you are right... I have not been on Gussow's forum for a long time.
>  The incident I referred to happened around the time of the great OB
> argument I started there a couple years ago.  There was a group of young
> players who were like, "If Little Walter were alive today he would crap his
> pants"  (because they believed he could not play over-blow notes). There was
> a considerable amount of agreement with this, and I thought it was absurd.
>
> BTW, I like Adam personally and I like the way he plays.  But on this one I
> think he's a being a bit disingenuous.  I distinctly recall a post of his a
> couple years ago where he was slamming Rick Estrin for being being too
> chatty and funny in his shows... Adam said he thought it was disrespectful
> of the blues culture, or something like that, and he said Estrin was his
> least favorite player to see live.  Now, Adam is saying he learned 20 years
> ago to not say negative things about Estrin.  I think Adam does indeed have
> a lingering animosity toward Rick Estrin.
>
> I also believe the quotes about Estrin in the Princeton article are
> accurate.  I work in politics, and blaming a journalist for misquoting you
> for something you regret saying is the lamest of excuses.  It is the job of
> a good journalist to get you to say controversial things, and pro
> journalists are diligent with accuracy.  I think Adam just screwed up and
> now he's thrashing around for an excuse. It happens all the time,
> particularly with people who are loquacious like Adam.
>
> --
> -Rick Davis
> The Blues Harp Amps Blog
> http://www.bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/
>
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 9:51 AM, Mike Fugazzi <mikefugazzi@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>>
>> And regarding his forum, the majority of the players don't even
>> overblow.  That evidently means that they are good people then,
>> right?  Rick, I am sorry, but your post was totally in bad taste,
>> inaccurate, and full of political slant.  Why should Adam have to
>> disclaim anything related to his forum?  I am on there a lot more than
>> you and I only recall one person not liking LW and it had NOTHING to
>> do with overblows at all - and it also had nothing to do with
>> traditional vs anything.  I don't know if you have an agenda against
>> Adam or not.  I don't even know if you like his music or not.  I don't
>> even like all his music,  but attacking the personalities of his forum
>> has nothing to do with the OP.
>>
>>
>>
>>