[Harp-L] From Me To You

[Mikael Bäckman <harp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi again!

Thanks Rob and Bill for the link to Pat Missins excellent site. While reading about other Beatles recordings on his site I was a bit puzzled when I read about "From Me To You". Mr Missin says the following:

"Another readily identifiable Beatles riff is the one that introduces "From Me To You". As with all those classic Beatles hooklines, the riff itself is very simple - C D E D C D D A. However, if you play it on a standard C diatonic starting on hole 4 blow, you have to bend to get the low A and again, that note is much too cleanly played for Lennon to have bent it. You can play it easily starting on 7 blow, but then the riff is an octave higher than on the record. Another alternative is to play it on a G harp starting from 5 draw. This way all the notes of the riff are available without needing any bends, but did Lennon do it this way? No. Again, he makes a tiny slip that those with a Columbo-like perseverance and attention to detail can use as conclusive evidence. A couple of times when playing a D note, Lennon hits the next highest note by accident - that note is an F, identifying the harp as one in C major if we rule out the very unlikely possibility that he is playing a key of B chromatic with the slide held in). So, to get the A note cleanly, he must either be using a chromatic in C, or he is playing it on a low C diatonic starting on 7 blow. The Hohner Echo Vamper 12-hole in C was pitched an octave lower than a regular C harp, so this is a likely candidate"

It seems to me that this must be a chromatic harp, sorry I mean a Harmonica ; ). If he had used a Echo Vamper the bends that he does as ornaments would end up on 8 draw and 10 draw, which is tricky unless the Echo Vamper was valved, but it wasn't, right?? Or is this just one of those days when I'm simply not lucky when I'm thinking... ; )

Thank god for harp-l where a nerd like myself can ask questions about irrelevant stuff like this, and get great answers!!!

And thanks to Mr Missin for a great source of information!

/ Mikael Backman