Re: [Harp-L] Red Foley's "Birmingham Bounce"

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Foley's recording of "Square Dance Tennessee" he introduces the harmonica solo at 1:49 by saying:

If you want Brownie(?) Riddles
to play his harp
A nod is all he needs
So step up front
and set 'er boy
And let's hear you choke them reeds

The harp player on this cut sounds similar to the one on Birmingham Bounce. Was this a nickname for Jimmie Riddle? He as with the Acuff band by then, but may have done some session wor. Still, it doesn't sound like him to me.


Â
Winslow Yerxa
President-elect, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
 From: Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Saturday, August 4, 2012 8:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Red Foley's "Birmingham Bounce"
 
The first two harmonica breaks both overlap the vocal slightly, so it can't be Foley.

The harp player doesn't really sound like Jimmie Riddle. Or like Wayne Raney. Raney and Onie Wheeler were both involved in Hillbilly Boogie, the country precursor of rock'n'roll. But Wheeler always played in second position on his own records, AFAIK.

The first-position player on this record has solid bending control on the high blow bends, but is kind of sloppy in hitting the notes, though his rhythm and phrasing are fine for the song.

I wonder if there's a comprehensive discography for Decca country singles that might shed some light.


Winslow

Â
Winslow Yerxa
President-elect, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
From: Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: robert mcgraw <harpbob@xxxxxxxxxxx> 
Cc: harp-l harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Saturday, August 4, 2012 6:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Red Foley's "Birmingham Bounce"

First position on a G harp. Could be Jimmie Riddle or Onie Wheeler. Never
heard of Red playing harp, but not impossible.
RD

On 5 August 2012 08:01, robert mcgraw <harpbob@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
> Just heard Red Foley's version of "Birmingham Bounce" for the first time.
> It's a fun tune, and it has good harmonica on it; it sounded like first
> position stuff, sort of reminded me of pre-WWII blues harp, maybe the kind
> you'd hear with a jug band, though I'm not real knowledgable about those
> styles. Anybody know who the harp player was? Some cursory google-searching
> told me that Red Foley played harp. Was it him? Whoever it was could play,
> that's for sure.
> WVa Bob




-- 
Rick Dempster
EÃâÅResources/Serials
LR&A
RMIT Libraries